Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

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Mrtyl63
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Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by Mrtyl63 »

Hi I have bought a 1963 Morris minor convertible which needs a fair amount of body work ( as the same age as me who doesn’t !) I have it booked into a body shop in august but need to purchase all four wings , I’ve seen ones for sale on eBay made from glass fibre is this the way to go ? I’m a complete novice i bought this car on impulse as I’d always fancied a classic so any advice appreciated, many thanks
myoldjalopy
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by myoldjalopy »

I bought fibreglass front wings for my car a while back but they would not fit properly - in the end, I had my old wings repaired, which was a much better idea as they are now fine and fit well. Fibreglass is cheaper but I wouldn't go that way again, myself.
Mrtyl63
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by Mrtyl63 »

Ok thanks I’ll bare that in mind
ManyMinors
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by ManyMinors »

One of my Minors has fibreglass wings. You wouldn't know the difference looking at it from a few feet away now that they are fitted and painted. They took a little while to fit decently but as one of them was given to me and another I purchased on ebay for £6.00 I'm not complaining :D Even the new one I bought was well under £100.
By contrast, I purchased a set of new "Heritage" steel wings for my other Minor at a cost of over £1000 and they also required quite a bit of work.
On balance, I would say that if you're doing the work yourself, time isn't costing you and you wish to keep costs down then good quality fibreglass wings can be a worthwhile option on a car in regular use. They are much less expensive to buy and they won't rust. If money is no object and you are paying a professional to fit the wings, he will probably have to spend less time getting good quality steel wings to fit. I wouldn't personally recommend the cheaper alternative "pattern" steel wings as the steel is poor quality, very thin and they rust rather quickly. I wasn't happy with them on a previous Minor.
Mrtyl63
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by Mrtyl63 »

Thank you 😊
myoldjalopy
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by myoldjalopy »

So the key issue here is 'good quality', but that is hard to determine until you have the actual wings in your possession and are trying to fit them. From mine and 'ManyMinor's comments, it would appear there are issues of quality with both types of wing. The fibreglass ones I had were poor quality and, as the old metal wings were much better (one just had a line of rust down the rear edge) I had the old wings cleaned up - and the rusty one had the rot cut out and repaired. Clearly fibreglass is cheaper and won't rust and that is the way I was originally going but it wasn't the best option in my case. I suppose, were I the OP, I would try the fibreglass route to begin with in the interests of saving money (and no futue rust worries) and see how it turns out.
kevin s
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Re: Restoration 1963 Morris minor convertible

Post by kevin s »

The fiberglass wings can't be any worse that the cheap steel ones, ours came with them fitted, wondered why the bonnet fit is poor, turns out one is 3/4 " longer than the other!

I have spent most of my life working with fiberglass and would go that route, as long as they are roughly the right shape it's no great task to shrink or grow the edges to fit.
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