Morris 1000 Doors

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Daura58
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Morris 1000 Doors

Post by Daura58 »

Hi All,

We have some rust (!) on the bottom of the driver and passenger doors. We have been to 2 different classic car garages to see how to repair the doors.

The first garage said that the doors should be replaced and re-sprayed - costing £1,000 for each door.

The second garage said the doors can be repaired easily and re-sprayed quite simply, at a fraction of the cost of garage 1.

Any thoughts as to which avenue to take would be gratefully recieved!

Thanks!
philthehill
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by philthehill »

Firstly we need to see some pictures showing the condition of the doors before giving a considered opinion.

There are repair panels for the doors available from the main suppliers.

Personally I would if possible use repair panels and re-spray.

I am not aware that new doors are available so if replaced they would only be S/H or repaired.

You can sometimes pick up a good S/H door off 'e' bay at reasonable cost. For example:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MINOR ... SwTwtcnoHZ
Last edited by philthehill on Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ManyMinors
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by ManyMinors »

£1000 for each door :o . Lucky your car isn't a 4door model!
I agree with Phil. Repair panels are available to repair your original doors. If this work is carried out correctly and rustproofing carried out the doors will probably fit better than any replacement doors will. New doors are not readily available and the chances of obtaining rust-free secondhand replacements are surely slim. Yes, pictures might help but that would be the path I would choose and is based on my own past experience.
KeithL
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by KeithL »

I guess it depends how bad it is. Do you have any photos?

I got rust in the bottom of one of the doors on our Traveller and the local body shop I use managed to repair it so well that no one would ever know there had ever been a problem. As a bonus the door actually fitted better after the repair than before. The total bill was about £400 IV. I would always want to retain as much of the original car as possible so would always favour the repair approach unless the door was too far gone.

Whichever route you go, when you get the car back open both doors, put sheets of newspaper underneath them and then get a can of Dinitrol ML and squirt into into all the drain holes until it runs out the bottom of the door. ML is runny enough that it will find its way between sheets of folded metal. Don't use Waxoyl - it isn't runny enough. This should help avoid the problem arising again for a while.

Whereabouts are you in the country?

myoldjalopy
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by myoldjalopy »

My goodness - £1000 per door. That is outrageous....
Of course, I can't know how good 'garage 2' may be, but it it were me I would definately have the doors repaired with repair panels and re-sprayed. It is the door bottoms which go usually and that is what the repair panels are designed for....
les
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by les »

Usually if someone quotes a ridiculous price it means they don’t really want the job.

IslipMinor
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by IslipMinor »

Interesting! £1,000 per door could be that they do not want the job, or a straight attempt at a rip-off. We should be able to 'name and shame' on this board.

When I started the restoration of our 1958 2-door Minor back in 1992, the LH door was beginning to shows signs of rot at the base, so I bought a 'better' door and used that to fit on the car, instead of the original. The RH door was sound underneath at the base, and the fettling in the usual place in the radius at the top of the base is still sound today, 20+ years later.

Not sure if the door repair sections that are available today were around in the mid/late 90's?

Clearing out our shed a couple of days ago, ahead of getting a new one, unearthed the original LH door. Apart from some storage scratches, it is much as I remember it when taken off the car nearly 30 years ago, and is now on Ebay - it is not the one identified by Phil, but is cheaper!
Richard


paul 300358
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by paul 300358 »

Th great shame is that door skins are only available for the two door. My four door is starting to go at the bottom of the rear doors. Full skins are quite easy to replace
ManyMinors
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by ManyMinors »

Do you know of door skins available for the 2 door cars? I wasn't able to find any when I enquired for mine but the bottom repair sections will be MUCH less expensive and have done a decent enough job.
paul 300358
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by paul 300358 »

Your right ManyMinors. Moss did have them but they are now marked as currently unavailable. I last looked a few years ago and I think that they were about £200 + vat. For ESM see https://www.morrisminorspares.com/body- ... nv-p828435
Daura58
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by Daura58 »

philthehill wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:10 pm Firstly we need to see some pictures showing the condition of the doors before giving a considered opinion.

There are repair panels for the doors available from the main suppliers.

Personally I would if possible use repair panels and re-spray.

I am not aware that new doors are available so if replaced they would only be S/H or repaired.

You can sometimes pick up a good S/H door off 'e' bay at reasonable cost. For example:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MINOR ... SwTwtcnoHZ
Thank you for your reply Phil.

I imagine garage number 1 would of presumably meant secondhand doors. Which at £1,000 seems a lot to pay?

I have attached (upside down!) pictures. The rust isn't bad, but you never know what lurks underneath!!
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Daura58
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by Daura58 »

ManyMinors wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:20 pm £1000 for each door :o . Lucky your car isn't a 4door model!
I agree with Phil. Repair panels are available to repair your original doors. If this work is carried out correctly and rustproofing carried out the doors will probably fit better than any replacement doors will. New doors are not readily available and the chances of obtaining rust-free secondhand replacements are surely slim. Yes, pictures might help but that would be the path I would choose and is based on my own past experience.
Super happy it's only a 2 door!!!!

Thanks for help - repair panels seem the best option.
Daura58
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by Daura58 »

KeithL wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:22 pm I guess it depends how bad it is. Do you have any photos?

I got rust in the bottom of one of the doors on our Traveller and the local body shop I use managed to repair it so well that no one would ever know there had ever been a problem. As a bonus the door actually fitted better after the repair than before. The total bill was about £400 IV. I would always want to retain as much of the original car as possible so would always favour the repair approach unless the door was too far gone.

Whichever route you go, when you get the car back open both doors, put sheets of newspaper underneath them and then get a can of Dinitrol ML and squirt into into all the drain holes until it runs out the bottom of the door. ML is runny enough that it will find its way between sheets of folded metal. Don't use Waxoyl - it isn't runny enough. This should help avoid the problem arising again for a while.

Whereabouts are you in the country?
Thanks Keith, great tips! I would much rather keep my doors and repair them.

I live in East Sussex...
Daura58
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Re: Morris 1000 Doors

Post by Daura58 »

Les and Islip...i agree, it seemed such a ridiculous amount that my initial thought was that garage number 2 didn't really want the job.

I think that repairing the doors is my favoured option. Plus i can get some other jobs done with the rather large saving i would of made!!!
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