Now here's a thought.

If what you want really IS a "real" old school Morris Minor, then think "Q ship" which is what we called them back then. The good ones had Ford V8 60's in them or the french made Simca Vedette V8 which was pretty much the same thing. Use a late gearbox etc, but these smaller versions of the Ford V8 side valve were actually quite popular at one time & their availability in Australia is better now that ever as the historic speedcar racers used them. Speed equipt. is also still available for them brand new. Now that really is an "old school" car.

Mmmmmm Q. ship.
Chris

Mazdz626
Did i read correctly?

"Datsun 1200's are TOO HARD to find?"

These sound like the words that i would expect to come from someone who couldn't find his buttocks with both hands.

Bloody hell, i'm chasing bits for a car that had a total production run in Australia of not more than about 100 at best, & more than likely, not more than about 60, & was discontimued in production almost 72 years ago. I have three of them & i still occasionally turn up with parts.

Datsun 1200, hard to find? Unbelievable. Pick up a copy of your major metro newspapers, trading post, [also on-line] & start asking anybody who will stand still long enough to hear your request. The best way to find a car is to LOOK.

To B310GX
The use of the name Morris Minor, & the word "Classic" in the same sentence seems to be a contradiction in terms. They were a car that did a job,..... just,...... so lets not get carried away here.
Chris.

Lordy, if blokes are going la-la over pocket patches, i will have to find the original "Datsun" flag that was used at D&G motors in Blacktown in the late 60's & early 70's. My stepfather was half owner in the business & the damn thing is in the shed somewhere.
Maybee i can use it as a dust cover for my KB10
Chris

As far as i know, the Honey Bee was a "US only" model, & if that is true, then you are unlikely to find one in other countries. None the less, there are some US members here, so i wish you well.
Chris

My first car was a 1952 Morris Minor series M M 2 door "saloon" This was the first of the High Lights & the last of the side valves. It was the most gutless P.O.S. i have ever owned, but hey, anything that you ever wanted in a car...... it didn't have it. No power, no synchro [any more] no comfort, no heat or demist, no style [untill i fitted Falcon 13" four stud wheels] No nothing. I had a convertible [tourer?] for spares, but it was a bit rusty, so we cut it up & dumped it.

My experiences with this car are so memorable that i swore that i would never own another pommy car in my life. I never have.

Now if you're really into these pommy substitutes for an automobile, & i guess that somebody's gotta love them, then the best thing you can do is to fit it up with a Datsun powertrain. I believe that engine swap kits are available & of course we know just how much a little A series Datsun can be developed to turn a limp banana car into something that goes well.
More power to the Morris,........... Datsun power!
Chris

To 1200RC
There are three main reasons why the Webbers get poor fuel consumption.

1 Because the car they are fitted to gets a flogging everywhere it is driven.

2. Because they are not correctly tuned & the mixture is rich, sending excess fuel down the drain, or the mixture is lean leading to a lot of full throttle operation that ensured that the economiser features are never in operation.

3. A combination of the above.

The GX setup was correctly configured at the factory & provided it is not messed with by that well known mechanic, Dick Fingers [The man with the Cassonova touch. Everything he touches, he ****'s] it will run well & return both acceptable sports performance & economy. A "correctly" set up Webber induction will perform well too, but not many seem to want to spend the money & time at a dyno facility with a Webber expert. Once it is set up right, it would be good.

Back when Chrysler was preparing to use Webbers on the 6 cylinder Chargers, they sent a few engines & cars to the Webber factory with the instructions to set them up right. It cost a motza, but the cars ran perfectly, straight off the showroom floor.

In it's E49 incantation, that 265 cube engine developed 302hp. It is my belief that this was more power per cubic inch than any mass produced passenger car in the world at the time. I like Webbers, but i can not afford to buy them & set them up correctly & the Hitachis provide all that i need at a much more affordable price.
Chris

To Datsterr
When i refered to the L series carbs, i really meant the CARBS alone as a possible substitute for the GX ones. The L series manifold etc. is of course quite diferent.
If you end uo with an incomplete GX induction system, then the SSS carbs may well prove to be a good source of parts, or perhaps to use the complete carbs as replacement ones on the GX manifold.

I believe, but can't say for sure, that the carbs are basicly the same, but i have always assumed, that the SSS ones had a slightly larger throat diameter & if this is so, then they might be better suited to the A14 & A15 engines.

I have two complete L series SSS induction systems. I will use the late model, square top, setup on my 200B & i will have a look at the possibility of using the early round top carbs as a substitute for my original round top 1200GX ones. I wont know till i take the GX ones off & measure them. My little GX will end up at 1434cc, so if the carbs are different, then i have options available to me.

Chris

Hell, my original AM radio with single 8w speaker still sounds OK to me. I can hear the "Radio National" personalities just fine on that.
Chris

Extractors have always been a popular thing, but i'm getting old & loud noises annoy me, so i'm leaning back towards suitable cast iron manifolds. The key word here is SUITABLE.

In the case of out beloved A series engines, "suitable" is spelled GX. These things breathe surprisingly well & i have a new one laying around that will replace the custom built tri - Y types on my GX engine. I will spend a few dollars on it to get it balck porcelain coated. This gets rid of the daggy rust problem & it looks a class act all the way.

Thats the beauty of these little Datsun models. With carefull selection of parts & components, one can have a real nice little ride with style, class, & pep using ALL factory parts. Hell, even my 1434cc upgrade in my 1200 block will be ALL factory parts with NO cpecial machining.

Chris

Datster
I don't think that you will have overmuch trouble finding a twin carb setup for the SSS L series engines, but i only ever went looking for one set of A series GX carbs [complete assembly] & i found them without trouble, but that was almost 20 years ago, so i have no idea what the situation is now.

There were basicly two types. The early rounded top ones were regarded as "pre polution control" types & the later ones had a bore square shouldered top & these are the "pollution" models. Many do not like these, but there is nothing wrong with them, they just require that you have a full understanding of how they work, & if you follow the manual for tuning them, they will be just fine & it helps to keep the rego Nazi's off your case.

My early 1200GX engine uses the round top carbs, but i have two complete setups for the L series, both early & late & i will be using the late setup on my 200B wagon when i rebuild the engine with Z22 crank, rods & pistons.
This is my parts car. When i need parts, this is the car i go get them in.

I hope that the GX carb supply situation is still good as i'm sure that you will be happy with it once it is correctly set up. The stock GX manifold should fit your A15 head

Chris.
P.S. As far as i can tell, the L series SSS carbs share the same service package [gaskets, small parts etc] as the equivalant GX carbs. This means that you can try Repco & Nissan for bits.