Morris Minor Owners Club

all the mogs in the yard in new zealand i drove past

Bea - was that by any chance a few miles North of Greymouth? A long row of Minors and 50s/60s Austins are lined up on the East side of the road and there's a restoration centre behind.

Probably an impossible question for Bill to answer. I've read somewhere that NZ minors (and other minors exported as knocked down kits) utilised local interior trim,tyres & paint.

I thinks its more impossible for Bill to answer - I've spent the last 2½ years trying to find original Paint colours for NZ (you are correct that we used our own paint, tyres, batteries, interior (trim was simular but some differed). I've resorted to building up a paint colour listing from original vehicles and colour charts. NZ LCVs had stickers in them noting the colour (much like modern cars have). most have lost these and/or been repainted. - I must check my new van.

all the mogs in the yard in new zealand i drove past (or nearly drove past, i kinda lept out of the car and snuck across ) looked to be the kind of interior trim and colours that i've seen here (he did have 40 in his yard) and he gets all his parts and paints from the morris minor centre in bath, which i thought was BRILLIANT!

I know where you have been! He's getting worse there too! If he's using UK specs (common error here to use Ray Newell's book) he's not really keeping to original.

My ute was very original so I've just copied it's features in the resto.

Don't know Kevin- is this right or wrong?

That is right. (Opposite way round to mine).

Thanks Cam. Both mine are correct then.
Sorry for hijacking concours topic.

Well it was SORT OF a concours question!

(I'm not sure the Club would appreciate expense claims for judging at NZ events)

The club and judging scene is getting rather developed here - they just had the 13th convention here at Easter with 114 or so minors, not bad considering that location was rather distant at the bottom (cold) end of the country.

Bea - was that by any chance a few miles North of Greymouth? A long row of Minors and 50s/60s Austins are lined up on the East side of the road and there's a restoration centre behind.

Chris, that lot has all gone now - the fellow had debts to clear or convictions or he died or something so they took his 'collection' and sold them off - not heaps of worth as the climate there is rain 8 days a week.

The one I was thinking of was Wakefield just south of Nelson - but depends on when they were viewed as the Wakefield one is rather new.

My steady bar is upside down......... oh well

Chris, that lot has all gone now

Fweddy, that must have happened very recently. They were still there at the end of February when we passed them on the Tranz-Alpine express. I remember the location from driving past it 4 years ago. As for Greymouth it seems we've been very lucky as both times I've visited it's been dry and sunny!

At one point we had 4 nights in Christchurch pencilled in and I was hoping to call in on you en-route to visiting Kaikoura. Unfortunately I got a severe cold in Queenstown and only ended up with 2 nights in Christchurch....

They were still there at the end of February when we passed them on the Tranz-Alpine express.

The one I'm thining of was cleared out a year or so ago. May be that's another stash then - The one I was thinking of is just off the main road but north of the Train station where you would have got off - or maybe this fellow bought the last lot and shifted them to his place - You never know with those west coasters - any thing is likely Further up the road a fellow has two Jags as gate posts! not just parked there, but buried up to the back windows with the grille facing the sky!

Sorry - this is ment to be about concours aye - they might have been - once.

I was hoping to call in on you en-route

Oh I C - so you are the same fellow - see you next time! Just keep away from Queenstown!

Further up the road a fellow has two Jags as gate posts! not just parked there, but buried up to the back windows with the grille facing the sky!

I've seen a picture of that in Practical Classics or Classic Cars Magazine.....

It`s not John Prescotts house is it?

chris, it was just outside Nelson

Good luck with the Club Fweddy, if I can be of any help you only have to ask.

chris, it was just outside Nelson

No, this one is on the inland road north of Greymouth (but enroute to Nelson)

I have just visited my wife's old Morris Minor convertible in a garage(dry) in our village where it has lain untouched for the last 11 years.(Terrible shame I know. It looked terrible with layer of dust over trafalgar blue), but having joined the club at the NEC classic car show last year. I'm commited to getting it back on the Road. The good news is that a new battery, footpump and a little tinkering for half an hour(points clean & pickups under distributor cap, a spray with WD40, the fuel pump given some encouragement to 'tick' again, and all the electrical contacts 'pulled and pushed'), she fired up on the fuel in the tank and ran! Some builders next door came out and stood amazed, grinning, at the sight and sound and went for a bucket of water for the rad and windscreen. After checking we had some functioning brakes I drove the sorry sight she was, round the corner to home and two hours later after a wash, a bottle of 'T' cut and polish, the result looked 100% better. Now then...Q, I walked up and down a concours line at a show last year but my question here is where does one go to get a lovely restoration job done? There seem to be plenty of places offering restoration but there must be places with reputations known around the Club. I occasionally go to Coys car auctions and fine examples of many makes often have the well regarded 'type' restorer names mentioned in the listing particulars, I 've seen the same names cropping up over time. Do we know if there are well regarded 'type' restorers for the Morris Minor? I'm going to go round the brakes myself first and take her for an MOT and see how the report comes back. I can see there's been work(welding underneath) done...and the door fit is poor so I'm expecting there needs to be something done, and well, ..as they say.."if a jobs worth doing"... I'd love to drive off to a rally in her one day. Andrew(Oxford)