New owner

[lottieisdamned]

Im buying my Moggy called Megan tomorrow and cant wait. Its my first Moggy. Im 23 and oly been driving for 3 months. Does anyone know if she'll be reliable enough to take on long journeys??? I understand shes had her engiene re-built, but i know older cars cant cope as well with loads of milage as good as newer cars, is that true??

[carlosramalho]

Hi,
wellcome to the forum,and I wish you a long long and quite miles of enjoy with your Moggie.!!
For your guidance on last 2008 I was 2 times to UK to buy 1 Convertible 1969 at Bristol and a Traveller 1964 from London area and after 48 Hrs I was back safe at home (Lisbon), I can tell you in both trips I had time to sleep (around 8hrs) and time to lunch and dinner.
So, in conclusion you can trust in your Moggie.
cheers
carlos
Lisbon/Portugal

[mike.perry]

Carry some tools, a can of oil and a gallon of water and your breakdown recovery card! Check the oil and water before you start and then don't drive for more than an hour before checking them again and certainly check just before you go onto a motorway. With a bit of luck you will fool the car into believing that you know what you are doing and it will behave itself.

[Fingolfin]

Haha, brilliant advice, Mike!

Take care of your Megan and she will return the favor, just like any other old car. Morris Minors were built to last, intentionally or not, but improper servicing and unattentiveness will destroy them. Mine, for example, turned 50 last year, and still runs a treat -- but the previous owner didn't do much caring for my Moggie, and so I've got work to do before it'll drive properly.

They're a lot of work sometimes, and sometimes they're annoying as all hell -- but they're one of the funnest cars to drive you can find, and they have so much personality! Familiarize yourself with normal oil changing, etc., and more Minor-specific things like fixing up the distributor (which we lovingly know as dizzy), and you'll have years of enjoyment.

Kudos to you! We don't see too many young women driving Mogs these days! I wish you all the best of luck from America!

[autolycus]

The motoring world is a very different place to when most Minors were built, and people's expectations of cars have changed enormously. After 150,000 miles, a cheap modern car could well be on its original clutch, gearbox, and engine: the engine may well have had no attention apart from a few oil changes and a couple of sets of plugs. The interior will probably look as good as new. Servicing will consist mainly of counting the wheels. A Minor will be worn out, even if it has received regular servicing, and that servicing, if you have paid a garage to do it, will have cost a lot of money. Any car can be kept going if you pour enough money into it, but the advantage of a Minor is that if, but only if, you are prepared to learn enough about them, and get your hands dirty, you can do all the servicing, and all the repair work yourself. If it breaks down, it's probably your fault for not spotting an impending fault, but in any case it should be relatively easy to fix, even at the roadside, and the repair will not be expensive. You will not be faced with a car that stops suddenly, displaying an odd combination of warning lights, and needs the maker's computer equipment to diagnose a fault costing thousands of pounds to fix.

So, will it be reliable? Unlikely, by the modern standard of reliable, i.e. stick it in the garage for an MoT and "service" every year, and in between times drive it in all weathers, on all roads, at 70+ for hours on end, with barely a glance under the bonnet, let alone all that messy greasing, brake adjusting, points setting, oil filling, and so on. After long enough ownership, and once all the neglect of years has been remedied, you may achieve an equilibrium where your servicing and replacement programme keeps it on the road.

It will always be slower, noisier, colder, less comfortable, and less safe than a modern car, and it will use more fuel. Minors and motorways don't mix.

It may be more fun, provided your idea of fun includes the maintenance as well as the pride of ownership, but if I had to drive to Carlisle, go to a business meeting, and then drive home today, I'd take my 9 year old, £1500 Astra rather than a Moggy. Keep Moggies for pottering and the odd special day out.

