hahaha! you pompies are some crazy bastards with that short wheelbase. Looks like lots of fun. keep the progress comin.
Hey Jman We are planning to use the suspension from a Vauxhall Viva, it's the HA series built between '63 - '66 Wikipedia says this about the front suspension so there's no point me rewriting it. "The front cross member (steering, suspension and engine mounting) assembly from the HA became a very popular item for DIY hotrod builders in the UK, due to its simple self-contained mechanics, similar to older designs such as those from the 1930s, and ability to accommodate much larger engines within its span. The assembly featured a double wishbone/vertical telescopic damper suspension design in combination with a transverse leaf spring attached to the front cross member at its centre position and the entire unit could be removed and adapted to another vehicle as a complete unit." It also states on the UK NSRA site that front track in 51.83" and they can be converted to coilovers, they handle pretty well, I used to have a Minor with an 3.5l ali Rover V8 (the old Buick lump) with Viva front and Jaguar rear and it handled like a go cart. But we are using cause it's cheap and easy. Incidentally, the HA Viva's were sold in In Canada as a Vauxhall and also as the Envoy Epic through Chevy, Buick and Olds dealers.
from the crappy pictures i can already tell it's going to be one of the nicest chopped morrie minors i've seen. do you have some drawings or mock-up's of what you hope to have it look like in the end stance wise? i'd like to do a chopped minor as my first car because they are small and abundant over here.
HAHA....Pompies...HeHe. I like the telescoping A pillar idea. I bet it makes alignment and welding a breeze. Pete
Nah we can't draw so we've got nothing like that Nick, it is at ride height in the photos so it's pretty easy to picture it. Yeah Mark's A pillar idea made is so simple, slide the roof back on and measure your scribe markets, trim as necessary and then slide it back on, tack it in place and then work on the back. I'm an Aussie too so pompies made me laugh also!
Gotzy - Thank you so much for posting this info! Chopping seems like the natural next step on my Morris and this thread will really help! Vauxhall suspension sounds a lot like the Opel GT I've been using. But I can't find parts anymore, so am planning on building a custom (moly) tube axle w/ coilovers. I run a 377"sbc/glide to fairly consistent 10.30's at 127mph. Went 140 with it at B-ville last year. Still drive it on the street a few days a week. Only hard part is seeing around the tunnel ram. So might as well chop it, too. Thanks again and congrats on a killer chop! Scotty
I have a perverse liking of the Morrie. Almost scored a two door that was left in the base car park for years. No one owned up to it, no rego so the CO said they had to be gone by the end of the week. I was beaten to the Morrie, I went to get a trailer first, should have left a picket at the car! This is a chopped Aussy car, love the chop on it. Excuse the quality, there scanned from a photo. Doc.
damn Gotzy, your car looks great, perfect chop height. looking forward to the updates. hope you get the SBC/powerglide/9 inch rear soon.
I hope to use the same method and steps of chopping as you have done on a Austin A35 (2 inch chop). Do you think I can chop it in the same way you have? What did it end up looking like too?
I'm not that totally familiar with the A35 but doesn't it have sort of a huge rear window that will be a bitch to do anything with? If I'm thinking of the right one you might be better finding something else to graft in. Then general chop principles should work with any car that has a suitable rear window for laying over really. As far as what it looks like now goes, well it hasn't changed from the pics above. It's been a busy year finishing off my house renovation. We certainly won't be running it at this years HRD's as our radiator, motor, fuel & ignition systems, trans, rear suspension setup and various bits are all currently mid Atlantic in the back of a Ranchero that's being shipped over. Bizarrely we've been hit by the credit crunch as the Ranchero sat at Calship in LA for nearly 2 months whilst they waited to have enough cars to fill the ship. We were going to try the mad rush but with no parts there's no car... We'll be back on it in October so I'll continue the thread then as there's still a complete build to come!
Just sold a morrie and the guy is picking it up on Saturday. Now after seeing this, I wish I had kept it. Would have been good to practice on before chopping my Lincoln...
It looks like it will have an exposed engine and wheels, which would be cool on a Minor. Did you just cut the front off with a grinder?
Nah it will be fully dressed but with glass fenders, grill surround, gutted doors with perspex windows This was our first ride height mock up Front was taken off and then everything else suffered a meeting with a 9" grinder... And the another mock up with some of the glass bits
Yeah and just to make it easier to build the frame and cage really Well with no parts to play with i might as well tell everyone about the parts we've got so far. Found a motor on Craigslist that should fit the bill, just a 350 sbc, it's an LT1 block with 4 bolt mains and a steel crank, 12.5:1 compression, gear drive, 660 lift roller cam, 9,000 rpm rev kit, Milodon sump and titanium push rods as well as being supposedly blue printed and balanced. Basically complete less rockers and carb. Was built in the late 70s but never made it on the strip but was run. Was allegedly a Mondello motor and my mate who picked it up for says the lifter valleys been painted, pistons look like they've been hand finished and the heads look real nice so it's been put together with care. The heads are GM iron angle plug heads with 2.05"/1.60" valves. Don't know what the rods are but considering when it was built they're probably either worked pinks or aluminium ones, can't wait for it to arrive so I can have a proper look. Ordered some Probe shaft rockers for it as well, will also fit a crank scraper and windage tray as well as I really want to get 500hp out of this one so a little more research is on the cards to free up all available power. Oh yeah, paid $1,500 for it which I thought was a good deal. Craigslist also turned up a Glide for us as well, it's a Mikes Transmissions piece with a brake, 4,500 stall B&M converter, shifter and blanket for I think $800. All the ignition and fuel bits were ordered from Summit and sent to my mate to ship over with the engine as was a the rear 4 bar kit and rods ends and bits. Only a couple of more weeks before it arrives and we can get into it, can't wait. Oh yeah, picked up a shorten rear axle for £72 on ebay but has turned out to be a 8" and not a 9" so we still need to sort out a rear....
Nic job on the project. I want to get mine in the shop but I have a few projects ahead of them. I have 2 sedans and a woodie but no time... or should I say, not enough time.
the chop really takes the balloony-ness out of the car....just watch those front grille center panels....those low ridin' morris don't treat those panels too well.... my buddys already got damaged , and its only been pushed around... old pic its now black and almost put together....
I'm assuming that the US version of the Chevette used the same front suspension as the UK version, The one on the UK car is removable with the crossmember and is very similar to the HC version of the Viva. The brakes could be uprated cheaply by substituting mk 1 Vauxhall Cavalier(RWD) uprights,disks, and calipers as one unit ( same bolt pattern) cheap 80's mod for a quick road car as we do not have straight roads. I dont know the actual width of the unit, but it's fairly narrow, coil sprung, A arms. I have no idea on the availability of these units in the US, but it may be a starting point.
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