Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello chaps,
My name is John and I am the very proud owner of Ted the Traveller, named after my late Father who owned one back in the day. He was very proud of his three year old rose taupe 1966 model but was very disappointed when at it's first MOT they found the rear floor and spring hangers where shot. It was sorted out and he kept the car for many years but warned me off them due to the rot problems - I didn't listen and after I took early retirement last year a Traveller was top of the list to spend some of my lump sum.
And so to Ted a '71 Adderley Park model resplendent in Bermuda blue which, I understand, was only used on one other model - police cars. He's in pretty good nick with his original wood (needs a little TLC) having benefitted from an engine overhaul and general titivation from the previous owner. Now I'm not shy about getting stuck in to just about everything but I wanted a tidy car that I could use as my daily driver and he fits the bill perfectly (I can personally guarantee that you can get 17 bin bags fullof hedge clippings into the back of a Traveller) I've changed the diff for a less whiney one, and done general servicing in the 12 months we've had him and he had paid us back by being a reliable and economical runabout - just what was required.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

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The little dark patch on the rear of the nearside waist rail has got worse over the last year and the end four inches is now very soft, I've been reading up on other owners experiences and have got a nice piece of ash ready to be spliced in more on that when it happens.

Cheers

hello and welcome...
thats a very nice car you have
enjoy your moggy

Very nice traveller.

panky wrote:I can personally guarantee that you can get 17 bin bags full of hedge clippings into the back of a Traveller

Well with having to pay for garden waste collection, it maybe a good reason (excuse) to get one. (though I would prefer an early series two cheesegrater one)

Thanks chaps, he is rather splendid

Hi Panky lovely car Are you in Wilmslow

No I'm over in sunny Widnes, actually got the car from Bolton

One parked up in a driveway in Wilmslow same colour maybe someone on here ??

Widnes!? Hello there from Liverpool!

Welcome Mr Panky and Ted, from a fellow Traveller owner (used to have one in the late 1980's, but that one went to the local scrapper). Have seen sense since and got another in 2012.
I use my 2001 diesel estate to take rubbish down the tip - my Traveller is too highly strung to do such menial work
Regards, George.

Ted's a more laid back kind of guy, you chuck stuff in the back and it's like - whatever
He is getting a bit twitchy though as he's been in the shed for a couple of weeks and I'm driving around in my Commer camper, just working myself up to sorting out those soft bits on his woodwork. Got a nice piece of ash, some Cuprinol and Osmo oil, even sharpened me chisels today in anticipation.

I'm used to grovelling around with oily bits and a welding set but my woodworking skills are usually confined to putting up shelves, but I finally started prodding at Teds soft bits.
Before I knew it this



tuned into this



then this



Nothing for it but to get back to good wood





Not forgetting to scarf the waist rail



I had a nice piece of ash, just enough to do the repair, I got myself a router and this was my first attempt



after a bit of planing down, not a bad fit



Then began building up the rear pillar







I made a cardboard template off the other pillar to get the subtle curve for the joint.









Glued in place and starting to take shape



Then the rest of the wood was stripped and sanded - I did eventually remove the lights and hinges



As you can see I work in a clinically clean environment with plenty of refreshment to hand



After several doses of Cuprinol 5 the Osmo Oil was applied using a rag.





And back into the sunshine after 10 days in the shed and three coats of Osmo.









Still a couple of dark patches that were given special treatment with the Cuprinol, but they are sound and haven't gone soft, and my 'invisible' repair is quite as invisible as I'd hoped but I think he bears his scars well and hopefully he'll be OK for a few more years

Nice job, I'd be more than happy if I managed a repair like that.
Lovely looking car.

nice car..but let's see a better shot of the Commer!

Well spotted - I've got two

The one you spotted is Bonnie the '69 Jennings Roadranger

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and this is Harvey, a '71 Auto-Sleeper[frame][/frame]

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That is a very good grain match on the waist rail, as is the grain "ripple" on the rear frame - well done.

Thank you I only had a piece of wood 60cm long and 70mm square to work with so I was lucky with the match, but I did have four sides and two ends to choose from

I decided to sort out a little 'clonk' from the front passenger side that occurred when I hit a bump at low speed. I initially suspected the damper so got my spare set ready by draining and flushing out the old smelly oil and re-filled them with SAE 30, I know BMC recommends to use SAE 40 or 50 but I just happened to have about ten gallons of 30 in the shed so waste not etc. Now as it happens the clonk turned out to be the tie-bar bushes so after bagging a set off ebay they were duly fitted along with the 'refreshed' dampers. There's been a bit of discussion about tie-bar bushes lately and I too had trouble getting the nut started on the tie-bar so a little pre-loading was carried out (squashed them in the vice) and they went on easily and tightened down until the nut bottomed out, nice and tight. The eye bolt bolts were well passed there best, one was wasted where it had been chafing (clonk?) and the other stripped very easily when I was putting it back Luckily I had a couple of nice stainless socket head bolts that fitted perfectly. I can report that the ride has improved significantly and not a clonk can be heard on any surface fast or slow I might even fill my old dampers with SAE50 and do it all again along with the rears.

Well done ... I suspect you refer to 'tie bar bolts' and not 'eye bolts' since they cannot be replaced by socket head bolts. beware the stainless bolts - are they 'high tensile' ?? Your sae 30 is fine (and much better than old/smelly oil...) - but the 40 or 50 will be even better if you can find some at the right price.

Yes it was the tie-bar bolts, pretty sure the new bolts are vey high quality and very strong as they are the remnants of a stock I, ahem, acquired in my days overhauling cryogenic turbines. Keeping my eye open for some SAE 40 or 50, maybe the guy at Moffat will have some next year too. We've been for the last four years with the Commer van mob and we'll definitely be going again
Hmmm Commers have Armstrong dampers on the rear