<covers head and runs>

Kevin

[dalebrignall]

how far are you going to drive each day,if your car has a recon engine and a good ignition system there no worries about doing long journeys.this is as long as you drive the car withen its and your capiabilities.dont thrash the living daylights out of the engine.if its got q 1098 you can cruise at 55/60 and get about 40 mpg on a run .as mike says carry a few things to get you out of trouble plugs points oil and water till you get toknow the car and what it uses or does not .do check the oil water tyres and windscreen washer before a long journey,and service it regually and the car will thank you .get yourself a manual and you can service it your self.if i can do it so can you have fun .engine oil is 20/50 you can get it from azda,morrisons or wilkinsons i descovered yesterday .

[surfergirl]

As a woman who drives alot on her own i have found my morris' a delight ( i have had a few my first a saloon, then a van, apick up a traveller and now just the van) They do break but with a small amount of basic knowledge you will get used to what is the norm, if the fuel pump stops ticking, a sharp rap with a spanner usually works or at worst clean the points, an easy job that you should familurise yourself with. Failing that a friendly person will always stop that had one of these as their first car and give you a hand. Theres nothing you can't do just be prepared to learn a bit about your new baby , nurture her and look after her and she will reward you with many happy miles of motoring. Good luck and welcome to the club

[bmcecosse]

Your Minor will be fine, provided - as other have said - you look after it - let's see some pictures of it! Some of the Classic Insureres (RH for sure) include Roadside Assistance and Recovery FREE with the (very cheap) Insurance - so do go that route rather than insure it with a normal Insurance Co.

[Blaketon]

Your Minor will be fine, provided - as other have said - you look after it - let's see some pictures of it! Some of the Classic Insurers (RH for sure) include Roadside Assistance and Recovery FREE with the (very cheap) Insurance - so do go that route rather than insure it with a normal Insurance Co.

I was going to post a reply last night but something went amiss and it got lost (I normally type them in word first, so if it fails, I haven't lost it all). As it says below, I'm glad none of my cars has an onboard computer.

Firstly, I’m glad to see some more young blood and am interested to know why you chose an old car, in particular a Minor?

A lot of people assume that old cars are unreliable. I think this is because when most people own “Old” cars, they are ill maintained bangers and people tend to judge things according to their own experience and standards. You may find that some other road users will assume your Minor is a banger, capable of no more than 40mph and that they will want to pass you at the earliest opportunity. Minors were not unreliable when they were new and if maintained properly will be reliable now. I am a big believer in keeping cars in a garage when not in use. This offers them protection from the elements and also makes maintenance and cleaning a lot easier. For those without one, I believe it’s something they ought to keep in mind.

I have always done my own maintenance and so a modern circuit board on wheels is not really an option. Even if I selected one and managed to obtain the equipment to maintain it (No doubt at great cost), the way things go with spares on most older cars, I’d eventually find myself struggling and my investment a waste of money (Made worse by the fact that I don’t do a high mileage). I know where I stand with a Minor.

From at least the 1970s, there has been a move towards fewer service operations and more “Sealed for life” units. I am not so much convinced that improvements in component life are due to them being sealed for life or simply down to better materials, perhaps more accurate manufacture and improvements in lubricants (All of which could benefit the Minor of today). Anti corrosion compounds are now more plentiful and can also benefit the Minor.

Based on said improvements, cars should now be lasting longer but since the 1990s cars have becoming much more complex electronically and are now much more dealer dependant. My impression is that scrap yards are now full of vehicles that are relatively newer than they were twenty years ago (And some of them look outwardly sound). I think the reasons are that repairs are now more costly and the point, at which depreciation makes repair “Uneconomic”, occurs sooner. Perhaps credit has aggravated the “Easy come, easy go” culture and vanity (Or keeping up appearances) still exerts a lot of influence. Someone who works for a local car dealer said that most discussions concerning part exchanges revolve around what the customer is currently repaying on their existing car and what the repayments on the new one would be; relative values are secondary. It makes me wonder whether, in reality, they are buying or renting their cars (At least with a house, it isn’t depreciating as you pay for it). Whatever your view, it represents a big monthly outflow of funds.

