Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all,

I'm about to attempt the removal of my trav' roof and to be honest am dreading it

I have read that the favoured method of separating the roof from the wood is by hammering a sharp chisel twixt the two - it sounds horrific to me. Does it work OK?

The other thing is the gutter. Do I attempt to open the old one and re-use it as Lindsay Porter advocates or do I go with Steve Foreman and use a new one?

The new gutter sounds better because I can't see how I can remove the old one without distorting it. LP says fitting a new one is very difficult. Is this the case?

Any experience or opinions appreciated

I've no experience of Travs but have read LPs book and found there to be plenty in there with which I (personally) would take issue. My instinct would be to go with Steve.

hello i have taken roof offi dont think that you will save gutter all nailed use minimum force with very thin chisel .not an easy job . and i wasnt trying to save roof or gutter .

Use a screwdriver to open the old gutter and carefully use a wide bladed screwdriver to lift the end of the gutter above the B pillar. You can then carefully peel it back from the roof. I used a claw hammer, levering gently under the gutter. The gutter will be wrecked, but you can get new ones for 15 quid or so.

The fun comes when folding the gutter over the corner! Hard to do without cracking the ali.

chickenjohn wrote:Hard to do without cracking the ali.

Rub a bar of hard bath etc soap over area to be bent. Then heat with blowlamp until soap turns brown / black. Allow to cool and it should then bend without cracking.
If you don't believe me try it with a scrap piece of ally
This is the normal practice for annealing alloy that is to be bent.

Paul Humphries.

What a handy thing to know - thank you

Thanks, looks like it's new gutter then

Now, what about getting the roof off without destruction and mayhem?

Speaking of which (destruction, that is) It's a bit depressing to see the mess the trav' is now in considering how superficially tidy she looked. Oh well, "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs" - thats what I keep telling myself anyway

What have I done

Have you ever done something and then wondered if it was wise

The gutter came off easily but not without totally destroying it.

The roof was fairly easy to remove. I chiselled the nails with a small and very sharp chisel.

I've added a couple of pics - the "after" pics will not appear very quickly and certainly not at the speed Flying works.







At least I can now get at the tin worm to repair it properly. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, it's quite an eye opener that so much grot was hidden in a tidy MOT'd traveller.

Did you manage to remove the roof with the sides still on?

8009STEVE wrote:Did you manage to remove the roof with the sides still on?

Yes, I cut all the nails and then at the front rail I excavated the screws wich go down from the front top rail so that I could leave the front rail nailed to the roof

looks like you uncovered the same sort of rust i found.................now i think im glad im doing a minor and not a traveller...has looks like you have alot of work to do....plus i didnt know you could take the roof off......well there is something new i have learnt ,im learning about moggys quickly, good luck with the restro

John I dont wish to moan but can you reduce the pics a tad as they are a bit wide for a 15" screen and murder for those on a dial up connection.

Kevin wrote:John I dont wish to moan but can you reduce the pics a tad as they are a bit wide for a 15" screen and murder for those on a dial up connection.

i thought thats normal size 800x600

600 pix wide is about optimum here, apparently.

I reduced them to 800x600 and optimised for the web before posting - Strewth, I seem to be having a problem on this forum this evening!

flying wrote: looks like you uncovered the same sort of rust i found.................now i think im glad im doing a minor and not a traveller...has looks like you have alot of work to do....plus i didnt know you could take the roof off......well there is something new i have learnt ,im learning about moggys quickly, good luck with the restro

Thanks mate, I appreciate the encouragement.

Yes, the problem with doing a trav' is that I've got to repair the metalwork and then make the new woodwork fit properly around it.

I keep an eye on your progress for inspiration

Strewth, I seem to be having a problem on this forum this evening!

I am not having a go John just pointing out the problems for non broadband users personally its not a problem.