Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Uncle Joe]

I was thinking about how similar A35's and Moggies were, and started to wonder. Which was the most reliable?

I remember problems such as half shafts, ball joints on Moggies, but never on A35's.

Also, a lot of small garages used to use the A35 van, but never the Moggie van...strange.

Lets have your opinions....

UJ

[Rick]

Tricky one!!

Engines are the same, but easier to get at in the Moggy so thats a plus (although whether that makes it more reliable??).

Was the rad bigger in the Mog, keeping it cooler in traffic than the A35?

I guess the A35 was more old-school in its layout away from the engine bay, eg:

- A35 had steering box as opposed to rack & pinion in the MM

- A35 had coil springs up front, the MM was torsion bar

Perhaps because the MM drove in a more 'modern' way than the A35, people drove them harder, and were less reliable as a result? just a thought..

R
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[Uncle Joe]

I really dont know the answer to this one myself.

By my logic, it must have been the A35. At least independent garages always used to have a tendency to use the cheapest most reliable motors day to day.

Comparing tha A35 van to the MM van, isnt it smaller? There must be a reason that they chose a smaller van over a larger one.

UJ

[Rick]

yeah its a fair bit smaller, and lower rated too (ie load weight rating) - perhaps Austin dealers offered more perks than Morris ones??

R
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[Uncle Joe]

I wonder if there is anyone on the forum that has first hand experience of these vehicles, that could shed some light on things?

UJ

[pigtin]

Seem to remember that there were a few more things to go wrong on a moggie (have you ever changed a master cylinder), but on the plus side you had rack and pinion steering and didn't have to stand on your head to work in the engine compartment.
Perhaps the Austin was cheaper?

[Job-Rated]

The 'Peanut' has a short connecting rod for the handbrake which is situated underneath, somewhere between the driver's door & the rear wheel. These rods would stretch after time & would need replacing almost on a regular basis.
Especially if you used the handbrake.

A friend of mine imparted this to me - he used to work on them.

[Rick]

I do remember having to weld up the handbrake mounting on the inner sill of erindoors' A30 - my introduction to welding, put me off welding underneath a car on stands for ever!!!

R
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