A switch to winter driving mode

With the cost of living crisis biting and the relatively low miles I’m clocking up at the moment, it's prudent to switch cars over on the insurance twice a year. Using the 1950 Morris Minor Lowlight as my ‘summer’ car and Lily my 1967 Morris Minor as my ‘winter’ car has benefits, sharing the load between them and giving me an off season to do repairs and maintenance.

As ever, winter rolls round far more quickly than one hopes, and as such there were still a few jobs to do on Lily. Aside from the regular servicing, one thing I wanted to resolve was the rear shock absorbers. Regular readers will probably recall that this isn’t the first time I have tried to sort these out.

Lily is fitted with a Spax adjustable telescopic shock absorber conversion kit, one of the fairly common aftermarket ones, but I’ve never been happy with how the rear suspension performs. Over the last couple of years or so, I have been adjusting the dampers to make them first softer and then harder, but this never stops the crashing and banging from the rear when going over bumps. I had initially concluded that the rear springs had sagged and needed to be replaced, but when I jacked the car up and compared it to another car with new springs, the measurements were the same, although the clamps holding the leaves together had all disappeared on Lily. These are available separately so I ordered a set and fitted them.

Further investigation revealed that the shock absorbers were seemingly too long and running out of travel under compression, therefore transferring the bump into the car. I had previously tried changing the angle of the shock absorbers to stop this, but this made them snatch under extension. Dad has a Morris Minor with non-adjustable telescopic oil filled shock absorbers which were shorter, and his car rides very nicely, so I have fitted some of these to see if this cures the problem. I’ve been able to mount them almost vertically, although doing so meant the exhaust pipe needed adjustment. This turned out to be a bit of a saga.

I had hoped to just bend the pipe a bit so the axle didn't hit it when it moved upwards. Heating the pipe made it just about possible to put in a series of small bends, but after a few hours I decided accurate adjustment was impossible. Eventually I bought two right angle bends, then cut and

“I had hoped to just bend the pipe a bit so the axle didn't hit it when it moved upwards”

welded these to produce the shape I needed. With this all done, Lily was ready to roll and a test run confirmed the banging and crashing had gone. It was good to be driving her again. It feels quite different from the lowlight, but I’m not sure which one I prefer (something I say every time I change them over!).

Storm Ciaran hit the south hard, but this was the ideal time to spend in a warm shed so at last I have returned to the 1950 Morris Minor Tourer project that I worked on in the Covid lockdowns. Getting the nearside door to fit took forever, as no amount of adjusting or packing of hinges would get it quite right. The A-post just wasn't in the right place; perhaps it got bent during the battle to remove the door, or maybe there is a bit of distortion in the shell despite the bracing we put in when we welded it.

Some judicious cuts with an angle grinder to the A-post and gentle persuasion improved matters, although to get an even gap I had to build up the B-post edge of the door at the top with weld and grind a little off the bottom. I still haven't got the line exactly straight and will return to this later, but I’ve now at least got it to a stage where I’m sure a good door gap can be obtained eventually.

Getting the doors right is the key to building up the whole front end and a trial assembly of this proceeded well. Being a Californian export model, it originally had highlight wings and I have these in stock. It's tempting to use them, but I'd end up with a car that, at a glance, looks like a later Morris 1000. However, a Minor of this age sold on the domestic market would have been fitted with lowlight wings. A few years ago I obtained a secondhand pair of these, which I am going to use. I do prefer the unique look of a Lowlight Minor, and being more streamlined they go faster too!

The wings, headlamp cowls, front panel and bumper all fitted pretty well at the front, with just a few adjustments needed to the bumper irons. Unfortunately, the fit of the wings where they meet the front of the doors is dreadful; they stick out here about ¾in from the line of the doors.

“There are only a few original Morris colours to choose from. I think I'm going for Thames Blue”

Both wings had already been repaired – badly – in this area when I bought them and I will have to redo these repairs before I go any further.

Then it's JUST a matter of sandblasting all of the panels, the wings, doors and bonnet and boot lid, priming and then doing an assembly ready for paint; in other words a perfect winter project. The plan is to get it sprayed in the spring, although knowing how time scales slip, I’m not sure which spring! The car was originally black, but I would prefer to paint it in a different colour. There are only a few original Morris colours to choose from. I think I'm going for Thames Blue (although this isn’t technically correct for the chassis number because it was introduced later in 1950) and have ordered up a litre of engine enamel in this colour to test out on a spare bonnet. When I did my Romain Green Lowlight about seven years ago the early Morris colours were very hard to find, but they seem more readily available now.

ABOVE: It’s amazing how dusty Lily, Will's 1967 Morris Minor, has got in the last six months. This isn’t helped by his dad sanding a wooden table next to it!

ABOVE: The route of Lily’s exhaust was adjusted around the rear dampers by welding in two new right-angle bends.

ABOVE: After a few months off ‘enjoying himself,’ Will has resumed work on the 1950 Morris Minor Tourer.

ABOVE: As well as replacing two bends, Will also adjusted the shape of the exhaust at the front with heat.

ABOVE: The old and the new rear shock absorbers – note how the replacements on the right compress down to a shorter length, stopping them from bottoming out. Since replacing them, the ride quality has been much improved.

ABOVE: As fitted, the door gap on the Tourer was unsatisfactory. When Will purchased the car this door was badly sagged in the hinges, and so he's not sure if this is something to do with why it fits poorly. Work is ongoing to improve this fit, as outlined in the article.