Bob Landry’s Morris Minor
I don’t remember the exact year the Morris Minor convertible was but my best guest would be about a 1956 and the year this took place was about 1960. When Bob bought the car from Goss Dodge, located on North avenue at the time, and just across the road from where he lived on Barry Street, (Goss Dodge was also a British Leland dealer at the time.)
The car had been used and abused when Bob got it. The engine smoked and the transmission was on it’s last legs. The first thing we did was remove the engine from the car by way of a chain attached to the head and a 2 by 4 run through the chain. With Bob on one side and me on the other we lifted the engine out of the car and took it down to Bob’s basement and proceeded to attempt to rebuild the motor with new rings, bearing and a little valve work. The motor went back in the way it came out with a chain and a 2 by 4. The rebuilt motor ran poorly and the transmission was now about ready to have a cow.
What to do? By the way you need to know Bob’s father, David, worked at Goss Dodge as a truck mechanic. Bob found a used M.G. motor and transmission in the junk pile at the back of the shop and after a talk with the owner and a little sweet talk from Bob’s Dad, Bob was then the proud owner of a run out engine and a good transmission. The original motor and transmission was pulled again and motor mounts and other items were swapped out to make the switch. The M.G. motor needed a complete rebuild and was done as time and money allow. A paper route is not a high income job.
Even at this young age Bob was able to make the swap by making what ever was needed to get the job done. It’s been a long time now and my memory is not as good as it once was but I believe parts were made in the machine shop classes Bob was taking at the Burlington High Trade School.
Finally, everything was in, hook up and the test run of the engine was complete. A couple of runs around the block and a few more adjustments and she was ready for the road. A little more break in time and the big day was at hand.
Hinesburg road was selected for the test run. After we got a little ways from Taft Corners headed south Bob dropped the hammer and we proceeded to accelerate at a high rate. The speedometer on the car only went to 80 miles per hour and we had long past that speed when we came upon a Cadillac traveling in the same direction. We were by him in a flash and feeling quite smug about the whole thing when the oil line to the oil pressure gauge decided to rupture just at the point where it passes through the firewall and proceeded to drench me with very hot oil. The original motor only produced about 35 pounds of oil pressure but with the high rpm this motor was turning the gauge was pinned at 65 psi. We pulled off to the side of the road for repairs and a few minutes later the Caddy caught up to us and stopped. The guy got out of his car, walked over and look into the engine compartment and asked us “what the heck have you got in there for a motor?” “Just a little four cylinder engine” was Bob’s reply. Of course we didn’t tell him the horse power had been more than doubled from the 50 horse power of the original Morris Minor engine.
Bob eventually put a straight pipe exhaust on it, and boy you could hear that Morris Minor coming a half a mile away. There were many more great stories to be written as time went on about Bob and his Morris Minor but I will leave that for another time.
By Frank (Francis) Hanley August 30, 2018
