Anybody bought a Morris Minor as a retirement project?

[mikec4193]

Hi Morris Minor folks

I had a 1960 Morris Minor a couple of years ago but then a 1939 Plymouth coupe came up for sale with a price I could not pass by (see attached picture)...so I sold my Morris Minor before I even got it to run....well in the early months of 2023 I left my gov't job of 25 years and went to a part time 3 days a week at the local Home Depot...so I have more time to work on stuff...

The 1939 Plymouth is 99% done so I am looking for another Morris Minor to bang on....I love doing metal work...something about welding rusty metal that I thoroughly enjoy. I know I am sick man...my ancestors were metal workers...so I guess it comes naturally

So has anybody else on here picked up one of these old vehicles up for retirement project?...my goal is to build a vintage oval track car but make it street legal...when I was a kid back in the 1960s and 70s they had 4 cylinder foreign car class at the local oval tracks here (Mini Stocks)...mostly VW's but there were the occasional Mini's and I also recall Saab's and Volvo's too....

thanks in advance

MikeC

[panky]

I bought my traveller as an (early) retirement present to myself not intending it to be a project. Fast forward a few years and some minor woodwork repairs spiralled into a four year restoration that was completed a couple of years ago, at least I now know it's actually made of metal and not rust and filler

[rocco]

I actually bought my first one as a weekend project expecting to get it done well before I retire but now I don't think it'll get done until after I give up work and have the entire days to complete it. In some way I like that, it's the process I enjoy more than the end result.

[Blaketon]

Not as such but it won't be finished that long before I retire, as things have turned out. At present I am rectifying some extremely shoddy workmanship, that was done by Charles Wares but once that is done, the car will be the way I want it to be.

It's had to wait it's turn, behind other projects, not least my late father's MG Midget, which (Although I didn't then know it) I finished off only six months before he died and which is now in my care (Along with his MGB GT V8 and my MG Midget). I was often busy with my work too but things have slackened off, so I am now better able to find time to get on with the Traveller.

The final job will be to fit two restored seats, one of which is a folder (From a 1958 car judging by the upholstery). This will make it easier to get long things in the boot, not least me, when my time comes (Though I keep saying that I want to drive the car when IT is 100 years old and I am older than it). The seats are on hold whilst I get the car sorted (I have other seats anyway) and I have modified one frame to take MGB/Midget head restraints and an anti tip device, similar to what was found on Minis from around 1980 onwards. I have also tidied up the fitting of some extra gauges, that were fitted by the previous owner and am adding a cigarette lighter, rear fog lamp, hazard warning lights and intermittent wipers (The control of which will fit where the ignition key was normally found, my car having a steering lock).

[northernboy]

Not a retirement but a redundancy project - I would like to try and get two more years work but easier said than done so in the meantime:-

Here is my Traveller which on the surface looks Ok but i was prepared for rust and it has not let me down

The Ash is good bar one section but the body has had years on 'MOT patches' applied as is often the case. I want to try and cut out as much patching as possible and I intend to replace both sills, both bottom hinge panels, both bottom b posts, the four 1/4 floor sections , rear/rear spring hangers, repairs to inner wings and part of the chassis rails and crossmember outers.

Car has been braced to help ensure the body does not sag when sills are cut out. Will do one sill at a time checking the doors and shut lines as I go then fit the new floor. I have built a spit to make getting the the underneath easier by rolling the car onto its side but won't roll the car yet until sills are both replaced and floor is tacked in to regain max rigidity.