Hello from Italy....

[StefanoP]

Hello,

this is my first post on this Forum and I would like to send the best to you all from my wife and myself, in Italy.

The Pasini family just got a 'new' car to keep company to several other automobiles of various age and provenance. N.28870 belongs in fact to my wife Anna and it is a 1949 MM Tourer in fair condition with goos body, paint and engine, though after 61 years it has a non original interior and hood. Allegedly the 32,953 kms on the counter are real, as the car was driven very little in its 35 yrs of life and forgotten for 25 yrs until last week when I presented it as a gift to Anna.

You can see some pics of the MM 'as found' here:

http://www.stefanopasini.it/Cars-Index_Morris_Minor.htm

Regrettably, I shall have to ask many questions to you experts about this charming little car during the restoration process; for now I just wish to say 'hello' and study the Forum to find help before I ask any question.

Cheers

Stefano and Anna

[alanworland]

Welcome! You will feel at home in no time - nice mota!

[Dean]

Welcome to the forum.

Looks like it only needs a clean! Great car and a great find!

Well done.

I'm sure our very own Mike Perry will be very interested in adding this to his register.

[mike.perry]

Emails exchanged

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Welcome too the forum!

That looks like a great find, your wife should be motoring in it quite soon!!

[pjh56]

Welcome to the forum, and may i say what a lovely nostalgic looking car. You can almost picture it in one of those 40/50s Italian movies. Very stylish. I hope your wife has a lot of fun driving it.

Regards
Peter

[Kevin]

Welcome aboard Stefano and it looks like a nice sound car, and I hope your wife enjoy's driving it.

[StefanoP]

Hello and thank you for the very warm welcome.

The MM is now at the garage to have the brakes overhauled, then it will be transported (on a flatbed truck) to Faenza to have the body/interior cleand and refurbished throughout. We are not really in a hurry: a delightful open little car with no heather is not so easy to use in the freezing temperatures and heavy snow that we are having these days in Italy.

I'll keep you updated with new pictures on my MM page at

http://www.stefanopasini.it/Cars-Index_Morris_Minor.htm

Cheers

Stefano

[mike.perry]

Hi Stefano,
Have you checked out the speedo serial no. and tpm yet please.

[StefanoP]

Sorry Mike,

the car is now in Faenza (50 miles from here) in the body shop so I cannot check it until Wednesday when I shall be able to get there. If you need the data before Wednesday I can ask the guys there if they can do a photo of the kph speedo.

Cheers

Stefano

[RobThomas]

x 70620/3 and 1000tpi is what I wrote down for the KPH speedo on mine. I have, however, no idea where I put it! (One of the problems with having too many sheds and garages)

[mike.perry]

Stefano. No hurry, whenever it is convenient
Rob. 70620/3 1000 is a Series 11 kph speedo. A Series MM kph should be 70620/? 1600.
the Series MM mph is /3 and the Series 11mph is /7

[RobThomas]

Maybe it was my eyesight. It was certainly an MM shaped one and it came off the car I bought from Onne.

[RobThomas]

Doh! Just realised that 1600 tpi multiplied by 5/8 (conversion of miles to km) is 1000

[mike.perry]

The MM and early S11 both have the same speedos, the only difference is the last figure on the serial no. and the TPM number. The S11 mph and kph speedos both have TPM 1000 so I assume that the MM speedos both have 1600 TPM. I just need to check.

[StefanoP]

Hello,

last friday the MM has been transported to my favourite body shop, where they will remove all the chrome parts (many of whom are badly pitted or rusty) to have them rechromed, checking the body and chassis. I've seen it today and a very pleasant surprise has been to find that under the dirt and dust collected in many years of 'storage', the paint (25+ years old!) is still in very good condition and with a good polishing it will shine once again. Probably the end result will be a nice patina, too.

For Mike: I took some pics of the speedo and I'll publish them this evening on my site. If you want I can send you the high-res picture as well.

Now I am looking for spares. I have found the knobs and pull switches for the dashboard (somebody removed the original ones and replaced them with normal Lucas toggle switches) but I need a repair kit for both the carb and fuel pump; plus I really need a parcel shelf (the full-width one running under the dashboard from side to side). I would like to ask you experts where could I find those spares, especially the parcel shelf.

Thank you for your help,

Stefano

[mike.perry]

You can get fuel pump and carburetter service kits from Burlen Fuel Systems Ltd, info@ burlen.co.uk, tel +44 1722 412500. You need the service kit for an SU H1 carburetter.
The front parcel shelf is the earlier short type which has a gold metal crossbar which fits above the steering column. The later parcel shelves have a black padded crossbar which bolts level with the doors, and sits below the steering column. If you have your copy of Minor Matters you will have to phone around the suppliers listed as I am not sure who stocks the early type.
Thanks for the speedo photos.

[RobThomas]

Newton Commercial in England make nice copies of the parcel shelf.

[StefanoP]

Hello Mike,

this a picture of the speedo with the numbers. If you need a different pic pls just let me know. And thank you VERY much for your exquisite guide to originality of a MM; it is exactly what I need, i.e. to have somebody who really knows the car to tell me what has to be preserved and what has to be changed/modified. Unfortunately (for you), this means that I will ask more questions.....

Thanks

Stefano[frame][/frame]

[RobThomas]

That is the same number that I wrote down for mine. Stefano, you will find that there is a chrome(?) ring round each of the holes in the black panel so you might be able to take the paint off without damaging the nice paint on the whole panel. It will help it to look even better! I think the panel would originally have been gold but the colour might have been different on export cars?[frame][/frame]