Hello, and advise please.

[Grabsplatter]

Hi all. I recently decided to try to get my '58 two door back on the road. She hasn't run since 1995 (and even that was only one run when we moved house). She's been kept undercover, in a fairly well ventilated place, and a quick look over didn't reveal any nasties. What tinworm already existed doesn't seem to have increased, there are no signs of mice, I didn't see any spider webs when I was inside, and most amazing of all, the engine turns (I could only check this by turning the fan, so obviously I couldn't achieve full rotation).

Now, as quite lot has changed since I was last driving her regularly (for example, the advent of ABS as something compulsory on new cars, which does put Minors at something of a disadvantage...), there are several questions I have. Any opinions would be gratefully received. It might be useful to mention that I won't be doing the work myself as I have slightly less technical ability than your average houseplant, and I would prefer it if any work done results in actual improvements.

Firstly, when I was last driving her, I had a 1098cc engine fitted. This, in the opinion of my insurance company, turned her into a firebreathing custom car that would cost almost unimaginable amounts to insure. Please tell me insurance companies have regained sanity since then.

Everything else relates to slight modernisation. Now, when I bought her, the original owner had already made some "improvements", so I'm not desperately worried about originality, as that horse bolted decades ago. She had a heated inlet manifold, an enormous exhaust manifold that reached to below the passenger footwell - these have been removed and standard parts refitted. Flashing indicators have been fitted, but connected to a modern switch mounted on the dashboard, the headlight switch is a toggle switch, etc. So...

Does an electric fan make much difference? I know Minors don't exactly have horsepower to spare...

Is there any real point in fitting telescopic shocks, or would good quality lever arm units be just as good?

Would an additional brake light in the rear window be worthwhile? I seem to remember the rear lights were practically useless on sunny days (she still carries her original rear lights - the flashers are separate units.)

I see it's now possible to get flashing LEDs for trafficators. Has anyone tried them? I'd like to keep them trafficators in use, and having flashing lights in them would make them more visible/understandable to modern traffic.

Also, I was told several times, by different people who didn't know eachother, that I had been travelling considerably faster than the speedo indicated. What showed as 50 was more like 60, for example. Now, I know modern cars have speedos that read slow, but surely not by that margin. Is it possible that someone has fitted a different ratio diff?

I'm intending to convert her to modern electrical standard, have an alternator and electronic ignition fitted. I know some people hate electronic units, but having spent the last 25 years with modern cars, I'd sooner have reliability.

So, opinions please!

[geoberni]

Well, let's start with a 'Hello'... unfortunately, we don't have a waving emoji.

Sounds like you've got a lot if ideas about where you want to go.
I don't think the engine at a 1098 is anything to worry about, my Basil's (SII, '55)insurance didn't jump because of a slightly larger engine than he was built with.

Flashing trafficators are easy to fit and quite effective. Basil was rewired some years back and has the 61-63 flashing brake lights in addition to his trafficators. Basically he had the indicators when I brought him but with the redundant trafficators still there, so I made them operative again. So a bit like you're speaking of.

If you already intend fitting an Alternator, the Electric Fan question is irrelevant. That's a factor to do the electrics, not the horsepower.

I certainly wouldn't go messing with the shocks, I think most people don't unless they are really pimping for some other reason. If you're not careful you can end up changing the car so much it's not really a Minor any longer...IMHO.

I'll leave others to comment on things outside of my limited experience.

[philthehill]

If you want reliability fit and use good quality original type parts. Not all modern replacement parts are as good as you would like to believe.
To check the speedo use a satnav as that should show up any discrepancies.
A engine driven fan can absorb up to 3 bhp.

[liammonty]

Hello!

Plenty of questions there, and there will be numerous opinions, but for what it's worth:

1. Get the standard brakes working as well as you can and they will be good. If you've a 1098cc engine fitted, it would be worth upgrading to 8" drums on the front as fitted to 1098 cars (they are larger than those fitted to cars the age of yours). They work surprisingly well when fully functional and fitted with quality shoes.

2. 1098cc engine will make minimal, if any difference to insurance premium.

3. An electric fan would likely gain a couple of bhp, but i doubt it's worth it in the scheme of things. Cooling is certainly no issue with the standard set up. It would quieten the engine down a bit though, as the old 2 blade fans do make a noise!

4. Telescopic shocks aren't necessary for a relatively standard Minor. Try replacing the oil in the lever arm dampers - this can make quite a big difference as the oil in yours has presumably been in there for at least 30 years, if not longer! You can use a thicker grade than standard too, if you want greater damping.

