How to buy a Morris Minor Pt3

(Back to Part 2)
ELECTRICS

The Minors electrical system is incredibly simple, so there’s little you have to worry about apart from previous owners attempts to splice in stereos or security systems. But age doesn’t help things and the wiring may well have cracked while some of the connections will probably be getting temperamental now. The primitive nature of the electrical system also doesn’t lend itself to modern driving conditions, so it’s worth converting to an alternator for £95 if you’re anticipating using the car every day, as well as fitting halogen headlamps (£40) and an electric screen washer system (£30). Even if the car needs a complete rewire a new loom is just under £100, and fitting it doesn’t take long because there are so few connections.

CONCLUSION
As long as the monocoque is sound, any Minor can be revived, because parts availability is so good. But there will be very few Minors that haven’t received attention to the bodywork. Your mission is to ensure that any work that has been done is up to scratch. But there are few classics that are seen in everyday use more frequently than the Minor, and that’s for a good reason. Not only are they reliable, durable and easy to use, but with a few sympathetic upgrades they make a perfect alternative to a modern car.

Rear spring hangers rust away all too readily, but they can be welded up again.	Kingpin on front suspension wears rapidly unless trunnions are greased frequently.
Floorpans rust away, but excellent new ones can be bought. At least they're simple.	Clutch mechanism is mechanical and gets choked up with debris thrown up from road.
Doors will split at the top if quarterlights rather than handles are used to close them.	Brake servo is a popular mod but not as good as a decent disc brake conversion.
The front lever arm dampers leak. They're retained even if telescopics are fitted.	Early engines are athsmatic, later units are okay. The 1275cc swap is worthwhile.
Rear lever arm dampers also leak badly. Telescopic conversions are the way to go.	Trim is available new or secondhand for all versions of the Minor. Seats are often worn.

WHAT ARE THEY LIKE TO DRIVE? Early cars are infuriatingly breathless, so the minimum you should look for is a 948cc car. Even better are the 1098cc versions although a 1275cc powerplant is surprisingly good fun to pilot. Brakes are okay as long as you dont expect too much and the cars light weight means a bouncy ride and light steering. A car for the track it aint, but a Minor is so charming you cant fail to have fun.

WILL I FIT BEHIND THE WHEEL? Whether youre looking at a tourer, saloon, or Traveller, the interiors are spacious and comfortable. The Traveller has masses of space for load carrying too – in fact the estate version of the Minor could well be the most practical classic car available.

WHAT BODGES SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR?
Cover panels on underside of floorpan
Electrical nightmares from bad DIY
Converted two-door saloons being passed off as genuine tourers

WHAT SHOULD I PAY? The number of permutations of the Minor available is truly bewildering, so check out the price guide of the latest issue of the magazine.

WHAT WILL INSURANCE COST ME?
Comprehensive cover for a £3000 1967 Morris Minor Traveller in Peterborough:
£341 for 25 years old, two years NCB, clean licence, 10,000 miles, only car, kept on driveway, club member
£83.43 for 42 years old, full NCB, clean licence, 3,000 miles, second car, garaged, club member.

How to buy a Morris Minor Pt2

(back to Part 1)

Series MM, 1948-52: sidevalve 918cc engine, single wiper, sunvisor, offside tail lamp and beige vinyl upholstery. 1950: four door, wing mounted headlamps, also interior light, cancelling trafficators, screen demisters, stainless steel window frames.

ENGINES
Unless you’re looking specifically for a sidevalve Minor you’re unlikely to stumble across one for sale. Although the engine is reliable, it’s pretty gutless and not very easy to source spares for. It can suffer as a result of owners not knowing how to maintain the engine properly. Exhaust valves burn out as a result of incorrect tappet adjustment because they’re not easy to set correctly. Timing settings can also be thrown by wear in the distributor (due to lack of lubrication),

The next engine fitted was the 803cc version of the A-series. Unless you’re happy to amble along at pedestrian speeds these units are best avoided.

Series II 1952-62: 803cc engine. 1954: Horizontal grille, sidelights on wings, body colour dash, central instruments. 1956: 1000, 948cc, close-ratio 'box,single piece screen, larger rear window, 6.5 gallon tank.

The first of the really usable engines was fitted to post-1952 cam, in the form of the 948cc A-series unit. Incredibly durable and reliable, these motors will rack up 150,000 miles quite happily and are the sweetest runners of the three A-series capacities used. When the unit does start to wear out the first signs will be exhaust smoke under power, noisy tappets and reduced performance – and its not that perky to start with. There may also be big-end knocks when the engine is started, timing chain rattle and an oil light that’s slow to go out because of the reduced oil pressure.

