Morris Minor Owners Club

Well I caught the bug and bought another one

Basically a friend of mine bought this off the original owners wife in my local town , it had been sat in a barn since 1987. They had always hoped to restore it ( I have a few quotes from the past) but never got round to it. ( I think that is how it goes anyway..) My friend bought it and over the past year stripped it down, had it welded and then had to stop due to ill health. He has decided that it will never get finished so has passed it to me for the vast sum of £2000. Judging by other genuine convertible projects that have sold on ebay recently that was a good price Bearing in mind that mine came with tha parts listed below, which equates to about £1000 in new parts

It came with 4 NOS Leyland wings, A NOS rear bumper , Brake pipe set, Master cylinder, Wheel cylinder set and 4 wolfrace wheels. ( the story behind the wheels is that the son would not learn to drive in it without having them fitted!!)

Anyhow heres some pics

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Inner wings Decent

IMAG0997 by fossy97, on Flickr

IMAG0993 by fossy97, on Flickr
Doors excellent considering they have never been repaired

IMAG0995 by fossy97, on Flickr

IMAG0996 by fossy97, on Flickr

IMAG0992 by fossy97, on Flickr

IMAG0994 by fossy97, on Flickr
The original dealer

IMAG0990 by fossy97, on Flickr
oddities in the gloveboxes

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Boot floor repaired where the towbar was attached

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
This had only rotted because mud had been trapped behind the eyelet thing I was told by my mate, otherwise still got its original paint on this side

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Similar on this side

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Inside of boot decent, might need a little more welding on the wing flange on the outside, I can see a couple of pinholes.

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Before it was laid up, the bloke had put grease on the front bumper nad hockey sticks and with a bit of cleaning and polishing-

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

DSCF0611 by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Original hood, only 1 small tear

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Front seats are good, Drivers needs a small repair and both desperately need to be re-stuffed (after 150K you practically sit on the floor when sat in the drivers seat)

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Steering wheel is really nice

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Only 1 small crack

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
I hate to boast, but the boss is the best I have seen, Normally they seem to be faded and crazed

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Both doors need overside hinge pins ( the drivers door definitely) but they still fit very well

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Full set of wolfrace, last owner started polishing them

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
The wings

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr
Squeezed into the garage!!!

798 CPP by fossy97, on Flickr

Plans are to get it running, finish off any welding, rebuild the brakes, remove wiring loom and instruments, re-spray and then re-build. Watch this space!!

Nice project, don't forget to mail me if the wheels are for sale!!

The car appears an original unrestored relatively rust free example. The body and chassis appears straight and accident free. This will definitely be an interesting restoration. Good luck!!

les-the wheels may end up on the other car but if I change my mind then I will let you know

klm-Thanks, it does seem pretty straight, sadly it has not escaped the odd MOT bodge, found some fiberglass on the o/s rear floorpan and a rather large patch on the underside below it, so that will probably have to be sorted, and what looks like a bit of brass or something brazed above the cross member jacking point on the drivers side also. The rest is pretty honest with not too many repairs, and my magnet has yet to find any filler on the underside .
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To be fair, all of the above is solid, and would pass an MOT, my biggest concern is the fiberglass, as it is no doubt hiding something, that at least will have to be sorted.

The passenger side is much better, but the pics are even worse camera phone you see.
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Still got to remove the sill covers, and the exhaust heat shield which could reveal some more horrors, but I would say that the worst of the welding has been done by the previous owner.

In other news, the fuel pump is going with a quick clean up, and I got the carb cleaner out and got the carb all working freely, got a battery on order at the local motor factors, so may have a go at giving it a start up this or next weekend to assess the condition of the engine.[frame][/frame]

Cheers
Chris

The most important on a Convertible is the strength of the chassis, particularly the sills. If the doors can be closed smoothly with 4 people in the car, then in my view the rest can be sorted. There is a strengthening panel originally spot welded to the inner sill of Convertibles and Travellers which provide additional strength. This panel was not fitted when the sill on my car was last replaced and restoring the sills to the original specification is in my view a challenge.