Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all, I am new to the moggy world as I have 'inherited' a series ll 1955 mog Which has spent the last 20 years in a shed. It has a few problems which are easily rectified, however on having it inspected on the ramp it is quite rotten underneath but is repairable. Do I a) have it patched up and have some fun with it for the time being b)Have it completely restored now which will blow a huge hole in our savings! c) sell it ( have been offered £1000 by a bloke who wants it for the number plate) although the whole family have become very attatched to "vincent" moggy ..........still ponderin'

Hi, welcome to the forum!

How about d) Learn to weld and repair it yourself.

Note that the number plate speculator would have to get the car through an MOT before he could legally transfer the registration.

Hi welcome aboard! As regards "Vincent" its up to you entirely. If you have it "patched" up at least you will be able to enjoy the car for a while. This will only make the car more saleable in the future. Does seem a shame to sell it for the number alone as these cars usually are botched for an MOT and then scrapped after the plate is sold. As the car has been in the family and you know its mechanical/electrical history, if I were you I'd be tempted to keep it and restore it at your leisure in the future. If you bought another you might find that has certain faults which only become noticible after a while. This is only my opinion. Good luck.

Thanks for your input, very helpful. I know all of the history of this car and remember seeing it being driven around by its original owner with her pekingnese sitting around her neck!

Exactly what I meant! You've got "history" with this car. Are you already a member of our Club? We do have a Shropshire branch which meets the last Thursday of the month (27th March this month) at the The Horseshoes at Donnington (A49) I'm sure if you turned up you'd be made most welcome and you could ask them any questions.

Me? I would have it "patched up" and enjoy it

Patching it up doesn't necessarily have to mean a bad job, just go carefully

As Alex says if you fancy learning to weld, now is the time. I have a local chap who is a) cheap and b) extremely good so I have not had a go yet myself!

Certainly, going by the sound of the history, I wouldn't sell unless you have to. Sounds like a part of the family

a

shouldn't have given it a name! now it's become a character as well as "just a car"

option D. And I know people will want to shoot me for mentioning this, but get the car sorted and then sell the plate to the guy to help finance it.

Its just an option would not be my choice - I like to keep the plate with the car

Keep it! A car like that which you know the history of is really worth preserving.

Patching up does not always mean bodging, there are some talented people out there who can do some superb work for reasonable money, just as there are those who profess to do full restorations and charge accordingly, yet do a poor job.

As for the number plate, selling it would probably pay for a lot of the work if you can't do it yourself. It is your decision but nobody could criticise you if you sold it for as much as you could get.

Good luck, (and Pekingese are gorgeous!)

shouldn't have given it a name! now it's become a character as well as "just a car"

They all have names its compulsory

alex_holden wrote:Hi, welcome to the forum!

How about d) Learn to weld and repair it yourself.

Note that the number plate speculator would have to get the car through an MOT before he could legally transfer the registration.

I agree with Alex, option d is the way to go, restore it yourself and keep the number plate with the car, its a shame to get rid of the cars identity.

BTW, this chap will probably bodge it through the MOT, sell the plate and then scrap the car if he can't sell it easily.

well, we've pondered over the weekend and have decided to go ahead with the repairs with a view to fully restoring "vincent" to his former glory in the future. I think it would be a great shame not to and we are no strangers to all things "vintage" as father in law has 2 steam engines, 3 vintage tractors, and a living van amongst other things so we will be fighting over the workshop! I am looking forward to getting him on the road and visiting a few rallies and events. I have joined mmoc and will probably be visiting this forum regularly!!! Thanks for your help and support

Congratulations! welcome to the Club. I don't think you will regret it. Have fun, and go to as many rallies as you can, you'll see there's a lot going on this year as we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the cars first production.

view to fully restoring "vincent" to his former glory

Excellant decision and welcome.
With the recent discussion for the future of the MMOC do you mind if i ask your age?
Enloy your resto

Thats great! Keep us posted and don't be afraid to ask any question, no matter how detailled it may sound, eg which panel goes where and how do i cut it and weld it in etc.

Pictures would be interesting.

Excellent news, you've made the right choice

I am 37 dave 1949. Since becoming a moggy owner the response has been very positive from people of all ages, once they've got all the anorak jokes etc out of their system! I quote one response "ooh moggies are very en vogue"! My kids are actually looking forward to being taken to school in it Unlike myself when I was taken to school with our neighbors kids in his moggy - we used to make him park around the corner from the school! - I owe him an apology!!!

Morris never made registration plates (the plate on the bulkhead is the cars identity), so don't be fooled into thinking that it has any 'identity value'. More fool the mug who will pay £1000 for a number allocated arbitrarily by a government quango.
If you're attached also to the registration number, then keep it but otherwise it's yours and do what you want with it.

My preference would be to get it on the road as quickly and cheaply as possible, and start to build up your DIY experience and contacts. I'd strongly reccommend NOT to have it fully restored until you know a lot more about the whole Minor scene as this may change your mind about what you want the car to end up like.
With the car on the road, you can meet more people at rallies and see more cars and discuss more options (and find out good and bad places to have resto work done).
Many many options are available, not just " as standard and shiny as possible". Brakes, interior, engine suspension mods are all food for thought however I'd argue for keeping the car standard if you enjoy it that way.

Excellent news, you have made the right decision. As I said before, don't feel bad if you sell the number plate, make as much as you can from the middle aged BMW driver.

Should you have any questions, ask on here.

Dont worry about originality, these are moggies not Lagondas, make the car how you want it.

Good luck.