1962-1970: Series III 1098cc, revised 'box & clutch, 8in drums, raised final drive. 1963: toughened screen, larger indicators & rear lights. 1964: revised interior & ignition switch.

Which leaves the final – and most usable – version of the A-series. the 1098cc unit. The extra capacity makes the engine less stressed and the most able to cope with modern driving conditions although it ultimately still suffers from the same maladies as the 948cc.

If you’re not too worried about originality it’s worth putting a 1275cc powerplant in, as it just slots into the engine bay without any modifications. The gearbox should cope with a 1275 just as well as it does with a 1098cc unit – although it doesn’t actually cope that well with the smaller engine. The brakes would really need to be upgraded, but you could do the work yourself to keep the cost down to a minimum.

1953-71: Traveller, exposed ash framework, hinged rear seat, separate lower compartment for spare wheel and tools.

TRANSMISSION
Gearboxes are the weakest mechanical link in any Minor, with all the units fitted being weak and having syncromesh that gives up alarmingly easily – although none of the Minor derivatives were fitted with syncromesh on first gear. Once the teeth have become chipped the gearbox will become especially noisy and it will start jumping out of gear, especially second.

The only model that has reasonably good parts supply is the 1098cc car, with the 803cc and 948cc versions having very patchy availability. The casings themselves were different, with the 1098cc car having a ribbed unit while the earlier cars featured a smooth case. Gearbox parts supply for the sidevalve-engined cars is even worse, so don’t count on getting parts very easily. But if you’re looking for a replacement gearbox for a 1098cc car and you’re offered a decent Midget gearbox, your prayers have been answered because it’s the same unit.

MM Tourer 1948-53: rear sidescreens. 1951: wing mounted headlamps, renamed convertible, glass sidescreens. 1953-69: changes as Series II/III, 1956: plastic hood.

Some owners get round the parts supply situation and the inherent weakness of the gearboxes by fitting a Ford Sierra five-speed conversion kit, which costs around £1000 including fitting. As this gives a taller top gear it makes the car more usable with the ability to cruise at 80mph.

The rear axle and propshaft are pretty reliable, but at some point the differential will wear out. You can tell that replacement is imminent if the unit gets noisy when you lift off once up to speed, so expect to pay £300 for a rebuilt unit. That’s the same price as you’ll pay for a reconditioned gearbox.

STEERING & SUSPENSION

Trunnions and swivel pins at the front wear out unless they’re greased at least every 3000 miles or three months – although twice as often as this, if possible, is desirable. If they’re allowed to wear enough, the swivel pin will pull out of the trunnion altogether, although this will probably only happen at parking speeds when the loading on the suspension is at its highest. But with a new kingpin leg and both top and bottom trunnions costing just £75, it’s not the end of the world if both sides need to be replaced.

The rear suspension is quite primitive and doesn’t give the car great handling characteristics. The general consensus is that the most useful thing you on do is swap the lower arm dampers for telescopics, which will typically cost you £100 per side. But Matt isn’t convinced, as dampers can rub on tyres if the job isn’t done properly (brackets are welded rather than bolted on) and at the front, even if you go for telescopic dampers, the original lever arms will have to be retained. They’ll be drained and not acting as dampers anymore, but they have to stay because they act as a pivot point for the front suspension.

At the rear its also worth checking that the leaf springs are in good order – especially their front mountings. If you do decide to convert the front suspension to telescopic dampers, for which you’ll expect to fork out £75 per side, it’s also worth opting for an uprated anti-roll bar. But  if you’re strapped for cash then the first upgrade should be to the rear suspension.

WHEELS & BRAKES
Pressed steel wheels were fitted to all Minors as standard, and they don’t give any problems. A common swap is the 13in unit fitted to Midgets (Minor wheels were 14in diameter), but using the MG wheels doesn’t give problems.

Drum brakes all round was the norm for all Minors, and if in good condition the system is okay for the job. But it’s worth upgrading to disc brakes at the front for around £600 or fitting a servo (for £300 or so) to make things easier in modern traffic.

The brake master cylinder lives under the driver’s footwell and gets attacked by all the debris thrown up front the road. Consequently it suffers after a while and because it’s out of sight it’s also usually out of mind. But swapping old for new isn’t a problem and at just £50 for a new unit its not a costly exercise.

TRIM
Not only is just about everything available for the interior of a Minor, but none of it is very expensive. A new hood for a tourer is just £120 while a carpet set can be yours for £60 or so. Series I and II can were trimmed in leather while the later car had vinyl trim -but if you fancy a bit of hide in your later car it’s easily done, if not cheap at over £250.

