I've been a member of this forum for a few months now, but have never posted anything before. I've dropped in and read plenty of restoration projects, which has really spurred me on to complete my own, but thought I should introduce myself and my car!
My name's Michael and earlier this year I acquired 'Myrtle' - a perfectly standard '67 1098 2-door in Trafalgar Blue.
In a previous life she was very well looked after, but unfortunately when the last owner took ill, she ended up in a field for 2 years under a tarpaulin. Thankfully the paintwork is still A1, the interior was complete and dry (the carpets had been removed), and I'm sure there will be no major mechanical issues. But she is badly rotten in all the usual places - floors, inner wings, chassis rails, etc. Over the summer, I embarked on operation strip-down, and moved all of the detachable parts (engine, g'box, etc) to my shed to await a full rebuild over the winter. The bare rolling shell is all that is left in the garage, and I am gradually working my way through, cutting away rotten panels, bracing where necessary, and stripping off all of the crusty old (factory original!) undershield. New panels will be on order soon, and then it will be time for operation weldathon!
I may use this thread as a place for bitty little questions that I don't know the answer to (not important enough to warrant their own thread). This is not my first classic resto, but I am new to BMC. I'm used to working on 60's Rovers and Triumph sports cars, and whilst I am absolutely loving the conventional simplicity of the Minor, there is a lot of stuff I'm not completely au-fait with.
To kick off then:
1) Can you get brush-on trafalgar blue paint? This is to touch up some of the surface pitting in the engine bay after treatment. She won't be a show car (she is destined to be my girlfriend's little runaround), but I do want a good, clean, original look where possible.
2) Can anybody shed any light as to which shade of Traf blue I have? She was registered Jan 67, and has sealed-beam headlights. There seems to be something of a greeney tinge to it, which look different to the slate-blue shades I have seen at local shows. A paint code would be useful too, please!
3) I want to fit the later locking steering column ignition switch. Does this involve changing the whole column, or is the switch contained within a different steering boss?
Thanks in advance,
Michael
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