As to motorway driving, any Minor can be driven on a motorway. The 70mph limit is a maximum speed and there is no law, which says you have to drive constantly at 70mph. Granted at one time, the average motorway speed seemed to be at least 80mph but I have a feeling that more sophisticated monitoring of speeds may be reducing this figure (I rarely drive on motorways these days but my impression is that speeds have dropped in the last twenty years).

At one time I used to do quite a bit of towing (Car on trailer) and there was a 60mph limit. In lots of ways, settling down with the HGVs was less stressful than going along with the head cases in the outer lanes, the egos of which generally far exceed their abilities (I speak as someone who has a car capable of something in excess of 130 mph, though I don’t know how much!!). I am sure that with the possible exception of MM and Series 2 (Owners of which may wish to correct me), any standard Minor would keep up with the HGVs on a motorway. Of course a five speed gearbox would reduce rpm, fuel consumption and wear at higher speeds and a 1300 engine would provide more power to pull a higher top gear.

I think the biggest improvement that can be made to the standard Minor is braking. Having driven Minors with standard brakes, standard with servo and servo with discs, I am of the opinion that the latter are by far the best. I also like anti tamp bars to hold down the rear axle. Other than that, most things are pretty simple. Newton Commercial seats are more comfortable than standard seats but I have no problem with standard seats. I have electric screen wash and I intend to fit an intermittent wipe facility (My car has a column ignition switch so I have a spare place on the dash for the extra switch). Heated rear window/s are handy and it’s nice to have halogen headlights but in essence the standard Minor is a pretty capable little car.

[DanRodd]

Regarding the brakes,my current minor is as normal for a standard Minor,not brilliant,but they work.However,on my first Minor,due to the time it had been standing,i replaced every cylinder,copper pipe,hose and shoes/springs,together with new drums.The brakes on that were amazing!,thats drums with no servo,so im a firm believer that standard mog brakes can be excellent if they have been renewed.

[Blaketon]

Drums are more prone to fade and are not self adjusting as are discs.

[DanRodd]

mine has an on board self adjuster...me

[d_harris]

Agreed, the standard brakes in good order are more than sufficient for a standard car

[PSL184]

Here we go.... Off again

[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

And 'lottie' never even asked about brakes !

[PSL184]

Drums are more prone to fade

Mine don't

[Blaketon]

And 'lottie' never even asked about brakes !

They can come in handy on motorways when someone pulls out on you. Oddly enough, I can remember back in the mid 1970s, my mother was driving my father's MGB GT V8 at a fair rate, when somebody did just that. The MG had very good brakes and slowed down to 50mph very quickly (Just as well). I'm afraid the person with the defective rear view mirror was in a Morris Minor .

I wonder can you get Alfin/Minifin style drums for Minors?

[Simon m]

Hi All,

Can anyone please advise if 7" minifin type drums will fit onto the Moggy back axle hubs? Or even if 8" ones would go on the front.

I have a 1970 4 door and although the (standard) brakes are ok I need something a little bit more 'effective' shall we say..

Apologies if this question has been done to death but I'm having problems finding it on the messaging forum.

Cheers

Simon M

[philthehill]

https://www.minisport.com/alloy-superfi ... drums.html

If your 7" rear brakes are in good condition there will be little benefit in fitting Minifin brake drums.

I once had a pair of original Minifins but they were soon sold on to a Mini owner as I found little improvement in the braking - as an alternative option I fitted a set of 8" Wolseley 1500 rear brakes and then there was a vast improvement in the braking and they balanced up the Marina disc brakes fitted on the front.

Improving just the rear brakes can upset the handling under braking. The balance between front and rear brakes needs to be maintained and that is why some use balance or limiting valves for the rear brakes. The Mini was fitted with a rear brake pressure limiting valve as standard as were several other BMC front wheel drive cars.

http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... |Back%20to

[stuffedpike20]

just make sure you grease your trunnions regularly Lottie. Look in the workshop manual. You can get grease from Wilko.