Switchgear and instrumentation is also available, except for the Bakelite switches used on early cars. But plastic replacements can be bought which look the same and don’t disintegrate after a few years.
(Continued in Part 3)

How to buy a Morris Minor Pt1

This article first appeared in the March 2003 edition of Practical Classics and is reproduced by kind permission.
Please remember that any prices are obviously no longer current.

Matt Barwick, who helped with this feature, runs Malvern-based Matt's Morris Minor Services. He owns seven Minors, having raced, restored and run little else.

IN THE LATTER stages of World War II Alec Issigonis was working on a new family car for Morris. Called the Mosquito, this was to be an innovative car from one of the most ingenious of all designers. There would be a monocoque construction and a flat-four engine driving the front wheels. Coil spring and wishbone suspension would feature at the front and it would have rack and pinion steering. Then the piggy bank was raided and it was clear that a less adventurous design would have to be substituted – cue the 918cc sidevalve engine seen in the Morris 8 Series E, driving the rear wheels. The first prototype even retained the Series E’s dimensions, which meant that because of the space-robbing wings and sills, there was hardly any interior space. An extra four inches was spliced into the middle of the car and the Minor was born – or the poached egg, as Lord Nuffield called it when he first saw it.

The Minor made its debut in 1948, as the series MM, otherwise known as the low-light because its headlamps were mounted low down in the grille. The press and public went wild, all madly enthusiastic about the Minor.

Half the value of a good Traveller is in its wooden frame, so check carefully for rot.

At first it was available only as a two-door saloon or a convertible (the Tourer), but a year after the Series II had arrived (in 1952) an estate was introduced – the Traveller. The low-set headlamps had been relocated to the top of the front wings in 1949 and the four-door saloon had arrived onto the market a year later, so the main change for the Series II was the adoption of the 30bhp A-series 803cc overhead-valve engine in place of the 27.5bhp sidevalve unit that had previously been fitted. An impressive 176,002 MMs were built and 318.351 Series II’s; 18,000 of the Series II’s being examples of the Traveller.

Door base rots but it can be fixed. Decent replacement doors are now hard to find.

In 1956 there were major changes to the car, with the launch of the Minor 1000. Not only was a larger (37bhp 948cc) version of the A-series engine slotted beneath the bonnet, but the split windscreen became a single piece unit and a larger rear window was fitted.

By the time the 1098cc engine arrived in 1962, 644,679 Minor 1000s had been produced, of which 89,000 were Travellers. This includes 350 of what are some of the most collectable of all Minors – the lilac-painted Million of 1961, which was built to celebrate a million Minors being produced. The 1962-on Miller 1000 used a 48bhp version of the 1098cc A-series powerplant and the front drum brakes were increased in size to rein in the extra power. By the time production ceased in 1971, 480,825 copies of the 1098cc Minor had rolled off the lines, I08,000 of which were Travellers.

Check for sagging doors. It might be worn hinges or it could be due to rot in A-posts.

BODYWORK
It doesn’t matter how good a Minor looks on the surface – there’s a good chance it will he hiding major structural corrosion somewhere, because they rot from the inside out. It doesn’t really matter how good the car is elsewhere; if the car’s structure is shot its fit for parts only.

Thanks to excellent panel availability, if the outer panels look a bit ropey you needn’t be too concerned about sourcing replacements, although the cost will add up if a lot of work is needed. But if it looks tatty on the outside, there ’s a good chance that the monocoque to which they bolt is in need of some serious TLC – work that’ll be expensive.

Most panels available at decent prices so dont fret if the car needs the odd one.

Things potentially get even worse if it’s a Traveller you’re looking at, because the woodwork that gives the car such character is also a very expensive thing to fix when it starts to rot away. Because the timber is structural, repairing it can’t be put off and it’s not really possible to patch it up or do a section at a time. That means doing the whole lot in one go, which costs around £2000, so make sure there are no discoloured areas that suggest the work will need doing imminently. The wood should be rubbed down and revarnished annually.

This crossmember is crucial for strength. They rot but replacements are available.

Whether it’s a saloon, convertible or estate, the Minor has a lot of rust traps that need careful checking. The rear spring hangers arc one of the most important things to look at because repair is so complicated. A lasting repair can take up to a day for each side, but the whole underside needs close inspection -especially the rear chassis extensions and front chassis legs.

