NWL 576

[FrankM83]

Does anyone have a picture of how was NLW 576 as found before it got restored?

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Somewhere I have a brochure that was sent to dealers to announce the launch of the 1000000 and Im fairly sure it has a picture of NWL 576 as it arrived, I think its in the loft somewhere, I will try and remember to look!

[Scott]

There's a small B&W photo in Paul Skilleter's book in the Series MM section.

[mike.perry]

Page 55
I have photos of SMM 584 before restoration which was in far worse condition than 501 and is now far more correct although original parts are still being sought

[POMMReg]

What's the FULL body number of NWL 576?

[moggylowlight]

Pictures of NWL576 condition as of 2008 taken at the 60th National sign on steering wheel (NO BRAKES)... hmmm tie plates?[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[FrankM83]

Are thos tie plates correct?? :/

[moggylowlight]

At the time the apprentices were given a task with the view to restore NWL 576.
As to who had the Minor 1000 tie plates put in that,s the question, originally sidevalve tie plates had no holes.
But then we think why did they put holes in Minor 1000 tie plates, for cost saving, or for extra air flow over the engine.
Sidevalve known for fuel evaporation, exhaust and fuel pipe too close, early reports of shock absorber failure caused by boiling shock oil? reason for shock absorber cover plate to deflect the heat from the exhaust pipe discontinued when the Austin engine was introduced.

[mike.perry]

1952 Series MMs had tie plate holes. SMM 501 even had a narrow fan belt when I looked last year

[minor65]

Waxoyl urgently needed too

[HungarianMM]

I found a pic in the Morris Minor Series MM Super Profile book from the NWL-576, how she was found.
[frame][/frame]

[smithskids]

I visited NWL 576 when I was at the LCV 60th do and was very disapointed to find how unoriginal it was. There was a series 2 Morris 8 there also very non original. Surely the point of these cars being in the museum is they should be as near as possible to the car as built? My MM tourer's Heritage certificate gave the wrong key number as built so unless the dealer changed it the original owner had the key number on the log book. British Ratin Co Ltd. I dismantled the boot lock and the key number was engraved on the square shaft. It fits the door and ignition.

[RobThomas]

Looks like the inner wings from a later car were also used. The long curved lip that follows the tyre is 90 degrees away from the shape seen there in pic number 2, suggesting they used pretty much all Morris 1000 sides to the engine bay. [frame][/frame]

Hard to tell if the floor is a later one but the heatshield is proper Lowlight. The crossmember is longer than mine so it may be a cut-off 1000 one.[frame][/frame]

[Redmoggy]

I think the point of this car is being overlooked. It was not meticulously restored in order to win concourse trophies. The car was repaired using current production parts because that is what was laying around. The time and cost involved in retooling dies to suit what was basically a publicity stunt would have been ridiculous. Enjoy it for what it is it, a unique piece of Minor history.

Rod

[RobThomas]

On the other hand, since most of us manage to do the job in grotty little sheds in the UK you'd think they could teach the Erks to form panels by hand, as we do, to make the car look original. Of all the Minors in the world, that is the one that should be restored to original spec.

Now, if the club offered to organise for the members to rebuild NWL back to original spec then I'd be interested in joining in.


https://vimeo.com/114264199

[POMMReg]

At the time the apprentices were given a task with the view to restore NWL 576.
As to who had the Minor 1000 tie plates put in that,s the question, originally sidevalve tie plates had no holes.
But then we think why did they put holes in Minor 1000 tie plates, for cost saving, or for extra air flow over the engine.
Sidevalve known for fuel evaporation, exhaust and fuel pipe too close, early reports of shock absorber failure caused by boiling shock oil? reason for shock absorber cover plate to deflect the heat from the exhaust pipe discontinued when the Austin engine was introduced.

Did this co-inside with the intro of LRBM c7/50?

Trying to get to the bottom of this MM mystery - hard work as so few chassis/body number combinations to go by - Tourer's using 3 bodyshell codes whilst the 2dr only 1, the question is WHY!!

[RobThomas]

What was happening with production figures just after 7/50? Was that the introduction of a new assembly line for increased production? You'd need to add a new set of presses to increase production and then you might have 2 different press shapes running at once.

Just looked it up. The first 4 door came out on 5th Sept (62551) so that may have been the incentive to make a new pressing. 4 door roof on a tourer = short moulding, 2 door roof on a tourer would need an extra bulge pressed into the flank of the car.

Is there a point when tourer bodies started to have the extra bulge and a time when all of them had it?

You've probably answered these questions before but I've kinda avoided the topic before.

[POMMReg]

I've yet to ascertain an exact month for the ubiquitous "bulge", believe intro same time for both Tourer/2dr models.

What we DO know for sure is some Tourer's converted to 2drs, last "bulge" early '58.

Interesting stuff though, albeit tedious!

[IaininTenbury]

Letting apprentices restore a historically important car which would be scrutinised 50 years on may not have been the best move in hindsight. However at the time I guess it made sense - no one would have been that concerned wether the tie plates had round holes in or which way the inner wing flanges faced. No point in teaching apprentices how to form up a panel by hand - they were training to work in a car factory with presses thundering away making new panels by the 1000. It is as Redmoggy says part of Minor history - both its position as the first production Minor and its saving and restoration in the 1960s.
There's other more original MMs out there for reference - Rob Thomas's totally unmolested shell for eg. (I didn't know the ends of the centre cross member should be chamfered off till I saw his pics - will do this on the tourer I'm just starting and my '49 saloon when its turn comes). The attitude to originality at the time is also apparent with the works fire engine, ( a fascinating vehicle) that was rebuilt with a centre speedo dashboard, whilst retaining the short bonnet from its factory prototype days - not a 5 minute job at all...
Maybe NWL should be restored to original spec, as the definitive original Minor. I'm generally one of the first to spot mistakes in rebuilds, but as my signature comment says, it still wouldn't be original (it was only truly original once) and its interesting history of being rebuilt with new genuine, albeit 1960s panels, by BMC staff would be lost.

In a similar way, I was in the position a year or two back of finishing off the restoration of a Morris J type GPO van that had been restored by LDV (Morris Commercial) apprentices. A lot of detailing wasn't right and it bristled with metric fasteners culled from the LDV production line. A nicely done van but I was glad I had the chance to make it a bit more correct.

[RobThomas]

Our '52 2-door has straight ends on the crossmember so they must have changed that at some point (One for you, POMM!). it is even more original than the '49 car and has covered under 40,000 miles.

Might be worth getting it up on a ramp and taking photos one day. Still has the 4 original bronze front suspension trunnions on it!