Hello :)

[ddoherty958]

Hello there!

I'm ddoherty958 from Northern Ireland, just joined the forum with the view to get a Minor as first car! I've been lurking for a few days, reading up on the branches, what to look for, discounted insurance rates through FJ and the club, and taking a look on websites for cars for sale near me.

I've always wanted an interesting (read; old) car as a first one (I nearly went for a Reliant Robin but legislation got in the way) and after seeing a Minor for sale on a site I decided to do some more digging and I'm delighted with what I've found! To say the community is vibrant is a understatement, and the support and parts availability appears excellent. I know others have used a Minor as their first cars too, so I'd love to hear form them if possible. I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel!

[svenedin]

Welcome to the world of Morris Minors. My first car at 17 was a Morris Minor and I still have it 33 years later. The Morris had a “rest” for 26 years in the garage but will be back on the road in a few weeks. At your age I toyed with the idea of a Citroen Traction Avant, an MG TC and many others but I have never regretted buying my Convertible Minor. All the best!

Stephen

[rocco]

Welcome to the family.

It's fantastic how some go for a Minor as a first car and some (like me) are quite likely to make it the last car they ever buy!

What one do you have your eye on?

[Denisd]

Howdy doody and welcome, I'm just down the road from you and I have my first minor but definitely not my first car, make sure that you get the right one lad and best of luck.

[ddoherty958]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Great to hear from another from round here I don't have a particular car in mind, but I'm on the lookout for a Minor 1000 2 door saloon, as it'll be my daily driver. I do also have some modifications in mind, nothing drastic don't worry! On my list at the minute is an alternator, LED lights and a third brake light in the rear window, possible ford Ka seats for safety and comfort too. I'm sure I'll think of others, and with my budget there'll probably be work to be done before I get to that stage, but I''m looking forward to getting stuck in and giving it a try.

Two that have caught my eye recently are https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for ... r/32250442 and https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1463016 , both at very different prices of course but there isn't as much choice over here unfortunately, compared to England. I'd be interested to see what others think of these two. Rust will be on my mind with the first one for sure, the second one, well, you get what youpay for don't you?

[svenedin]

My Minor, Xavier, was in very good order when I got him 33 years ago. It was an excellent decision as he has never required any major work for rust. This is probably because being a convertible he has never been parked outside, always in a garage. I decided right from the start that I would accept no modifications whatsoever so the car is absolutely original including positive earth. You get used to dim headlights. Actually I did change one thing: I had inertia reel seatbelts fitted. I would suggest going for a really solid 1098cc car. Parts availability is much better for the later cars and the parts are cheaper too. The extra power of the 1098 is useful in modern traffic and mine was quite happy with hills in Scotland when I lived there.

[jagnut66]

Hello and welcome,
Two thoughts to add to the above:
Firstly, as you're located in Northern Ireland, you're still part of the UK. So if you fancy a 'road trip' then you could buy one from over here (where there are more for sale) and simply drive it back home.
Secondly, if it's okay to ask, what are you budgeting for your purchase price? It may help others on here to spot a possible purchase option for you.
Oh, plus (providing you are happy to pop across) here are a couple of possibilities for you:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295272477957 ... R4zjwPf6YA
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225174955027 ... R5jjwPf6YA
Best wishes,
Mike.

PS: Before you rip out the original seats, try them and / or try new padding in them. They are not that uncomfortable, inertia reel seat belts can still be fitted to the car body as normal and Ford Ka seats won't add much to the cars 'safety' anyway.

[ddoherty958]

Thanks for all the tips, esppecailly your advice svenedin. Swapping the seats isn't something I'm firm on, I'll wait to see what the real things are like, but I am aware of the fact that I'll be driving a 60 year old car in modern traffic, and that safety has come a long way in 30 years. Even if I was to swap them, it's more for a head restraint than comfort or safety, I hear whiplash can be nasty! Either way, I like my classics stock too!

Thank you for checking out those listings Jagnut66, I'd say my budget will be around the £2-4k mark, on the lower end I know, but I've seen some around so I hope it's not impossible. The road trip option has always been in the back of my mind, and it's definitely something I can check out, but convincing someone to drive me to England so that I can drive a 60 year old car back 500-odd miles will be the tricky part...

[svenedin]

It might not be that far for you to pick up a car from the mainland so to speak. If you do, you’ll need to at least make sure you are a member of a rescue organisation eg AA, RAC etc. When Xavier was my only car and I drove him long distances I carried a lot of spares in the boot: scissor jack, socket set (Imperial), torch (a head torch is best) oil, water, fan belt, bulbs, Haynes manual, points, condenser and lots of other stuff. It came in handy and I never did completely break down until a tooth broke off a gear in the gearbox. A piece of fine Emery paper is very useful for misbehaving dirty points in the distributor, the fuel pump or the voltage regulator but a piece of paper will do. Bad contacts caused me a lot of inconvenience in those early days.

Stephen

[jagnut66]

As above. I'm lucky enough to have Green Flag cover included with my Nat West bank account.
It has come in very handy when picking up two of my purchases in the past.
So, 500 miles in a Morris Minor? No worries.....
Best wishes,
Mike.

[ddoherty958]

--Update--

After a bit of research, based on my location and budget I've come across these 3 examples. I was wondering what you with the knowledge thought of them? By my (unexperienced) eye, the blue 1970 one seems most attractive, but the 1961 is closer to me and the maroon 2 door is cheaper. What are your thoughts?

