Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, I'm Claire, I've joined this forum specifically to try and save a sad old split screen. I lost my Dad recently. He was the eternal engineer and hobbyist, with multiple projects on the go. Through my childhood we had several Travellers and, I think for that reason, he was given this old split screen by a neighbour. This was early in the 1980s and I think the car had been standing a while by then.

Dad put the car in storage and kept saying he'd get around to it but, of course, he never did.

I could really do with some advice from you guys as to the best thing to do for it. We have a local scrap metal dealer lurking as Dad never chucked anything. And whilst we're happy to bin the N Reg Omega, the K Reg Astra and the old oil drums kicking around, this is a bit different.

Do you think it's still restorable, or would it only have use as spares? And is it better to stick it on Ebay or through this site? I'm not overly bothered what we raise for it but I really don't want to scrap it unless all else fails.

You can see photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59904444@N ... 573984325/ Access is very limited at the moment as the car is sharing a shed with no end of other junk/collectables but I will try to get better pics in a couple of weeks if anyone is interested. It's located near Newbury, Berkshire.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Claire.[frame][/frame]

Definitely still restorable, looks nice and original and not badly rotten at all.
If you can manage to get some pictures of the underneath and maybe under the bonnet it would help.

Is there any paperwork at all?

Thanks Marky. It's behind the door of a shed that we're pretty convinced will collapse if we open both double doors at once! I need to get out the 2 other classic cars, which are accessible by the door that DOES open and then I think we need to prop the joist to get this one out. So getting around it safely is pretty hard right now. I'm back there in a couple of weeks and will see if I can get the junk off it and clamber around a bit.

I can't find any paperwork, unless it's still in the car, but the DVLA have it on record and have sent me a form to get it SORNed.

It's good that it is on DVLA records - that saves a bit of hassle.
However as it doesn't appear on the ".gov" records (when making a vehicle / road tax enquiry online), I wonder if DVLA got their wires crossed?

Either way, it has been off the road since before SORN rules came into existance, so unless you have filed a change of keeper (e.g. into your name from your dad's - which I doubt based on your comments) there is no requirement for it to be SORN'd.

As fotr the car - nothing in the pics looks that bad - rusty front wings are not an issue - it's what's underneath that counts.
I am sure I've driven worse (not that that is anything to go by) so there's no need to it to be cubed and melted via the scrap yard route unless you can't find a keen new owner.

it has a few hard to find parts such as chrome windscreen trim and a good boot badge reflector.. so please vet any potential new owner to see if they are going to break it to make a bit of cash - it sounds much more like you'd prefer your dad's intention to save it!

m...u...s...t... r...e...s...i...s...t! - although i fancy learning to weld over summer
where are you located?

Matt Tomkins wrote: where are you located?

oops - just spotted 'near newbury - sorry :p

Thanks Ray, some useful stuff there. I got a bit confused by the lady at the DVLA but there's certainly SOME history retained in Cardiff as she knew what age and colour it was. The worrying thing is, I just opened the envelope they've sent me and it encloses a V55/5, a V149, a V765 and V765/1, an F54/1, a V355/5 AND a list of UK Owners Clubs! It's almost like they had no idea what I needed so sent the lot! So you don't think I need to do anything unless I want to transfer ownership? I did actually inherit all his old cars but that was, predominantly, because he knew I'd do right by them and not allow them to be broken.

Matt, you'd be very welcome to come and see it. It's about 3 miles north of Thatcham, if you came down the A329 it's about 40 miles from you. I live in Northampton and, as my Mum's getting on a bit, am dealing with the huge pile of collectables/junk my Dad amassed. If you DID want a look, it would need to be on a day when I'm down there, but I can manage that most days and weekends as I'm not currently working.

ClazUK wrote:Matt, you'd be very welcome to come and see it. It's about 3 miles north of Thatcham, if you came down the A329 it's about 40 miles from you. I live in Northampton and, as my Mum's getting on a bit, am dealing with the huge pile of collectables/junk my Dad amassed. If you DID want a look, it would need to be on a day when I'm down there, but I can manage that most days and weekends as I'm not currently working.

thanks, but i think my parents would kill me if i got another one :p - if it's still up for grabbs july time i might be tempted, but can't at the moment
i'll start persuading :p

assume not, but if it's still around in summer i might be tempted to at least come have a look :p

Hi again Claire,
Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. As long as the garage/shed will stay upright, then there's no rush to sort this car out before you've got other things sorted. Cars can wait - not everything else can.

The brakes are likely to be seized but you should be able to drag it out of the garage with an average family saloon. After that a couple of good washes should make it look more presentable (e.g. for internet ads). Alternatively you stand a reasonable chance of finding a new owner via this forum - but as above, people will be interested to see more of the car (e.g. floors and sills etc.. from underneath). It's not hard to do that with a camera as long as you don't mind getting on the floor to get under it.

it's nice weather April to mid September, and the warmer weather is the better time to find an enthusiastic DIYer.

Morning Ray,

I'm keen to move the cars ASAP as they are stored on land which is seperate from the house. On several occasions Mum and neighbours have found ... um.... what's the PC way of saying this?.... less desirable members of our travelling community?... mooching around. Dad was over there most days when he was alive, no-one is, now. Although the 3 classic cars are 'secure' in a ramshackle way, there's a lot of visible scrap metal sitting around, pulling them in like magpies. Mum's getting a bit stressy about it, ergo so am I!

I think I'll get down there next week, try to get better pics. I'm back again early June with my Uncle and cousin, so we can try to winch it out then and get better photos.

Thanks

Claire

Hi Claire,

It might be worth contacting the local MMOC branch as someone there might be willing to look the car over for you and assess what needs doing. And you never know, there may be a local member who is looking to take on a project. I think the East Berkshire branch is nearest to Newbury. Contact is John Allen: johnallen222 (at) madasafish (dot) com

Good luck,

Louise

there's a lot of visible scrap metal sitting around, pulling them in like magpies. Mum's getting a bit stressy about it, ergo so am I!

Righto - I see the dilema there!
My garage is at the end of the garden but accessed by a private road at the rear - the road is usually empty, not overlooked, and attracts undesirables - I've had break ins, theft of stuff outside the garage, vandalism etc..

In the absence of any better storage, I'd totally agree that you would be better re-homing it than leaving it. 'just' a broken windscreen can be a pain in the bum as it can be a prize pain to refit them on the splitscreens.

I'd agree with Louise regarding chasing up the local branch. You should be able to find someone helpful there - even if it's just to help to move it up to the house whilst you're selling it.

Thanks both, I'll get in touch with John tomorrow