Morris Minor Owners Club

Well got time at last to play so puchased a new dissy cap,rotor,leads and coil (they were all well past sell by). Stuck some petrol in it and off we went, seems very slow to get oil up to the rockers tho so will give it a change and see how we go. As for the "it only needs a hole in the floor and the rear spring hanger welded"...... it has more holes than a swiss cheese as we can see from the pics still I did say it was about time I learnt to weld didn't I.

When i jacked it up to take the front drivers side wheel off the jack sunk into the chassis but luckily its quite solid further back.

The wings came off quite easily, not much holding them on !!!

So everyone have a look remember I intend to do all the work myself and if you think I am wasting my time tell me before I start please.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>

I know it's sad to see car's in this state and hard work to put them right, but it's even more sad to see a minor scrapped.
All I can say is..save it if you can.

I've fixed much worse than that.... If we keep scrapping them there won't be any left !!!
Your car was only available for 2 or 3 years aswel so its getting quite rare now....

Nobody else can really answer the question for you. I've fixed worse, but that's not the question! There's no shortage of rotten Minors at the moment so not like it's the only one left.

If the car has some redeeming features then it adds to its value (decent paint, good doors, wings, nice interior, etc..). If you can DIY all the repairs then the price to fix it becomes worth considering. If you need to pay for it to be restored there need to be some good reasons, for which most people who pay out can find their own justification.

If you can get hold of a car roller, and have room for that, it makes life much more pleasant - I never liked welding whilst laying under a car so when I eventually got mine I wished I'd had it a decade earlier.

Gas bottle rental + welding and grinding consumables + the price of the panels means that you'll not make any money on the project. Either you do it so you can have a car that you rebuilt, or just because you like pet rescue projects, or something else about the car gives you a reason (previous family owner etc..)

As well as sills, floor edges, A-post, front inner wings there maybe repair/replacment needed for centre cross member, rear chassis extensions, rear arch seams, rear spring shackles, boot floor and floor under rear seat.

For what it will cost to repair you could buy a much better project car. If you want to do the project and want to learn the skills (often by learning the hard way!) then by all means!
If there's a big risk that after you buy a lot of the parts it never gets finished, then don't.

There are plenty of rotten Minor for sale and also many unfinished projects where people struggle to get back half what they have spent on the pile of parts included with the car.

The other option is to offload and go for one you can drive from day one. I prefer using them to welding them! (however I'm losing count of how many I saved from scrap along the way )

Taking into account what others have added, I'll add the following.

Firstly you need to ask yourself the following questions.. Do you have the enthusiasm to do it? If your practicing sends the car to heaven and therefore fail in your quest to restore, will your wife divorce you due to the costs involved?

My Minor is in a good state of repair, so could be construed as boring to the die hard and ultimate restorer. But there is a nick in my brain telling me that after this one I would like to get my teeth into a very long term project and restore something like this.

I think if you do this, it'll be exactly that, long term so it doesn't appear to cost the earth as you learn and watch it slowly have it's second coming.

Dean wrote:Taking into account what others have added, I'll add the following.

Firstly you need to ask yourself the following questions.. Do you have the enthusiasm to do it? If your practicing sends the car to heaven and therefore fail in your quest to restore, will your wife divorce you due to the costs involved?

A very good point, if you get fed up with it half way through after having spent money on parts and time doing the work, its still not worth much so you will lose out if you did sell.

Your photos remind me of my Traveller 6 months ago, it was in a very similar state.

Ive also fixed worse than this. You need quite a lot of space when restoring as well because ts amazing how much stuff has to come off to get at the rot! Agree with Ray, get a car roller. Theres nothing worse than lying on your back on a cold garage floor when that we peice of underseal you missed catchs fire and falls down the sleeve of you overalls, to weld when you could be standing up looking directly at it!! Do you picture the scene???

There are certainly better cars avaliable, but its very satisfying to have restored your own and saved it from scrap. You also know exactly what the car is like by the time you have finished it!!

Good Luck

I agree with everytning that's been said, from what you've shown of the front end, the work is mega particularly for a learner but not impossible with the availability of new panels, forget about patching.
If it were me, I would strip the whole lot down to the shell then assess the job because as others have intimated & I've been there, after months of sheer hard work, enthusiasm can easily wane & all that time has been wasted. Good luck. Charlie.

hi all ,i,m a nooby to this forum and I have just got a minor in a similar condition so I have put it down to long term restoration and at the moment I am really enjoying myself, doing it at my own leasure I think that is the secret, good luck,neil.

yes if doing it your self it is very easy for enthusiasm to wain, especially if it goes on a long time

do not take short cuts to speed the process up,

me well i am impatient so i had a restoer do mine, well doing it now , ready end of the month

Or plan C. Spray it all over with waxoyl/old engine oil grease whatever, SORN it and leave it laid up. In 10/20 years time there may be more call as it'll be rarer.

Do it! You will have immense satisfaction once it is done and be able to tell everyone at rallies that it's all your own work!

But DO get a body roller as it turns a hateful job into an enjoyable one!

oh go on what is there to loose and at the end youll know itill be good

Yes, I've fixed cars MUCH worse than that, and enjoyed it. All good advice above - go for it!

One tip - take lots of photos, before, during and after, and post up your progress as a blog thread on here - in those dark "lost motivation" times, the folk on here will keep you going, most of us have been there!

All the best!

yes keep us all informed of progress

Thanks everyone for all the advice. First job I need a better welder, mines a gasless mig and everyone I have talked to said its not up to the job and as the wires more than twice the price it will cost a lot to run. I now have a bid on 160 amp gas one in Norwich (so only 16 miles away) on ebay with an automatic helmet. I have added up the panel prices and am looking at 350 to 400 pounds, car stands me at 134 including ignition bits so its not too bad.
I think it best if I get the panels in sections starting with the smallest/cheapest then see how I get on rather than one big buy.
I will get a body roller but as they are 500 quid ish new I will look for a second hand one, not found any on ebay yet !

Nice to see no ones voted to scrap it.

I will get a body roller but as they are 500 quid ish new I will look for a second hand o

Has anyone at the local branch got one you could borrow.

If you are going for it, as has been mentioned, take loads of detailed digi photo's & take measurements before you cut any stuff out, you will be amazed how something like a sill can move & nothing is worse than to find the door gap has altered when you've finished. Good luck. Charlie.