We've done this before but....

Instead of clogging up posts with off topic discussions, have them here. Keep it clean folks!
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SteveClem
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We've done this before but....

Post by SteveClem »

It's all a bit quiet on here, apart from word games. I thought that as winter approached we'd all be planning stuff? Obviously we've lost prodigious contributors lately but It's a bit of a shame that younger folk don't seem to be getting involved. Maybe they are talking on more contemporary media?
palacebear
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by palacebear »

I presume that Facebook etc allow easier switching between different groups and hence different subject matters without actually exiting individual apps.
1956 4-door called Max
SteveClem
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by SteveClem »

Hope it's just that. It would be a shame if the youngsters are not interested :-?
palacebear
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by palacebear »

The Young Members area of the forum always seems a bit neglected... :(
1956 4-door called Max
les
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by les »

I can't remember the last time I saw a youngster repairing a car outside the house. Years ago that was the norm, Remember the 'trolleys' that you made when you were about 8 years old? A plank of wood and some pram wheels? That's where it started. Some of it was to do with the lack of money but a lot to do with being a boy. Now there's plenty of money about and a shed load of gadgets, so why build a trolley or an old banger. Apologies to the few that do! :D

palacebear
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by palacebear »

Given the choice of a soap-box kart or an X-Box I know which I would favour. Hint: I'm not a gamer :)
1956 4-door called Max
firedrake1942
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by firedrake1942 »

looking at Morris Minor Owners fb page it is bubbling .........
philthehill
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by philthehill »

Looking at and following both the MO & MMOC web sites they both have their rushes of activity and both have their times of inactivity.

Blaketon
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by Blaketon »

With limited free time, I have to plan my jobs and do them as & when I can. This year I finished off the engine job on the Midget, then did a repair on my mother's MGB GT. After Christmas I plan to finish decorate my "Middle" room and when that's done, it's rectify Ware's bodgery to my clutch. I have a steering rack, which I am in the process of reconditioning (I blasted the casing and got it powder coated and now have to access the rest and replace whatever needs replacing) and some new suspension uprights (I also want to fit an oil cooler). I'll fit that lot when I do the clutch. Then I want to do a few bits to the interior, fit my van wheels and that's basically it; just use, enjoy and maintain.

I'm not on Facebook (Other than for business purposes), my mobile phone is just that. Oddly enough, I took my parents to a local pub today, for a Christmas lunch. Afterwards my mother said she had noticed a couple arrive with some children and the mother's nether regions had barely touched the seat, when out came the mobile device. I didn't see them but from what my mother said, they needed two chairs each and perhaps you might say pay a tad less attention to the smartphone or tablet. I wonder if she was posting that they about to have lunch.....I'm sure some post it on Facebook when they answer the call of nature. That kind of trivia it just one thing that puts me off social media. The other one, that just makes me wonder is "Just off for two weeks to etc"......two weeks later "Some B&%t*^d has burgled us".

I think as fewer people are trained to do skilled jobs and as contemporary cars become less repairable, you will see fewer people doing DIY car repairs (Or less DIY of any kind). My late and lamented next door neighbour was a plumber (During his apprenticeship he had to make a toilet cistern out of wood, with a lead tank) and he could turn his hand to most things; such as making 4" gauge steam locos. I was trained in general machining and bench fitting and whilst I am not as quick as a good carpenter, I can make a decent enough job, that doesn't require half a ton of filler, to cover the mistakes. With our manufacturing sector now being so depleted (The section of the college I attended closed after the local steelworks closed), people just don't have the skills. In south Wales, we always had a lot of unskilled workers (Highly skilled in manual work; they could dig a perfect hole, with straight sides and no collapsing sides) and tatty and bodgey garden sheds were common but I think the numbers of what you might call practically useless people is greater than ever. I see it in the number of people who cannot fit bike tires or in one case recently, someone asked if he could use an angle grinder to shorten a bicycle chain. One of the reps, who calls on us, was remarking that nobody cleans their cars anymore and apparently some people pay quite a lot of money to have it done. He remarked about arguments over car parking spaces, where there are plenty, a couple of hundred yards further away from the shop etc. Laziness is also an issue!!

I have a theory that Brexit is just a political game and that it may never happen (I don't want to start a debate on that). If it ever happens, perhaps there is an opportunity to get "Made in Britain" back on more labels and I think we need to work toward that end BUT, it will be an uphill struggle (Though I think we are presently engaged in a downhill struggle), the fruits of which (Like a skilled workforce) I don't think I will ever see complete. It always takes far less time to wreck something, than it does to repair or create something, whether it's a car being shunted or a few maniacs flying aeroplanes into buildings, that took about eight years to build.
irmscher
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by irmscher »

A lot of members don't come on here anymore as the website is poor and offers no interaction :evil:
philthehill
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by philthehill »

It takes two to tango - so all I can say is it is their loss if they choose not to come on here and contribute.
Perhaps we get the site we deserve !!!

The viewing figures (9 registered and 95 guests) posted at the bottom of the Board Index Page as I am writing this show a healthy interest in the site. So it cannot all be bad. Must think positive.

