fitting new screen rubber on a splitty?

[Budgie]

Hmmm... I'm almost tempted myself. It's just too far away

Now I'm even more indecisive !!

[palacebear]

I'm not REALLY trying to persuade you to part with your hard-earned cash In all seriousness, firstly its above my budget. Secondly I have to sell Max first and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to take that step yet. Thirdly Mrs.PB is insisting on inertia seatbelts, flashing indicators, 'modern' brakes and electrics. I definitely can't do that to Max, or any other unspoiled Minor, after so many years staying pretty much original.

[Budgie]

Well if I do end up having a change of heart and buying her then I shall hold you totally responsible .

[palacebear]

Luckily there's a good long stretch of the M5 between us
If you do change your mind, let us know. Always nice to hear of a Series 2 finding a new home

[Budgie]

Yeh your safe for sure as I'm the worlds worst at directions as I don't have a sense for them but thank god for sat navs......btw what was your postcode . and yeh if I do end up with her then I shall let you know .

[Budgie]

Getting back to the main subject. By coincidence I drove past a pair of guys today locally to me and they were busy sorting out a rear windscreen of a Mondeo so I stopped and had a chat with them. They turned out to be a local windscreen fitting firm and would you believe it , when I asked them if they had ever fitted classic car screens he said that he had fitted a Morris minor split screen some weeks ago and before I had even mentioned the model ! So after asking him how much of a job it was , he did confirm that it is a "bitch of a job" and said that some people quote 5 / 8 hours to do it but it only took him and his pal 1.5 hours. So I asked him for a quote and a after a quick phone call to his boss he came back with a price of £90 plus vat. Not bad me thinks .

[RobThomas]

I was down at Llandow picking something up and saw a splittie in a workshop with the screen out. Quick chat and it seems they'd already spent hours on it with up to 6 people working on it at once. I dropped back with 2 pieces of old glass and it was a good 3mm smaller. Problem solved....new glass was too big.

[Budgie]

I bet they were chuffed with you turning up that day !

[TDV102]

When I did mine I used a screen from a scrapper from the same year and wasn't too bad at all. Size must be very critical, variations in rubbers won't help.

[kennatt]

the actual work is not a problem if you know how,do a search ,two good proven methods,(forget the official manual method) I did mine twice, with my strap method on my own in two hours, The problem is that the replacement rubbers are rubbish the slots are too shallow which prevents the corners laying flat. they need to be stuck down with tigerseal or similar. and you can't get new laminated flat glass that is the same thickness as the originals so keep the old ones or find second hand.

[Budgie]

Well the storey continues with regards my possible purchase of a 1954 four door split windscreen minor. After some two weeks deliberation on waying up the pros and cons of this model, I went back down to see her and take another look around her and take her for a spin. Now I've never driven an 803 cc minor before so I had no idea of how she would drive like only what I've heard on this forum. I did drive a Citroen 2cv some weeks ago and boy was that sluggish when it came to the slightest incline. So off I plodded on the flat, so far so good. Down a slight gradient owner stated , "turn right just ahead and go down a country lane". Wish he had said so sooner as I could barely stop in time with me pressing as much pressure on the foot brake as I could. Ok I'm used to the disc brakes on my 1969 tourer and I do remember the brakes on a Mayflower I once owned weren't too clever. So down the lane and back to the main road and turn left and onwards and upwards , the slope I drove down shortly before [the one I had to use forced pressure on the brakes]! Gee I had slugs passing me at one point, well may be not but I didn't expect her to be as slow as this although as I got to the rise she did pick up and tootled along fine. So with my mind still not made up , I need convincing.

[palacebear]

If it goes any way to convincing you, I've decided that (1) mine is staying and (2) any mechanical upgrades are on hold for the time being. Its pleasant enough for pottering around in

[Budgie]

Thanks for that palacebear I just needed to know how sluggish they are and didn't expect what I experienced. He won't shift much on the price but it will have an MOT even though it doesn't legally need one, and I wouldn't entertain it if it didn't have an up to date certificate. Plus he will apparently do a full service and do any necessary work on here that transpires while it's at the workshop.

[palacebear]

I wouldn't be happy without an MOT either. I did consider hiding behind exemption this year but common-sense prevailed and I wouldn't have it any other way now!
I kinda think performance or lack of it is simply a matter of familiarity. I used to think Max was TERRIBLY slow. He's no fireball for sure, but having got used to him I've found that he will maintain 50-ish mph for quite long periods without too much drama, and 60-ish in short bursts. The gearing takes some getting used to particularly as 1st 2nd and 3rd are quite 'short' and close together, then the big gap between 3rd and 4th.....

[Budgie]

Yeh I did notice that 1st, 2nd and third were close as in needing to change from each other rather soon after selecting but once she was in 4th she seemed to tootle along fine. Like you said , it's a matter of getting used to. Just rather conscious of having only trafficators in this day and age although as mentioned before I had a 1956 splitty some years ago which had only trafficators plus the Mayflower that I once owned.

[palacebear]

Trafficators aren't a big deal. I've just fitted mine with super-bright self-flashing LED 'flashicator' bulbs. They're visible in bright sunlight unlike the standard 3watt bulbs! Halfords do sets of discreet-looking 12volt motorcycle indicators which look like they could be attached to Moggie bumper brackets without too much difficulty

[Budgie]

I rather like them tbh but if I do end up buying her then I will most probably put some sympathetic flashers on her but like you mentioned , I'd like to put them somewhere where they just need "clamping on" as I wouldn't want to drill holes which weren't originally there.

[palacebear]

So best idea is to fabricate some mounting plates which can be attached to the existing bumper mounts although you may need small holes to feed the live feed cables through. Never having done the job myself (trafficators only - glutton for punishment ), I can't comment with certainty!

[Budgie]

Bored and stuck indoors with this rotten weather I've been looking back on some topics/ threads on this forum with regards the 803 engine. Back in 2009 it got rather a slating !!!

[ManyMinors]

That's because they're rubbish