Morris Minor Owners Club

hi, finally bought my first morris and its a traveller (71)

i have the intention of making it more of a hot/rat rod looking car which will still be practical for me, the missus and 2 kids.

im going for the basics at the moment. jacking the rear end, lowering the front just a touch

but heres the problems i have at the moment

WOOD
yes there are some pieces missing but i have a carpenter at the ready to rebuild pieces at a fraction of cost. what i really ned are the dimensions of these pieces. Most importantly the rear roof rail
if anyone has a spare they would measure/has or will make a template/ or even sell if the price is right...i would be very pleased to hear from them

i intend to create a templates for all the wood i restore/ replace and make it available to others as i have been unable to locate one online up to this point

i have also purchased the moulds to make fibreglass rear arches to try to earn a little cash back

bodywork and engine are mostly sound a little surface rust is all

heres what im starting with[frame][/frame]

Sounds cool man. What plans have you got to 'rod' it?

Hi

All timber is available from various suppliers but is quite expensive if you buy a whole kit. There was a full set of drawings on ebay this year... but without them the curves etc would be hard for someone to measure for you!!!

If you are able to get your own timbers made youre best using your originals as patterns.

A rear roof rail is available here http://www.morrisminorspares.net for about £35 plus vat and delivery.

Good luck with your project.

thanks,
firstly the rod mod will come a little latter on when a nasty big engine will be dumped in ...not sure what yet gonna see whats available.
secondly air bags to raise and lower ride height. a friend of mine installs them and will do it for cost.
bigger rear wheels, custom rear arches
custom paint/pinstripe inside and out

and thats all for now although i dare say more plans will be developed

secondly, thanks for the help with the woodwork. i just today made the top left hand piece above the windows with a piece of reclaimed ash that cost me a fiver.....looks the nuts too

measure twice cut once

Just a few pics to show how the rat is coming along


tatto fabric sun visors,stereo fitted, bottle opener glove box handle... still waiting for longer gear stick

new wheel arches not fitted yet

black detail and pinstripes to follow on red oxide hood

lovelly new arch wood thanks to TRAVELLER TIMBERS they were the cheapest and postage was great

just purchased new brake master cylinder front wheel cylinders and all new brake shoes all around. hopefully thats all im spending for a little while

does anyone know when and where the essex branch meet?

Contact Desmond Brick email: desju attalktalkdotnet or 'phone 012seven7 6five3115. They meet last Sunday of each month - 'phone for details.

busy day today, repaced brake mastercylinder and reassembled torsion bars and lowered front end

just a quick photo to show you how im doing[frame][/frame]
i know its not everyones cup of tea but hey shes my mutant

loving the look of your 'mutant'! very low at the front. is it sat on the bump stops? mine is but mine doesn't look that low!

removed the bumpstops in favour of something smaller. have to fit a sump guard now

Looks nice man. I'm liking the lowness of it Just make sure that you taper the new bumpstops to be 'progressive' rather than just flat. Also watch that the lower wishbones don't hit the bottom of the inner wing (mine did), I had to take a notch out of each side for the wishbones to clear it.

and watch that the damper arm where it comes through the inner wing isn't hitting the top of the slot!

i can just about clear a house brick with my sump...

in the snowy weather i was driving along road and could hear lumps of slush in the middle of the road exploding on my sump!

thanks for the advice guys down there tomorrow will make it all safe and sound

Been a while....im working as hard as i can to get the motor to Battlesbridge in a couple of weeks

but here is a quick update

all welding complete
all wings and wood (mis)treated and replaced
a mad large single box race exhaust fitted (custom made)
webber twin choke fitted
rear area boarded out (staying 2 seater till i can find trav rear seat)
bullet mirrors added
most chrome sold on ebay to pay for things i need still need


still cant drive the thing as its blocked in by two minis on blocks at the moment

photos comming

can't wait for photos! the exhaust intrigues me!

you work fast

Sorry to sound stupid but what is a Hot/Rat Rod. I thought a Hot Rod was American cars with large engines that go fast in a straight line. Anything that keeps another minor on the road is good by me!

essentially to "hot rod " is to rebuild for increased performance
a lot of yank cars are the hot rod stereotype Boyd Coddington style beacause one version of the history of hotrods will say that it was started in southern california with the lightweight roadsters.
Bodyweight was removed and engines were pushed to the maximum making them run hotter
refered to as "hot roadsters" a derogatorry term for non mainstream vehicles at the time
down to "hot roads" and by the passage of time and the introduction of slang aswell as accent variations leads to "HOT RODS"

the machines were mainly built and driven by engineers/soldiers returning from WW2 with a vast knowledge of engines and performance. Bored and unemployed they commonly worked on Ford T's A's and B's due to the ease removing channeling, roofs etc and the FLATHEAD engine

not till the 50s did the streetrodding custom paint job stereotype we all know start to emerge

Rat rods are tatty and usually black or primer base colours as they were painted with aircraft paint liberated from bases for the cars (although i thought all Fords were black anyway lol)

but hey ive improved Bhp and top speed by rebuilding and modifying existing engine thats made it "hot"
while removing any non essential bodyweight and painting the whole damn thing black with red oxide wheels and bonnet

sorry if ive gone on a little i tend to ramble...im not saying all this is information is 100% just from the little i have read about the history of HOT RODS i dont wanna get into technical arguments

hope i cleared up your query...thanks for taking the time to look at my stuff

Thanks for all that! Does make sense now!

im liking this project!!!