In the latter case these extend either side of the engine and have a habit of rusting from the inside out. Once you can see evidence of rot it’s time for the whole leg to be replaced, at a cost of £100. For some reason, cover panels on the underside of the floorpan were popular in the 1980’s – great for hiding problems but not so good at solving them. These will probably have been replaced by now, but if they haven’t, whatever original metal was behind them will probably have rotted away a long time ago.

Other common rot spots include the sills and the doors, the latter rotting along the bottom edge and across the underside. Finding original replacement doors for any Minor is difficult, although they can be rebuilt because good quality repair panels are available. Vans, pick-ups and four-door saloons used the same doors as each other while a different version was fitted to tourers, Travellers and two-door saloons. Whichever version you need you can expect to pay around £150 for a decent door.

There aren’t many panels that aren’t available for the Minor, so just about any car can be saved if it’s important enough – but the restoration of a really rough car would cost more than the car will be worth afterwards. That’s why many Minors are fit just for parts – there are so many about that unless they can be saved relatively cheaply its preferable to just buy a better example.

Most of the panels that are on offer are from the original tooling – crucial pressing, like the floorpans and crossmembers, which braces the whole shell, are common rot spots.

Because we Brits have a love of convertibles, and with an ever dwindling supply of good genuine examples, it’s possible to buy a kit to convert a two-door saloon into a drop-top. Done properly there’s no cause for concern. But not all cars are converted safely, and the other catch is that sometimes such conversions are passed off as genuine cars. To make sure you don’t get caught out, read the section on identifying marks.

(Continued in Part 2)

Thinking of selling your Minor’s registration?

In a word, don’t do it – your Minor will almost certainly be worth considerably less than it would be with its original plate still on it, and probably sufficiently less that you’ll be out of pocket even considering what you got for the registration. But, if you really must…

Car registrations are one of the only aspects of motoring that actually increase in value over time. If you own personalised plates the chances are they will be worth more now than when you bought them. People sell their personalised car registrations for many reasons and this guide provides all the information to help you cash in your asset with ease.

Firstly you must be sure you want to sell you personalised plates as once it is sold it could be very hard (and costly!) to buy it back. When purchased, a car registration can be kept for life and passed on to younger generations or other family members.

So if you have decided you definitely want to sell your car registration the next stage is to advertise the plates. Adverts can be taken out in local and national papers or even online however one of the best places to advertise a car registration for sale is via a number plates dealership. By doing this you have the backing and knowledge of people in the trade who can help secure the best price for your registration. Their service is often free and they can carry out all the relevant paperwork for you. By using personalised plates dealer as an agent you do not have to field calls from potential buyers as they will negotiate on your behalf. They will also be responsible for collecting payment making it a more secure option when selling.

Personalised plates can be sold whilst still assigned to a vehicle or when being held on retention. If the number plate is still assigned to a vehicle when it is sold you can either do a direct vehicle to vehicle transfer or put the registration on retention depending on the buyer’s wishes.

For car to car transfers you will need to complete form V317 which is available from your local DVLA or Post Office. You application must include a V5 log book and MOT if applicable for both the donor and receiving vehicle. Both vehicles must also be taxed however licensing applications for untaxed vehicles can be made at the same time as the transfer providing the relevant documents and fees are enclosed.

To put a car registration on retention you will need to complete form V778/1 which is also available from local DVLA offices and Pos Offices. Your application must include the V5 log book for the donor vehicle, an MOT certificate if applicable. You must remember to add the new nominee name of the purchaser to the form in order for them to assign it to their vehicle.

The cost of a car to car transfer is £80 whilst the cost of putting a registration on retention is £105, both of which are payable to the DVLA at the time of your application.

There is no hard and fast rule about how long a number plate can take to sell. The main factors that determine a quick sale are the rarity of the registration, the popularity of the name or initials and the price of the number plate. Generally speaking the cheaper the number plate is the quicker it will sell however with rare dateless registrations and name plates it is advisable to hold out for a good price.

Millionth Moggy set to break records

The original Minor Million

A MORRIS Minor which rolled off the Cowley production line almost 50 years ago is poised to become the most expensive car of its type in history.

The striking car was the millionth ‘Moggie’ and made the Morris Minor the first British model to break the million-units barrier.

The car emerged from its Oxford birthplace on December 22, 1960.

Forty nine years on, the restored ‘1 MHU’ – complete with lilac paintjob – is set to fetch up to £30,000 at a classic car auction on Sunday, November 8.

The vehicle was one of 349 special editions created to mark the production milestone.

Each car was finished in a striking purple colour, with luxurious leather interiors and chromed wheel trims, and were all waved off the production line by Alec Issigonis, who designed both the Morris Minor and the Mini.

