1966 2 door saloon Milly restoration project

[David JM]

I picked up Milly Today, I say picked up more like an exhausting slog of a day, The car was advertised on E bay by a private Company for just over a grand, in reasonable condition, some work needed but mechanically fine. The trouble was Milly has spent her life on the isle of wight, and that's were she was to be collected from. Yarmouth in the Isle of wight, that's the far west side, quite hard to get to, 40 minute ferry journey. So I went for it.

[svenedin]

Excellent. I have had some good tours around the Isle of Wight in my Minor. The ferry trip is fun but ridiculously expensive for the short distance (although there are discounts). I once did a trip around every church with ringable bells on the Isle of Wight in a day (14 towers).

How much work are you going to have to do?

Stephen

[David JM]

Milly isn't my first Moggie,I already have Alice, and I'm passionate about my Pickup, she has been a reliable, useful member of the family since I rebuilt her back in 2009, some of the old and bold on here may remember, or even may have given me much needed advice.

[David JM]

So after getting Milly on the right side of the water, into Lymington Ferry port carpark, my patient Mrs had a bootload of spare parts, fresh fuel, oil, 3in1 for the dashpot, fanbelt,water....you get the picture, it's a long haul from there to Worthing, mostly along the A27 passed Southampton, Portsmouth,Chichester and Arundel. But she was amazing, no overheat, no spluttering, just good motoring all the way home, what a relief, to get her home without a breakdown, was amazing, with breakdown service ready on speed dial, not needed. British Engineering and a lot of good luck.
As Mrs JM wants to go magnet fishing tomorrow, we'll go, she was a trooper today. So Saturday will be my first good look at Milly to make a snagging list.
Daylight through the floor is one of the first to fix, my MIG welder has had a lot of use, so I'm ready to sort Milly's rust holes

[svenedin]

Great. So you're in Worthing? Are you doing Drive it Day at the Bluebell Railway on Sunday? Our branch is there, Surrey Hills and I think we are expecting one of the Sussex branches too.

Stephen

[David JM]

How much work are you going to have to do?

Stephen
[/quote]

Hi Stephen, a lot, but not as much as I had to do With my Pickup, that was a wreck to road job. I'll be keeping you all in on every detail of the restoration. Here is Alice when I first got her recovered by Westbourne Motors.

[svenedin]

That is dedication!

[rocco]

Fantastic! Looks very presentable in the first photo, what a bargain!

The old pickup photo made me smile. It's a if someone had deliberately and strategically remove the headlight, dropped the bumper at an angle, opened the door to make it look as rough as possible.

You're doing the Lords' work saving these cars, God bless you.

[David JM]

Cheers Rocco, I'm out of touch with modern cars, you're not seriously out of touch till you buy a 1966 era Moggy, without Electronic sensors, E tech, EV, wireless charging, airbags and SIP, internet access, keyless entry, automated parking, tire pressure monitoring, remote sensor control.
Then again, it's less to go expensively wrong.

[myoldjalopy]

Cheers Rocco, I'm out of touch with modern cars, you're not seriously out of touch till you buy a 1966 era Moggy, without Electronic sensors, E tech, EV, wireless charging, airbags and SIP, internet access, keyless entry, automated parking, tire pressure monitoring, remote sensor control.
Then again, it's less to go expensively wrong.

Eh? That sounds more like a spaceship than a car!

[svenedin]

This is the joy isn't it? Simple, basic motoring that doesn't need a suite of electronics to diagnose a problem! Proper cars that smell of petrol, oil, loads of grease and old horsehair

Stephen

[David JM]

Today was a light job, I'm a bit tired from yesterday and my Thursday six mile run was done this morning so I'm a little light on abundant energy.
Still, time to get the hoover out, it is such a sunny day. My Moggy George doesn't look too impressed, but he didn't see what was in the boot above the tank.


How do they get so much nesting material in there like that, Hope the little Tikes haven't been chewing my cable insulation


THE SPARE WHEEL, reverse side looks like it was cream once, and that's what an original BMC jack looks like

[David JM]

the engine bay was next, lots of dust and flaking paint, some botch wire repairs but generally in order, the engine needs an oil change and the radiator drained and refilled, but it ran like a trooper yesterday, all the way from the new forest to West Sussex. Quite an achievement for a car that's been sat in a garage unused for three years.


the body pressing number from Longbridge


chassis number?

[David JM]

I've got this, the base of the dip switch, found in the boot.


what's it doing up there? supposed to be on the toe board, and that's where it's going.


found this, I wonder if it's an original cable tie?

[ManyMinors]

Boot hinge gasket I think

[David JM]

Boot hinge gasket I think

I think ESM do those don't they? I can chuck this one, looks like the mice have been considering having it as main course.

[David JM]

A quick look underneath and there are three areas to be welded, two small holes at the front and this big one near to the rear spring hanger on the right hand side.


the same spot on the other side is solid metal, so I can take my measurements from here to get the other side on track.

[David JM]

Having been over the car bit by bit I now have a list, a to do list in order of priority.

. Drain the fuel tank.
. get the car high up on axle stands inside the workshop having made space (doing that today)
. Wire brush the rear hole to bare steel
. make a repair patch from new metal and weld it up.
. same for the front two smaller holes double checking under there for further holes.
. while car is still up, clean up entire underside and coat in fresh chassis black.
. replace for new parts, clutch linkage kit.

end of phase one.

[ManyMinors]

The right hand side rear spring mounting needs a bit more than "a repair patch" I reckon, as there are several sections which have corroded badly but the great thing about Morris Minors is that almost every section can be purchased easily and cheaply. I would start by removing the bolted-on sill rails and kick panels and then having a proper look inside the sill box sections. Once the repairs are completed you can take the opportunity to rustproof the inside of the box section while you have good access.

Good lock with the project. It looks not too bad so far!

[David JM]

Thanks Many Minors, good advice.

got the workshop moved around to make some work space around the car.