"Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
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Murrayminor
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"Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Good evening
I thought I'd better start a thread concerning the work I'm about to carry out on Gracie my '65 2 door ?Morris Minor.
A brief history of my brief ownership, I used to own a couple of MX-5's but I got bored of them as they were neither new nor properly classic so I decided to sell them.
I sold my MK3 and in the deal I became the owner of Gracie.
Now Gracie looked clean from the outside but a quick look round her and I realised she was pretty rough underneath the shiny paint, BUT she did have a sweet little 1098 engine, what appeared to be 4 decent steel wings, rust free bonnet and rust free boot, the interior was clean and undamaged and the car drove very well, apart from the brakes.
I did the deal and managed to offload my rusting 2009 MX-5 and came away with Gracie.
I drove her home and quickly replaced the whole braking system.

A short time later I decided to change the bushes on the front suspension and when digging about I decided it wasn't worth putting Gracie back on the road until I had given her a going over with a welder.

So I began to strip her down, the interior is now in my back bedroom, the wiring loom has been labelled but will be replaced.
The outer panels wings,doors,bonnet and boot will be sent to my mates garage for storage.

The car is slowly revealing her rusty underbelly but rather than shy away I have decided to bite the bullet and get stuck in myself and learn to weld.

At the moment Gracie is up on axle stands in the garage but I have a rotisserie to build so I can gain access to the underside making welding that bit easier.

I have a few photographs which I will try upload.
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Gracie in the garage
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Murrayminor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Some more pictures showing the rusty bits.
I have noticed the carpet appeared to be glued to the floor and was destroyed on removal.
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Murrayminor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Oh and whoever invented underseal needs shooting, it's covering a host of rust and it looks like the last owner who "restored" Gracie got it free by the bucket load as it's everywhere.
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Murrayminor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Some more rust shots
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Murrayminor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

As is usual with UK cars the rust on the nearside it worse than the offside but I think I will begin on the better side so I can work out how it all goes together.
Once the shell is stripped fully I will weld some cross braces in to keep the shell in the same shape while I remove the sills and floor.
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Belmont
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Belmont »

Looks like you have got quite a bit of welding to do there! I think welding is actually relatively fun work, but accessibility and ergonomics are really important so I think you've got the right idea with the rotisserie!

Will be following with interest, good luck! :)
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Belmont wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2019 10:11 pm Looks like you have got quite a bit of welding to do there! I think welding is actually relatively fun work, but accessibility and ergonomics are really important so I think you've got the right idea with the rotisserie!

Will be following with interest, good luck! :)
There is definitely enough rust to improve my welding skills.
Thankfully, I have enough room in my garage to roll the car on the rotisserie which should make things somewhat easier.
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

This sketch is knocking about the internet showing a cross section of a typical sill.
My car will require sills in due course but I have a query.
Is the outer under sill on a 2 door welded along its length to the floor panel?
My inner sill is sitting above the floor pan will the floor separate from the inner sill allowing me to retain my inner solid sill or will I have to remove the whole sill structure?
I don't want to cut anything away just yet before I have the new panels to hand so just checking what I have ahead of me.
Regards
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by kevin s »

Yes you should be able to leave the inner sill in place, usually they will be corroded along the flange which joins to the floor but given the metal is pretty thick its not difficult to seam weld a new piece in.
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

kevin s wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:14 pm Yes you should be able to leave the inner sill in place, usually they will be corroded along the flange which joins to the floor but given the metal is pretty thick its not difficult to seam weld a new piece in.
Thanks for that, the actual sill seam is solid but the floor is not.
One I have the car on the rotisserie and cleaned off the ton of underseal I will have a better idea how it all goes together underneath.
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

I suppose I had better keep this thread updated as I go along.
The current situation is Gracie is now just a shell, everything has been stripped off and I have braced the interior and one of the door openings ( I cant get to the other door as my wife has piled two bedrooms worth of waste wallpaper beside the car).

So yesterday I decided to properly take stock of what exactly is required so working from the rear forward I unearthed the following:

Rear cross panel has a few rust holes but is repairable
Rear most part of the rear wings and towing point corners will need repair panels
Rear wing mounting strip both side will need repairing/replacing
Boot floor appears in decent condition
Rear Inner wings both will require repair patches
B post on both sides have previous repairs so will require further investigation
Rear most section of the floor will require replacement or repair
Both sills will need to be replaced
Crossmember has severe rot on the nearside, solid on the offside (yet to decide what to do here, either replace or repair)
Chassis rails will require partial replacement
A posts have mostly survived intact save for a small patch required at the bottom
kidney panels on either side are solid
Heel board area on both sides appears solid
Both flitch panels will require work, although the rust damage is fairly limited so they will only need repair panels.
Tie plates will be replaced in line with the Chassis Rail repairs
Front Crossmember will be replaced at the same time as the Tie Plates
Battery box has surface rust so the easiest fix of all.
Bonnet OK
Boot Lid OK
Doors x 2 OK
Wings x 4 OK

I have already welded up an aerial hole in the panel beneath the rear window and also a really badly cut hole on the rear parcel shelf, which could have been for a speaker, just to see what welding the body would be like.

