any tips on buying a Morris Minor?

Beware of "fake" convertibles. Obviously - they're convertible, but the chassis may not be strengthened to take it.

Take a spare engine or two - they're not hard to find. With care you can fit all sorts of more modern engines which would make emmissions easier to get to grips with, provided you're not bothered about the originalness of the thing.

Join the owners' club and ask there.

In the OP's case changing engines (from OE) might not be wise as the rules on emissions might change. Just a thought....

The message from ":::Jerry::::" contains these words:

Ah, it's like the past - a foreign country, they do things differently there.

Be careful - lots of nice looking examples on the surface hiding all sorts of bodged body repairs, lets face it, some are getting on for 50+ years old....early cars will probably have had the larger 1080 engines by now - Fiat twin cam conversions are an option too....

Simple to maintain and mechnically strong but I imagine getting parts in the states will be interesting....Honestly don't understand why people love these things, but, each to their own...

I suppose being a child of the 70's early 80's I relate more to stuff of that era minors = British cold porridge to me....:-)

Sprotborough near Doncaster is a good source.

Oh yeah.. they do it all!

Test drive one and see if you love the way the things drive! You might notice some differences between it and your Saturn!

Yes, definitely! They really do drive like crap (and this is from someone who spent a lot of time behind the wheel of a Herald).

Rubbish. Compared to other small cars of the era, they drive very well. Precise steering, with excellent feedback. Nice g/box, and for me at any rate, a comfortable driving position. Brakes could be better, but in good nick acceptable. I can only assume you drove a bad example. Mike.

Original 948cc 1957 MM convertible. (Wifes)

Personally, I was surprised that the US even had emission standards!

I loved mine.. you could fling it around and it would behave OK. Always kept it around 65-70 on the motorway. But I found it damned cold in the winter!! hahaha The heater wasn't up to much.

I'm willing to accept that I drove (two) bad examples - superficially they were in good nick, but since they weren't mine I was not intimately acquainted with them. They seemed horribly underpowered, with the worst brakes I'd ever used (I've driven plenty of old Minis, Triumphs and Beetles, so I wasn't expecting miracles).

brakes are bad, (drums and no servo - you get used to it...) but the rack and pinion steering made them drive reasonably well for the time...

1080's will do over 70, (noisily!) and pull pretty well up hills - probably better than some modern 1 litre hatchback....

Still don't like them though -- my similar era Saab 96 was like a starship in comparison!

Try East Yorkshire Morris Minors seen some of their restoration at shows.

See

No connection just down the road from me (Beverley East Yorks)

Cheers

As much as anything, that's because they're overcooled. On a cold day I doubt the engine ever reaches the correct running temperature. A piece of stiff cardboard slipped in front of the rad, blanking off about half the radiator makes the heater reasonably acceptable. Mike.

But not as owner friendly I imagine when it came to buying spares.

You can virtually build a new MM from the spares that are available, and IME, a well maintained example is utterly reliable. Ours has done a couple of european trips. first to Switzerland, and then to the south of France and Monaco. On the swiss trip it had 4 passengers, and was pulling a small trailer tent. Still managed 60-70mph on the m/ways. Not bad for a 948cc engine.

Faultess performance both times, apart from the mileometer packing up 5 miles from Calais on the return journey from Switzerland. The little gear inside the head that drove the digit drums had just worn out. Still, it had registered nearly 400k miles, so we can't really complain.:-) £50 for a rebuild with the mileage correctly reset soon sorted that out. Mike.

Yes, I love the way 96s drive. I'm still driving old shape 900s as my main transport.

: Mark W wrote: : : > Test drive one and see if you love the way the things drive! You might : > notice some differences between it and your Saturn! : : Yes, definitely! They really do drive like crap (and this is from : someone who spent a lot of time behind the wheel of a Herald).

I had a Minor for a while (roughly in the middle of the 130,000 miles I did in my Herald 13/60) and I thought it was a delight to drive.

Ian

You'd be surprised - plenty of independents and still a few bits available from Saab. (though not much longer with GM at the reigns...) I'm sure you could still get the odd V4 part from Ford too!

Anyway certain Minor bits can be hard/pricey to get now..Think my friend must have spent a grand or so on his, I never spent anything like that on the 96...

No denying that - those engines are incredibly simple and bulletproof, even worn ones when they're burning/leaking more than you can put in, they just won't die!