Morris Minor Owners Club

Cam wrote:When I say bumper irons I mean the thick steel bar behind the valence and I was talking about the rears, but I've not got a front either.

OK, that's not split &, as far as I know, the same as later cars that had the one piece bumpers.

Did your car manage to come with the original chrome windscreen surround (the type that fits on the body) ?
I could get the rubber extruded in the shape I needed but I couldn't afford the tooling costs for such small production run . Even then, I'd run the risk of it not being exact & possibly not fitting correctly .

Scott wrote:OK, that's not split &, as far as I know, the same as later cars that had the one piece bumpers.

Yes, I've just had a look at some pictures I took of some lowlights from rallies a while ago. I never noticed before but I can see the mountings now.

Did your car manage to come with the original chrome windscreen surround (the type that fits on the body) ?

Luckily yes, and it's in pretty good shape too. You can JUST see a corner in this picture: http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/Members_Ca ... 93_028.JPG

I could get the rubber extruded in the shape I needed but I couldn't afford the tooling costs for such small production run .

Yes, that's a bummer.

It's a pity it didn't come with the original engine though Cam.
At least you'll be able to fit the water pump to your other sidevalve & have a heater though .

Not sure about the side bonnet badge also - I thought they came in around late '49/early '50.

You do like challenges, don't you .

Scott wrote:It's a pity it didn't come with the original engine though Cam.

Well, yes, but that's the quirky thing about this car. Being as it was one of the experimental 'fleet'. It got updated as time went on. So the engine is factory fitted even though it rolled off the production line with a different one. It's part of the car's history as it was fitted early on I think in experimental.

At least you'll be able to fit the water pump to your other sidevalve & have a heater though .

Well, I have an engine (with waterpump) for my other sidevalve now:


Got a few waterpumps and heaters too.

Not sure about the side bonnet badge also - I thought they came in around late '49/early '50.

I'm not 100% on that either but as I say, the car got periodically updated so there's quite a lot I can 'get away' with and not loose points in concours (not that I'm going that way with this car though). I can even fit highlight wings if I wanted (I don't) as this was the first EVER Minor to be fitted with highlight wings in the experimental department. It was also owned by the head of the experimental department and then the very first female engineer in Morris Motors.

You do like challenges, don't you .

Yes, but given that this car has SO much history (and my others have none) and is one of the crucial cars in the history of the Minor I think it's worth saving and I'm honoured to be part of it's history.

Hi all Im back, and I didnt mean it. I really like MM's just envious of you all. Here's something for originality, when MM side valves stopped production and changed to the 803 OHV some of these early cars still had MM back axles to use up stocks. I wonder how they handled?

Fine. The 803cc engine was not a patch on the 918cc sidevalve in terms of reliability (sorry to all the SII owners. ). Not much faster either if at all. The engine was a lot weaker and used to eat bearings and the gearbox was very fragile. Apparently the later axle (Austin A-type) was not as good as the earlier Morris one either. But they had to use the Austin bits after the merger.

I'd like to see a Series MM vs. a Series II in some trials sometime. Actually it would be good to see all 4 engine varients pitted against each other in a sprint race.

And maybe an Alta conversion vs 948.... I think the alta might beat it!

Probably. Alta vs. 1098 might be interesting!

stevey wrote: Here's something for originality, when MM side valves stopped production and changed to the 803 OHV some of these early cars still had MM back axles to use up stocks. I wonder how they handled?

Like mine for example - along with MM front suspension, brakes, wheels & Seats - in fact we have 2 in Leics Branch like this.

Rog

mmm... a trial between all engine types? you would have to ensure that all engines either had similar mileages or that all had been recently rebuilt. Now that would be quite interesting. Bets on the Alta for get up and go, foot down maybe finally get there fun!!

Can you imagine the sound of all thoses exhasust notes? brill

Yes that would be a brilliant sound.
So we would have:
an original series MM (USHM2)
an original series MM (USHM3)
an Alta'd MM
an Alta'd and shorrock'd MM
an 803
a 948
a low compression 1098
a high compression 1098

All in 2 door saloons as those are the lightest

But the low comp engine would have to be coupled to a diff with the saloon ratio - as would the MMs, and possibly the 803 and 948 - I can't remember, or it's more a test of gearing than engines - or was the point to test the whole package? Thinking about it, the 1098 high comp could just run an LCV ratio diff...

No on their specific diff ratio.
so 4,55:1 for the 948,918 LC1098, 5,286:1 for the 803 and 4,22 for the HC 1098. I wonder if the 803 would cope with 4,22 anyway

With reference to the bumper irons, Lowlight one's are NOT the same as later one's as they are made from a flatter profile steel whereas the later single piece bumpers have a curved profile to suit the inside profile of the valance. The bolt holes on the lowlight irons are also drilled off centre so if you used a later iron the valance would probably sit in the wrong place. I have never tried to use a later one on a lowlight so you may be lucky and get away with it?!

WPR678B wrote:With reference to the bumper irons, Lowlight one's are NOT the same as later one's as they are made from a flatter profile steel whereas the later single piece bumpers have a curved profile to suit the inside profile of the valance. The bolt holes on the lowlight irons are also drilled off centre so if you used a later iron the valance would probably sit in the wrong place. I have never tried to use a later one on a lowlight so you may be lucky and get away with it?!

Right! Thanks for that.

Cam wrote:

WPR678B wrote:With reference to the bumper irons, Lowlight one's are NOT the same as later one's as they are made from a flatter profile steel whereas the later single piece bumpers have a curved profile to suit the inside profile of the valance.

Right! Thanks for that.

Nothing a big hammer won't fix !!!