Morris Minor Owners Club

Just bought this 1958, it's in good condition but need some work before I will be happy with it, engine and transmission are fine though so it will be a rolling restoration, no big projects planned for it at the moment unless I run into some showstopper.

It was grey from the beginning but have been painted "Signal Red", I do plan to change that for a number of reasons (I don't like red, it's not very well done and red is a terrible color, it will be pink sooner or later).
Interior is not too bad, but the driver seat is pretty worn and there are a few places in the rear seat that it is starting to separate in the seams, it's a bit expensive to buy new ones, but it will look nice and if I repaint it I might want something that match the new color better.
Engine is ok, no issues, it does have a cheapo amazon fuel pump and they attached a water temp gauge to the location for the heater valve should be, there is also an electrical washer pump, otherwise not much have been messed with I think.
Engine is leaking a little amount, it's not much so I have not tried to find out what is leaking yet but I don't think it is the crank, it is higher up.

A small panel has been added under the dash with a water temp gauge and two switches, the left is for the fuel pump and the right is for washer fluid, it is well done and does not look to bad, my big problem is that I would like an oil pressure gauge, but not sure on location yet, I could make the panel a little wider and make room for it of course, have to think about it for a while.

The paint job itself is ok, but they have painted most of the chrome, I guess the chrome was bad, otherwise I do not know why anyone would do that.

The "minor" badge on the drunk lid, trunk and hood hinges and bumpers will be replaced with real chromed ones.

The window seals are in terrible nick also, and the front right side is leaking when it rain so I will replace them also, but if I am going to repaint it I will do that at the same time of course so I can get paint under the seals, and also check if there is any rust.

The front fender has some bubbles in the paint so it has started to rust there, have to take a peak at that also.

I like the BU-42 Honolulu blue color so at the moment I am leaning at that, but no decision is made yet, this color is not correct, it was not available until 64, but I am not super picky about that.

Nice motor.
I do have some questions though.
What is the wire wound resistor for, mounted by the ID Plate?
Why the switch for the fuel pump? Is it intended as a 'hidden in plain sight' anti-theft measure?

I have not figured out what the resistor is for yet, when I bought It I assumed it was a ballast resistor but as far as I understand there is none on the Morris, I have to take a look at it and see what it does, I will let you know when I find out

No idea about the fuel pump switch, I asked why he just not had it connected to the ignition key, but the seller did not know, it was like that when he got it also, so it's done long time ago and hidden in the mists of time.

It is a bit silly, easy to forget it on also.

I have not checked the wires yet but it looks like it is not connected to anything.

The left side is not connected to anything, the right side has 1 wire going to battery negative and 1 wire going inside under the dash somewhere.

I certainly can't immediately think of a reason for it.
From you saying its connected to battery Neg, and the photo, I'm assuming car is Pos Earth.
It's risky having 'live' bare wire exposed like that.

I agree about the fuel pump switch and the risk of forgetting to turn it off.
Some owners make very strange decisions regarding their cars....

Surely that resistor, whatever it is for, is doing absolutely nothing? Both wires are connected to the same terminal! Surely it is not functioning as a resistor at all.

I would be cautious choosing a colour from an old colour chart. My car is Smoke Grey BU15 and looks absolutely nothing like the colour shown in your chart. In fact, Smoke Grey is more like a duck egg blue.

Stephen

Yes, never trust color charts on computer screens, but I have seen a car with that color for real, so I know what it looks like, no worries

I will try to see what happens with the wire that goes under the dash, maybe there is some clue to what it was used for there (yes it is positive ground by the way).

You can paint your car whatever colour you like of course - but Honolulu Blue was never offered as a colour option on the Morris Minor.
As has been pointed out, most "light blue" Morris Minors are Smoke Grey

The smoke grey is also a nice color, that might be an alternative also.

I was looking at Morris 51 in porcelain green (I think it was), it does look nice, but I got this one instead (the OHV, easier to find parts and there was a number of problems with the 51).

svenedin wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 8:18 pm Surely that resistor, whatever it is for, is doing absolutely nothing? Both wires are connected to the same terminal! Surely it is not functioning as a resistor at all.

Stephen

Correct, it's the fact that it's a live bare wire direct from the battery that concerns me.
The onward going live into the car is also a puzzle.
Perhaps that is the supply for the independently powered fuel pump....

It's possible that the fuel pump switch is in series with the stock wiring. In this manner it could be used to initial get oil pressure during a cold start and then activate the fuel pump. It could also be used to shut the pump off early to burn off the fuel before storage.

There are dual gauges that have both water temp and oil pressure.

I was looking at Morris 51 in porcelain green (I think it was), it does look nice, but I got this one instead (the OHV, easier to find parts and there was a number of problems with the 51).

The Porcelain Green one looks really nice, what was wrong with it (apart from your preference for an OHV engine)?
Best wishes,
Mike.

I think they got in a hurry to get rid of it, the door fittings was terrible, felt like something just throw them on to get rid of the car, the driver door (L) was scratching paint of the B pillar (the only way to move the door horizontally is shims and I could not see any shims so I do not think it was the original door, may be tricky to make it fit, move it forward), I think there had been some rust repairs in the front left so that could be the reason.

The passenger door (R) did not close well and had glue all over the place for the seal, lots of glue, the right rear door did not close well either, only halfway, the engine had a pretty bad oil leak, it also did not have an MOT since 2016 (does not mean it is bad of course), it looked like the radiator was leaking also, it was an old one, some chrome parts was missing, the engine sounded like the timing chain was worn, hand brake was not connected, it felt a little too much like half finished project.

Nothing that could not be fixed of course, the paint job was very well done, my main reason for skipping it is the difficulty to find parts and the prices of parts, much more expensive than for a newer model.

jaekl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2026 11:28 am It's possible that the fuel pump switch is in series with the stock wiring. In this manner it could be used to initial get oil pressure during a cold start and then activate the fuel pump. It could also be used to shut the pump off early to burn off the fuel before storage.

There are dual gauges that have both water temp and oil pressure.

That is possible, I will have a peek at the wiring and see what is original and what has been messed with.

Yes there is combo gauges, but it is a positive ground car so not easy to find gauges that work, I have an oil pressure gauge that use a sensor that is isolated so that you can use it with + or - ground, but I will think about it, no decision has been made yet.

Vacation time.... time to get the ball rolling.
I have started to take it apart (as much as is needed)

Started to remove bumpers, chrome parts and other things that will have to be removed before painting.
The only rust I found so far is on the left front wing, there was some bubbles in the paint and sure there are some small holes there, I will see how much work it is to fix it, no easy to find a new wing I think.

I removed both rear wings to check for rust and I also want to replace the piping so I might as well paint them separate.

And I removed the front right wing because of rust, I will not remove the left front wing I think, it looks like it is in good condition.
I have not found any rust in the body when I removed the wings so that is nice, so far all looks like it is in good condition.