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Re: [FOT] another tow vehicle possibility

To: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [FOT] another tow vehicle possibility
From: Chris Kantarjiev <cak@dimebank.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:23:22 -0700 (PDT)
> I should not do that.  I've already been wondering if a 1.9 VW diesel 
> would fit into a Morris Traveler.  A nice little woodie that could get 
> 45+ MPG.

Be careful what you wish for.

The Minor was originally designed to take a FWD power plant. It's been
done a few times, typically with Toyota running gear.

Here's the problem with doing such a conversion, having lived
with a souped up Traveller for a decade: even when you're done, having
installed the 5 speed, the better diff, the disk fronts, the upgraded
suspension, the anti-sway bar...

You are riding down the freeway at 70mph in a tin can supported
by matchsticks. 

There is nothing approaching a *real* anchor point for a shoulder
belt. In fact, using the floor pan for lap belts is probably a
stupid idea.

You may be nimble, indeed you are, but you are small, and you are
subject to cross winds, and you are going to be crumpled under the
wheel of an SUV without the behemoth's driver even noticing - and
then the steering column is going to go straight through your chest.

I feel safer in my GT6, which is saying a lot about the Morris.

We used to drive her to the track twice a month to flag, about two
hours on freeways in either direction. Going was always in the dark
on uninhabited roads and not too bothersome. Coming home was in
speeding weekend traffic with a lot of drivers who were sunburned,
drunk or both. Pretty nerve-wracking.



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