1970 maroon 2 door - https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for ... r/32250442
1961 black 4 door - https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1446769
1970 blue 2 door - https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1463016

[svenedin]

The blue 1970 2 door does look pretty good. The seat colour does not match the rest of the interior but that could always be changed. Really it's hard to judge because you need to have a look under the car as well. I am not up to date with what fair prices are currently.

You may find this page useful especially the link to where to look for rust (Charles Ware website)

https://www.morrisminor.org.uk/downloads

[ddoherty958]

The blue 1970 2 door does look pretty good. The seat colour does not match the rest of the interior but that could always be changed. Really it's hard to judge because you need to have a look under the car as well. I am not up to date with what fair prices are currently.

You may find this page useful especially the link to where to look for rust (Charles Ware website)

https://www.morrisminor.org.uk/downloads

That looks really useful, thank you. I'll have a good read!

[philipkearney]

Given you want to use the car as your daily driver, I would suggest the later cars would better. That way, you will get the later 1098cc engine and the larger drum brakes as standard. You could use an earlier 948cc car but it's likely to be more stressed at today's speeds.

The blue car looks very clean and tidy from above. You would hope that the underside will match but you really need to get a good look at the car to be sure. Read the CW guide, understand where the car is likely to rot and then go see the car. Take something to lie on and a good torch and get underneath and check it out. The price seems to be ok and what you would expect to pay but it really depends on condition. Issues such as the interior can be rectified for relatively little money. Body condition is key.

[ddoherty958]

I've just rung round a few insurance companies, and I thought I'd post my valuations in case any other young drivers are looking at insurance estimates. Obviously they'll change, but a I would have liked to see a ballpark figure myself when I joined. I don't have a car yet unfortunately, so the vehicle details I used are on the right.



Footman and James are obviously my best bet, they couldn't give me a MMOC discount estimate till I join, if around the 25% mark like Lancaster I may be able to get my annual payment below £1000, which is good for me, but now we see why younger drivers don't choose classics anymore.

There were also a few quotes from sites like CompareTheMarket, but I didn't include these as they were all up in the 2.8k, 3k range so of no real use to me. Hopefully some people find these useful!

[MontysDad]

Afraid insurance for younger drivers is horribly expensive whether for modern cars or classics. Footman James quote looks good and they are who I have my insurance with, my wife managed to get a slightly cheaper quote elsewhere but hardly anything in it and she had a lot more hoops to jump through as well as a lower annual mileage limit.

Especially with classics, it's worth thinking what your mileage will be as that makes a big difference to the insurance quotes.

One thing I'll say - if you are aiming to drive a classic, make sure you have a decent toolkit and are handy working on cars (or have a mechanically minded person you can call on) as they will need more attention than a modern car and if you keep taking it in to a garage can cost a lot of money. On the other hand, if you can do most of the work yourself you will find most things can be repaired instead of replaced - the beauty of older cars

[MontysDad]

Afraid insurance for younger drivers is horribly expensive whether for modern cars or classics. Footman James quote looks good and they are who I have my insurance with, my wife managed to get a slightly cheaper quote elsewhere but hardly anything in it and she had a lot more hoops to jump through as well as a lower annual mileage limit.

Especially with classics, it's worth thinking what your mileage will be as that makes a big difference to the insurance quotes.

One thing I'll say - if you are aiming to drive a classic, make sure you have a decent toolkit and are handy working on cars (or have a mechanically minded person you can call on) as they will need more attention than a modern car and if you keep taking it in to a garage can cost a lot of money. On the other hand, if you can do most of the work yourself you will find most things can be repaired instead of replaced - the beauty of older cars

When I first started driving (45 years ago - eek!) I didn't have two pennies to rub together so had to learn how to fix everything or go without a vehicle. MIG welders are not too expensive and, with gasless wire, pretty easy to use even outdoors. My early attempts were trying to put sills on a marina with a stick welder - LOL that was fun, if fruitless!!!

Hope you get a moggy, I love driving mine and always have a smile on my face.

[ddoherty958]

Thanks for the tips Montysdad. In truth, the fact that the car is so simple and easy to fix is pet of what attracted me in the first place. Since I can remember I’ve wanted to fix up an old vehicle, but my parents were never too keen to take that plunge with me, understandably. But I’m really looking forward to fixing my own car. A modern car has never even been an option for me to be honest. Looking forward to getting my hands on one!

[ddoherty958]

Me again, looking for some advice on this listing: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... e5a3ea657d

Seller says it's 1956, and as far as I know with the split windscreen and trafficators that makes sense, however, it does also have "real" indicators and what looks like the A series engine from the 1000, which would make it a later car surely? Again, that's only my guess based on very "minor" (sorry) knowlefdge, I'd love some other's input.

[geoberni]

Me again, looking for some advice on this listing: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... e5a3ea657d

Seller says it's 1956, and as far as I know with the split windscreen and trafficators that makes sense, however, it does also have "real" indicators and what looks like the A series engine from the 1000, which would make it a later car surely? Again, that's only my guess based on very "minor" (sorry) knowlefdge, I'd love some other's input.

A great many early cars have a later engine fitted, there's 1,000s of Posts in these forums about engine replacements.
My own '55 has a 1098 fitted, even if the person who fitted it thought they had fitted a 948....
Indicators are easy to add, and probably 99% of early cars have indicators of some description.
Nothing odd about that car at all...