It is ironic that a question recently posted on here and on the other side :roll: has been answered on the other side by extracting and linking a thread from this side.
So this site does have its uses :wink:

dp
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by dp »

Even young Minor owners get old:)

Cost of entry to Minor ownership has become higher, particularly to young drivers. Insurance is astronomical these days.
Nobody fixes anything because

a)Things are too small. Hands up who dismantled an old rotary dial phone and played with all the bits?
Now hands up who dismantled an old mobile phone.... and found anything useful?

b) things are designed disposable - it's cheaper to buy a replacement. For example, I manage properties. If a dishwasher breaks we no longer bother with repairs. Here's the maths: new dishwasher, £200. Repairman will cost minimum of £60 just to turn up. Add to that someone's time off work to let him/her in, parking costs if in London only for the repairer to say 'it'll need a new widget that'll cost £80 and take 2 weeks to turn up', or 'it's not worth fixing, they don't make that bit'.

c) Health and safety and a culture of 'don't touch that, don't experiment'.
Image
firedrake1942
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by firedrake1942 »

I tend to find the technical knowledge on this one more in depth and reliable.

One particular site (Autoshrine) caters largely, but not exclusively, for minors exported around the world and it is fascinating to see the fixes and bodges that have kept many going overseas, as well as the variations in parts and colours.

Elsewhere, particularly on facebook, (Morris Minor Owners) there appears to be an untapped pool of younger owners which the MMOC could usefully target. As people have rightly observed, the next generation is the future of the Minor, and while the 'fogey's' will probably pass on the cars in better shape than they have ever been, there has to be someone who wants them.

My oldest daughter (24) cannot wait to get her hands on my car. Over my dead body I have said. She rather quickly and worryingly said 'Yep!'

Vita Brevis Morris Minor longa, to paraphrase !
Blaketon
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by Blaketon »

dp wrote: Cost of entry to Minor ownership has become higher, particularly to young drivers. Insurance is astronomical these days.
True but I have heard that Minors cost less for a young driver to insure. In my day, insurance companies assumed you to be a total maniac until you were 21, then partly sane until you were 25, whereupon your were then sane. The only driver I have ever seen in the middle of a roundabout, was 65 if he was a day. It was a three lane road and he tried to overtake into a roundabout, locked up and ended up on the roundabout. He then reversed out (Nearly hit someone) and screamed off; to this day one of the biggest donkeys I have ever seen. As a young driver at the time, I used to repeat the story to the stereotypers.

So I gather, young male drivers can be quoted up to £3000 on a typical small modern, whereas I think they could insure a Minor for about £1000. If so, the extra money spent on the Minor offsets the insurance and isn't dead money, having gone into an asset. Sadly, with vanity being such a popular pastime (For all ages), I doubt many would want to be seen in a Minor.
Fingolfin
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by Fingolfin »

I guess you'd call me a young owner - I'm 26. I've had a lot of bad going on in my non-Minor life this year, and also I haven't really been able to find the old passion for Mog. I get sick of repairing the same things over and over (&%$#! exhaust manifold joint!), and nobody else in the area has a Minor, so there's no in-person community to buck me up and provide advice. Feels pretty lonely.

Maybe next year will be better! 8)
The way to a man's heart may be making food, but the way to my heart is buying me car parts!
Come read about my Minor at An American Moggie.

philthehill
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by philthehill »

Fingolfin
Stay positive - there is always someone worse off than you no matter how bad it gets.
You may not have any one else Minor wise in your local area but the internet has made the world so much smaller - so much that you may as well be next door. Therefore you are never far from a friendly Minor owner especially when being on this web site.
You may not get the answer you want but at least you will get friendly and honest information and opinions.
Phil

ek96
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by ek96 »

I'm a 21 year old final year student at university in sunny(!) Bournemouth, and, unfortunately, my beloved- and very tatty- traveller is in my hometown of Luton 120 miles away. I purchased it on my placement year (July 2016) and spent every evening after work working on it, I greatly miss working on it everyday and have often considered using it as my daily driver- but first, I have to replace the much-below-par radiator, as well as ensuring it is safe to use everyday, not just from the obvious safety aspect, but to ensure it passes my girlfriends strict tests! Unfortunately, with classic car insurance being quite expensive for young drivers (for my traveller it's just over £800, the same as my 04 Toyota Celica!), I'd imagine a lot of potential young Moggie owners are being put off, which is a shame. The traveller is taxed and MOTed but, until the weather changes for the better, and my exams are over (I'm not the kind to go out late so the stereotypical uni life isn't for me) I'm afraid my activity on this forum will be watching, waiting....commiserating (pardon the Blink-182 pun!)
firedrake1942
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by firedrake1942 »

Have you tried non classic car insurance. My daughter's 14 plate KA was only £500 to insure fully comp.
Blaketon
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by Blaketon »

Fingolfin wrote:I guess you'd call me a young owner - I'm 26. I've had a lot of bad going on in my non-Minor life this year, and also I haven't really been able to find the old passion for Mog. I get sick of repairing the same things over and over (&%$#! exhaust manifold joint!), and nobody else in the area has a Minor, so there's no in-person community to buck me up and provide advice. Feels pretty lonely.

Maybe next year will be better! 8)
BMC never made the same impact on U.S. motoring, with the Minor, as VW did with the Beetle (Or as BMC did with MG). I imagine some of this may be to do with longer, straighter roads, where the Beetle's undoubted ability to keep up a relatively high cruising speed would be good. I don't know how well air cooled engines cope with the high temperatures you might expect in places like New Mexico and I know that some of our Winters here didn't agree with some VW carburation.

I'm not familiar with the standard manifold joint, unless it's the same as on the Mini. Does anyone know? If it is the same, I found that exhaust putty helped and you also had to make sure that the engine stabiliser was working. The Mini one was a pain to access.
Blaketon
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Re: We've done this before but....

Post by Blaketon »

firedrake1942 wrote:Have you tried non classic car insurance. My daughter's 14 plate KA was only £500 to insure fully comp.
My only concern would be that they would value it as a banger.
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