Morris Minor Owners Club

Hope you have a 'cast iron' contract for the final cost - and not just an estimate. Thread on here just recently where the final price (which was already quoted high in my view - but had presumably been accepted by the owner) almost doubled. The owner promptly had a heart attack and sadly died. The car made very little progress on ebay - and didn't reach anywhere near even the original quoted cost of the repairs.

Paperwork is all in order. The few extras that I requested have also been priced. I was supposed to visit at the stripped stage and they called me unfortunately I have to travel to see my daughter and another trip was not possible.
(to put things into perspective, the quote I just had to replace my outboard motor was £11400 not to include fitting. mmmm getting the minor, boat will have to wait.)

Hmm - assume either motor made of solid Gold - or decimal point misplaced ie £ 114.00 !

Google 150hp honda 4stroke !
Just dont know how just an engine can be so much!
It has inspired me to sort out the current setup.

Comments refering to 90% of us being 'cowboys' is a bit of an insult and to be honest does not really give members new or existing a balanced picture of what is available from the specialists and its actual quality.

If you read my reply in context you'll find I am referring to all 'garages'. In my own very-limited experience Minor Specialists are 'Good Guys', even the suppliers I've dealt with have been spot-on.

I wonder if I have missed something here. Charles Ware, a long standing company which to my personal experience have done some excellent work and have everything in house are getting slated by all and sundry.

You're reading information between the lines that frankly is not there to be read. Re-read your replies and you'll find most folk are telling you to have a go yourself. I'm reasoning this is on cost grounds rather than quality.
If you have enough money to get it done by a professional by all means get it done. Must be nice to be able to do that!

Quote:
I want to caution you VERY STRONGLY against letting any garage, even one which bills itself as a "Minor specialist", do up a car for you without supervision.

Ditto! In my experience 90% of them are cowboys, which I imagine makes life very difficult for the 10% who are honest and reliable.

Read back on this DunKeth, and it still reads the same to me, probably because of my stand point, suppose its non specific at best, but still a cause for concern to those of us who try and uphold standards, yet seem to be fighting an ever increasing hostility to anything but DIY.

Well then, I apologise to yourself and any other genuine specialists who may be upset by my previous comment. It was based on my experience and opinion of local garages, of whom a vast majority are indeed 'saddled up' and ready to rip you off.

yet seem to be fighting an ever increasing hostility to anything but DIY.

I'm obviously a DIY'er (bodger perhaps) but I can appreciate the need for and convenience of a specialist. If I had the budget I would pay for a lot more jobs to be done rather than be forced to do them myself in the street!

You know from the sidelines i can see both sides of the argument as valid.
I'm in the same boat as Dunketh in terms of being a 'bodger' but that to me makes up the majority of satifaction of ownership. Its a brilliant pastime.
Heck go as far as to say even if i could afford it i'd still do it myself but have nicer surroundings and tools to do so with.
Suppose that when you go to the Cw's and the like and want a down to the penny price can see the difficulty there for them. Guess in that scenario they (or any others) would have to look at the very worst - ie what might break, need replacing or become evident needs doing as they go along.
OK i'm doing up a wreck, but the most obvious thing is that its still at the stage where every job seems to create another, very difficult i'd imagine to cover everything for a quote?
Think finding a good mechanic / garage/ resto specialist is not much different to trying to find a good honest reliable plumber / electrician/ builder from scratch without personal recommendation.
There are those that will glady take all the money you can throw at them and for what you'll never properly know.
If i was ptitterington with cash on the hip and determined to own a minter I'd be gong to a couple of rallies & shows, have a few beers with some of those bearded concours people, find a minter for sale and buy that, given you never recover that kind of input either financially or timewise the most economical purchase would be one thats done to that standard and looking for a new owner?

Well you are correct, I have been talking to the bearded folk for quite a while who have been looking on my behalf. Living in the Channel Islands makes all visits quite expensive.
As a house builder I am more than aware of the differences between DIY and Pro. yet much DIY is very good (even if it could have been done quicker and cheaper by a builder).
I am a pretty competant mechanic and having stripped and rebuilt a saloon 3yrs ago (and maintained most of my vans lorries dumpers jcb etc for the last 18yrs) I realise that although a challenge and quite satisfying, I cannot devote the hours required to get what I want. (Also my workshop is more productive when making furniture than when it has a moggy in bits in the middle).
So far I have been impressed with the service that I have been offered by Charles Ware and at no time have been pressurised into anything.

I do not have masses of cash to burn either, I have saved for this and also am able to partly finance through my business. Had one of the Travellers that I looked at in the £5000 range been as good as advertised, I would have certainly purchased one.

The finished car will be kept long term so I am not really worried that I will not recoup my investment in a short time if ever. Its the same with buying a new car.
I will post pics as I get and when I actually take delivery of the car will give my honest opinion.

Peter

Hope no one minds if I post some pics as things progress.

Starting to fit the timber now.

It looks like they didn;t paint the inside of the ali panels???

I like the colour - it's my favourit colour for a Traveller.

Looks like it is coming on well, I like the colour choice.
As many pics as possible, I personally love build shots (it helps when doing your own).

And, I have the same theory on spending money on a rebuild as my wife wanted a minor and she has a 200 model fiesta, to replace the fiesta would cost £5k for something decent and it would be 3-5 years before it would need replcaing so spending £5k on a full rebuild is a good investment as it would far outprice the fiesta at 5 years older.

Just my view (and probably others too).

and what cred to you get driving a modern shoebox?

And, I have the same theory on spending money on a rebuild as my wife wanted a minor and she has a 200 model fiesta, to replace the fiesta would cost £5k for something decent and it would be 3-5 years before it would need replcaing so spending £5k on a full rebuild is a good investment as it would far outprice the fiesta at 5 years older.

This is a good argument provided you're not a tight-wad like me and refuse to pay anything for a car. Even my old Fiesta Zetec only cost me £500.

Obviously if I were in a position to chuck 5k at a car I'd definitely go the 'restoration' route for the reasons you've mentioned.

It looks like they didn;t paint the inside of the ali panels

My traveller is from CW's, and as far as I can see, the alloy panels aren't painted inside on mine, either. It was rebuilt in 1993, and they look just like the ones in the photos above.

I don't think they were new panels, so they are probably like that from when they left the factory.

When I stripped my traveller and replaced one side, both sides of the ali panels were painted in body colour. They should be painted on both sides, aluminium can corrode too if not painted, and where they are screwed to the wood and steel can get damp. (Inside can just be 2 coats etch, followed by a few coats of body colour).

Aluminium tends to rot due to electrolytic action if it's both damp and touching steel (bolts, screws, etc.).

Well the wood goes on quick when you know what you are doing.
Have asked some questions ref. inner wings panels etc.


Ready end of November.

Looks stunning when its all new like that. Most of the ones localy have gone a very dark colour, either through treatment or age.