Advice on Morris upgrades

[wishbone]

After years of trying to get my wife to drive the Morris I have finaly decided the only way I'm going to do it is to modernise the feel a bit! After all I did buy it for her.... I think. Any upgrade advise (for the car) would be appreciated. Its a 1968 2 door 1098cc.

My first thought is to upgrade the suspension. So has anyone fitted one of the shock absorber kits (front and rear) and how much did it help? Which is best?

Next to replace the seats. I've got covers on them because the rears got damaged in a welding fire (ouch!). I would like rover 100 seats but they seem hard to find. MG ZR's seem in good supply and look nice but has anyone fitted them?

Smaller steering wheel?

Any way to stop the car misting up so badly? I was thinking of renewing all the window rubbers which may help or is it more of a heater/demister upgrade thats needed?

Brakes are ok as they are I think and the Disk conversions are expensive!

Any other suggestions?

[bmcecosse]

You get a fantastic upgrade to the suspension by simply draining out the horrible old oil (if there is any in there) from the dampers - and refill with SAE 40 oil (or SAE 30 if you can't find 40). Smaller steering wheel - not good idea - it will make the steering heavier! Steaming up is all down to having dry carpets and making the very best of the heater - fit a higher rated (88 deg) thermostat in the cylinder head and make sure the heater water valve is wide open. Even better is to block the bypass hose - but that's a little more complicated. Seats -there are many options - I'm sure others will tell you what they have.

[Alex'n'Ane]

Seats- Almost anything can be fitted. Jlh sell of the shelf seta bases for the saab and i think rover 200? seats. But if you can weld, then with a bit of box almost any seats can be fitted. I have alfa romeo 156 seats in mine, and if you do a search on here you will see quite a few options. Suspension, again if you can weld the jlh kit is the best designed, but more work to fit, and slightly more expensive initially. Agreed on steering wheel. Give the heater a good flush out, or fit a slightly later mini heater (search on here for more info) You can also get a heated rear screen which work well, or stick on ones which work less well, but will obviously still help to stop it steaming up.
Do come back when you want an up-rated engine and brakes..

[chrisryder]

you can easily fit a smaller wheel, and i'd agree that if you go TOO small it'll make the steering heavier. however, i've got a 14 inch steering wheel (down from the standard 16.5) and even with my wide wheels and tyres it's not too difficult to steer!



you can get heated rear and front screens in a bid to help with de-misting. but i personally find that spending the first few minutes driving with the drivers door window open does the trick flushing the cooling system out could help, running a hose alternating ways through the heater especially. if it's blocked up with crud it won't be working to its fullest!

[wishbone]

Heated rear screen sounds good. The boot leaks though even after replacing the rubber, maybe needs aligning.
Carpets are dry but windscreen also leaks a little, seems to fill up and get past the rubber at the bottom.

BMC Does the thicker damper oil make THAT much difference? I guess it's worth a try!

I should be able to knock up some seat base frames for the ZR fronts, I just wonder how well the rears will fit!

[wishbone]

The steering wheel looks nice Chris, I'm not sure if i'll go for wider wheels yet but which do you have?

[ASL642]

Welcome. Fitting telescopic shock absorbers to front and rear makes for more positive steering/handling. An anti roll bar can also help at the front and an anti tramp kit at the back help cornering. The Mountney steering wheel(14") does mean you don't think you're driving a bus! These extras are all available from the Morris suppliers. Most small modern seats can be adapted to fit so long as you can make a sub frame for them to fit the floorpan of the Minor. Hope this helps.

[Roni]

I had a friend borrow my Minor once for a few days. She was used to modern cars and made the comment, when returning the car, that driving it was like an upper body workout at the gym. Might have been better for her with the original steering wheel and not the 14" one.

[bmcecosse]

Yes - the more viscous oil makes a huge difference to the dampers. After all - they are just 'folded up' teledampers. Cost is minimal - give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

[irmscher]

Metro and Astra seats fit easily and are comfy

[liammonty]

If the boot still leaks after replacing the rubber, check it's not through the mounting holes for the badge- that's a common 'leak point'. You can seal it on the inside of the bot lid with some silcone.

[chrisryder]

The steering wheel looks nice Chris, I'm not sure if i'll go for wider wheels yet but which do you have?

14inch Minilite copies 5.5 inches wide with 185 tyres. The steering wheel i've got is 14 inch, if i were to do it again, i'd get a 15 inch one if possible.
[frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

I suggest you speak to your wife and find out what her objections are, women tend to be a lot more concerned with appearances than we are.
If she doesn't want to be seen in an old car you are on a hiding to nothing.


I'll vouch for changing the damper oil, even putting 20/50 in makes a noticeable difference.

[Quendil]

To my van I fitted an alternator, two speed wipers (With controls now on new stork), uprated mini heater, heated front screen (Not really needed) and a brake servo (Kept the drums). Now my wife doesn't mind driving it. The heater and wipers help a lot in the rain and the brake servo makes braking feel more modern.

[mrmorrisminor]

My everyday runabout has the heated front and rear screens....... a real pleasure on those icy mornings and NO misting probs what so ever I have a 70 amp alternator to help keep things going!

I put an extra leaf in the rear springs (took the longest one out of an old set) and have an antiroll bar. The combo of stiffening the rear and the bar really made a diffrernce.

I have the marina disk conversion on the traveller with servo and that makes for better braking but to be honest I don't find the drums too bad if you use work your way round the box.

[MartinB]

Brakes are ok as they are I think and the Disk conversions are expensive!

Any other suggestions?

Hey, Roy are you feeling ok? You didn't suggest the Wolsley 9" front drums
(sorry, I couldn't resist it )

[bmcecosse]

Hahahahah - there's been a bit of trouble about that just recently in 'another place'......and since this poster seems happy with his brakes (and so he should be if they are in good condition) - I'm keeping schtummmm - for now.

[chrisd87]

I tend to agree with MarkyB - ask her what she doesn't like about the car. If in reality she wants a modern car then you're probably better off just getting her one, as modern seats, a small steering wheel and tele dampers are not going to hide the fact that it's a very old car.

If she's finding the seats uncomfortable - are your standard ones in good condition? If the straps have sagged badly or the foam has disintegrated then they can be pretty uncomfortable, but in good nick they're generally fine, particularly for smaller people. If you want Rover 100 seats I'm sure a quick look around local scrappies will turn up something, as that's where most of them are these days!

[wishbone]

Wow, some really useful info from you all. Thanks. I'll let you know what I end up with.

I'm close to a big scrap yard so i'll look round for some seats. I have two profesional upholsterers in the family so if I need a little modification it should be ok!

My wife loves the look of the car, always wanted one but she's still on a provisional and the Morris is a whole lot different from the driving instructers Hyundii! She's not what you would call a 'natural' driver but I want to get her through her test by February (it's only taken 6 years to get this far). I have bought her a Ford KA to practise in which seems to help, I have less desire to grab the wheel anyway! I just want to get the Morris upgraded a bit to ease the move from modern to classic! And it is mainly the suspension and de-misting that she objects to, also didn't like the feel of the indicatotrs!! Anyway, even if she never drives it, it'll be fun for me!

Well merry christmas all. Time for me to put on the white beard!

[simmitc]

To my van I fitted an alternator, two speed wipers (With controls now on new stork)

Where on earth have you got the bird fitted in the car? Is there any problem with moulting feathers?