Morris Minor Owners Club

My father bought a 2 door 1972 or 73 morris minor 1000 for me four years ago and it has been sitting in the back yard ever since. At the time it was going to be a restoration project for me and my dad but now he is denying any knowledge of that agreement!

Anyway, the car is in very bad shape and my father is pressuring me to sell it. I'd really like to get it running. I don't have money to get it done plus I would like the experience and challenge of trying it myself. It is very rusty and the passenger door is falling off but for now I would like to focus on what's under the hood.

I don't know where to start or what to do so I would really appreciate suggestions/guides or anything that would help me out.

Well you need tools, a workshop manual and a bit of knowledge. The internet has all the knowledge you need. Try scanning forums to see how others have tackled restorations. By the sounds of it a bit of spannering isn't going to fix it. The killer for these cars is rot. Welding is expensive and doing it yourself requires the ability to weld, cut and shape steel or at least modify repair panels to fit. Why not use it as a basis to learn and tackle it one step at a time?

To get it running is an unknown quanitity. If you could get some pics up of the engine to begin with, we may be able to identify if theres any obvious problems to start with, or suggest the best course of action.
YG

Unlikely to be a '72 or '3 unless you're in NZ - they stopped making them here in '71

What's under the hood is totally un-important. The mechanical parts of a Minor are cheap and easy to fix. the body iis ALL important - and expensive and time -consuming to fix. So - don't waste any time or money on the mechanicals, do a very thorough survey of the whole body and decide if you can fix it - if not, let it go!

I don't want to have to pay a load of money doing it up until it runs. I spent the best part of five hours (breaking a hammer and a spanner in the process) trying to open the bonnet. I am going back tomorrow with a crowbar.

Yeah that's how bad it is. It just won't open! When I get it open tomorrow (hopefully) I will upload a few pictures.

Is it really that hard to get the hood open?? Car hoods and crowbars definetely do not mix.

Seriously - don't worry about it 'running' - that's the easy bit. And if you had that much trouble with the bonnet - it obviously doesn't like you! Did you pull the bonnet release inside the car ??

You can also see the mechanism when you look from the underside of the car and yes its possible to release it ******** . How did you manage to break a hammer and spanner.

When I inadvertantly forgot to reconnect the linkage, I found a ********************* deleted for security! *********************** did the trick.

Yeah a bonnet will be a hard one to replace if you acccidently butcher it!

Where are you 'flitter' ? Post up your location and very probably someone near you will be happy to pop round and give you some advice!

Personally i wouldnt bother trying to run it either. You could damage it by running the engine when you dont know what its like inside. Replacement engines are cheap and plentiful as BMC says, and even if it does run it wont make much difference to the rest of the car will it?!
Focus on the body work, then worry about the running gear!

yg

The latch is fine. It isn't even close enough together to lock. Someone sat on it and it was pushed down a lot more than it should have been. It looks like the spring and something else are wedged together but it's hard to see in there.

I broke the hammer and spanner trying to open pry it open. It's not the hood i'm trying to open, it's whatever is stuck behind it. That car is STRONG!

I'm in Co. Westmeath, Ireland.

I'm going over there now and I will take pictures.

Sounds like a nightmare!

Obviously ye know what ye are talking about so I will take the advice and work on the body for now but I need to get the hood open first and get a few pictures. It's a personal vendetta now!

Not wishing to be an old grumpy guts, but the other month when I wanted to know how to open my bonnet, the post was removed as it was considered to compromise car security on the site. Does this not still apply?? By the way I can empathise with the wish to get the engine going first- to tip the subject upside down-it should be pretty easy to get to start if it was previously running, and is a hell of a psychological booster if you are confronted with what sounds to be a rust-bucket. Good luck getting that n/s door back on its hinges(hee hee)!

I think it was just the replies that were removed, but point taken - I'll do the same thing here

LATER Think that's done - "*********" denotes edits

i agree its nice and re assuring to hear the mighty roar of the mog in action then its down to nitty gritty body stuff