Hot Rods Anyone ever build a Morris Minor?

"When I take her to the drags, she really shines. Always turns in the slowest times. Giddy up, giddy up Morris mine"

 

Don,you are a disturbed man! HRP

 

.....................Thank you. So I've been told. All of the staff here at the asylum agrees.

 

Anyone that grew up in the UK in the 70s and 80s will recall Nic Mann's Minor. For several years it was the fastest street car in the UK...

The end of this video shows him losing on the strip for the first time in MANY years, to an equally well known car at that time, a Ford Pop.



Remember seeing him blow the doors off of a surprising array of cars at Santa Pod back then, many with engines 2-3 times larger and running blowers.

Ahh, those were the years. Cortinas, Escorts, Vauxhall Viscounts, Victors, Consuls, Anglias and so on...

 

Cool little car! For a driver, I think a 60 degree Chevy V6 (think 2.8-3.1 from S-10s and early 80's Camaros) with a T-5 would be right on target. And there's hop up goodies for them, too!

 

My brother built one, wasn't easy. It has no frame, steering rack is on the firewall and the brakes are useless. He installed a late model Ford four with M/C carbs and a Jap five speed tranny. Pretty fast, fun little car.........

 

You know, I kinda like it. Its not a HAMB friendly look, but somehow it works.

"giddy up, giddy up Morris mine"...That kills me, I'll never be able to hear that song the same again!

 

here is one Royal Shifter had....

 

How about a Ecoboost 2.3L and trans from a 2015 Mustang. 310 HP and compact. Find an insurance salvage wreck.

Steve

 

I built a red 61 Morris convertible about 25 years ago for a guy from Rockford Il. I made a custom frame with a built 350 /350 Mustang II IFS and a 4 link 9" rear. it got sold a couple times and I think it ended up in California. it was featured in Super Rod magazine. I wonder what ever happened to it.

 

Now were talk'n.
Never seen this one (that I recall), very cool car.
Speaking from a purely visual perspective; in my opinion this Morris is about as HAMB friendly as an Anglia, Austin, or any other 60's drag inspired car.
The wheels, the hairpins, the hood scoop, the paint, are just perfect, the only thing that might be missing are ladder bars, but they would have to be pretty short.
When I saw HRP's first post I thought????, but I love this thing.
I think the reason this car "speaks"to me is because an old friend who has passed, had a Lloyd Alexander built a lot like this Morris.
I first saw it when I was 15 years old, it was the first car I ever saw do a wheelie on the street, had a 327/4 speed, nose high with a Datsun pickup beam axle and IIRC Cragars, possibly Ansen Sprints.
After that he built a Lloyd wagon, it had a sm. blk. Mopar, and it had a very low stance. Left quite an impression on this kid.

BTW, any West Coast guys remember the Morris from So. Oregon, it was a cool street car but had a much lower stance than Royal's car.

 

I don't know that I would say that I built on but I put a 283 in one for a guy once. pretty easy as I recall.

 

I don't have any build advice, but I must say that you are a glutton for punishment.

 

I got a little live struck from some of the pics posted, and started to do some research.
This cane up:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-chuck-morris-the-morris-minor-gasser.535322/

There have been a lot of talk about brake upgrade, mostly about running Morris Marina front suspension, with struts and discs and all.
But on your side of the pond you don't feel restricted to used parts of anything else if there is something new avalible.
But there are som good junkyard upgrades too bee made. But I found some nice info about the 1275 morris mini GT motor fits nicely, with a pan swap and something other small misc parts. The 1800 4 banger from a MGB should be a good swap with very little hassle, and will perform well. I found some nice pics and storeys of a guy running a twin cam MGA in one with a 5 speed, for hill climbs.
Rumor has it tge front springs are so week that the 1800 is to heavy. But since it needs a little work in the handling part, two springs will be need non the less. And a M2 front end made for ab Anglia should be a great upgrated for better brakes too.
But with good hot rod thinking applied, there are simpler and cheaper ways to achieve the same as a M2!
And there is some people who praise the v6 from the S-dime, and says it drives better in a Morris then it will ever do in a S-dime.

 

I forgot about the Marina, they used the same suspension and were made until the early 80s. I had one. What a heap.

So the consensus seems to be, you can build a real fun car basically stock with disc brakes, MG engine trans and rear end, decent shocks and have a lot of fun.

Or if you want to go big with a V8 you have to change out suspension, steering, drive train, and build a frame for it.

Maybe I just like doing things the easy way or maybe 100HP isn't too bad in a car that only weighs 1600 lbs.

 

Don't feel bad, people that had one try to forget they ever existed! Lol
They came with as a 1300 (a slow 1275 GT) or as a 1800TC. Nice engine, but the car will never be considered a great success, mostly because the upgrade from minor to marina was only skin deep.

And those engine should be capable of more then 100hp, that's the ball park of a stock mill. Small upgrades is possible, but they can put out north of 160. And can be street driven.

 

Danny you weren't looking at this one were ya?

 

Back in the early sixties, in the San Diego area, there was a Morris minor drag racing at the Romona drag strip. It was owned by a guy named Tony Caprio, it was a bright yellow, ran what I believe was a Wayne 12 port chevy or gmc six. The last time I saw it run, the promoter had the All American Jeep exhibition car there, the owner challenged for a match race and Caprio agreed to try, they used a staggered, bracket type start, based on times they had each run. Caprio won big time! The Morris was a very cool looking car and won a lot of races, I believe he called it "Mellow Yellow", but not sure of that. Don't know what was done to build the car, but do remember the driver was sitting way back.

 

When I worked in the Los Gatos Porsche shop, there was a Morris Minor that tooled by every morning. Spit-shine clean, light green...reversed steelies all around, with 'big-n-littles', wide ovals. Poverty caps, wheels a little darker green than the body...nice tire-radius-to-wheelwell fit, subtle 'rubber rake'...

Prompted me to buy a customer's 2nd car, a '58 Simca Aronde. (I reversed steelies, did a nice rubber rake, small caps, dual exhaust, 2 bbl carb.)
Caught the Morris pilot at the light on Winchester/Blossom Hill some time later and blew his doors off!
We must have been topping 45 MPH in that 'hot runoff'...

 

No Harry,the one I saw is a 2 door. HRP

 

Yes yes, but did you buy it?

 

No,I haven't.

You guys know the drill,something jumps out at you when you least expect it and the what if's start running through your mind.

I'm thinking about it but if I do it will go in the barn as a future project.

In my neck of the woods these little cars are not too common and to be honest I don't guess I ever paid any attention to them when they were. HRP

 

I had a 56 traveler with a 273 Mopar, and a straight axle. It was a bit of a hack job, and a handful to drive, but it was fun.

 

Ok just checking. The one I posted is for sale here in Spartanburg, It's an X drag car.

 

The one I saw is here in Anderson. HRP

 

Local [Q'ld] car that I haven't seen for a while.

Agreed

 

SEEE !!! THEY BEEN DONE TO DEATH !!!

( still cause me to day dream also, tho)

 

Nicest one I can remember was Gary Ellis' convertible.

 

Rik Hoving's Custom Car Chronicle featured this one recently.

 

There's a Morris pickup that keeps popping up on the local Craigslist every so often. It's got a full tube frame, MII suspension and set up for a V8. According to the ad, the rear cab panel bolts on, and they built the frame to accommodate a 12" extension of the cab behind the door to make it a extended cab of of sorts. Every time I see the ad and the pics, I start daydreaming about dropping in a hot 302 and burning up the highway!