Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,
I have just registered and paid my membership fee so thought I should say hello here.
I have wanted a MM for many years now, my parents had a couple when I was very young but my aunties MM was probably the car that sowed the seed for me as it were when i was 6/7 years old and got to travel in the back.
So, last month I bought my first Morris Minor, a 1960 4-door. Currently the car is in storage and I have yet to actually see it but that's about to change as this weekend I am heading up to Blackpool where it is currently hibernating.
First job is to carry out a full assessment and note any missing parts and work required. This will be the first time I have seen it/him/her (yet undecided!) as a trusted friend actually made the purchase and collected on my behalf.
The colour (and finish) is terrible, just to forewarn you!
Plans are to initially get it back to a roadworthy condition and then improve and modify when it is back up to an acceptable standard.

On Tuesday my partner and I attended the first Peterborough meet where we were made to feel very welcome. It was that meet that has encouraged me to become a fully paid up member and also offer to help Chris with any assistance he might need in forming the Peterborough region.

Anyway, i have included a couple of pictures so you can see what we are dealing with.
Any initial thoughts or opinions (good or bad) gratefully received![frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Looks ok -does it have an MOT ?

DVLA says MOT expired 28/8/15, and car is SORN'd.

It really does look ok. Especially the interior. Brave to buy a car unseen...I did it once and got away with it.

Yes no MOT and I SORN'd it when the V5 came my way. The MOT was out just before I bought it so it was trailered into storage.
Will update further once I've seen it this weekend.

Looks good

So, I went, I saw and I came away reasonably satisfied.
It is the most cosmetically challenged vehicle I have ever seen. Lots of bodge fixes and it will need a fair few replacement parts. But it starts, drives, although i could only find 3 forward gears and stops, to a fashion, badly.
The main thing though is its all recoverable. Whilst it will never be concours, it should end up a very presentable and usable classic by the time i'm finished with it. Still needs a name though!

3 gears is a bit worrying - which one is missing?

3rd is gone. The rest are very reluctant to play ball. The gear lever itself is like a stick in a bowl of custard. I'll buy a replacement gearbox. Just need to investigate which one as I'd like to upgrade parts as I replace them.

Apart from the steering wheel, it looks good.

It may have the wrong gear lever, as I believe a 1098 gearbox gear lever in a 948 gearbox, and vice versa, does make for a poor sloppy gearchange.

Roo1978 wrote:3rd is gone. The rest are very reluctant to play ball. The gear lever itself is like a stick in a bowl of custard. I'll buy a replacement gearbox. Just need to investigate which one as I'd like to upgrade parts as I replace them.

busguy wrote:It may have the wrong gear lever, as I believe a 1098 gearbox gear lever in a 948 gearbox, and vice versa, does make for a poor sloppy gearchange.

Interesting. Is there a way of telling which one is which?

Steamerpoint wrote:Apart from the steering wheel, it looks good.

Haha well it just so happens...

As above - it is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that '3rd gear has gone' - it's just hiding. The problem is with the gearlever/plastic cup on the ball end/ remote control - or just possibly (but unlikely) loose selector fork. Don't rush into a gearbox till you investigate thoroughly.

Nice looking car

I know of a car were the gearbox was changed because it was hard to get into gear, sold on and changed through a couple of owners and still had the same complaint when a friend bought it. Selected the forward gear reasonably well but reverse was a nightmare. I was working on it and when bleeding the brakes realised the gear lever was very short for a 1098 box. 10 minutes later we fitted a 1098 gear lever and the box worked perfectly! The selector is shorter on a 948 gear lever making it harder to select on the newer box.