Help

[Morgen]

Hi everyone,

This is a slightly strange message, but as the title suggests I really need some help and I wondered if anyone on here would be able to lend a hand or know someone who might. I am based in Edinburgh.

I have a 1969 2 door saloon which is in a sorry state. It has been in the family since the year I was born and my father and I always planned to restore it together - we never really had the resources in terms of space or money but we managed to hold onto it for years after it went off road as different people allowed us to keep it off road (it sat in a field for a few years). Anyway, a few years ago my parents moved into a place with a driveway and my dad built a garage. Sadly, my father passed away not that long after and the car is hanging from the garage ceiling (my dad and I lifted in the air so that I could turn it and work on the floor).

I am now unable to move the car and will need to at some point since my mother probably won't live in the house for much longer. I wonder if there is anyone who can help me? Even if just to get the front suspension reassembled and get the axle and wheels back on so that it can be rolled/towed. I am studying full time just now and working part time and so I am just not able to manage it on my own, and I wouldn't be able physically to move the car on my own either and I am getting a bit desperate.

I don't really have the finances to pay people but I do have lots of Morris Minor spares (couple of engines and lots of other bits and pieces) which I would happily donate if someone was able to help me.

Sincerely,
Morgen

[jagnut66]

Sorry to hear about your father, I'm sure someone near you will help.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Morgen]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate that.

I did get a fair bit of work done on the car once it was stripped and went up in the air. The main idea at the start was just to give the shell some rigidity in order to try to maintain the geometry of the car as far as possible. I'll include a couple of pictures, though the metalwork has not been done to a high standard I was just trying to get some metal in there when I visited home at the weekends with a view to sort it out later, once the shell was rigid again.

I have no idea whether the car will ever be restored now, but in either case I really need to be able to move it somehow. If only Practical Classics or the like would sponsor it as an extreme restoration

From this (it was our daily family car for 12 years)[frame][/frame]

To this...[frame][/frame]

And now this...[frame][/frame]

Would be very sad to have to let it go after all those late weekends, not to mention the cost of the metal!

[jagnut66]

Keep going.
Some restorations take years but all are worth it in the end, especially if the car has sentimental value on top, like this one has.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[bmcecosse]

Looks like the front suspension is there - but there's nothing to attach the rear axle to........ It's going to be a 'hump it on a trailer' job... Do you have somewhere to take it once it's mobile?

[Morgen]

Hi BMC,

I was thinking of trying to find the time to do the necessary welding this summer in order to be able to mount the leaf springs and axle. At the front, I'm struggling to remember exactly what state it was in the last time I was working on it but I think at the moment the front suspension is mostly disasembled. All the bits are there, and not that long ago I got a big mixed box of various suspension parts including (I think) hubs and torsion bars (although cross member needs work for mounting the bars).

Here's a couple of pictures of the front end, although I'll need to check next time I'm in Edinburgh because this might not be the most up to date picture.

Everything is a bit squint, I'll need a jig one day In my defense, it was done in a panicked rush to stop the car bending under its own weight.

I'm not sure what sort of time scale I have in terms of moving the car elsewhere, at the moment my thinking is that if I can get it onto wheels then that will make all future eventualities much more manageable. I'm also thinking that it is probably not a good idea to leave that strain on the garage for longer than necessary.

[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

You can just assemble the kinpins without the torsion bars - and it will just sit on the front bump stops to allow you to move the car about.