So all in all I have a fair bit of work ahead, but to be honest I'm really looking forward to it.

At some point today I will try upload some photos of the rusty areas.

As the shell is supported on Axle stands I intend to get under and take loads of measurements and photographs in order for everything to go back in the correct place.

Once the Waste disposal facility has opened I can clear the garage of accumulated rubbish and start work.

Some of the welding I can do whilst the shell is upright, the remainder will be done with Gracie on a rotisserie.

I have been asking round and I think I can rustle up four strong assistants to manhandle her onto the frame.

Given the above list of jobs, plus of course the hidden bodges I will no doubt find a sane person would probably walk away and but a ready build car, but where is the fun in that??

I have become attached to Gracie, we are both the same age and she was registered on my wife's birthday so I think its fate.

Anyway I will update this thread with some pictures later on.

Regards

Dermot.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
Murrayminor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

1
Offside rear
Offside rear
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Offside wing
Offside wing
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Nearside rear
Nearside rear
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Nearside wing mount
Nearside wing mount
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Offside B post
Offside B post
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

A Post bottom
A Post bottom
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Flitch panel/ door hinge panel
Flitch panel/ door hinge panel
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Offside Bump stop
Offside Bump stop
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Nearside flitch panel with previous repairs
Nearside flitch panel with previous repairs
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Nesrside flitch panel bottom
Nesrside flitch panel bottom
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

So as you can see there is plenty of rust to be dealt with, I honestly think Gracie has been dragged from a field, the rust holes have ben bodged and made to look nice with a coat of paint, when in reality she is rotten.
Buyers beware, I'm just glad I didn't spend any money buying Gracie I would have been devastated to find the extent of rot had I spent a lot of money on her.

In relation to repair panels I have heard Andrew Eggleton supplies decent panels so I have a set of sill from him, and will probably order some wing mounting repair panels as well and begin my weldathon at the rear working forward.

Regards

Dermot.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

So things have progressed a little since my last update. I managed to cut one of the rear wing flanges off and mount the new repair panel but my bolts are in my lock up so had to make do with smaller nuts and bolts to hold the wing to the panel to check for fitment,
For a first attempt it doesn't seem that bad, a little fettling towards the rear light area and I think it will be close once the proper bolts are located and I have spaced the wings out to account for the trim piece I will know better, but happy with it at the moment.

Before I continue with the rear wings I have the panel beneath the rear window to repair and I cant do that before I repair the sills so I have made a start on the sills and boy was it rusty under there, with panels pop riveted on over rusty panels and the odd lump of 5mm steel randomly welded on over yet more rust.

My initial intention was to leave the floor in place and fit repair panels but having seen the extent of the rot I have decided to replace the complete floor, I wonder if I can return the repair panels for complete panels?

So up to now I have the outer sills partially removed, everything is braced and doesn't seem to have moved and the inner sill is solid so Im hoping to tack the outer sills in place, repair the side panel and then deal with the rear wing.

I may be going about this the wrong way but Its the only way I can see to gain access to everything to repair.

Anyway here is a link to another short video I took to show the current state of affairs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1zXtJ0YTdI

Dermot.
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Myrtles Man »

Wow! And to think that you drove that home!
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Myrtles Man wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 9:12 am Wow! And to think that you drove that home!
Even scarier was the fact it had an MOT!!
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Had a session in the garage this afternoon and worked on the boxing panel, please see the below video which is part 1.



https://youtu.be/BJGbzhEWcLs
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

Part 2 of the boxing panel work.

https://youtu.be/XaMF77UEOEY
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Re: "Gracie" Dove grey 1965 2 door saloon.

Post by Murrayminor »

If anyone fancies looking at the second video and giving me their opinion regarding the boxing panel and how I plan to cut and weld it.
Would this be an acceptable way to deal with that issue or would it be considered a bodge?

I really don't want to disturb the hinge panel as the majority of it is solid.

Thanks in advance

Dermot.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
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