Morris Minor hotrod?

[hafeexius]

Hi guys! I've been visiting this site for a long time but this is my first post.

So here goes.....I was thinking of buying a Morris Minor (and transforming it into a hotrod! ) and transplanting either a 1.3L Esteem engine or a 1.8L Isuzu engine from the Contessa. Is it possible? I havent seen a morris in quite some time but I do remember that the engine bay is pretty small.

Also, is it possible to upgrade the suspension & brakes with modern components?

I plan on buying the car ONLY if fitting the 1.3 or 1.8 engine is possible. I want to make the car look something like this : http://www.minornet.free-online.co.uk/pix/gercar.jpg

Any inputs?

BTW - this project is 6 months to 1 year away. Another thing - how much does the car cost anyway?

[zaphod]

IIRC, Performance Auto , Noida has been working on a similar project with a Lancia engine...

maybe you could hit up their website (i forgot the linky)

zaphod

[hafeexius]

Thanks zaphod! Now I gotta find me a car.... There's a really good morris near my house. An old guy drives it. I guess I'll have to pester him to sell it !

Any idea how much they go for?

[Rudra Sen]

Engine bay is too small to house an esteem engine. Let alone 1.8ISZ.
Even if you can plug in an esteem engine, think about the transmission. It can't be a front wheel drive because you simply don't have space for engine/gearbox/drive shafts to place. In the case of rear wheel drive...imagine mounting the engine parallel to the body line. I don't think that you have space for gearbox. You need to tap up the floor which means even more cramped space inside.
Lastly, which differential is going to transmit the power? Obviously not the original one.
It won't be able to take the load.

You can possibly fit a Padmini engine. It's possible because I know someone had done this years ago in Calcutta.

[manx]

i agree with rudra .i had seen a morris with a premier padmini engine that was up for sale a couple of years earlier
quite a neat job though
i think this would be the best combination

cheers

[hafeexius]

Welll, how about those guys in the US who plonk in huge V8 monsters in the morrris? Surely we can do it here.

I dont mind a loss of space in the cabin to make the 1.3l engine fit. A bit of chopping here and there will definitely help I'm sure but then I dont know what it'll do to structural integrity. I was planning on making it a 2 seater anyway.

A fiat engine would be fine but I want a modern engine and a LOT more power than what the original provides, enough to smoke the rear wheels in second gear :P

For a while I was considering importing a chevy V8 but then that would be going way overboard plus the spares problem. I guess I'll have to make do with desi parts.

Thanks for your help guys. I'll go have a talk with a garage sometime soon and see what happens.

[islero]

look, no offense, buddy, but why do you want to do this to a minor? It is one beautiful car that dosent deserve to be rodded. I recommend a Standard Herald or a Gazelle or some other such, erm, old car.
I dont mean to hurt your feelings, man, one man's manna might be another's poison. But, best of luck anyway!

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by hafeexius

Thanks for your help guys. I'll go have a talk with a garage sometime soon and see what happens.

You sound distinctly upset.
All I wanted to put accross is this: The kind of work you're looking at can be described as a mammoth project. Unless you and the person (the guy working on this) are sure of what you're heading for...trust me, it'll be recipe for disaster otherwise.
Not for a moment I'm trying to say anything against your plan, BUT please be sure of what you're getting into.

1.3 Esteem or 1.8ISZ look too big to to get into that small area. That's my view.

It's your call at the end of the day.

Thanks.

[ajmat]

A coupla things

I saw in my UK edition of classic cars a Morris Minor with a Fiat DOHC engine for sale - god knows how it was fitted in

I remember reading about a Rover V8 fittedin a Morris Minor, the engine was mounted far back so the driver was siting where the rear passenger footwell was

An esteem engine could fit. Later models had an A series 100 cc engine and some people stuffed mini cooper engines in. I know people who fitted herald engines in these cars over here

It is possible but you need to be an expert in metal work

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I remember reading about a Rover V8 fittedin a Morris Minor, the engine was mounted far back so the driver was siting where the rear passenger footwell was

There you go hafeexius. You can discount two or three feet for you choice of engines.

[hafeexius]

Rudra - dont worry...it'll take at least a meteorite landing on my head to make me upset!

I mentioned the garage thing because theoretically it IS possible to fit in the esteem engine albiet with a whole lot of mods, but at the end of the day, it's the garage that's going to do all the dirty work. If they dont think it's possible or worth the effort, I wont press them because I know they wont do a good job.

I just wanted some opinions if its worth goin to all the trouble in the first place. I guess it's not.

zaphod - thanks for the info. the site is www.performanceautoindia.com . Maybe I'll buy the car off this guy after he gets enough of it!

The reason for my infatuation with the Morris is because I saw a Minor with a chevy supercharged V8 engine in Kuala Lumpur. It was unbelievable! I read about it in a local magazine and actually got to see it on the road the same week. It was something else...gave a mindblowing smoking getaway from the traffic lights and was off into the distance in the blink of an eye with all 8 cylinders singing in sweet deeeeeep and heavy bass burble. ahhhhh......heaven!

[Psycho]

"with all 8 cylinders singing in sweet deeeeeep and heavy bass burble. ahhhhh......heaven!"

God how do I agree with you.... Anyways hadnt posted on this as I was looking at options that would help make the work easier for you ..

1) Would go against an esteems engine as the body is quite heavy (know that as we owned one for about 10 years had to sell it as the chasis was rusted and we could'nt get a replacement) and you would need quite a bit of torque to get this baby going. Also as the esteems engine is not a straight mount you fill defn find probs while fitting it in.

2) A Isuzu well a good thought but would mean that you would have to reshape the firewall to accomodate it. Second thing this car has some really ancient supensions hence the front suspensions will have to be heavily modded to take the load. Not to mention the exhaust output (Rudra has lived with that for 10 years).

3) The best fit and a modifiable engine I can think of for this car would have to be the FIAT 124's DOHC engine (this engine can also be turbo'ed) its about the same size of the morris engine excepting on the top and will give you room to play around as much as you want.

Also dont forget to mod the Brakes

[khanak]

Yea man
I have a morris too and was thinking of making it a rod
Ittl be ssweeet
anyways
when i have the $$ ill probablly do so instead of returning it to its original
I have a couple of pics of some damn good jobs done
i shall upload them in a while

[v12]

Not a Minor though, heres a Hindustan 10 modified into a pickup by TMW :

Hey Hafeex,
if u planning to hot-rod it dont do any extreme mods to it. keep the exterior stock and mod it completely under the hood. Let no one know its a modded Minor unless u take off at the traffic lights

[khanak]

minor CUSTOM
yea leave the outside the same
goooood paint job
low suspension
nd killer engine
original interiors

aaaah the best
clik here