Morris Minor Owners Club

hey fellow MMOC friends, i have recently purchased my first project car ever I'm 16 years of age and I'm in need for bit of advice. below i have attached a photo of one of the wings to my morris 1000 I'm wondering if it is beyond repair due to the extensive amount of rust? if there is a way to revive this wing how would i do so and what is my way to approach this situation? thank you .[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

It depends how deep you want to go and how much you want to learn. Someone good with sheet metal and welding would not have too much trouble repairing the panel but if you want the easy way out replace it. If you can get a reasonable welding set and a bit of time to practice you could learn how to do it but go to a scrap yard and get an old panel to practice on don't practice on your panel. We all had to start at the beginning.

Thanks a lot, much appreciated

This may seem like negativity but I would suggest a very careful appraisal of the rest of the car . Those wings may be hiding more rot in other places . You have asked for second hand wings , that being the case , you would need to remove those wings . At that point you will have better view of the condition of the inner wings . I would also remove the sill kick plates ( they bolt / screw in place ) . They can hide rot & are under the doors .

In fact there are many places where rot can be . I suggest you also look on this forum in the restoration projects section you will see many horrors on there which have been restored at a cost of time and money .

I sincerely hope that yours is better than the horrors . There is a potteries branch of the MMOC someone from there may be willing to give you an opinion of what is likely to be needed .

I wish you success with it .

Regards Andrew .

One of the benefits of Minor ownership is that the wings are bolted on, it would be quite within your expertise to purchase new wings where needed and replace, I would and have painted them before fitting, more care is needed when fitting but it saved me a lot of fiddling around, having said that if you are to have the complete car resprayed, looking at the pictures this may be the case, then just prime the wings for protection first.
I think a previous commentator suggested a full appraisal of the car before setting to, this might be a good idea.
Good luck, Dick.

hey guys i did a checkover of the car and theres a few points that need attention, the boot needs welding where it has rotted along with the main issue which is the right hand wing. Under the car is fine it could do with a touch up but nothing major to be done. Overall the car is structurally sound its just mail the bodywork that needs attention. threes no rot where the panels are attached to the main body frame so all good

To me, that could be done with a glassfibre kit and filler and will help develop these skills. But loose rust will need removing as best you can and thoroughly treating with rust neutraliser and several coats of primer before starting work. I do not think there is anything wrong with using filler as long as the area isn't structural or being bodged.

thank you i have ordered some filler and primer

I agree that there is nothing wrong with using filler (up to a point) but the headlight fixing has largely rusted away on that wing so a repair with filler and glassfibre is not going to be easy or very satifactory. I'm all for keeping as much of an original car as possible but there are limits and a replacement wing isn't all that expensive is it? If you're handy at welding, you might possibly find another wing which has rusted at the back but not at the front so be able to make one good wing from the two. Assuming that your wing IS good at the back end?

Good luck. It sounds a first rate project!

It's important to make your own decisions on these things...take advice,weight it up and then go for it! If it goes wrong,not a problem because you've gained experience.