Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

First message on this BBS and unfortunately its to ask advice on a problem....

I have a friend with a 1965 Morris Minor 1000
He is not very well at the moment and managed to crash the thing whilst on the way to collect his prescription.

Firstly let me say I do not know minors very well at all... I know my way around the B series engine and over the last few weeks and the aid of a heynes manual have had to try to learn my way around an a series due to multiple unrelated problems!

Ive had a look at the car in the dark a few hours ago
Front bumper is a little wavey (can live with that)
Grille and surround also a little wavey (can live with that too)
the real issue is the passenger side front wing

its basically been pushed inward and then bent upward at the front so its folded in on itself.
It is also pretty bowed out at the back end of the wing.

I have managed to locate a wing from a 1960's car ... is that a direct replacement?

We are both university students with classic cars (I have an MGB GT myself) so try and help one another out where possible.

Im going to start work on it tommorow hopefully... what else should I be looking for to ensure the car is safe to drive?

I could try to take some photos tommorow and email them?
I am pretty much on my own as I am 150 miles from home and only have basic tools here in Bangor.

I wasnt expecting to do major jobs!

any help or advise is greatly appriciated.

Best wishes,

Jonathan Moulds.

sorry I meant will the passenger side front wing from a 1960 car fit a 1965 car?

Yes, Same panel. Only the very early cars have different front wings (pre-55 i think of the top of my head)

Make sure you get underneath it and check things aren't too bent underneath as well!

some pics might be useful for us to help suggest what to look for in terms of road worthyness

I'll take some photos tommorow...
I dont have a website to host the images unfortunately...
is there a way of attaching it directly to the post or could I email them to one of you chaps to host on your own site?

Cheers for the info re the correctness of new wing

best wishes,

Jonathan Moulds

oh ... one more thing... is taking the wing off an easy job?
Is it just a bolt on affair or will i need an angle grinder?

if it is a bolt on thing are there any secret bolts? for example in my MGBGT there are a couple actually inside the car behind the trim

... stuff like that which is going to make the job hard work!

Thanks again,

Jonathan M

Mornin' Johnathon...

The 60 wings will fit perfectly m8 just about a dozen 1/2"AF bolts and 3 3/8"AF bolts for the chrome hockey stick on the edge of the grill and it's off.

If you want pics hosting you can email them to me on the email link below and I'll post them up for you.

Lee

Hello Johnathon,

I have to disagree with Lee on his bolt sizes, the wings are held on by whitworth sized bolts (5\16" BSF, I think from memory) and the hockey sticks are 2 B.A.. If you remove the headlight bowl it makes access to the hockey sticks (The chrome trim either side of the radiator aperture) easier.

A quick check for chassis damage is just to look inside the bonnet along the chassis rail for distortion.

Alec

I was close been a long time since I've taken a wing off

Thanks for the correction anyway Alec

Lee

oh ... one more thing... is taking the wing off an easy job?
Is it just a bolt on affair or will i need an angle grinder?

It is a bolt on job, but normally it is not an easy job!
The bolts heads should be 1/4" Whitworth, 5/16" BSF (Identical size spanner - but 2 different names)
Use plenty of release fluid and plenty of patience. The captive nuts are prone to break away, so you need to work the threads carefully. All the bolts are accessed from inside the wing but the easy one to miss is a the top of the rear edge (often hidden by dirt).
The hockey stick trim holds the grille panel to the wing. These 2ba nuts can be a real pig and often you will just sheer the stud on the hockey stick.

Good luck.

Hi,

Lee I sent the pics to webmaster@morrisminors.uk.com
was that the right one?

Thank you all for your help thus far.

I had a nose underneath the car earlyer today... the metal where the bolts mounth at the lower rear portionof the wing have been ripped away... this area is pretty weak and rotten to be honest...

Have stuck my nose right under the car and the chassis is perfectly straight just a bit of underseal scraped off in one area is all.

Have not been able to get under the bonnet as yet though as I cant get the keys off him just yet as he is constantly asleep + dont really want to disturb him... We are comunicating via notes pinned to his door!

Cheers,

Jonathan M

Sorry Johnathon only just got back in but as there are a few pics I though it would be easier to add a page to my website, so here it is...

Crash damage pics

Lee

Thanks Lee.

Any suggestions?

I think I can straighten the grill, bumper and front valance out more or less...
Wing needs to be replaced for certain and needs a patch repair doing where it bolts in at the lower portion of the rear part of the wing where it meets the door. The sill end cap if you will.

Its turning out to be more than I thought initially...

Jonathan.

How on earth did he manage that! Folding the wing in without taking the bumper with it?

I was wondering that too...

Doesn't the '60 wing have the earlier type of sidelight?

Not sure how he did it.
All I got in the text message was
"Crashed car this morning getting prescription. Will be in bed 4 another week"
Judging from the amount of holly I pulled out of the grill and headlight it looks like he went into a hedge with a wall behind it!

... Im just trying to help out as best as I can is all!

-Jonathan.

Or a fence with a bar at 'just above bumper' height

yeah - looks like it was from hitting something just higher than the bumper.

A second hand wing, a few hours hammer work on the panels and some spray cans will soon have it looking vaguely like it used to!
I expect the inner wing / bumper mount on the passenger side are also pushed out of shape (although maybe not).
Sometimes you can push the bumper mount back onto place with a BIG hammer from the wheel side of the inner wing.

I reckon its worth cutting the old one so you have easy access to all the bolts, )obviously just cut the wing not what it attaches too!) Im sure it wont be used again ;)

I thought id take the wheel off to give me easyer access inside the wing...

I only have a small bottle jack here would that be ok under one of the chassis rails with a piece of wood on top to spread the weight a little?
... I dont really want to end up putting a jack through the bottom of the car! lol

Cheers,
Jonathan.