Morris Minor Owners Club

I've been loving minors since a kid, we had two travellers. I'm approaching a milestone birthday and would like to look at reliving some past memories and having some fun and cherising a minor again. I'm looking at a minor saloon this afternoon and had a look at the 'buying a minor guide'. The guide mentions the 'the dreaded cover panel'. Sorry to sound a dur brain but where is this panel and what does it look like? If I know and find it then I would take the advice given by the writer and walk away. What does the panel cover and apart from being a cover what else is its function. Thanks, hopefulyy not too many questions there.

there are cover panels on the upper cill sections, these are cover plates and underneath are the cills and lower parts of the a and b post

check underneath at the cross member and if its at all crusty in the center then walk away from the car, cross member ends can be repaired easir

look carefully at the rear spring hanger and lift all the carpets, also check for water leaks

check the upper inner wing for rot as well

'the dreaded cover panel'

It's the sloping panel that you might call the door step.
It hides one side of the box section that is, in effect, the chassis.

and it hides a multitude of rot normally

Welcome to the messageboard Gaynor

There's an earlier thread here that you might find useful: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... sill+cover

Take your time thorughly inspecting the car as structural problems can work out very expensive to fix. Whereabouts are you? It may be worthwhile contacting your local branch for buying advice - someone may know the car that you are going to look at or a member may even have a car for sale. And don't be tempted to buy the first car that you see. Sometimes it's easy to fall for a car that looks nice and shiney but is hiding a variety of problems underneath!

if you are close to the sussex area, brighton to hastings i could look for you

if its a 2 door check around the rear wing area for any bubbling where the wing meets the outer body as this is another rot area and can be quite costly to repair

you can still get a good solid minor for around the £1200 to £1500 mark
dont know what your budget is

Thanks for all the useful comments. I'll be looking for the rust then! I'm in the Isle of Man so if any of you know someone here a nudge for their help would be gratefully received.

The contact for the Isle of Man Branch is Bernie Wade. Email: wades at manx dot net

Have you bought it yet? beware of fresh underseal.

Well had a look at the car, sad thing the owner passed away in November so the wife is selling the car. She doesn't drive it and never has apparently, hence why I didn't take it out. Engine compartment seemed clean enough, didn't start car as I saw the cover panels first and thought that was it. If I want to look further she will get the mechanic who has looked after it for the last 6yrs to start it up and take me out.
Details
1956 saloon, 4dr, split screen, clarendon grey. £2,250 ono
The dreaded cover panel aaaaagh on all four sills!!!!!
The cross member also looked to be undulating rather than crinkly in the middle area, is this bad?
Small amount of rust on bottom of a couple of doors, bumpers otherwise bodywork looked good to the untrained eye Chromework pitted but what can you expect for a 50yr+ car. Loads original features, doesn't seem to have modifications inside the car.
Area nearest you as you open boot, seemed ok.
Wings, seemed ok, small rust starting on body above wing rather than wing.
Inside car all seems intact but in time I'd want to renew and upgrade a bit.
Front chassis at the ends nearest the front of the car the horizontal surface appeared to be bowing inwards and there was what seemed a crust, whearas further up the chassis it was flat, is this an issue. The underside had been sealed, don't know when though.
Rubber seals to windows perished, so yes it will probably leak if in the rain. Owner kept it in the garage and only used in the summer.

Does the cover panel issue blow this out of the water?? Economically not viable?

Living in the Isle of Man of course limits me somewhat to visiting loads of cars as I have to factor in travel costs. Ferry each time is approx £200-300, so I could easily use up a ton of money and not get a car or if the above car stacked up and is relatively ok and reasonbly priced ok then may be suitable.

What d'ya think. Not asking for someone to tell me what to do but a lead on the above would help.

the cover panels are just that cover panels, they can be rusty and holed no problem, its what is underneath them that matters

the front wing rust, if its not on the wing then its on the scuttle ends, if it is then thats a tricky repair

can see you point about traveling to the mainland though

Does it have a current (longish) MOT? It's not necessarily an indicator of current roadworthiness but if it hasn't got one I'd say the car is overpriced. If I was in your shoes I'd contact the Isle of Man branch and see if one of the members would mind taking a look and giving you a second opinion. You really need someone who is familiar with Minors to give it a thorough going over before considering parting with any cash. Things like window rubbers and pitted chrome are not the end of the world and can all be replaced. The rubbers on my car were awful when I bought it - the worse he had ever seen according to my local Minor specialist - but I used this to negotiate a little on the price. A magnet over the bodywork would identify any areas of filler. You could always get the mechanic to take you out for a drive and find out his opinions on the car. If he's looked after it for 6 years he should be able to give you details of what work has been done on it previously and whether there were any advisories at the last MOT.

Thank you for the valued comments. Will get in touch with the IOM member.

Gaynor H wrote: The guide mentions the 'the dreaded cover panel'. Sorry to sound a dur brain but where is this panel and what does it look like? If I know and find it then I would take the advice given by the writer and walk away. What does the panel cover and apart from being a cover what else is its function. Thanks, hopefully not too many questions there.

Does the cover panel issue blow this out of the water?? Economically not viable?

Hi Gaynor and welcome aboard.
As regards the dreaded cover panel as quoted in the buyers guide its not the covers as mentioned in the other posts that are being refferred to its cover panels applied to the underside of the floor to cover up holes in the underside area of the sills that are being talked about, what it means is that if the underside of the sill area is covered with a smooth sheet or piece of metal that covers the area its hiding something, if you look at the picture in the guide of the underside of the car
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The area above where it says footwell is the location that is being talked about and you can see how it should be shaped with a couple of grooved sections so to speak and if this area is smooth it is fitted with cover panels made up to cover the underside rot.
If you can take a few photo's of that area and post them on here we can soon tell if it has cover panels fitted, unless you can contact the local members who will clarify it for you one way or the other.
The part the others were thinking off is called the Kick Step Plate like these ones below
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Thanks Kevin, thats really informative and I now know what a cover plate is. As I thought, its a sheet of metal welded on to a corroded area of the car to repair & cover it. Thanks for the photo of the kick plates, this confirms this one as well. On a saloon do they extend over the rear wheel arch? The car I looked at the metal plate extended along and up the wing.

The crinkly cross member! What defines it as crinkly rather than undulating? As I haven't seen a crinkly one yet I have nothing to compare to.

Many Thanks

Gaynor

Its where the layers are sort of forced away from each other..... if that makes sense.

Tried posting a pic of the cross member but for some reason I can attach to the reply but thats as far as we get. The cross member appears undulating and seems to appear as two layers rateher than a crusty layering that you get with rust that has expanded. Are there any pictures on the site that I can look at re the failed cross member?

Gaynor H wrote:Tried posting a pic of the cross member but for some reason I can attach to the reply but thats as far as we get

The photo is probably too big. Try reducing it on your pc and try posting again.

Hi Gaynor the are some images on ebay that show what shape 4 door kick plates look like.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... Categories