5. High level brake lights are a good idea, in my opinion, though I don't have them fitted to my car.

6. Flashing bulbs in trafficators would seem to be a waste of time if you are concerned enough to be fitting a high level brake light. You said you've got flashing indicators fitted, so I'd use them if you want to actually be seen to be indicating, and save the trafficators for fun - no matter how bright trafficators are, if your car is at the wrong angle, they can't be seen by cars following you.

7. You're in the minority if your speedo under reads - all the Minors that I've owned or travelled in have had speedos that massively over read. And while that's legal to a point, it's illegal to have an under reading speedo. So I wonder if your car has had a new diffretial (with taller gearing) fitted when the original engine was replaced with the 1098 unit? Ig your diff doesn't have a filler plug in the front of the unit, it's been replaced with one from a later, higher geared car.

8. don't assume that an alternator and electronic ignition mean greater reliability like they do on a modern car, as there are a lot of poor quality parts out there and they may introduce less reliability. If you are determined to make these changes, by the best quality you can (for example, Pertronix electronic ignitions).

As I said, my opinions only, but I hope they are helpful!

[ianmack]

Hello and welcome.

I have a 1098 engine in my early ‘54 saloon. I told Footman James and they sucked their teeth. Had I uprated the brakes and suspension? I assured them that it had the 8’’ front brakes of a 1098 car and that the rear brakes and suspension stayed the same throughout Minor production. They were quite happy with this.

My speedo is inaccurate but the other way round. Having a later diff it shows 50 mph at 40 on the early type speedo.

I have an extra brake light in the rear window, an unobtrusive led strip which is pretty bright. They are only a couple of pounds on eBay if you don’t mind waiting for it to come from China. The original brake lights are small and low and easily overlooked.

[geoberni]

Does an electric fan make much difference? I know Minors don't exactly have horsepower to spare...

I read that as the car already had an Electric Fan, but on rereading, I see you might be considering it as another change. I got a bit lost in the what was done and what you're proposing.
As Phil says, the mechanical far can be 2-3 hp. But if you've got a 1098, that's an improvement over the original engine.

[ianmack]

Another factor to consider is that you mention not doing the work yourself. If you are paying hourly rates the cost will soon escalate and I would suggest that fan, shocks, flashing trafficators and alternator will not be cost effective improvements. An alternator is really necessary only if you fit lots of electrical accessories.

[jagnut66]

Hi,
A high level brake light of some shape, form or description is a must if you are going to drive it regularly. From my own experience, it's not so much that the existing lights are that bad, it's more that they are mounted quite low.
Which isn't a criticism in itself, it's just that the majority of modern drivers drive right up your a*se and can't see them.
I was hit three times by drivers when stationary / pulled up at a junction, each gave this excuse..............
Needless to say they got a piece of my mind!
However, although it's their insurance that will have to pay up, it doesn't compensate you for a damaged Minor.

quite lot has changed since I was last driving her regularly (for example, the advent of ABS as something compulsory on new cars, which does put Minors at something of a disadvantage...),

Unless doing a direct comparison with modern cars how does this put the Minor at a disadvantage?
They simply don't have it, so you must adapt to the car. It could be argued that since people have to actually 'drive' a classic (as opposed to moderns that virtually drive themselves these days), owning a classic could potentially make you a better, more considerate driver.

Except in the case of idiots driving so close they can reach out and touch the boot lid .........

Best wishes,
Mike.

[philthehill]

One of the reasons I do not have a servo fitted to my Minor is so that I can feel the feedback through the brake pedal.
You should be able to feel when the wheel is about to lock up and you ease the brake pedal accordingly. So my feel for the pedal is my ABS.
I will endorse that the driver has to drive a classic car and has to feel and become part of the car. Otherwise known as driving by the seat of your pants.

[moggiethouable]

Your mechanic will want to dump the engine oil, brake fluid and other fluids for new, including petrol.
The brake system will need an overhaul.
I wonder if the car is already fitted with 8 inch drums on the front to accommodate the 1098 engine.
Fitting a brake servo will not improve the braking power, personally I prefer the feel of the standard brake system.
I wonder if like my original purchase your car has cross ply tyres fitted ?
I have had a full set of radials now and find quite a difference in handling and road ride.
As for electrics each to his own, but I am masochistic enough to enjoy setting points.
I carry a magnetic flashing rotating orange/yellow warning light in case of breakdown.
Good luck and welcome back.

[Grabsplatter]

Thanks all, plenty of food for thought there.

Good to hear the 1098cc engine wont terrify insurers too much. That has been quite a worry as it seems 948cc engines are somewhat difficult to source. Now I just wonder how I can find out if it's unleaded friendly. Fitting the larger front brakes hadn't occurred to me, but that makes a great deal of sense. At present, the brake pedal just goes straight to the floor, so some fairly important work is to be done there already. I think the addition of a high level brake light is pretty much certain - I'm not sure I'd be able to relax without one these days.

