Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

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kevin s
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by kevin s »

As long as you can get good access (on a ramp or on it's side idealy) Replacing the X member is not too difficult, the only fiddly bit is drilling all the welds out around the ends of the front chassis legs, I found it easier to grind the old X member away from the rear, you do of course also have to remove, propshaft, exhaust, brake & fuel pipes etc.

kev
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

kevin s wrote:As long as you can get good access (on a ramp or on it's side idealy) Replacing the X member is not too difficult, the only fiddly bit is drilling all the welds out around the ends of the front chassis legs, I found it easier to grind the old X member away from the rear, you do of course also have to remove, propshaft, exhaust, brake & fuel pipes etc.

kev
ah on it's side sounds good as i have no ramps in my garage setup. So if i get the engine out and gearbox. Should be able to tip it and get my cousin to come weld. So you think it is do-able at home to replace the whole cross member?

I think the exhaust, brake and fuel pipes should come out fairly easy. Probably have to look at how to do the prop shaft.
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
rogerowen
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by rogerowen »

If it's any encouragement - I've seen far worse! :lol:
That's strange R2, the damage doesn't look so bad from here!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Thanks, I am encouraged. This is a list of things I need to get welded providing I take everything out and get it on it's side.

So please could I have some advice on what order I should do the welding work now. My plan is to get the car MOT pass and on the road. Then get it re-sprayed.

1. Centre Cross member full replacement
2. Full floor pan (I will be ordering the four piece floor)
3. Outer sills both sides
4. Sill finishers both sides with side steps
5. Hang on new doors
6. Rear spring hangers front (on a plate) and back on both sides
7. Boot floor rear weld new plate
8. Weld a small patch in the battery compartment bottom
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
rogerowen
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by rogerowen »

nam wrote:Thanks, I am encouraged. This is a list of things I need to get welded providing I take everything out and get it on it's side.

So please could I have some advice on what order I should do the welding work now. My plan is to get the car MOT pass and on the road. Then get it re-sprayed.

1. Centre Cross member full replacement
2. Full floor pan (I will be ordering the four piece floor)
3. Outer sills both sides
4. Sill finishers both sides with side steps
5. Hang on new doors
6. Rear spring hangers front (on a plate) and back on both sides
7. Boot floor rear weld new plate
8. Weld a small patch in the battery compartment bottom
I think Neil MG is better placed to answer this. I'd probably opt for floor and crossmember first. Most important not to hack too much back at once and work your way through a bit at a time so as not to weaken/distort the structure. Are you replacing the entire floor because it's completely pants?
That's strange R2, the damage doesn't look so bad from here!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Yes the whole floor is pants in all the corners edges so best if i just do it all for the sake of £20 a floor piece. I'm also wondering if I just do both end pieces of the cross member and save some hassle as the middle is looking not too bad. And the gearbox tunnel above is solid.
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
rogerowen
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by rogerowen »

Sounds like a plan! But do check out a wealth of resto project on this site (especially 'traveller Restoration' by Neil MG). Loads of excellent pictures. Good luck :D
That's strange R2, the damage doesn't look so bad from here!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Thanks i found the thread will have a good read

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... o&start=15
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Woo hoo all panels have now arrived. Got two cross member ends and all rear spring hangers. Showed pic to my cousin who is going to help me weld and his first reaction was oh #### thats a lot of welding....

Don't think we will get it all done in 3 full days but we will give it a go.[frame]Image[/frame]
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
rogerowen
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by rogerowen »

Might be worth finding out how much was originally spot welded into place, would save a lot of time and reduce posible panel distortion. I recently replaced a boot floor in a Land Rover Discovery using a £30 spot weld gun attachment to my arc welder, and filling gaps with seam sealer. Good luck with the welding :D
That's strange R2, the damage doesn't look so bad from here!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Far as I can see this car has never had welding done to it, I can't find any evidence of it... so align up the panels and grind is the course of action.
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
kevin s
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by kevin s »

I think you will also need the bottom of the sills, the orignal floors carry out this function but the reapir sections go up the inside of the sill instead, the lower edge of the boxing panel is also likely to need some local repairs so make sure you have some spare bits of steel around (they are approx. 1.5 mm thick).

Also remember you don't have to use all the repair section, If the centre of the floor is sound it is best to leave this in place and cut the repair section back to keep some strength while you are working

Kevin
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Yes kevin, that sounds a good plan. I am going to get two 1 metre by 1 metre sheets as extra becuase I know once i get the wings off we will probably be patching the door pillars.

The floor is fairly bad in the middle runs.. Surprisingly the tunnel is sound all front to back so we plan to just cut out the shape of the panels and weld. I'm planning to use all the overlap so it goes up the sill step and at the back. I didn't bother buying near step sills as they are good at the top. Just the bottoms are gone where they join the floor.[frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame]
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Well finally we got to the welding. Me and my cousin have been working the last two days and here to show you our work. Any advise or tips![frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame]
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Tomorrow is finishing off the left and right outer sills and sill finisher. Will put some pics up as we could do with a little advice as it seems we need to cut out the bottom of the b pillar for the outer sill to slide through and the boxing panel i will be making out of sheet steel. Also does the boxing panel need to have those holes in or can i just make a straight length?
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
panky
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by panky »

You did that lot in two days :o My advise is stop and have a beer :D
Oh and wear welding gauntlets :wink:
Image
DAVIDMCCULLOUGH
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by DAVIDMCCULLOUGH »

Good progress, you have a lot of rot to deal with!

It looks like you have welded the new floor to the gearbox cover, this is just a screw on panel and has no strength. It will need to be removed and the edges of the new floor welded down to the chassis leg, I know its a pain to point this out but it will cause you lots of trouble later on when you come to work on brakes and other items. Good news is though that the gearbox panel is easy to get hold of as they dont often rot due to being covered in gearbox oil!

I would remove your door panels too, so they dont get destroyed, that colour would be hard to find secondhand.


Too many Minors so little time.....
jagnut66
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by jagnut66 »

Hi,
Just a little confusion on my part......
The gearbox tunnel cover is removable for maintenance access and is fixed in placed by a dozen or so brass screws (into captive nuts), yet you seem to have left it in place and are welding it permanently into position.
Is there any reason for this, as I believe it will make maintenance in this area (notably replacing and / or topping up the gearbox oil) / future removal of the engine and gearbox unnecessarily awkward.....
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

No particular reason for welding the cover down. I think we have probably not realised it I for access. Will see in the morning to maybe grind out around it and remember weld so we don't cover it up. We drank a few cans of coke after!
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
nam
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Re: Paaro - Morris Minor 1000 1957 4 door restoration

Post by nam »

Some advice please before we go and hack the floor around the cover again. I think in our haste we didn't realise the cover had rusted so badly it looked like the floor. Hence why I made that panel that has been welded in. We actually cut out all the old metal and ground it down to the chassis then welded the custom plate as the cover was totally gone so it is very strong.

IF we don't get a new cover and leave as is what exactly do we need to maintain? We can still see the hole at the side of it. And I already have the brake cylinder cover which will be going on top. Is there anything else that we need to access for maintaining?
1957 Morris Minor 1000. 4 door saloon restoration back on!
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