Morris Minor Owners Club

I had to replace a side light bulb and put the rear door handle on the right way round and adjust the rear brakes which was alright when it went in. Just got to do a few repairs on it tomorrow.

After getting my van back on Thursday I used it today and the engine has gone bang after only thirty miles since it was restored. I knew I should have scrapped it.

You sure are having a run of bad luck. Did the same company restore the engine?

Luckily the engine was the only thing that was working well as I always serviced it and that was done not long ago. What concerns me the classic car restorer asked is it mechanically alright when I went to pick it up. It's always started even in the coldest weather and flies along and I never thrash it.

Well the restorer might have asked about the mechanical side of things, hoping you might say it wants work, in which case he might think he’d get the job.

Sounds like rotten luck and very dispiriting. But I suppose in an old engine, even if well maintained, anything can break at any time - like when my crankshaft broke several years ago!

The mechanic at the garage did a compression test and seems to think its the head gasket has blown that's why it was running awful and had little power. I had a head gasket blow about five years ago and had a new unleaded head fitted. He is going to take the head off tomorrow.

Hopefully this guy will check the mating surfaces before fitting a new gasket.

It had a new unleaded head and gasket about five years ago so hopefully it should be alright as the old head had a very small hair line crack in it.

I phoned the garage today to see if the van was ready and he hasn't even got the gasket set yet as he said its got to come from Bradford. I could have walked there quicker and picked it up.

Is it the same garage that did the bodywork?

Yes. There is another garage that I usually use that just does mechanical stuff on classic and new cars but he gets so booked up as he so popular and I would have had the the towed there. The garage that gets booked up did last year gasket as got the parts the next day where the van is at the moment they are supposed to be in the good garage scheme.

Oh well good luck with the repair, from what you’ve indicated in your past posts, sounds like you wouldn’t put them in the good garage scheme ! Hopefully you can enjoy the van soon.

I phoned the garage where my van is at about 3.30 while I was at work and he said it should be finished tomorrow then he rang me back to ask if I could just drive to London which is at least an hour away to pick up 2 gaskets he needed I said no as I am working then he said theres an MG garage 2 miles away and he could get them from there as they are the same. I don't think customers should be running around picking parts up

You’re a patient man, according to your posts, from the beginning this garage has not been very helpful to you.

I got it back today just had to put anti freeze in it as he hadn't put any in and top up water hopefully fingers crossed it keeps working as I want to try and enjoy it.

Do yourself a favour, don’t go there again!!

Went to use the van today and near side suspensions is coming loose and track rod is loose they had to take off to fit some panels so phoned garage was open but owned was out and someone who works there could not locate owner. I'm having it towed to a other garage hopefully next week.

Before you completely empty your wallet, decide if its worth it in view of your selling thoughts. The Minor is very much a diy car but if you involve garages you are paying the going rate and that mounts up. In that scenario you rarely get back what you’ve spent. Now if you were attached to the car, well that’s a different matter.

I like the van if I decided to sell it I would get back what I've spent. I have already got the parts which I got a few years ago. The only reason I went to this one is because he was recomened.