Returning to the fold?

Post by **myhooose** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:07 pm

Hi all,

My name is Peter, my first and second cars when I was a teenager back in the early 1990's were Morris Minors, a traveller and a 2 door saloon. My sister also had a couple of minors during the same period.

My 1st minor wasn't in the best of mechanical condition when i got it, with a burnt out exhaust valve and a nail used to block the flow to one of the front brake cylinders as it was leaking. Consequently over several years the Minors taught me a lot and I’m familiar with most of the mechanics. I rebuilt the engine and the only part on the whole car I did not meddle with was the gearbox.

I am seriously considering replacing my current car (when it dies) with a Morris Minor. I'm fed up of paying for expensive bills for electrical items etc. Recently the maf sensor went and the imobiliser system had to be replaced, costing me dearly.

I would be using the Minor for my daily commute (38 mile round trip) and it would be kept outside on a drive.

As mentioned before the mechanical side of thing do not worry me too much however the bodywork/structure does. Hopefully my current car will last me a couple more years, giving me time to find a minor and to sort it out.

I'm considering trying to find a reasonable car, stripping it down, sending it away for any welding and possible bare metal respray. and re assembling myself. My budget for this would be £4000 ish. Does this sound plausible or am I dreaming?

I initially thought of a 2 door saloon as the construction is simpler than a 4 door. Although I’d love a traveller it would not be fair to keep it outside. I'd consider a van or pickup too, I like the idea of the body mounted on the chassis.

If you have any good or bad thoughts about my vague plan I’d like to hear them.

Thanks

Peter.

Post by **mike.perry** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:38 pm

For £4000 I would expect to buy a car that did not need a bare metal respray. Spend the money on buying the car, not on having to restore it. When you buy it keep some other transport available as the Minor is bound to suffer from teething troubles for the first couple of weeks.

Post by **ASL642** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:38 pm

Welcome back! I would think for your budget you would be able to buy a good car with an MOT which would mean that you wouldn't have to do so much restoration (unless you wanted to of course) A really decent bare metal re-spray will set you back at least £2K these days, so spending a little more on a really sound car might be a better idea. If you've had them before you alreay know what/what not to look for. Happy hunting.

Post by **simmitc** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:07 pm

100% practical for daily commute. We keep our Travellers outside and use them every single day for every journey we ever do, whether it be daily to the office, weekend trips out, or touring 1000 plus miles for a holiday.

Post by **Kevin** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:37 pm

Welcome aboard Peter, for £4,000 you should be able to get a really outstanding saloon with nothing needed doing, you choice will come down to whether you want a standard car or one that has had some modern upgrades but looks standard (unless you are after a custom or heavily modified one).
As you have time on your hands it may well pay to join your local branch and go to a few rallies/events next year to get a good feel of what exactly suits you, it would also be useful to fill in your whereabouts in your profile.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:07 am

If it was me, I'd have a daily driver 2dr saloon and a pickup as a 'spare'. Minors are not 'new' in any shape or form these days so at 10,000 miles or more a year you have to expect the occasional bad day where it's not getting you to work anfd you'll be waiting on parts.
Needless to say, you can have the same problem, but bigger bills, with a modern car.
Moderns [off topic] - a hint.. try google to find out if you can read the fault codes without going to the dealer. I've had great success with that on a lot of Vauxhalls, and saved a lot of garage bills in the process. My current Astra Diesel told me it needed glow plugs, and recently a crank sensor - codes read and parts fitted by DIY + google. The crank sensor was actually the same price at the local main dealer as ebay, but generally the internet will also save money on parts too.

[back on topic]
If you can DIY and get pleasure from it, and most importantly - you can find the time to do regular maintenance and the occasional repair - then a Minor would be great, plus it will give lower running cost and similar MPG to a modern petrol engined car.

Post by **myhooose** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:25 pm

Thank for all your replies, much appreciated.

On reflection I think I won’t have the time to spend stripping down and re building a Minor (young family) so to buy a good condition car is the way to go. I enjoy tinkering but a full restoration would be too much for me. Also I believe you can buy a car cheaper than the cost of restoring one.

My wife has a scenic so if the minor decided not start one morning I have a backup to get me to work.

I’ve been looking at what minors go for on ebay. Not much above £2000 sells and only about 40% of the cars seem to sell. Prices don’t seem to have changed that much since I had my minors in the early 90’s!

I’m wary of buying a newly restored car only to find the rust bubbling through in 6 months time, so perhaps a car restored a few years ago would be best. I like the idea of a bigger engine but would want to stick to an A series as I’m familiar with them.

Basically I’m after a good solid car that isn’t going to go rusty on me in a couple of years time. I’d like the paintwork/body to be tidy but it doesn’t need to be perfect. The mechanics need to be reasonable but I expect things to go wrong now and then

What sort of budget at for a 2 door saloon in this condition? I don’t want to spend more than I have to and would like to have some money in reserve for repairs.

Thanks

Peter.

Post by **deano69** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:17 pm

http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.ph ... ic&t=29522

How about this one?

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:16 pm

I’m wary of buying a newly restored car only to find the rust bubbling through in 6 months time, so perhaps a car restored a few years ago would be best.

If a car has had a recent restoration ask to see the photographs of it at various stages as that is expected nowadays.

Post by **ASL642** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:02 pm

There's a nice clean looking beige 2dr on ebay at the mo £1,600 ish? - Gloucester. I would look at that one if I were in the market for another (not allowed any more for now ).....

Post by **mike.perry** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:19 pm

The standad upgrades for Minors are 1275 Midget engine, box and diff or Marina/Ital 1275 engine and 5 speed box with disc or Wolseley 1500 9in drum brakes, maybe suspension mods and a pair of comfortable front seats.
If you buy a ready modified car then make sure that you know what parts have been fitted or you will spend all weekend trying to identify the worn out brake pads.