Morris Minor Owners Club

According to the previous owner, my 1967 car is supposed to be a genuine convertible. It has a MAT chassis number on the registration document and on the bulkhead plate, which looks like a replacement, hence my query. I have a lot of photos of a 1990s restoration. Here are a couple of photos taken yesterday of the B post reinforcement, and the dash to A post reinforcement.
Can anybody tell if these might indicate a genuine convertible?
Thanks in advance, Dave

The b post spotwelding at the top of the bracket is the hardest to fake as it is done before the outer section of the b post is welded on ....looking at yours it looks ok to me......stripping the paint on the spotwelds would show for sure...as would original synthetic paint under being undisturbed where they join.

T

That's encouraging T. Ta for that.

The best guide is perhaps to open the boot and stick your head inside. Look up to where the roof would have been attached on a saloon and what can you see? An original convertible will simply have had the wooden strips screwed onto a flat, neat panel. Another small detail in the same area: A saloon car would originally have had a headlining fitted and the section below the rear window is secured with 3 screws. The holes for these screws are generally visible from inside the boot on a converted saloon. They will not be present on an original convertible.

Also, a saloon would have had a thick sound deadening material sprayed onto the floor area originally. A convertible would not.

In your pictures, the dashboard strengthener has been spot welded which is a good sign. I cannot clearly see the welding at the top of the "B" post strengthener but the profile of that section is much more right angled than that on an original car in my opinion amd looks more like the part supplied in a conversion kit.

As Taupe suggests, rubbing away at the paint in these areas might show more detail. If you shine a torch up under the dashboard and look behind those strengtheners you should be able to see whether the area has been welded/altered.

I found when I purchased my own convertible many years ago that a very large number of "genuine convertibles" are not, hence why I am a sceptic!

Thanks for that MM. I will check out the boot areas today or tomorrow, and reort back.

Here's a pic of my B post strengthener. Looks to be spot welded.

From that angle, the strengthener does look more like the original factory ones than those provided in the kits - and as you say, it is spot welded as original where most conversions are MIG welded.
Have you had a look in the boot yet?

I have had a look in the boot, but I couldn't quite reconcile what was there with what you posted. There's certainly the wood bits there on the top, but I couldn't see the three holes for headlining attachment.

A previous owner had my saloon converted about 20 years ago. I've just had a look at my A and B post stiffeners, and mine do look to be an after fit compared to your photos, along with the new paint they added!

ManyMinors wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:28 pm Another small detail in the same area: A saloon car would originally have had a headlining fitted and the section below the rear window is secured with 3 screws. The holes for these screws are generally visible from inside the boot on a converted saloon. They will not be present on an original convertible.

This photo - taken from inside the boot of my Minor saloon, shows the pointed ends of 2 of the 3 self tapping screws which secure the section of headlining fitted below the rear windscreen. On a converted saloon, these screw holes will likely remain but they shouldn't be present on an original convertible because no headlining would ever have been fitted.
Also, if you look above the screws, to where the saloon roof is spot welded to the rear deck, you will see all the dimples where the roof section is welded on. Again, these will not be present on an original convertible because nothing was welding in that position. The convertible simply having wooden strips screwed through that area. Some converted saloons will have had the whole roof panel removed and the wooden strips fitted to secure the hood to BUT signs of the roof welding will remain. Others conversions will simply screw the hood to the bottom strip of the roof panel and there will be no wood there at all.

Thanks for the clarification MM. I'll have another look and report back.

No screw holes in that area. I'm pretty well convinced that I have a genuine convertible.
Thanks all.

Excellent news