New Member, Old Minor!

[cdavies]

Hi all,

About a month ago I acquired a beautiful, concours condition two door Minor for £300! Actually, the concours bit is a lie so I thought I'd start a thread to keep track of progress (I think it will keep me on track as much as anything). She's a 1959 (or 1962 according to some of the MoTs - has anyone else come across this changing date phenomenon?) 2 door Minor 1000.

Was previously owned, if I understand correctly, by both the previous owner and his dad before him - at some stage they painted it the current shade of light blue with household paint and a roller. The original colour was a dark grey, with maroon/dark red interior. Doubtless someone will enlighten me as to the correct name of the shade of grey at some stage.

I bought the car as a first restoration - I'm 20 and studying Motorsport Engineering at Swansea Metropolitan Uni. As such, it'll be a steep welding, panel beating and painting learning curve to get it done. My plan at the minute is to try and restore the engine, gearbox and other mechanical bits this summer, along with the interior; and then to restore the shell itself next summer once finances allow the purchase of new shiny tools!

I have a Flickr page at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carwyndavies/

I'll also upload some pictures here when I can get them working.

Carwyn

[cdavies]

Some pictures, as promised:


Here's the old beauty on the drive - note the quality paint finish!


The engine bay - all present and correct, may or may not all be functioning!


The interior, half way through stripping. Shows original colour - although not very well due to the flash!


Here is the rear panel lining, being removed by my 5 year old brother - in the running for the youngest person to restore a Moggie?


This kind of shows the general condition of the car, so there's plenty to do!

Thanks for looking!

[beero]

Welcome to the forum, got your work cut out there. Good luck!
That will be a really valuable number plate in 99 years!!

[cdavies]

Yeah, big old job. The chassis is the bit which is really new to me, so that will be most time consuming I think.

The numberplate is already worth £1600, maybe I should keep it as an investment!

[andrewwita]

Croeso - the colour looks like frilford grey used on minors between jan 1959 and july 1960 - inbetween chassis numbers 692902 and 847831

hope this helps

[cdavies]

Thanks Andrew.

A little update - I've managed to get some work in this week and have carried on with stripping the car - some small jobs and some large - including:

- Accelerator pedal out
- Handbrake out
- All glass (except doors) removed (only one scary moment!)
- Distributor off
- Front grille removed
- Starter motor off

Almost took the n/s front wing off until I discovered one bolt had been replaced with the wrong size head, so left finding the right spanner for another day. Also haven't got the facilities to repair the wing yet so it may as well stay on the car! Finally, I got some roller drawer storage yesterday which should make life so much easier!

Images are below:


Front grille off


Rear windscreen out


Front windscreen out, not my favourite job


Starter motor/distributor removed


Shiny new toolboxes!

Carwyn

[fussyoldfart]

I'd have a close look at the body work rear floor and the chassis legs before investing any time or money in the mechanical work. Nuts and bolts and stuff is easy but too much rust will break your heart.

[irmscher]

And the bank sadly

[cdavies]

The only reason for going at the mechanicals first is not having a welder as yet, if I get one soon then sorting rust will move to top priority. In all honesty, the chassis is in quite a bad way, there will be an awful lot to to there! A major reason for buying the car was to get experience though, and I have no doubt I'll get plenty of that!

Also, a question. Has anyone else had difficulty getting the windows out of the doors? Mine have been firmly glued into the u-channel at the bottom of the window by the old rubber. Thoughts?

Carwyn