Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all,

This is my first post on here, although I have owned my Moggie "Lily" since 1993. She is an ex Devon & Cornwall police car and I found her on a scrap heap 21 years ago. She had very little damage, but did need a new gear box. A couple of years later I had a complete overhaul done on her. Then I moved abroad and for the first five years she was garage. But had to be moved back to Cornwall due to the garage being needed. That's when it all went horribly wrong for my poor Lily. She was kept outside open to the elements for 3 years and now for the last 5 years she was kept under a lean too, but terribly abused by my mother who has no appreciation for classic cars. Chicken food was kept in her, which led to mice and chickens also finding their way into her. a perpetual leak in the roof of the lean to cause a hole to form in her roof. I was horrified when I saw her. So I am now taking action, trying desperately to find someone to do a full restoration on her, and fortunately I think I have two great options.

But I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself as I anticipate using these boards as a source of information for this project and also once, she's ready to be on the road again I would love to take her to rallies.

I also wanted some feedback on whether I should try restore her to the police colours and try find the accessories that she would have had originally. When I got her, her doors had been painted blue, however the log book still states that she is blue and white. I realise that its really hard to get these things, so it may not be feasible to even attempt this, but you never know!

I also saw a post mentioning a Panda Morris Register. I'm really interested to know how many of these great cars are still around and would love to see some in person.

Anyway, hello again and thanks for any feedback.

Andrea

Here is a link to the website for Morris Minor ex-Police cars:
http://www.expolice.mmoc.org.uk/
Also a section on this forum:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewforum.php

Welcome to the forum! That's quite a history story. Don't underestimate the cost of your planned restoration - it will be several thousands of Pounds I fear - especially if you have to pay someone to do all the work. May as well put it back in Police livery...worry about picking up all the accessories later - when it is back on the road - and good luck with it! Can you post up some pictures?

Thank you! I'm hoping around £10k (I paid £5k twenty years ago) but am realistic in that I know it could cost up to as much as £20k. I have close ups of the rust damage that I took a couple of days ago to send to one of the restorers, but its a sorry story to see them. I have lots of old ones in print, from before the days of digital cameras, and I have a few of it recently when in all the storms we've had in Cornwall my sister showed me the roof of the lean too having landed on her.

I've attached that photo, even though it makes me want to weep! [frame][/frame]

Well -nothing is impossible ! Good luck with it - but do realise the finished vehicle will never be 'worth' the cost of the restoration, in hard cash terms. Sentiment is another matter of course. Be very careful who you choose to do the restoration - and get FIRM written quotes for exactly what will be done to the car and how much it will cost - and how long it will take to do the work. And I suggest you make regular visits to view progress of the restoration - and to take plenty of pictures as the work goes on.

That seems an awful lot of money .Why not try an ad in the local paper as might be a member near you or an ex mechanic to help

I think that at this point she really needs an expert as she's quite far gone. I'd really rather pay the money and have the best job possible done. The guy in Cornwall that I've spoken to it is a member of the Cornwall branch and has been doing them for 30 years so he knows his stuff and has a great reputation. I've seen his name mentioned on here a couple of times. In fact researching him on the internet is what brought me here. Its definitely going to be a staged project though!

Welcome to this site Andrea. You don't state whereabouts in Cornwall you are, but there are 2 professional restorers in Devon who may be able to help you.

MTR Restorations (MMOC Member) Unit 3A Crannafords Industrial Est. Chagford, Devon TQ13 8DR 07778 690783 and

Minor Miracles http://www.minormiracles.co.uk/morris-minor-contact.htm nr Tiverton, Devon.

There is also http://www.cornwallmorrisminorclub.co.uk/ who may be able to offer you advice on a restorer in Cornwall.

Bermuda Blue (BU40) is readily available, when we did our Ex-Met panda we used BMC glacier white for the doors (can't remember the paint code) which was spot on. OH just pointed out that if you are going back to Panda colours the Devon and Cornwall cars had a white front half of the roof (at least they did in 1968). Not that she had her one done like that, decided that she didn't like the look of it
[frame][/frame]
Brian, 1968 Ex-Devon and Cornwall, now owned by OH's Dad (dressed up) although our little one (in custody) thinks he owns it

MTR is on the same site as my friends dad's workshop (I have never been there) - but I have only heard of good things fed back through the enthusiast line (including friend/dad)
http://mtr-restorations.blogspot.co.uk/

I can't comment on anyone else in the area - because I have no information about them

I posted those 2 as I have seen cars from both restorers. Nice restorations and owners pleased with the result.