MM rebuild

[joe clark]

hi have a couple of pics of my ,51 side valve nearly finished ,,if they ever are.Was last used pre ,82[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Looking good, nice to see another one going back on the road!

[Dean]

Beautiful..

[brucek]

Looks like a very nice car indeed! Well done - super job. Did the early 4 doors have a chrome insert in the back screen rubber or was it just the export models that did? Guess they are even harder to find than front screen finishers!

[Dean]

I think it's sun glare off the rubber? I could be wrong, but didn't know of a rear chrome surround.

[brucek]

Having asked the question - and made myself curious - I went to have a look at my stash of books various to see what I could find. In Ray Newells Series MM super profile it shows this picture of an early French registered LHD 4 door with chrome rear finisher. It appears they were fitted to both home market and export 4 doors for a short time, probably prior to the 51 nickel shortage that saw reduced use of the chrome grille insert. [frame][/frame]

[Dean]

Now I'm curious. Thanks for sharing.

[mach2]

so was it just the series MMs that had the rear screen chrome surround finisher?

[brucek]

Yeah - I think so. I've never seen a series 2/1000 with one or any mention that the S2 or 1000 had this as well. Don't forget that when the 4dr MM was launched it was the zenith of the range - there were a lot of bits added to the 4 dr which didn't feature on the 2dr or Tourer - stainless window surrounds, chrome finishers on the interior trim etc. They threw just about everything at it. Quite quickly though, the extras - such as the chrome insert - disappeared. I'm sure Mike Perry - the Series MM registrar will know for sure if there were any other models that had this feature. Looks rather nice though doesn't it?

[LouiseM]

According to Ray Newell's 'Original Morris Minor' book, when the 4 door was introduced in Sep 1950 it was initially available for export only and additional features of the early models were a chrome plated insert in the rear screen rubber and door mounted ashtrays. The chrome insert was discontinued from August '51 on LHD cars (chassis number 114122) and from September '51 on RHD cars (chassis number 110707) so is pretty rare. Nice looking car Joe

[joe clark]

hi thanks for all the interest and info Well my car is an export model,baught new in malta for£497 and yes it did have a rear window chrome but new rubber wasn,t cut to facilitate fitting the chcome still hangs on garage wall. I have reciept and photos taken on pickup yes and black hub caps! yet to be cleaned up and fitted JOE