Help...Restoration Suggestions Please

[Stairs]

Hello,


I am about to take into my care a 1500 Minor from an old family member, I sadly do not know the exact model or date but for now that will have to do. It has sat in a garage for about 18 years, the engine has seized and it does has a bit of rust that I can see.

I am looking for some advice on where to go for a full restoration job, I will look into new engines and the pros and cons of getting modern parts etc as I get further into it but for now I would like a professional to give it the once over and let me know what I am roughly in for money wise.

I live near Epping in Essex and all I have really found for the minors tend to be in the west of the country, does anyone have any suggestions at all?

Thank you in advance for what I am sure is my first post of many in this forum.

Alistair

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the forum. A '1500' Minor ??? Has it been fitted with a 1500 B series engine from a Wolseley or Riley - or is it in fact a Riley 1.5 or a Wolseley 1500 car?? Either way - RUST will be main concern - the mechanical parts are pretty well irrelevant, being easy and not too expensive to repair......however there is pretty much no limit to the cost of repairing rust damage - to the point you really need to survey the whole body VERY thoroughly, before considering if repair will be economically feasible...... Some pictures will help us advise initially!

[Stairs]

I do mean a 1000..... Sorry, rookie mistake!

I will try and get some picks, it is in a garage covered with tonnes of stuff, I will see what I can do.

[bmcecosse]

If it has been stored undercover in the dry - it will have a 'chance'.

[irmscher]

Try asking someone in your local MMOC to appraise the car for you but like Roy says if it has been kept dry that's half the battle won

[LouiseM]

I'm not far from Epping so could take a look to see what needs doing.

[SpringbokMog]

Hi Alistair,

PM sent

[Stairs]

Thank you all already!

I now have two willing volunteers who have offered to come and have a look, this car forum is as friendly as the others i'm on… it re kindles my faith in humanity!

[LouiseM]

I went to take a look at the car this evening. It's a black 4 door and seems surprisingly sound considering how long it has been sitting in the garage. The floor panels and under the rear seat are solid, the interior is very good with no rips to the seats or headlining and the paintwork also looks pretty good under the dust. It was difficult to see all of the underneath as the offside is up against the garage wall but the nearside spring hanger appeared sound and no obvious signs of rust on the cross member. I didn't remove the kick plate but there were signs of rusting in the sill area.

The two front wings need replacing as they have rusted in the usual places, and possibly the rear wings too, which have had previous repairs. The boot floor is solid but there is filler in both of the corners adjoining the wings and the bottom of the drivers door will also need repairing. The chrome has seen better days and both bumpers have been painted but overall I don't think that it's a bad project to get back on the road. The chassis number & DVLA checks confirm that it is an early 1960 car and was last taxed to December 1988. Aftermarket indicators have been fitted and the trafficator slots are covered with painted pieces of wood so they may still be present underneath. It has 72k on the clock and has been with the same owner since new. Here are some photos:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

It was nice meeting you Alistair, and thanks for the coffee

[irmscher]

Looks a nice project

[Dryad]

Looks in quite good shape. There's been much worse than that restored to showroom condition - see the Restorations thread!

[Stairs]

I had a visit today from the guys down at Chertsey Minors, and as I found them to be nice and very knowledgable they will be taking our little car 'Tommy' (we have already named him so we are well screwed) down to get it up and ready for its MOT, fitting some seat belts, refurb the engine, fitting a brake servo and pretty much anything else that needs sorting to get it on the road then after I know how much that will cost I can take a view on the body work which actually doesn't look that bad.

Thank you to Louise and Marcel for their advice, I hope that before Christmas i'll be able to join you all in a meeting somewhere in it.