2door convertible restoration

[rorya95]

I'm a 19 year old who was lucky enough to be given a moggie for my first car. while the interior/body work weren't in the best shape when i started driving her the mechanics were all sound. anyway i've now saved enough money to have a go at restoring her to something more manageable as an every day car (by this i mean weatherproof/not falling apart), and while i am relatively inexperienced with this sort of thing, its certainly something i plan on doing myself (or at least as much as i can) just wondering if anyone on here had any tips with where to start and what to priortise etc.
Have mostly been looking at Newton comm for new seats/carpets/door cards. are there better/cheaper alternatives?
does anyone have any idea on the best way to get the doors to fit properly? they seem to have 'sagged' i imagine due to the fact its a convertible. any other tips from first hand experience on weatherproofng and sound deadening would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

[Redmoggy]

Two things will make the doors sag. Worn hinges and corrosion. You need to check both. Take a hold of the door with it just opened, try lifting the door up from the catch end, if you feel a clonk get someone to look at the hinges while you lift. Now removes the bolt on sills and cover plates and check the structure for corrosion and porley made repairs. Post some pics of what you find.

Good luck with the project
Rod

[Mark Wilson]

Newton Commercials are high quality but far from cheap - the interior could cost more than the value of the car. Really best suited for very comprehensive restos for owners with plenty of readies. Best to concentrate your cash on getting it solid.

As Redmoggy says look carefully at the sill areas. Convertibles (and Travellers) have extra strengthening which unfortunately is a bit of a rust trap, so take a good look inside the boxing plate holes once you've got the covers off. If its a converted rather than original convertible the strengthener is inside the car (I believe - mines a Traveller)

Mark

[tysonn]

If you say where you are someone may offer to visit and advise.

[Kettledrum]

I've been "restoring" my convertible as a rolling restoration since I was just over 19 - and that was 25 years ago.

The first thing I did was the Newton Commercial interior door cards, as the original ones had been damaged by the damp.

I still haven't solved the door sag problem though, but will probably try some new hinges from ESM.

Having the floor expertly welded, and then treating it with lots of underseal was a really good investment, and then keeping the car undercover has also been really important.

Fitting front and rear seatbelts was also more important, given how busy modern traffic is. I had this professionally done too - but with the mechanic I used couldn't have done it without the excellent fitting tips I got from the MMOC's technical advisor (Rob).

I've only recently got round to fitting electronic ignition - and have been really impressed with that.

You probably need a long think about the condition of everything and then strike a balance between the structural work (welding and under-floor), the mechanics and the electrics (to stop it breaking down!) and the shiny bits (interior trim, bumpers, chrome etc).

After the interior door cards, I left the rest of the shiny bits until now (i.e. 20+ years later), as I felt my priority was to keep the car safe and on the road, but it depends on how deep your pockets are.

Good luck!

[rorya95]

Have only just got a chance to get over to the car and have a proper look at her, with studying and work getting in the way. but have begun to strip the interior. the floor panels all appear to be structurally sound, with a little surface rust but nothing serious as far as i can tell.
was wondering what the best way to treat the body for rust is?

pictures will follow, waiting to upload them from a friends camera, but wanted to get on with ordering the materials i'll need.
As far as mechanical difficulties, the cars starter motor appears to be broken. As soon as she's been bumpstarted she runs without missing a beat.
Is ordering a new starter motor the best way to proceed?

The brakes are discs added from a morris marina i think. The front callipers seized after being stored, and i had to undo a bolt on both to free them up in order to get the car to roll.
Any tips on the best way to go about servicing the brakes?

would greatly appreciate any advice or expertise anyone has to offer. pictures to follow in the next few days.

[SteveClem]

I suggest that the priority is to get dry storage/working area. Old cars can dissolve at an alarming rate left outside! If you find minimal corrosion keep it that way by using some of the excellent products described on the forum. Wax injecting the internal box sections etc( once they are dry!) seems to be working on my cars. It's tempting to do the cosmetic stuff before the basics but resist the urge!

[irmscher]

Any pictures of the convertible

[rorya95]

was wondering if anyone could tell me the colour and advise where to get paint?

[kevin s]

Not sure what you mean by colour we haven't seen any pictures!

for the floor etc I clean the rust off as much as possible with a angle grinder and wire brush then apply rust converter followed by a zinc rich primer then a topcoat of stone chip or agricultural enamel.

[rorya95]

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[rorya95]

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[rorya95]

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[rorya95]

Sorry! Couldn't work out how to upload the pictures

[irmscher]

Looks like deep bronze green

[rorya95]

still having trouble with finding the correct colour. I think its morris dark green, a colour that was only produced for a few years, anyone know of companies that will produce the pain using the original codes? or will it have to be paint matched?
also can anyone advise the best way to set about filling the trafficator slots?
any help would be greatly appreciated

[qwerty165]

It may help people to advise you on paint companies if you state where you are. There is no point giving you information on one that is 200 miles away.

[rorya95]

good point! I'm in south dorset, any suggestions?

[kevin s]

If you want to fill in the slots so they are not visible you will need to get metal welded over them, that close to the door striker/latch I can't see any form of filler not cracking.

If you just want to make them water tight you could get some stainless or alloy plates made to bolt over them or just leave the non funtioning traficators in there and seal around them.

[qwerty165]

Sorry no suggestions from me for that area, as I am based near Birmingham.