Morris Minor Owners Club

Afternoon all, I’ve finally gotten around to pulling the cab off the back of my van to fully inspect the what appears to be pigeon MY FAVOURITE CAR IS A DATSUN CHERRY patchwork quilt (chassis) now I know if capable of removing these horrendous patches and installing new sections although when is it not structurally viable to do this? Is there a limit at which the chassis is a write off?

D&J
As far as I know there are new ones available-might be easier.
http://www.jagspares.co.uk/Morris/partd ... tno=REP605

Regards
Declan

ESM do them as well--I have one. They are the best available--far better than the far east products.
The builder (Alex) is very helpful with any problems.

If I owned a Minor van and wanted to keep it long-term, I think I would invest in a new chassis in preference to repairing a patched and rusty old one. I know it isn't cheap but.......

If you fit a new chassis I would suggest that you keep the old chassis until the new chassis / chassis number is accepted & confirmed with DVLA & correctly entered on the vehicle documentation.
Phil

There isn’t really an objective point of viability for chassis repairs, it depends on quite a few factors. The main cost of having welding done is labour, so if you’re paying hourly there will soon be a point where a new chassis is more sensible. If on the other hand you weld yourself and have plenty of time and enthusiasm then new sections can be made and welded in to replace patches. The metalwork isn’t too complicated, I’ve done quite a bit on a Landrover chassis. Don’t forget the repaired chassis needs to be not only strong but also correctly aligned.

philthehill wrote:If you fit a new chassis I would suggest that you keep the old chassis until the new chassis / chassis number is accepted & confirmed with DVLA & correctly entered on the vehicle documentation.
Phil

What chassis number? Originals were never stamped and I doubt if new ones are. DVLA accept chassis replacement as you're replacing it with a brand new part, same as Land Rovers, Lotus and Morgans etc
If you wanted to play it safe you could
stamp your new chassis with the correct number for the vehicle to avoid any future issues but theres enough potential aggro with the DVLA these days without asking for trouble yourself....
Trying to do a change of body style on a 1935 car at the moment. 'Has it been reshelled? Significantly modified?" No..... Was a lot easier when you could just take it and show it them at the local office...

I'd certainly keep the receipt for the new chassis with the vehicle records and photos of new and old side by side then you're pretty much covered.