This is a story of my 1962 Morris Minor. I started working on it when I was 14 years old, about 20 years ago. It sat forlorn at our summer place and since I had nothing else to do I decided to fix it. Well it has been fixed a couple of times but now it is starting to reach its final spec. First it was a simple restoration but soon I chose to fit better brakes. We then had a Morris Marina for spares which happened to have disc brakes that could be easily adapted. A few years later I chose to fit Marina engine with Toyota Carina 5-speed (T50) gearbox. it was pretty straight forward thing but did not satisfy me. I knew that A-series engines can produce a lot of power but could be a bit temperamental at higher outputs. Fitting a turbocharger would have been easiest route to get power but I already had one fitted to my Mini. Yesterdays news...
Well, so far the craziest idea I have come up with. Why not fit a Rover 3500 engine into the Moggy ? Well it has been done but not here in Finland. Legislation would prove too difficult to allow this kind of modification or at least everybody thought that. Well surprise surprise: legislation does not necessary limit the size of the engine, it only limits the power to weight ratio to 7 kg/kW provided the chassis and brakes would cope. Application was prepared and sent away. Wait for 2 months, then 3 and 4. No response. Call to the Finnish DoT and cold shower ! Excellent application BUT this simply can not be accepted. Why not ??? Well, these points and these and these. Again send in more info, more details etc. Wait for 3 weeks and call again. Well no chance mate. Why this time ??? ... More details sent in, finally a total of 80 pages.
After 6,5 months I called again only to hear that application was still there. Promise was given that this week things would happen. To my big surprise I received a phone call next day and was asked for some additional info. I was promised "some very light green light" and YES, Next friday I got the approval to go ahead.
So what this all included ???
My application included the following:
low output 92 hp Land Rover 3500 V8 engine
SD1 5-speed gearbox
Triumph Vitesse front suspension with GT6 springs
Marina rear axle
Marina discs front and drums rear
Additional body strengthening
Roll bar
This sounds easy, just remove the old stuff and fit new in. Well partly it is. Because my car was in good shape to start with I did not have to do much rust repairs. But my idea was to prepare a complete package so everything could handle the bigger engine and this required some additional strengthening. I found out just by an accident that Land Rovers were at some time fitted with 92 hp engines. Engine is basically the same as Range Rover engines but with lower CR and some restrictions in the intake vs. exhaust. This gave a nice starting point. I wanted to have a manual gearbox so Rover 5-speed was a natural choice. Automatic box would propably been an easier route since there are very few manual SD1 Rovers in Finland. Luckily I found a Triumph TR7 5-speed box, prop shaft and rear axle near Helsinki. Gearbox is basically the same as in SD1.
Front suspension needed some attention as well. Because I had to fit new suspension legs wider apart than originals, I no longer could use the Minor front suspension. I chose Triumph Vitesse suspension because it is common in UK mods. Now, after it has been fitted I realise I could have chosen a simpler one but hey, there is always room for improvement. All this combined with body strengthening and roll bar should make a solid car with less than ordinary driveline.
After 2 years of hard work and eventually in a big hurry the car was completed and registered October 8, 1999. The car is practically a 2-seater even if the rear seat remains. Test drive was very short and took place the evening before the MOT. It ran nicely and straight which was a pleasant experience after all the chassis modifications. What still remains is some attention to details.
Read more about the actual modifications:
| Suspension and brakes | Body modifications | Engine and gearbox | Technical updates 2000 | Back to Jukka´s HomePage | Updated December 4, 2000. |
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