The Vicar`s Wife`s Traveller Restored And On the Road.

[Morris Mike]

I know the old cliche years ago about the Morris Minor was formerly owned by the vicar or his wife ran around in a Traveller taking in her duties as a member of the local W I,taking flowers to the church,organising and collecting items for the village bring and buy sale or taking allotment grown vegetables to the local market,but in this case everything is true.

This car was owned by the vicar`s wife who lived in a sleepy village nr Hungerford Wilts.

The local shop owner and newsagent would carry out repairs on the car whilst in her ownership for the first thirteen years of the cars life.

He then purchased the car from her when she decided not to use it anymore.

He would deliver newspapers in the car,and fitted an alternator straight away (1983) so the battery would not die in the winter time,whilst driving around in the dark winter evenings.

In 1994 the car failed its Mot due to some welding being required,so the car was parked in the garage until June 2013.

I heard about the car possibly coming up for sale so decided to put my name forward.

I have had the car for a month now and have embarked on restoring her to as new condition.

Work has been carried on the car,but was delayed for two weeks,as a friends Morris Minor Traveller needed a complete timber refit plus associated repairs carrying out.

Yesterday worked started again on her.

M M





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[Morris Mike]

The engine ran and the car drove but the braking system was non existant.
The whole braking system was removed and new parts fitted.
Now we had a car that drove and stopped.

Next job was the exterior.

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[MarkyB]

Nice story and car.
The wood looks original and pretty good too.

[Morris Mike]

Just show`s the state of the braking system if you leave it alone and just keep bodging it to work.

I replaced the complete system with new items.

[frame][/frame][frame]Old headlamp bowls,rear wing and rear valance panel are just fit for the bin.

[/frame][frame]The timberwork has been stripped back and a light oak dye applied to seal it.

My friend popped by and can be seen looking at removing the rear wing.

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Every piece of paint has been removed from the car.
Now we have a clean pallet to work with.
No fear of old paint reaction,rust bubbling through from and previous bodge repairs.
I quite like it like this....now a coat of clear lacquer would not go amiss.

M M

[jagnut66]

Blimey! You didn't waste any time!
At least your wood is good.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Daddybear1984]

as jagnut says no messing around there, what was your method to remove the paint, it looks a very neat job either way, looking forward to more from this thread

Kind regards

Scott

[Morris Mike]

I strip the paint in a number of ways.....

Large panels i.e roof,bonnet and wings etc,I use a DA sander with 40 grit sanding disc`s,they sell electric DA sanders for people who do not want to use air tools.
The smaller intricate areas I use knotted wire wheels in my 115mm grinder.
Small wire brushes on an electric drill.
Another good product for stripping paint off panels are the poly disc`s 115mm used on a grinder.

I will post some photo`s of the products.

M M

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[Daddybear1984]

sounds great i was thinking of using similar products and now know that they are effective thanks for that and looking good so far, keep up the good work

Kind Regards

Scott

[Romek]

Nice car, will follow with interest. The polycarbide discs are a good tip, I used them on my car, although they can work out a little pricey (I think I've used 20 so far). Is that a new wood kit? Looks great, what did you finish it in?

[Morris Mike]

The timber is original. It has been stripped back to bare timber,given a coat of light oak dye,then given two or three coats of mid brown beeswax.

I beeswax all the internal timber it gives a more natural finish.

Any timber on the outside I oil,I use Danish Oil.

I purchase 115mm poly disc`s made by TAF from a local welding supply company for £3.00each in a pack of five.

M M

[Morris Mike]

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[Morris Mike]

All of the panels have been etched primed followed by primer filler.

Any panel work and filling has taken place prior to the application of any paint.

A light guide coat of a dark coloured paint is sprayed over the panels,I will then block sand the panels, any paint remaining means a low spot,if needed a two pack stopper will be applied over any imperfections,this will be sanded before more primer is applied.

Then more sanding to a perfect flat and contoured finish before any thought of applying the two pack Smoke Grey finish coats.

As the old saying goes..."It is all in the preparation".

M M

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[Morris Mike]

Tools used for removing the paint from the body panels.

DA Sander with 40 grit disc`s.
Poly disc 115mm made by TAF Italy used in my angle grinder,fantastic for removing paint from panels large or small,leaves a great shiny finish.

Twisted knott wire wheel 115mm used in my angle grinder,great for removing surface rust,or cleaning the paint from around the inner door apertures,bottoms of doors or other areas where you do not have a perfect flat finish.

My trusty wire brush,used in an electric drill for those awkward areas.

M M



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[Daddybear1984]

Brilliant! thanks for that, it'll save me plenty of time now i know what works and the finish it leaves, thanks

Kind Regards

Scott

[Morris Mike]

Abranet sanders.

The large one is great for flatting off body panels when carrying out filling work.
The hook and loop (velcro) sheets come in grades from 40 grit to say 600 grit.

For cutting back your fillings to a perfect flat finish use either 40 or 60 grit.
Once you are happy with the finish of the panel either carry on with the large sander using finer sheets or block sand with the smaller sander.

I use Mirka sheets in the large sander and Abranet sheets in the smaller one.

Etch prime and then apply primer filler.

I use a guide coat over the prime painted finish coat,I then sand off the panel work (320 grit),any paint retained means a low sop or inperfections in the fishish, any inperfections can be filled with two pack stopper.
I then sand the stoppered areas back to a perfect finish.

I then lay on a couple of more coats of primer filler before blocking off with 600 grit,you can use a guide coat when doing this.

By this time the panels should be in a perfect condition free of dents or inperfections ready for the top coat finishes to be applied.



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[Morris Mike]

One of the doors and the two front wings are shown after block sanding off the guide coat.


Any low sopts or marks are filled with two pack stopper.

Further coats of primer filler will be applied over all the panels once this part of the operation is complete.


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[Daddybear1984]

good description thanks for the info

Kind Regards

Scott

[PaulTubby]

superb work in all respects!!! really good car beneath the surface rust, id say remove the door handles and lock personally but no you have to remove the door frame and handles go in first and come out last! But honestly superb standard of work ... nice to see....

[Morris Mike]

I will get the Saturday boy (the wife) to remove the door handles.

I always remove the door handles and final fittings before applying the top coats.

The whole vehicle has know had more primer filler applied after initial blocking off of the guide coat.

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[Morris Mike]

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