The car was originally used by the Nuffield Group publicity department before being passed to the National Union of Journalists for use in a fundraising campaign for the British Red Cross.

After being given away in a televised raffle – to a girl who was not old enough to drive – the car was sold to a postman in Wales, painted red, and, in 1971, driven into a ditch.

The current owner, a Birmingham-based enthusiast, transported the sorry Minor on a trailer to his home, where it remained unrestored for two decades until Derek Smith, a senior lecturer in motor vehicle studies at Northbrook College in West Sussex, returned it to its former glory at a cost of £15,000.

The car will go under the hammer at an auction at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset next month, with a guide price of between £25,000 and £30,000.

Matthew Whitney of auctioneer Charterhouse said: “We are always fortunate to receive some interesting cars and motorbikes in the sale, but this particular Morris Minor is probably the best known Morris in the car world, as it is the millionth Minor off of the production line.”

Richard Bromell, a partner at Charterhouse Auctions, added: “We’ve had quite a lot of inquiries for it already. This is such an historically important car.

“It is expensive for a Morris, but, as a piece of historic motoring, it is worthy of its value. This is the millionth, and it has a lovely story to go with it.”

Visit charterhouse-auctions.co.uk or call 01935 812277 for details.

What’s my Minor worth?

If you’re considering selling your Morris, the first question that’ll pop into your mind is “whats it worth?” and thats not as easy a question to answer as you might think. Interestingly enough, the average person spends more money on buying cars over their lifetime than they do on their house. Unfortunately, while their house will usually go up in value, the opposite is likely to be the case with the car. For this reason, you really want to get top dollar when you trade in or sell your Minor.

So, how do you go about getting that magical best figure? No doubt you’ll start by looking at price guides printed in the classic press, like Practical Classics, or the guide in Minor Monthly or Minor Matters. Oooops, you’ve already made a mistake – no two cars are identical and these price guides are to value a ‘fictional’ car at a level that you cannot effectively define.
You’ll probably weigh up what other Morris’ are priced at, and whether you think they are better or worse than yours. Mistake number two – just because this other Morris is priced at X pounds, how do you know it actually fetched that? Or even if it sold at all? How about the Agreed Value from your insurance company? Just as useless, given that this is a price it will take to replace your car, not buy it. I’ve never come across a car thats sold for its insurance agreed value!

So, if you cant define a value by what someone elses car is up at, how can you see what its worth? A Morris Minor, like any other car, is worth exactly this -
The Price That Someone Else Is Willing (& Able) To Pay For It.
Thats it, not a pound more and not a pound less. Since thats less than useful, I’ll try and give you some tips. First up, inevitably, is Ebay. It has its pro’s as well as its con’s, but the key thing to remember is that on Ebay your car will definitely, absolutely, unequivocally, not fetch as much money as it would in any other venue. That isnt necessarily a bad thing, since as long as you’ve set a reasonable start price then at least it will definitely go (look in the Articles Index for advice on dealing on Ebay and protecting yourself from fraudsters). If you simply havent the time to wait weeks or even months while your car sits in the Small Ads, or you need the cash in a hurry. then Ebay has its place.

If thats not the route for you, you need to think about where to advertise your car. Obviously I’m biased, but you could do a lot worse than start here – after all, its free to advertise your car on this site! To get the widest coverage, you need to split your advertising between both online and offline mediums. Think like your buyer would, and search Morris Minor For Sale on Google. Pick sites which come near the top and which are either free or very cheap, and make sure they allow pictures. Autotrader might seem like a good idea, since one price gets you an advert both in the physical magazine and on their website, but its not quite as easy as that with a Minor. Autotrader works best with a ’standard’ car that you can find a dozen examples of for sale a hundred yards from your door. Its a geographically local phenomenon – “I’m looking for a Mondeo, which is the cheapest that fits my needs near me?”. Minor buyers, on the other hand, are not so worried about distance. If the car is ‘right’ for them, if its exactly what they’re looking for, they’ll travel a huge distance, sometimes even abroad, to get it. Rather than Autotrader or other magazines like it, where your car will only ever be advertised in the nearest issue, you’d be better off investing that sum in an advert in Classic Car Weekly, or another similar publication. Your car will be advertised nationally, and the magazine will be read by people who are interested in classics, rather than just wheels.

If it doesn’t sell on first offering, either on Ebay or other methods, dont necessarily imagine you’ve got the price wrong. Remember a Minor appeals to only a tiny fragment of people looking for a new car, and its more than possible that the person who wants yours just didn’t see the advert first time round.

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