1958 2 door saloon

[53buick]

Hi All,
I have just bought a 2 door 1958 Morris car which I want to restore as best I can.
I am more used to modifying cars etc but always fancied doing a proper resto job BUT.......
I have been made redundant and due to family health issues I cannot go back to work for a while which also has a knock-on effect financially!
Basically, I am skinter than skint!
So, I have this rolling shell which I am very keen on doing on a mega budget with Time being the main thing I can offer.
This car also gets me out of the house which in turn keeps the depression at bay.....

The car has rot but not in places I am used to.
The floor is really good, the sills are very good (never welded) the underside is very good (not patched to death)....
However....
There were no wings on the car when it was delivered (bought blind) and the rear wing rails were fibreglass (now completely removed...
The front inner wings are very very very bad!!!!!
The engine bay is bad, the flitch panels are gone but the chassis rails look good??????????
So, I could have maybe got a better shell to start with but this was delivered to my door complete with loads of steel for fabricating with.

I will upload pictures as and when I can get them off my phone.
What will be needed is a good representation of how it should have been from the factory so I can restore it the best I can.

Items needed if anyone has an abundance of them:-
Pair of front wings
Pair of rear wings
a bootlid
948cc engine, gearbox, propshaft.
front panel
front and rear bumpers
rear light units.
gearbox tunnel

and that is just what I can remember off the top of my head (off my head I must be)....

I can collect any offerings (reasonably priced or free) within a 25 mile radius of Gloucestershire or the M4 to London as I travel up to London each Friday and Sunday to see my Wife in hospital in London.

Watch this space for pictures and daily updates (I hope)
cheers,
Spence

[TvdWerf]

All the parts are available on: http://www.morrisminorspares.net/shop.php
You are lucky, all the parts on the market, are ready for cars younger than 1956.

[irmscher]

Any pictures Spence

[53buick]

Good response, well timed if only my phone hadn't bitten the dust at a bad time! lol.
I will see what I can get off the memory card and post them up.

[53buick]

Well, I cant take pictures of the whole car right now as it is in the garage and it has been raining for a few days.
As you can see, better ones have probably been scrapped but ANYTHING is repairable given the time.

The car was bought blind, no wings or bootlid, no doors or engine/box/prop.
The rear arch flange was 99% fibreglass, started repairing the lower part, ordering a new upper part next week.

The RHS Flitch panel was rotted right out, the part behind the kick panel also rotted out, the lower "A" post, rotted, these parts will be repaired next week.

The sills however are great! lol....

[53buick]

Right, been busy, I have welded a new lower lip on the inner wing ready for the repair panel I will order.
Also welded up the hole behind the kick panel.
Over the next 2 days I will put the new Flitch panel on.
Photos to follow.

[alexandermclaren]

Looking good so far
your going to be busy in the months ahead
you will find that time will fly in
and you will forget(like me) about the things that worried you in the past
happy welding

[53buick]

Yeah, time will fly which is why I want to do this whilst unemployed.
So, here is the latest.....

I welded up the inner Flitch as mentioned, made that water-tight and red-leaded for now.
I was going to buy a lower half repair hinge section but looking how bad the Flitch was I decided to remove the hinge panel totally.


This has allowed better repair access and painting room.



After offering up the Flitch panel a few times, I cut the old flange off and remade one which is seam welded inside and out to make it water tight again. heavy red lead paint in here...



Offering up the Flitch and then securing to make sure I have a good fit and equal gaps along the bonnet lines etc.

All the welds were drilled out and will be plug welded again once I have red leaded the inner side of the Flitch panel.