Advice sought!

[AndrewM]

Hi,

First post here! I went to see a 1971 mustard/sand coloured Traveller today and I could do with some advice on whether I should buy it or not...
It has rust in a few places, bottom of doors, around the headlamps, the floor appeared to be sound, there was no carpet.
Some of the wood had been replaced and it appears to be a different wood than the original. A small section of wood was replaced entirely with filler, maybe a cover up of something more serious?
The rear wheel arches weren't original, they were plastic.
It would certainly require a good amount of work to make it look good but it seemed reasonably sound. I fancy buying one because they're a reasonably cheap classic car and of course, they're gorgeous!
Any pointers, tips gratefully received! For example, how much would it cost to replace the original brakes with disc brakes? How much is a door, etc...? I know this is all very vague but any advice received before I decide to buy would be great!

Cheers,
AndrewM

[FrankM83]

First of all welcome

I think this all depends on many factors like
1) are you doing the work yourself? as it seems labour in you country is quite expensive
2) how much are you willing to spend? parts are readily available even all new wood but this can be quite expensive to buy
3) how much are you paying for the car? is it more worth it to buy a ready good restored example

Morris Minors are simple and fun to work on and parts are still plentiful, for rust check front chassis legs, sills (which are hidden under the kick plates, rear spring hangers and floors, rear panels on a trav are aluminium except for the wings, also though you might know this wood is a structural item not cosmetic.

Also if you tell us where you're from someone might be able to go and see the car for you and tell you exactly what it needs

Good luck

[aupickup]

hello
well pretty much as frank has said really

new doors are not available new any more so will need a repair panel
interior trim can add up to quite a few pounds if there is a lot to do

travellers do need more looking after ie the ash frames

at the present moment i would look for one that does not need any work doing, unless you can do the work yourself

a good disc brake set up will cost around £500.00

hope this helps and do not let any of the above put you off, but have a look at a few before buying if you can

there are some good solid travs around,

[bmcecosse]

Wood replaced with 'filler' puts me off immediately. The wood frame is structural and need to be in good order. Complete new frames are of course available - not cheap and lots of work and skill needed to fit them. Arches made of fibreglass is not in itself a bad thing (although some deplore it) - but I would wonder about the condition of the inner wing metal underneath those plastic 'arches'! This doesn't sound like a great prospect to cut your Minor teeth on!

[AndrewM]

I agree with your comment bmcecosse, I've decided to hold out for a Traveller in better condition but god knows when another will appear here in Ireland. I felt that there was just too much work to do and I'm no mechanic! My interest in Morris Travellers' is purely from an aesthetic appeal!! By the time I've spent whatever on restoring the one I saw I reckon I could easily buy a better one!

[PSL184]

I restored a wreck of a 2 door saloon myself and made most of the repair panels and re-used as much of the original car as possible. The (perverted) ideas was to see how "cheaply" you could restore a scrap car for. It ended up costing over £1000.00.... The moral of this short story is, unless you are doing the job yourself, and have a large stock of "free" useable spare parts, spend a bit more money on a good car in the first place. You will never recoup he funds spent on farming out work to garages and profesional restorers.... Good luck with your search but don't be put off with cars in the UK cause if you find a good one you could always fly over here and drive it back home

[FrankM83]

Well if it was going cheap and you have where to put it I would buy it, and leave it there maybe if one doesn't show you'll end up restoring it, if not it could still be used for spares! IMO

[ASL642]

Andrew, we have quite a few people on the board from Ireland, David McCullough and Stevey, I suggest you pm them - they may know of cars you could go and look at without having to cross the water!

[BigStew]

The point is if you find the right car then a one off journey is worth while, I travelled from Lincolnshire to Anglesey 450 mile round trip but with a good result i.e. right car + right price ! ! !

[rayofleamington]

The risk is that after a very long journey you can be very dissapointed (e.g making an 800 mile round trip to collect a traveller that turns out to be a basket case with no redeeming features!)

Descriptions are usually wrong - therefore if making a very long journey you best bet is to get someone local who knows their onions to inspect it first. This is not always possible so photos etc... can fill in some gaps. If the seller does not want to take detailed photos of the sills, floor, crossmember, each piece of wood etc.. then you may have saved yourself a lot of travel costs!!

[AndrewM]

Thanks for all the replies so far! Well... I didn't expect to arrange to see another Traveller so soon but another has turned up in County Wexford so I'm off to see that one on Saturday. It's a good bit more expensive but according to the seller is in good condition... we'll see...! It's a 1964 built Traveller, green and has had a bit of work done on it.
Funnily enough, when I was in the gym this evening, listening to Joy Division on my MP3 player, pedalling a bike that goes nowhere, I spied a very nice green Traveller on Eastenders, maybe it's an omen

[Kevin]

I spied a very nice green Traveller on Eastenders

Hopefully the one you are going to see as last time I saw that one it wasnt looking so good.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Hi Andrew, I know of a really good black traveller not far from Belfast thats for sale. The car is black and had new wood, chrome seats and a respray and is in really good order, only being sold cos the guy wanted a green one and has bought already! Think its MOTd til nest August. £4500 sterling. Let me know if your interested and I will private message you the phone number.

Dave

[bmcecosse]

" chrome seats " wow - fancy!

[Kevin]

" chrome seats " wow - fancy!

But cold in the winter

[ASL642]

[Dominic]

But cold in the winter

Will be alright unless you're a brass monkey