Traveller Chassis woodwork/restoration

[Mark Wilson]

That is true, but I can halve the cost by fitting the woodwork myself. Is it ok to put brand new wood on with only a mere touch up of the parts which look bad?

I'm close to fitting the wood on mine, so not quite the complete expert yet , but my approach has been to concentrate on the areas which can't easily be got at once the wood is on, ie rear inner arches and flange extensions, rear spring hangers, boxing plate extensions, curvy chassis rail above front spring hanger (and spring hanger), rear boot floor etc. All these need to be fully paint protected and seam sealed as well as primed before the wood goes on. There's quite a bit of jiggery pokery involved in trial fitting the wood before final welding and painting.

I will completely spray my shell and panels before final fitting of the wood, but if you've got all the hard to get areas repaired and painted I can't see any reason you can't continue the rest on a rolling restoration basis and have a full respray later. (Thinking about it, it would be a lot better to have the ally panels painted before woodwork fitting, and best to have all the paint bought in one batch to avoid colour matching problems)

Have you got the Ray Newell/Steve Foreman "Morris Minor Traveller" book? Pricey, but essential reading before doing the wood.

Mark

[nwxh]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the delay replying, I've been ill.

Would you recommend I get welding sorted for the front of the car before the wood comes off, or can that wait? The wood being rotten probably can't be relied upon. The rear of the car is fine except for areas which won't be revealed until the wood comes off.

I have the "Morris Minor Traveller" book, and will definitely follow this.

[Mark Wilson]

Depends. If you want to keep using it until funds or time allow you to complete the job the woodwork first approach would be OK. Personally if doing this much work I' d prefer to restore the whole car before it went back on the road, in which case definitely woodwork last.

[Neil MG]

There is absolutely no problem doing just the woodwork at this stage. Looking at your pictures you have a basically very original sound car, with the usual corrosion spots. Just follow the guide in the book and all will be well. Everything, apart from where the wood is connected to the body can be done after the wood is fitted. Just doing the wood will actually help prevent any distortion that can occur when everything is stripped out during welding.

The only caveat is the rear boxing extension panels behind the front aluminium panels. Your car doesn't look so bad and hopefully any repair work there will be confined to the underside. See the area I mean from the bottom of this page onwards:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=105

[nwxh]

Thanks for the reply. A garage saw the same pictures and considers the work to have been done badly previously and thinks a lot will need replacing.

[nwxh]

What paint/primers should I use for the underside and areas covered by wood while the wood's off? Is there any suitable brush paint or should I get a spray gun and compressor? Many thanks

[irmscher]

Why not get the body soda blasted also you can buy them quite cheap now

[kevin s]

What paint/primers should I use for the underside and areas covered by wood while the wood's off? Is there any suitable brush paint or should I get a spray gun and compressor? Many thanks

Epoxy primer seems to be the latest technology now being widely used, I have seen it used sucsesfully on boats so it should be good on a car. In all honesty though any good paint such as bonda primer will be far better than the original (or lack of it) coating, wheelarches etc will then need some sort of stone chip protection, the best stuff us sprayed from a can using a compressor.

As you can nevver fully paint inside sections etc following up with a wax protection is also esential.

[Neil MG]

Agree with both comments above. The key to painting is preparing the steel. No matter how good the paint is, it will simply not be able to protect against corrosion if there is poor adhesion. Whichever method you use to clean off all the old paint, and absolutely all traces of rust, the surface must be abraded and thoroughly degreased immediately prior to painting. Acid etch primer is a good base, but should not be left too long before overcoating, as with all primers, it is porous.

[nwxh]

Thanks for the tips. The car is being stripped down now. I'll see what the restorers quote for prep+respraying then, and if they recommend any blasting.