Morris Minor Owners Club

Ok, a bit of history.

I bought this Morris when I was 18. I had it for a few years and did no work on it really, I then spent a bit of time making it road worthy and used it as my main car. I resprayed it and did all sorts of little jobs to it, new seals, new fuel pump and engine parts, all sorts.

The bottom then rusted out, it failed its MOT and I couldn't weld, nor did I have a garage to learn. So I sold it to a friend.

Fast forward one month ago, he rings up and asks if I'd like to buy it back!

More than anything!!

I'm now 23, my fiancée is any second about to have my first child and we are getting married October 4th this year. The plan is to restore the car as best I can for then, without my fiancée seeing it so her father can pick her up in it on our wedding day and it can be a huge surprise! I won't restore it show quality just good enough, my DIY car skills are fairly ok but I'm not as dedicated as some of the strip it back to bare bolts threads I've seen here, no time, nor money for that. I plan to do the best I can with the skills and money I possess!

So next step,
I buy a welder, I learn to weld and then I secure myself a garage, borrowed from a very kind lady I work for! The car is being delivered this week, then there will be all sorts of pictures. For now, here's one of the garage![frame][/frame]

There will be lots of pictures once the car arrives and I can't wait to get going and share the journey with you, I'm looking forward to all the help you guys can offer as you've already helped me a lot in the past.


It's not the destination, it's the glory of the ride!
Edd.

Well done Edd, looking forward to seeing your restoration

Nick

I have to wait one more week to get the car, here's an old picture of the last time I owned it![frame][/frame]

Wedding car for my best friend (I was best man, that's me on the left!)[frame][/frame]

This is Morris when I bought him the first time round when I was 18 (terrible picture but only one I have)[frame][/frame]


and this is what Morris looked like when I sold him nearly two years ago:[frame][/frame]

Now I like to think I did some good, but I know I cut a lot of corners, I was lazy and a teenager and I regret it but hey ho, life is for learning right? This time round (Morris arrives this saturday) I'm going to do it properly, 100%. Even toying with the idea of a BMC colour chart respray (engine bay never got done and it always bugged me). Anyways! Cheers!

So the first thing I did when I bought Morris first time round was to remove the carpets and inspect the rot...The carpets were soaked through, mouldy and disgusting as every single window and window seal leaked...

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A little Kurust on the bits that weren't rotten through but I was pleasantly surprised at the front footwells, just the back under the bench was the worst...

The rear arches weren't great, they'd clearly had some welding done on them by the rear spring hangers, like they'd been taken off and welded up but the flange was basically see through.
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I was later to discover that the rear spring hangers were packed with expanding foam and covered with duct tape and waxoyl. No I didn't poke around like I should of done, this being my first ever car project I didn't even think about it! When he's back this weekend, that will be fixed....

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The front arches weren't too bad and had some work done on them before as well.

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After much prep and a coat of white primer, Morris got turned very blue indeed. (toying with the idea of respraying a BMC Blue colour soon!)

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New rear and back window seals. (notice the paint bloom from doing a bad job at polishing it off). Respray is definitely on the cards the more I look through these pictures!

I put in a lot of elbow grease trying to polish it up to shiny but I think there just wasn't enough coats of paint on it the first time round either.

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Morris has arrived back!

He's had no work done and been uncovered in a dusty garage, had to be winched in but with 10 mins and a toolbox I got him going![frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

First job, rad and front grill off, engine disconnected oil drained, gearbox drained and fuel tank out.

Engine removed when my friend Kyle comes down with his engine crane and he's going to teach me to weld and build a rollover jig!


Game on!

That's me, very very happy![frame][/frame]

Day #1 of work! 2.5 hours done. Soundtrack: Black Sabbath - Greatest hits.

First job is to prepare car for rolling, removing all fluids and engine. I thought I'd start by getting the engine ready. First to whip off the rad and grill:[frame][/frame]

Then I took out the screen washer bottle, starter motor and carb and unlinked everything bar the exhaust and speedo cable, this is what I left after today:[frame][/frame]


The key to having a small garage is keeping it tidy![frame][/frame]

Anyway, that's all! Next jobs are remove all wings and boot before welding commences (all fibreglass) and start removing windows. Can't wait for my next bit of free time!

Thanks!
Edd

We are with you all the way on this restoration... keep posting those pictures

Day #2. 4.5 hours work done. Soundtrack: Top 100 songs playlist, Nizlopi - Half these songs are about you and Frank Turner!

So! The first job of the day was to remove the bonnet, as there is no prop and I was getting more and more worried about the bit of 2x1 that was saving my fingers/neck from the sharp edge of a morris....Helped by my glamorous assistant, Bo the Great Dane.[frame][/frame]

As well as removing the panels, mostly to check for welding, I was removing every little bit, badges from the bonnet and boot and lights from the wings in preparation for spraying. Next job, remove front lights and flasher units:[frame][/frame]

One wing removed:[frame][/frame]

And another, (notice the new tyres, bought all 4 brand new just before I sold it. Glad that they are still in good nick.)[frame][/frame]
Then I proceeded to remove the back wings, this was under the side I paid a stupid amount of money to get repaired, glad to see its still looking good, needs rust protection though:[frame][/frame]
and the other wing, this one is a bit of a mess, holes in it everywhere and needs grinding back and bashing with a hammer to find the wholes, may invest in one of those flange repair panels from ESM, anyone had any prior experience with them?[frame][/frame]

Then removed the boot (also fiberglass)[frame][/frame]


As the last few jobs of the day, I drained the sump of engine oil and tried to do the gearbox and fuel tank but didn't have a socket to fit the drain plugs. It looks about 18mm I think.

I also removed the manifold from the engine block, only have to remove the gearbox connections and things now then it's ready for lifting.

Next jobs will be windows out, drain fluids and start taking interior out.

Those jobs will have to wait as tomorrow me and my fiancee are off into hospital for her to be induced and for us to come home with a baby! Very excited and I'm sure a picture will be uploaded on here soon, ( I can't resist!) but car work may be on hold for a little while....hopefully not long!!!!!

Cheers!
Edd

Great start and what a nice gaff to work in! Good luck with the new arrival - do they do boiler suits for newborns?

Haha! Many thanks! I'm sure I can find one small enough.....

Hi Edd, If your welding skills are not too good, don't worry, I was in the same position last summer, so I looked at local colleges and found one that did C&G Level 1 welding, one evening a week for a term, found it really usefull, now although not a top end welder, I have a good idea and some skill of what to do and how not to blow holes in the car !! good luck.

Hi all!

Lyra Delphine Charlotte Lane was born on March 4th 4:31am weighing in at 8lb10!
No sleep has ensued and a few hours on morris this afternoon is on the cards!



New post later on![frame][/frame]