Nick's Morris Minor Traveller

Vehicle specifications

Vehicle: Morris Minor 1962, 2 Door Traveller. Purchased Jan 2014, registered Nov 2021

Owner: Nick Castle

Builder: Nick Castle, EV-Power

 

Motor: 10 kW BLDC Motor ME1616
Battery: 88.8 V nominal, 170 Ah Li-MnO2 cells (used Nissan Leaf battery cells)
Charging: 10 amp, 240 V mains power with a 12v auxiliary battery powering lights and accessories

Range: 75km

Speed: With electric drivetrain, 100 km/h (original was 90 km/h)

0-60mph Original : 28 sec advertised
0-60mph Electric: 9 sec

Brakes: Original Drum brakes in rear, disc Brake upgrade in front

Wood: English Ash

Paint: Subaru Horizon Blue

Full details: https://electricwoody.com.au/

At the time the wooden frame was rotten, the back floor panel had significant rust across it and some minor rust was found on the bottom of both doors. Apart from that the rest of the body and engine were in pretty good shape.

Over the course of a few years I have slowly pulled it apart and rebuilt it with the plan to respray and turn it into an electric vehicle. Many parts including a new wood kit were sourced from Bull Motif and ESM Minor Spares in the UK.

In 2018, in conjunction with EV-Power, I sourced an electric motor and a complete Nissan Leaf Battery pack for use in the Morris Minor with some left over for our 1968 Baravan Caravan.

In August 2019 I dismantled the battery packs and with EV-Power’s help I started configuring them and working out their placement and weight distribution so we could fabricate the appropriate battery boxes and framework.

It was a slow start to the high voltage system going in, but skip forward to September 2020 and the engine, batteries and all high voltage and 12v wiring were in place. The motor turned, so we had motion, and the next task was to replace the brake lines I removed when stripping it.

After attempting to vinyl wrap the car, it was evident after a few panels, in particular the front wheel arches that vinyl wrap was not the way to go. The vinyl was constantly lifting in the curves and not adhering on the edges. So I reverted back to respraying it and had ‘As Nu Spray Painting’ spray the car ‘Subaru Horizon Blue’.

After the car was resprayed I was busy with the timber work and final assembly of the car. I installed new disc brakes on the front and brake lines throughout. I was then thrilled to be able to take it for a test drive… and know it would stop!

Finally all the modifications were completed in mid 2021 and checked over by an engineer.

After an initial failed inspection in November 2021, I took the car back to Perth on January 20th 2022 and had the Department of Transport inspect it for the second time. It attracted several of the inspectors as I don’t think they had seen many electric conversions, let alone a vintage Morris Minor conversion. Thankfully this time it passed!!

I now have it registered with the custom number plates ‘E-Minor’.

Since then I thoroughly enjoy cruising in and around the town and coastline of Margaret River, Western Australia.