2021 03 05 Morris Minor Front Shock Absorbers

[@davidjennings9253]

Only just found this video but had to comment. In 1970 I bought my 1st car which was a 1961 Wolsley 1500. In the 70s all my mates were modifying their cars, two of them had Minors one with a Sprite engine and the other an MGB unit. Another had a Ford 100E with a Cortina 1500 GT engine and they all modified the suspension and brakes to cope. I had very little money so had to settled for the standard engine but fitted wide wheels and lowered the suspension and added double roll bars at the front and a single at the rear. The Wolsley 1500 had the same suspension setup as the Minor so was easy to lower by cranking the torsion bars round 2-3 splines and adding lowering block at the rear but it was still too soft for hard cornering so I hit on the idea the stiffen th shock absorbers. I removed all the drain plugs and filler plugs and bounced the car up and down untill all the oil was drained out then filled them all up with 90 gear oil. I had that car for five years and then sold it to a friend and those shock absorbers were still good years later. The handling was much improved and it was still a comfortable ride. Great videos !!! I'm watching them all now.

[@FMFGUF]

Might give that a try on my 1970 Morris Minor Traveller front dampers (rears are now telescopic).

[@jonniejam-shovel6405]

Hi Tim, thanks very much for sharing your interesting films. I'm a recent convert to Morris vehicles, after fiddling around with an upright Ford Popular for 27 years. I'm now the proud owner of a 'Traveller', and hopefully I'll be able to use it a bit more this year. Kind regards from South East England. Liked and subscribed.👍 All the best Jonnie.

[@goingundersground]

Thanks Jonnie, good luck with the Traveller. I'm originally from Kent myself.

[@montyzumazoom1337]

Very interesting Tim. Again many thanks for posting this. Looking forward to more vids (subscribed).

[@goingundersground]

Thanks Monty - its a long haul, but hopefully this year or next the car will move under its own power!

[@timdelafosse4655]

Good video. Thanks. I've just put 15W oil in mine cos that's all I could get. I guess it'll just make my suspension softer? Tim (UK)

[@goingundersground]

I guess so, yes. I've seen on the forums people use 30 or 40 weight (never multigrade). I'm not an expert but 15 might be a shade too low, but probably OK.

[@timdelafosse4655]

@@goingundersground Thanks Tim

[@bernicarey4953]

Why didn't you remove the Bottom Plug to drain it? I realise you would have to be careful not to loose the valve bits inside, but it would enable more old oil to be drained. Incidentally, gripping the body in the way you showed is risky, too much pressure will split the cast casing. The workshop manual says to mount it on a plate using the bolt holes and then clamp the plate in the vice.

[@goingundersground]

Thanks for the advice. I was careful to ensure the vice did not grip the body too firmly.

[@kevinevison3117]

Hi.i agree.on your oil.but then you could fit a anti roll bar which is a big increment.by the way that is a damper.!!!.kevin

[@goingundersground]

An anti roll bar may well appears soon on the car...thanks!

[@pratheesanbestsongs3011]

Hello my car 65 years old now,can i use motorcycle folk oil (20w)?

[@goingundersground]

I think a 20W oil should be fine as long as the damper is in generally good condition.

[@hankpb1]

Morris minor engine is ok to use then as not multigrade?

[@goingundersground]

There's lots of info on the forums about the right oil, but one thing to bear in mind is to make sure it has enough ZDDP to cope with the flat tappets.

[@vijayakrishnannair]

Nice 👍

[@goingundersground]

Thanks ✌