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New Moggy owner

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:27 am
by greggy1964
I took the plunge this weekend and bought me a 1958 series 3 Morris Minor trafficators all included! :D and the original warranty, though I doubt its still valid! :o
The old girl was last on the road in 1999 - 2000.
She needs a bit of welding work but is surprisingly good nick for 50 years old.
I will post some photo's when I get time

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:24 am
by ASL642
Well done! good choice of car! welcome to the board, remember there's always someone around to answer any questions you may have. Looking forward to seeing the pics. :D

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:47 am
by bmcecosse
Welcome - but do add your location - there may be folks near you willing to help and advise.

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:58 pm
by Kevin
Welcome aboard and have fun with your new aquisition :D

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:25 pm
by stevey
hello there!!!

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:28 pm
by moggiemadman
Welcome :D

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:08 pm
by greggy1964
Many thanks for all your replies, much appreciated.

When I bought the car it was an unfinished restoration project and the previous guy had stripped her out and lost heart with the enormity of the project.

I collected her with all the 'loose' bits piled up in the passenger compartment and the boot!

I've had a look around the car since I bought the old girl and I have a few problems which I hope you folks can help me with.

First is that the previous owner has undersealed the floors on the inside of the car! Any ideas on how to remove this?

Second, the front wings are steel, but not the originals and the panel gaps between the bonnet and the wings are huge. Advice on sorting this out would be helpful, also the inner wing panels where they meet the radiator panel are at odds. The inner offside panel seems to be canted over toward the radiator far more than the nearside panel?

Crash damage or just badly put together?

Third, the door gaps seem a bit odd. The rear edges of the door panels are very close with the panels between the doors and the rear wings, yet as you go up the doors to the window frames the gaps are large. Is this correct? Can anyone direct me to photo's of correct door and bonnet/wing gaps?

I have the Lindsey Porter restoration guide and I have bought the Practical Classic guide to restoration from ebay but all the photographs are in black and white and I find most of them difficult to understand.

Can you folks direct me to restoration photo sets that are in nice clear colour so I can understand how all the panels that make up the body fit together?

First impressions are good for the condition of the floors and cills though I confess I haven't gone round with hammer and screwdriver yet! Gulp!

It appears that most of my welding work is concentrated at the rear end of the cills and outer panels where they meet the rear wings.

I can't decide whether the floors are original of just sheets of steel buried under underseal gunk!

Photos to come tomorrow hopefully as I now have my photobucket account set up.

I live in Bridlington on the east coast, 18 miles south of Scarborough, anyone in the area is welcome to look me up and do a spot of tire kicking on my ole moggy.

Any advice and help is most appreciated

It's all my best mates fault! He lives in Driffield and has three moggies, a two door that he plans to turn into a convertible and a four door job. The last is a two door that is sadly beyond repair and is used for bits.

I blame him for the obsession.

But don't old cars smell great inside or am I just a weirdo?

Greg

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:15 am
by Kevin
First is that the previous owner has undersealed the floors on the inside of the car! Any ideas on how to remove this?
Its a horrible job, but made a bit easier with a hot air gun and a scraper.

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:15 am
by stag36587
Congratulations on the car and all the best with it. I totally agree with you about the smell of old cars. In fact, I spend ages walking round classic car shows, poking my nose through open windows and inhaling deeply. Am I nuts, a bit sad, or something else!?

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:28 am
by Kevin
Am I nuts, a bit sad, or something else!?
Not at all I think most of us like the old car smell and I have a freiend that says the different colour interiors smell different now that I do find a little worrying.
But smell must be quite important to you otherwise you wouldn't have got a car from a barn on a farm so your saloon has got the extra smell factor :lol:

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:46 am
by Judge
greggy1964 wrote: But don't old cars smell great inside or am I just a weirdo?
Welcome aboard Greg.

As far as I'm concerned the smell is one of the most important factors, and something that cannot be replaced.

In my opinion too many cars have been over restored and/or rebuilt, and in effect are new, and have lost their character.

So please bear this in mind, and don't over do it.

Bill (Alias Weirdo number 2 if you like :wink: )