2 door VAE 306H

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
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kevin s
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2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Well I have bought a minor, unseen from ebay, I know I should have looked at it but simply did not have the time (busy finishing the garage to put it in).

It is a 69 two door in white, it appears to be 100 complete and I paid £460 for it, I figured I will probably need to replace all the usual rust areas anyway and if it turns out to be beyond hope I could always break it.

Plan is to collect it on Thursday so some pictures will follow.

I intend to restore it with my son who is currently only 11 so we have plenty of time (we do have access to private land he could drive on before though).

We were also thinking about what to modify and what to keep standard, bearing in mind he has to insure it at 17 engine mods are out, but for safety I would like:

Seats with head restraints, some modern rover ones look in keeping.

Front and rear seat belts

Dual circuit brakes, I think I have seen some people using a Marina pedal box?

Telescopic dampers, Most of the kits seem to use rather agricutural bolt on brackets, I was thinking of welding in turrets for the body end when I repair the inner wings, any one else done this?

Possibly disc brakes using parts sourced from a corsa.(just a thought as I have some lying around).
Last edited by kevin s on Sun Nov 03, 2013 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
beero
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Re: A new project

Post by beero »

Welcome, good to see you are starting your son nice and young.
I think you will find the brakes, if well looked after, will be more than adequate for the standard engine. Trouble with dual circuit is you normally only have half the breaking when one side fails. (Unless you have a real complex system with twin pot calipers.) Similar to being left with only the handbrake.
The dampers are fine as well if properly maintained.
Money may be better spent with alloys putting a bit more rubber on the road (should please the lad as well)
Seats and seatbelts is sensible.

JPX877J
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Re: A new project

Post by JPX877J »

Mine was bought unseen I believe.

It will have an alternator fitted and front seatbelts with standard (for DHSS) seats, dampers and wheels.
MarkyB
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Re: A new project

Post by MarkyB »

I'm not sure that the Marina M/C will be dual circuit.
For peace of mind it's worth replacing the whole braking system, use named manufacturers where possible and copper (Kunifer) pipes.
I'd suggest using silicone brake fluid for longevity but it's a contentious issue around here :)
Minor spares are very good value and most places deliver next day.

"Once you break something you will see how it was put together"
Daddybear1984
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Re: A new project

Post by Daddybear1984 »

Nice to hear that your little one will be helping out and learning the car as your restore/prepare it, i look forward to reading about your progress and hopefully lots of pics.

as others have said

Brake renewed, seats with head rests, alloys or wider steels for more rubber on the road, halogen lights and maybe a high tail stop light, you might want an alternator if yours doesn't have one (mine is a 69' and has the dynamo still)

kind regards

Scott

When you're in up over your head, the first thing to do is close your mouth.
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

Looking at the pictures it has a dynamo, I have 2 or 3 17ACR alternators around, I assume they are what is normally used?

What about brackets do I need parts from a midget or are there other sources which will do?.

For the brakes I would rather keep them standard so this is the way we will go strip everything and repair / replace as required, possibly incorporating a level sensor into the fluid reservoir, this is what I have on my 61 landrover s2 which works fine. Do the minors have the reservoir under the floor as well as the master cylinder, if so is it possible to put a remote one in the engine compartment?

we will also start off with the standard dampers.

We can't wait to get our hands on it now, here is one of the picctures, the only part which worries me a litle is there is some rust around the roof to rear body seam, I am sure I can fix this somehow though.[frame]Image[/frame]
Daddybear1984
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Re: A new project

Post by Daddybear1984 »

not sure about the alternator but yes the master cylinder is under the floor of the drivers side, i am sure someone else will be able to clear up the other points you have risen.

Kind Regards

Scott

When you're in up over your head, the first thing to do is close your mouth.
dp
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Re: A new project

Post by dp »

beero wrote:Welcome, good to see you are starting your son nice and young.
I think you will find the brakes, if well looked after, will be more than adequate for the standard engine. Trouble with dual circuit is you normally only have half the breaking when one side fails. (Unless you have a real complex system with twin pot calipers.) Similar to being left with only the handbrake.
The dampers are fine as well if properly maintained.
Money may be better spent with alloys putting a bit more rubber on the road (should please the lad as well)
Seats and seatbelts is sensible.
But if single circuits fail you have nothing. Marina split circuits are split front/rear so in the worst case of the front failing you have the rear but a bit more pressure to apply than you could with the handbrake. If the rear fails, you still have the front plus handbrake for rear.
MarkyB wrote: » Tue May 07 2013 6:40 pm
I'm not sure that the Marina M/C will be dual circuit.
For peace of mind it's worth replacing the whole braking system, use named manufacturers where possible and copper (Kunifer) pipes.
I'd suggest using silicone brake fluid for longevity but it's a contentious issue around here :)
Minor spares are very good value and most places deliver next day.
Some Marina master cylinders were dual circuit, some single circuit. Totally agree on the kunifer (not copper) and silicon route as above. Only drawback with Marina servo & master cylinder is finding one and the cutting out of the firewall to fit.
Image
MarkyB
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Re: A new project

