these wheels..

[dorisandjack]

evenin' all, first post here been a morris owner for a few years now and i'm dying to know what wheels these are! i would assume judging by size there may have been alterations to the running gear but any clue would be appreciated, I'm looking at lowering my doris after christmas and wanted some nicer wheels to fill the wings as the old biscuits are pretty far off without banding! (picture attached)[frame][/frame]

[Coalmossian]

What an intro! Reminds me of Dixon of Dock Green! Happy days!

[jagnut66]

I think they've re-sculptured the bonnet profile too, looks very sporty.............

[panky]

Looks like it's had a body chop

[bmcecosse]

The bonnet looks very very good! @ the OP - lowering a Minor really doesn't work - all you will do is smash the suspension into the inner wings at the front - and bump along on the stops against the chassis rails at the rear..... There are more sensible ways to improve the suspension (and by implication the handling) than by 'lowering'..... The easiest wheel improvement is a set of the LP917 'late van' wheels which are 4.5 J and take the larger 155 section tyres.

[jagnut66]

Maybe the suspension has collapsed and that's why they're all sat / stood around!

The bonnet looks very MG-ish, the look they were going for??

[dorisandjack]

thanks for the responses! when I say "lowering" I'm only thinking of 1.5" front and rear purely to lower the centre of gravity and try and eliminate some of the dreaded body roll, after I've got new sets off leaves of course! although I had heard there is an issue with the front inners being smashed to bits, will 1.5 be too much?

[bmcecosse]

Errr -YES!! It will be sitting on the bump stops - the inner wings won't last 10 minutes. And the rear usually sits low anyway - the rear stops can be cut down 1" to help give some suspension movement - some cut the front stops away slightly.....but I advise against this - the 'progressive' bump effect will be lost. Stronger front T bars can be fitted (at a considerable price) which allow lower running - and the dampers can usefully be drained and refilled with SAE 40 (or even 50) oil. Some fit a front anti-roll bar - this increases understeer - so should be balanced out by also fitting a rear anti-roll bar (or perhaps heavier Traveller 7 leaf springs which also pretty much eliminate the 'dreaded' axle tramp) ! You are now getting in to (semi) competition suspension ground... Best improvement is a small amount of -ve Camber on the front wheels - which also adds a little Caster to sharpen the steering turn-in. This all assumes suspension all in tip top condition - fitted with polyurethane bushes, and a decent set of wheels/tyres have been fitted - of course - if you fit 13" wheels - that lowers the car by 1/2" anyway....

[Ian46]

Apologies - I don't know what the wheels but what a fantastic piece if engineering there must be going on under the bodywork and it is so subtle. There has to be a new chassis under the body and the car probably doesn't have its original inner wings (or any other original structure under the 'skin'. I'd like to see photos with the bonnet open.

For example the side windows look to be the correct height but their bottom line sits well below the bottom line of the front windscreen which now sits higher into the front section of the roof. Likewise the top of the rear wheel arch is now almost level with bottom of the rear window.

The doors which look to be from a 2 door also appear to be the correct vertical and horizontal dimensions but the distance between the 'b' pillar and the rear wheel arch appears longer so it looks like the shell has added length at this point. The roof is also lengthened.

The body 'tub' also looks to have been 'chanelled' (lowered) over the chassis but the front wings look to be at their 'normal' height and where they meet the 'a' post the curved down section of the bonnet is almost non existent representing a further loss of height. Looking at the front wings they appear longer than normal with a much larger wheel arch. The bonnet 'bulge' might be the correct length and instead of the front aligning with the front of the wings it now sits several inches behind.

Love to know more!

Ian