Also good to hear that there's little/no point in converting her to telescopic shocks. I only wondered as to whether they'd locate the back end slightly better. She's always had radial tyres since I bought her, so I know things could be worse ;-).

So, I guess the next step is to dig her out and see if those very old tyres will hold any air long enough for me to push her outside. That would allow me to have a decent look over her.

This is where things start to get exciting/scary.

[ianmack]

A Minor engine will be fine on unleaded fuel in normal use. You should only need a modified head if you are planning severe usage, such as classic rallying.

[Grabsplatter]

One other question has just occurred to me, should a '58 car have self parking wipers? I've never known the wipers on mine to self park, which isn't exactly a major problem, but I've always assumed this is how it should be. Am I wrong?

Also, as a quick update, I'm now waiting for a new registration document as the old one hasn't been seen for many years. I did have a rather worrying moment when I found that I had at some point removed the plate with the car number (I really can't remember why, but I seem to have unscrewed several things at some point), but a quick google pointed me to where the chassis number is stamped onto the body. Let's hope I managed to read it correctly. Would it be possible to find the car number from the chassis number? I seem to remember there was something of an anomaly regarding the colour reference (I think it indicated a colour that shouldn't have been available until some time after mine was built). It would be nice to get a new plate with the right numbers assuming I don't manage to find the original one, which is fairly likely seeing as the last time the car was driven was when we moved house, and this plate would've been removed before that...

Assuming the DVLA don't raise any problems, the next step will be seeing if the very old tyres will hold air. If they can, then I'll be seeing if I can push the car at all, or if something has seized. If she will move, then we're good to go.

[MCYorks]

One other question has just occurred to me, should a '58 car have self parking wipers?

Hello
Yes, a '58 car should have self parking wipers. If they don't self park at all, then you may have a problem with the wiring or possibly the park switch on the motor. However, if they are just parking in the wrong place on the screen then you can normally adjust the park switch. Neither problem is particularly difficult to sort out.

[ianmack]

Assuming no DVLA problems? Good luck with that!

Seriously, I wouldn’t wait for them to sort themselves out, it can take months. Get on with the car and the eventual v5c will be a pleasant surprise.

[Grabsplatter]

One other question has just occurred to me, should a '58 car have self parking wipers?

Hello
Yes, a '58 car should have self parking wipers. If they don't self park at all, then you may have a problem with the wiring or possibly the park switch on the motor. However, if they are just parking in the wrong place on the screen then you can normally adjust the park switch. Neither problem is particularly difficult to sort out.

Ah, I'll have to give that some thought. It'd be nice to have everything working as it should, but it's never been particularly difficult to push the switch in at the right moment.

[Admin]

I'm afraid I'm just another 'hey, Welcome' poster, because I am famed for having no mechanical ability either!

[Grabsplatter]

Well, the new registration document has just arrived. Also, I had another brave moment, and looked inside the radiator cap - there's still a good level of water there, and it hasn't turned into sludge.

Looks like I'd better start digging her out!

[Grabsplatter]

So, after a few months, and many pounds, here she is. It's only taken 26 years since she was parked up, but she's fully road legal again, and just as I remember her. One advantage of her being parked up out of daylight is that the wipers blades haven't needed changing!

I did decide to go with the electronic ignition, door mirrors, and the 8 inch front brakes, but that's been it for the modifications so far. I've just got a MM/sII reflector for the bootlid, which will be repurposed as an extra brake light, and I'm pretty much decided on replacing the combined indicator/sidelight from a later car, and the rear indicators of an unknown type with the combined indicator/sidelight and combined indicator/brake light that was standard between the demise of the trafficator and the introduction of the later indicators - that way, she'll look to be in original condition (apart from the added reflector/brake light), but still have modern-ish flashers. Plus the rear indicators are a type I've never seen anywhere else. If a lens broke, I'd never find another! The trafficators have the flashing LEDs, and I'd thoroughly recommend them.

However, there are, as always, some jobs that need doing. I'd like to get a correct carb on her. The current one came from a scrapyard, I've no memory of what I took it off, and the fumes coming out are rich enough that my modern car could probably run off them. This doesn't seem to be affecting how she runs, but I do find myself switching her off in queues out of sheer embarrassment. So, what model of SU should a 1098cc engine be mated to?

Also, as I was, to use the technical term, an idiot when I was previously running her, I've no idea how to do the greasing. I've invested in a Wanner grease gun, now I just need to know what kind of grease to put in, and where to get it. I'm going to get a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands, but what should I use for jacking points?

Any advice is very welcome.

[ManyMinors]

That looks VERY smart . You must be very pleased with that? Have you driven it much?