Post by MarkyB »

In my experience of Minor brake failure over many years and some very ropey cars, the only sudden complete failure was from a pin hole appearing in a steel pipe.
Apart from that one the others were much more progressive and still left at least some braking.

"Once you break something you will see how it was put together"
JPX877J
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Re: A new project

Post by JPX877J »

MarkyB wrote:In my experience of Minor brake failure over many years and some very ropey cars, the only sudden complete failure was from a pin hole appearing in a steel pipe.
Apart from that one the others were much more progressive and still left at least some braking.
To put this perspective we got from Filey to Howden via Bridlington with the brakes going off due to failing brake master cylinder. Which is apparently 50 mi.
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

Picked it up today, all went well, it's now currently sitting on my 4 post ramp, lesson 1 is don't prod too much on a rusty morris minor when your classic lotus is parked underneath! (fortunatelly no damage just mud / rust all over it).

Frorm the initial inspection:

-Floors / inner sills don't lok too bad just a few small patches.
-Inner wings also look like some small patches are all that will be needed.
-Front siderails are solid but a mass of patches so will need replacing.
-No rust in boot floor!
-Rear of rear spring hangers solid but some patches, on outside, I will cut this all out and replace which will also allow me to clean up the inside.
-Again only a couple of small patches around the front spring hanger, not sure what to do here, might have a look inside with my endescope.
Centre X member crumbling away on one end.
-doors and boot pretty rottten but repairable with the sections available.
-Gutters also begining to go so these will be replaced
-Joint of roof to rear panel pretty rusty and has already been filled before, so I will probably end up having to remove the rear part of the roof completely repair and re-assemble.
- 3 wings look pretty new, one is badly rotted.
-mechanicaly, we fitted a battery, the engine spins over and most of the electrics seem to work, will try to get it running this weekend.
-Also 1 tyre split, which makes it very difficult to push around, need to find a usable tyre from somewhere.' (might see if one of my 100mm pcd TR7V8 wheels will fit )
- Almost all the seals and bushes badly perished.

So all in all it actually better than I feared, the plan is to repair one side at a time, so we will start on the passenger side as this is the worst, it might be a couple of weeks before we get started as the land rover needs an MOT first and I need to finish the external rendering / finish woodwork on the garage.

I will try to get some photos over the weekend.

Kevin
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

Started stripping down today, floors look pretty good, there are patches over the centre x member and in the rear corners which I will cut out and redo otherwise they are sound, the A pillars look fine on the outside but have obviously rusted inside so will need removing and re building, inner sills and the centre sill also look repairable. Plan is to remove the cross member in front of the rear seats replace the spring hanger and floor around it then work forward replacing the rest of the rusty sill parts with home made sections tgen work up the A pillar.

For the roof the gutters all need replacing as well as the pieces behind them which go back to the door frame, the roof skin looks pretty good though. At tge rear there is a lot of rust in seam between the roof and rear scuttle, I think I will have to drill out the welds and remove the lower 4 inches of the roof, repair all the rust the weld back in.

We also tried starting the engine, unfortunately it has 2 valves stuck open, so the head will have to come off, otherwise the remaining 2 cylinders seemed to have good compression and it looked pretty clean inside the rocker cover, the fuel pump works as well.

I will try to load some photos later.
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

some photos, firstly the engine compartment, the inner wings are rustyalong the top edges and around the bump stop but seem repairable.[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

the rh inner wing[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

quite a bit of rot in the lh base of a pillar the rh is Ok though[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

the outisde of the roof to rear panel after a bit of grinding, a few holes and pretty thin in places[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

inside the same area plenty of rot here.[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

and the sill, from the other resorations I have seen this looks pretty normal, interestingly the inner sill seems to have a wax coating and has hardly any rot, the jacking point fell off just after this!.[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

and the centre X memer I will fit a complete new one.[frame]Image[/frame]
kevin s
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Re: A new project

Post by kevin s »

someone has recently fitted new front wings, they have even painted over the label (on the outer surface!)should these seams be lead loaded?[frame]Image[/frame]
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