Hot Rods Morris Minor Gasser build

Boy oh boy , ain't that the truth !

 

I got my Lexan cut today for the windows. I still had the original glass but in the past year I have seen 2 cars blow the back windows out on the 1-2 shift. Makes the track workers so happy to try and get all the glass picked up out of the traction compound.

 

Well got motivated today and drug my motor off the stand and put the scattershield and transmission on. My wife and I installed it in the car. After looking at it I am going to redo the motor mounts.
The motor sets too high in the front. The center of the crank is 26 inches off the ground. I need to lower it to about 20 inches . It will give me more foot box room and a lower trans tunnel.
I will probably have to change the transmission crossmember also. One change leads to another.

 

The car looks Great !

 

Got my motor mounts modified to lower the motor 6 inches in the front. Now to do the frame mounts . I have the patterns made. Just need to transfer them to steel. Then drop the trans to get the drive line angle correct.
It should handle better with the motor lower The center of the crank is now 20 inches off the ground ,well within the Southeast Gasser rules of 16.5 inches minimum.
It also gives me more room inside for my pedals and a lower transmission tunnel. Before and after lowering the motor.

 

I like that look better , I would think it will handle better with the short wheel base . do you have a build thread on the mm with the mustang II front end ?

 

Yes. it is titled my Morris Minor rod.

 

I can not find it , but with my computer skills that is not surprising . thanks

 

Here is the Link to his other build: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-morris-minor-rod.583190/

 

thank you , I need all the help I can get .

 

Thanks for directing him to my other build. Got my frame mounts built today and got the motor bolted in. will start on the transmission cross member next.

 

What size fuel cell is that?


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5 gallons. I picked that one so I could at least drive it to the local cruise in after I get it done. It has a sending unit for a gas gauge. I bought it off ebay. The welds all look really nice.

 

Reworked my transmission cross member to lower it to get my driveline angle. Mounted my shifter and adjusted it.
Looked at the seats and figured I had better throw in the seats to see how they were going to fit after putting the trans in and sure enough the shifter was in the way of the seat or the seat was in the way of the shifter. So after notching the seat and taking it out a half dozen times and trimming some more it finally fits.
Good news after lowering the motor and trans I have a bunch more room for my pedals and my feet to work the pedals. If it was an automatic with only 2 pedals it would not have been an issue.
Question to all you Ford guru's, how far out of the scattershield does the clutch fork stick out ?
I haven't decided on my clutch actuation lever yet. I am thinking Fox body Mustang cable style. To work with my modified original pedals. Hanging pedals will be easier to install in this car.
Ram makes a really good diaphragm style clutch that would give me good performance without a lot of pedal pressure.
Since I can't afford one of their high dollar trick adjustable setups. Paul from Liberty transmissions told me to make my clutch disc my disposable item in the driveline so my Liberty prepped top loader will live longer.

 

Love your engine mounts... simple and look great


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Your Morris was in such great shape when u picked up, mine was is a rust bucket, which I’m repairing but man it would have been so much better being able to focus on other issues. Very time consuming.. mine sat in a field with no suspension for god knows how long.. before I found it for the whopping price of $300 ... lol still think I over paid but it was love at first sight and had to have it. I saw what it’s becoming not what it was.


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I only use the outside skin of a Morris when I build them . I pay a little more up front for a better car and in the long run it pays me back by not having to do a bunch of rust or wreck damage repair.
I ended up selling over 300 dollars worth of parts off this car to bring the cost down.
Got my steering column in today and almost have my radiator mounts built will finish that tomorrow. Column mount consists of a couple of pieces of half 1/2 inch square tubing a piece of flat bar and a 1 3/4 muffler clamp. Scrap metal barrel rescue and a $ 1.79 clamp.
Thanks for the kind words about the mounts. I always try and build everything simple and easy.
I make sure that I can take it apart quickly and with just a few tools. If I need to use a swivel on an extension to get to a bolt or nut then I didn't plan it out well enough when I was building the car.
When I build my firewall and floors they will come out so access to the trans and bellhousing will be from top as well as from the bottom.

 

Looking Great Mike !! For some reason I quit getting updates on your build.

 

Things at starting to go fairly quickly now and the car is coming together. I should have the steering box on and connected by the end of the weekend so I can start building the headers.

 

So SC this won't make a hill of beans but these little cars always intrigued me and your really getting it on with them. I'm up here in Washington and I go past an old gas station on my way doing the wifie thing with the camping trailer at least 4 times a year. This guy has about 8 or 10 of these little cars of most every body type and sells and collects more every time I go by. Really cool cars but I like the pickup the best of all. This is near Port Townsend over across Puget Sound and up north on the peninsula if your at all interested. I don't know him or his name but I guess I'll stop in this next time I'm there and pick that up and shoot some shots of his "on the lot used MM" stash.

 

The pickups are really cool. You can put discs on the front and add a 5 speed and have something that you can run 70 mph all day long.

 

Awesome, very nice!


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Wrapped up my radiator/ cooling fan mount. It is cool when you can use one bracket for more than one thing. Now I can remove my radiator and electric cooling fan by removing one nut and unplugging the 2 wires. Honda Civic radiator and electric fan, $78.00 off ebay delivered to the house.
My pinion bearings came in today and got the races pressed in and the rear pinion bearing pressed on. going to set up the chunk very soon now that I have all the parts.
Going to start on the steering box mount so I can get the steering shaft in place. Then I can build the headers.

 

Today went well. Got my steering box and shaft installed . Now I need to get my drag link made and my steering will be done. The headers are next.

 

Wow very nice!


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Looking GOOD !!!

 

Got the passenger side header built . Just need some final tweaking. Starting on the driver side tomorrow. Haven't had much time this week to work on it.
My wife likes to play golf on her days off and so we played 72 holes of golf this week. 36 holes one day alone. She works and gives me money for car parts so it is the least I can do for her.

 

Header looks sweet! Are you using mig or tig?

 

Great build....