Morris Minor Owners Club

I have been watching this.
Has it got a solid gold engine or something
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0284647955

low mileage trav..... some people seem to like travellers..... *shrug*

If the structure and mechanics are good, its about right, as we all know solid original cars are much sought after. Wibbs, your starting to sound like Andrew !!

Does not look good from the wood side of things. N/side the same as O/side.
Mileage? looking at the interior, 1st or 2nd time round?

Hmmm bit extreme, but hey its what you want to pay.

Some chap at beaulieu was asking 200 notes for a set of 4 tidy doors....... i asked if they were gold plated.

well good doors are hard to come by now so seems a good price

My sentiment too Dennis, some doors go for £200 each.
Agreed the wood is scrap , but if the steel work is good, it is worth a look.

jonathon wrote: Wibbs, your starting to sound like Andrew !!

I watch. I learn.

jonathon wrote: Wibbs, your starting to sound like Andrew !!

A kindred spirit, 'sall

just thought i would carry on the off topic thread

darn it *fires self* How viable is it to buy a trav in need of completely new wood? alex told me that the wood currently available is less durable than the original wood, as it has been grown under different conditions and is more porous or something [alex where are you?] - reminiscent of the "original metal vs modern metal" debate.

Very viable Wibbs. But yes the wood now is not seasoned for anywhere as long as the original, but with good prep and sealing plus diligent upkeep can last a decent length of time. Wood in high maintenance to keep perfect, and many folk ignore this at their peril and cost

alex was talking about the wood itself, as opposed to its seasoning; it's grown under different climatic conditions or something and therefore (obviously) has a different grain structure.

Depends on where its sourced, the English Ash now tends to have a much more open grain, where as the timber used by Woodies is from Canada with a much finer grain.

Well the main reason is supply and demand for wood especially oak, and normally trees are cut a lot younger

but the best timber comes from properly managed and maintainable sustained forests

also a lot comes down again to price, as an example prime european oak is nearly twice the price as standard grade oak



of course there are many factors in buying timber

seasoning of course being one of them
most timbers are oven kiln dried now, and can in some cases destroy the cells, as opposed to air seasoned timber although air season timber is still available in all timbers but the price is more expensive because of the length of storage time

most of the ash we use in travellers is prob kiln dried and possibly about 25% moisture level, and is cheaper than say 12% seaoned timber
of course the answer is to second season the timber and this may help, in other words keep it in a dry enviroment to get the moisture content down and any shrinkage will then take place
we used to do this years ago, making all the joints etc and then leaving the timber to second season for say a further 3 months

but in the short term yes it all comes down to good maintenence

wibble_puppy wrote:some people seem to like travellers..... *shrug*

Complete nutters, the lot of them.

most english and european oaks are loose grain as opposed to american white and canadian red oak which tends to be close grain which makes for easier machining, and less tear out

of course cedar would be the best choice, far more durable, but would have to go to larger sizes to keep the same strength, but is half the weight size for size

argghh who let aupickup out of his cave?