Morris Minor Owners Club

I think I'll be on for the most expensive Morris J type van restoration:
Started in small domestic garage, bought some tools etc, spent two weeks pay on having some panels made, fitted them, got wind of impending redundancy, packed job in and enrolled on two year full time vehicle restoration course, followed that with a job at a panel makers in Mancehster for 5 years, all the while making bits for the J. showed some of the panels I'd made at a J Type register rally, and sold them, got made redundant from the company, bought, over a period of time, a lot of sheetmetal working machinery, set up in business as a panel maker, body restorer, made more J type bits, sold most of them, finally welded some of them on the van and 14 years on, er, its still not finished! Have restored two or three other in the meantime and made some sort of living, but its not the easiest or cheapest way to go about a rebuild...
One day it'll be done!

IaininTenbury wrote: packed job in and enrolled on two year full time vehicle restoration course, followed that with a job at a panel makers in Mancehster for 5 years

Hi,
Just out of interest Iain where did you do the Restoration Course????

good luck to you and wish you evey success , ,,grandad

BigDawgV8 wrote:

IaininTenbury wrote: packed job in and enrolled on two year full time vehicle restoration course, followed that with a job at a panel makers in Mancehster for 5 years

Hi,
Just out of interest Iain where did you do the Restoration Course????

It was at Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT). they still do motor vehicle related courses but not sure if the full time resto course still runs. There's been some changes in LEA funding since I was there and I'd heard they were just doing one day / eve courses in specialised subjects such as trim, metal body, or paint for eg, but things may have changed since then too...

grumpygrandad wrote:good luck to you and wish you evey success , ,,grandad

thanks! Allways wanted to do something I enjoyed as a job, and most of the time I still enjoy it! Better still when I get a moment to work on one of my vehicles

Hi Iain,
The reason for the question was that I did the 2 year Restoration Course at Colchester Institute (sadly no longer in existence ) and this has led into jobs working on Ginetta's and now Morgan's.

Cheers

Martin

jonathon wrote:Well the £17K would be broken down by labour at £1974 per every 40 hours. Panels, depending on initial condition at about £800. Paint and materials £700 plus, trim, interior,chrome etc £2K, plus maybe their Series 111 kit at around £2K plus mechanicals at £2K, wood at £1500.
Add all of these together and you soon approach £17K.
Clearly the spending of this sort of money is for a limited few enthusiasts, but the car if done well should last 15-20 years, so represents good long term value, and if kept in good condition it should retain about a third of its cost, on selling.
Clearly the owner believes that they will end up with a 'really lovely' car , whish in my book is all the justification they need.

Dunketh, about 130nph, but you would then need to make it handle and stop

130 n ph ??

n = n'inches

PSL184 wrote:n = n'inches

Er?

Well its a Moggie so speed not measured in miles per hour but in-'inches per hour

If it's to do with a moggie shouldn't that be M'inches?

Oh get you Lou !!!

17K to last 10 to 15 years £1700 to £1000 a year is not that good

Its not too bad considering that you should have a pristine car. £17K spent on an average 'modern' would lead to depreciation far in excess of this amount and a much lower resale value than the Minor should its owner even consider a sale.
Its not for everyone, but for those fortunate, good on them, at least it keeps the likes of us in work.

and we will be retired by then

Certainly hope so !!

I think if we all looked on our moggies as "viable" rebuilds there wouldn't be many on the road. To most (including me) it's a hobby so cost does tend to go a little "unnoticed". The good thing is they are a huge amount of pleasure, which is actually good for your health.... so what price do you put on that?

regaliaqueen wrote:If it's to do with a moggie shouldn't that be M'inches?

Thought it was a variation on the nano.........

VIA Nano, being a central processing unit

Thought JLH had dreamt up an even more innovative idea.....

Can I have some, of what you are on please Squiggs

jonathon wrote:Can I have some, of what you are on please Squiggs

NO.....it's ALL mine