Morris Minor Owners Club

I have a pair of Marina rear torsion bar adjusters so I thought I would put them to good use.
Looking at past threads on using the Marina torsion bar adjusters one stuck out as useful and which was posted by mogwai in December 2009 so I decided to do a variation on his adaption of the adjusters.
I used a new cross member end as the mount base because it make life easier not having to get up and down and under the car for measurements etc. These adjusters and adapter plates will be fitted to my Minor in due course.
The first job was to remove the boss on the rear of the adjustment arm. The Vernier plate was fitted on the rear face of the cross member end. The Marina torsion bar temporarily fitted to show how it all fits together. A modified Marina eye bolt was used as the torsion bar to cross member adapter as the splines are correct. The adjusters and adapter plates will be used with the standard Minor torsion bars as the car has been considerably lightened.

The adapter plate which was cut from 2" x 2" x 3/16" mild steel angle.
The modified Marina eye bolt pin can be seen on the right of the adapter plate.
The central 5/16" UNF bolt holds the adjuster arm to the adapter plate and cross member as there is no other means of stopping the arm moving on the torsion bar. The hole in the adjuster arm is much larger at 5/8" I.D. so as to allow the arm to rotate around the torsion bar rear pivot without removing the bolt.
The two large holes are there to lighten the adapter plate.

Nice piece of engineering! I’m admiring the welding!

Les
Thank you.
Whilst the welding may look good the manufacturer of the three piece repair section had placed a strip of weld right above the Vernier plate slot making it impossible to fit the Vernier plate snug against the top flange of the repair section. Before I could fit the Vernier plate I had to grind a good section of the weld away.
Luckily my Minor has the original four piece cross member with a nice roll curve between the vertical face and the top flange face which corresponds to the curve of the Vernier plate.
Once again my 125 year old lathe came in handy when removing the boss on the torsion bar lever in fly cutter mode.
The mandrel used is a top trunnion pin with the lever fitted onto the shallow taper and the parallel section held in the lathe chuck.
Surprisingly the lever was nicely balanced about the mandrel hole so spun without fault.
Phil

Goodness me that's great, I wish somebody would manufacture this modification! I imagine it also offers fine adjustment of the ride height as well as the convenience of not having to dismantle the assembly?

It does mean that you can adjust the suspension height without having to dismantle anything other than slacken off the three nuts - namely -

1. The nut on the rear end of the torsion bar.
2. The nut holding the torsion bar adjuster to the adapter plate/cross member.
3. The actual adjuster bolt/nut.

The large 5/8" hole in the lever which has a 5/16" bolt fitted through it allows for the equivalent of one spline of torsion bar movement.
You do not have to play around with the Vernier plate. That stays in place whilst any adjustment takes place.

Torsion bar adjuster conversion kit finished and ready to fit to my Minor whilst still retaining the Minor torsion bars.

Absolutely excellent engineering there Phil.
Wonderful to see an expert at work, well done.

Thank you Murrayminor.

I had a good day today in that I managed to obtain a pair of Marina 440 van torsion bars Pt No; 21H5437 which are 20.6mm dia, a pair of the later Ital tele damper tie bar brackets which have a longer threaded tail to accommodate the later Ital tele damper lower mount bracket, a pair of Ital (thick) front suspension arms with the additional hole for the anti-roll bar , a pair of later Ital front (thin) suspension arms with the additional tele damper bracket and anti-roll bar mount hole, four Marina/Ital torsion bar adjuster levers and two standard Marina 19mm dia torsion bars plus 4 Marina/Ital eye bolts.
I have been trying to source the Ital items for some considerable time so am a very happy chappy.
Phil

It's always nice to source parts especially when you have waited for them for a while.
I'm keen to see your car set up, I could spend hours simply asking questions.

My 1330 engine block has returned home albeit without the oil galleries being tapped but the good news the crank and bores were suitable therefore all is well.
I have also sourced a marina front disc brake set up and a new 1st gear syncro gear for my 1275 gearbox, to add to the damper and anti roll bar set up, so the transmission side of things is coming along.

Regards
Dermot.

It is nearly always the same comment - my granny had one of those.

I have competed at Scammonden dam a few times and Baitings Dam when that was open.

Batings Dam was short but very steep and mostly made up of hairpins with a very bumpy surface and was a real power hill more suited to rally cars than hillclimb cars, I didn't fare well at either in my Hillman Imp.

Scammonden dam was another short course , smooth with a tricky 90 right into a 90 left which I never managed to find the right gear for, followed by an off camber blind right hander to the finish.

Fun times.

I have competed at Baitings dam on several occasions.
Your right about it being bumpy.

philthehill wrote: ↑Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:27 am I have competed at Baitings dam on several occasions.
Your right about it being bumpy.

It was good fun at Baitings but I was there to make up the numbers, I was never a serious competitor though.
Grass roots motorsport is great fun and this evening I'm "stealing" my wife's Citroen DS3 for a spot of grass autotesting with Knutsford and District Motor Club.

The full on car preparation will be simply changing the wheels for narrower items and giving the car a wash.

It is nearly always the same comment - my granny had one of those

That's because their Granny wasn't daft!

I love the adapter kit you made yourself and admire the skill that went into it Phil.
As has been said it must make height adjustment tweaks so much simpler, shame they're not available commercially.
That said, I am surprised that one of the main suppliers hasn't thought of it, as a mod / upgrade, I think they would sell well.

As an aside, I wonder if Granny was into motorsport too?
Hold that image!

Best wishes,
Mike.

jagnut66
Thank you for your comments.
If you want to make up a kit I have put two Marina/Ital adjuster levers with adjustment bolts in the For Sale section. They are the main item you need. The rest you can make out of angle iron and bolts purchased if you want to adapt the Minor torsion bars. I have also put the NOS OB Marina/Ital torsion bar adapters in the For Sale section also if you have a set of the thicker Marina/Ital van torsion bars
The biggest problem with making up kits is finding the adjuster levers. The four sets of Marina/Ital suspension parts I purchased came along all at once and from different sources and places around the country so I grabbed them whilst I could. I had been searching for those levers and Marina/Ital parts for a long time as they are not readily available.

The elderly lady Nora Yoxall who had my Minor before me used to ride a motorcycle, made high quality stained glass windows and kept bees. I used to work at the garage in Blockley near Moreton in Marsh where she lived and she was always interested in the Morris.

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nora%27s ... a060928568

Phil

The elderly lady Nora Yoxall who had my Minor before me used to ride a motorcycle, made high quality stained glass windows and kept bees. I used to work at the garage in Blockley near Moreton in Marsh where she lived and she was always interested in the Morris.

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nora%27s ... a060928568

Sounds like she was a great lady, may she rest in peace.

I should add that Cadburys chocolate came into the equation when I purchased my Minor

For murrayminor
Reference Baitings dam above:-
I found a picture of me and my Minor halfway up the course taken from the top of the dam August 1993.

Bravo. What an excellent modification. I must compliment you on your workmanship too; clean, tidy, neat - impressive is an understatement. And quality photos too.
You have motivated me now to do likewise, l trust you will not be be offended if l use your "intellectual property" to get this job done on my Minor. I have been sitting on the Marina adjusters for years, trying to figure out how to use them. Thank you for sharing.
I have been on the look out for a pair of the heavier torsion bars too, as well as a pair of 4.5" Marina front hubs. Rare as unicorns here in Australia.