'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

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ArunW
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'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

I've just started work on restoring my first Morris Minor (In fact my first car full stop!). I'm fairly new to the forum and this is my first *proper* post so let me introduce myself 18 Years old, I live in Devon and I've always wanted a minor but I never thought I would be able to afford one. Then one day I saw one on ebay and went to have a look at it in person, it needed a fair bit of work but it was driving so I figured so long as long as I could repair most of it I could afford it and a week later ol' George was sitting in my garage, SORNed as he needs fixing and I don't actually have a drivers licence yet! :roll:

I have been slowly pulling bits off and putting them back together but I figured before I got too far I would share my experiences as a rookie as I know how much the other posts from people starting off and learning as they go have really helped so far! Most notably Fingolfin's "An American Moggie" though I hope Ol' George won't need quite that much work!

So I hope you'll all join me on my journey and hopefully I can get some advice from those more knowledgeable than me! :D
Attachments
George in the garage for the first time!
George in the garage for the first time!
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>Thomas63<
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by >Thomas63< »

Car looks good, nice to see some one so young getting involved in classic cars. This place has a wealth of knowledge, I'm sure you won't have many questions that can't be answered here.

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

Thomas.
palacebear
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by palacebear »

Welcome to the forum. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There's always somebody here with the answer! Keep us posted on your progress with George! :)
1956 4-door called Max
Richie B
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by Richie B »

Well done great choice for your first vehicle. Enjoy the experience and as has been said already there's a wealth of knowledge on here so
ask away. As a recent newbie Ive received lots of encouragement for my project. Best of luck.
Richard
mogbob
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by mogbob »

Arun
Welcome to the Forum. The car looks great. Keep the questions coming , the Forum has the answers / fixes /hints and tips.
Hope you've found the Young Members section on the Forum.....I'm about half a century too late to join ( but I've learnt a lot about Moggies so the time hasn't been wasted , born in Devon ).
Bob
BrianHawley
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by BrianHawley »

Welcome!

Looks a terrific car project.

Solid underneath, or any repairs needed?

Look forward to watching your progress
Brian

Image "Jodie". '67 Traveller, 1275, discs, suspension mods etc.
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Thank you all for the warm welcome :D

As for the condition of Geroge, he needs some welding underneath on the front spring hanger mounts which I will probably get done professionally (due to lack of welding experience and more importantly space) and the floor needs some welding as it has been somewhat badly repaired (A new panel has been welded on top of a panel that is lap welded from bellow - though the rust has all been cut out).

Now I'll bring you all up to speed on what I've done so far...

So this is the first thing I did on the very day I got George , I didn't take a before picture because I was excited to get working but the light didn't work and the housing was fairly rusty.
002.jpg
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Since then I've done three main jobs : Gutting the insides and ripping up the over welded floor (Which I will put in another post once I've got some more done), removing and cleaning up the exhaust manifold, and dissembling and cleaning up the carb.
Manifold before disassembly and cleaning.
Manifold before disassembly and cleaning.
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Here's a before and after on the manifold which I cleaned all of the rust off of and then sprayed with ceramic lacquer and baked in the oven.
I cleaned off some of the rust before this photo - Couldn't help myself!
I cleaned off some of the rust before this photo - Couldn't help myself!
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The manifold all clean and lacquered.
The manifold all clean and lacquered.
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And here's the cleaned carburetor minus the air cleaner which is one of the next jobs on the 'to restore' list! :P
006.jpg
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BrianHawley
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by BrianHawley »

Good progress.
Brian

Image "Jodie". '67 Traveller, 1275, discs, suspension mods etc.
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Today I won't be doing anything on the car because it's my birthday so I'll be going out after work! However I thought I would explain Georges floor situation a bit more.
00x.jpg
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As you can see panels have been welded on over the floor (which is terrible and I have removed one side already) and there is some fairly solid welding from bellow underneath however there is an overlap from the panel underneath and I was wondering what the best way to weld the panels from the inside to get rid of the sharp edges and sure it up a bit.

I'll include some pictures later.
Redmoggy
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by Redmoggy »

If it is currently good and solid your best bet is to leave well alone until you able to have the floor replaced with proper panels. The flat plate that has been used does nothing for the rigidity of the floor.

Rod
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Haven't done too much since my last post but I thought I'd post some pictures of the cleaned up and painted manifold, carb and air filter.
IMG_20180510_200725.jpg
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IMG_20180510_200650.jpg
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I'm quite pleased with how it turned out but the paint doesn't look as good as I'd have liked because one of the previous owners sanded down the air cleaner with a sanding wheel and scratched into the metal fairly deeply in places. But I didn't want to make it any thinner or add filler so it will have to do! :P
BrianHawley
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by BrianHawley »

Still looks infinitely better than mine.

A nice “Coopers” sticker and it will look fine.
Brian

Image "Jodie". '67 Traveller, 1275, discs, suspension mods etc.
SteveClem
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by SteveClem »

Good luck with it! Once sorted they are very rewarding cars. Love the dark blue silky backdrop to your photos.
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Haha yeah that might be something to think about later down the line Brian! And cheers Steve :) just the motivation I need to crack on! I can't wait to drive old George out of the garage but I fear I'm a long way off at the moment! Like most people sorting out the chassis is the scariest/hardest part. The engine tuning and cleaning up is the most fun bit for me! :D
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Right so got a lot of work done this last week or so, took the front bumper, grill and radiator off. I've now painted the radiator as well as the heater pipe that runs past the engine which I have polished lacquered the pipe and then painted the supports, I would post pictures of these things however I have reached a limit because I cannot any more, I'd rather not host the files on an external website as these tend to be a pain in my experience, however I realise that a restoration log without images can be incredibly boring so I will endeavour to find a site that will hold the images so you can still see them.
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Right so I have a few things to do, I have taken the thermostat out and I will be putting in a new one and I need to clean up the engine bay a bit some welding is needed and I want to take off the flywheel nut to replace with a proper starter dog nut.

I have an impact wrench now so what would be the best way of keeping the idler pulley still in order to undo the nut (with the engine still in the car)? Any suggestions would be most welcome :)
Last edited by ArunW on Thu May 17, 2018 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BrianHawley
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by BrianHawley »

Brian

Image "Jodie". '67 Traveller, 1275, discs, suspension mods etc.
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

Right so I changed the crankshaft pulley Bolt for a starter dog boly last night, the trusty impact wrench was able to get the old one out easy and I used the old get someone to press the breaks and then tighten with a torque wrench to get the right torque trick - hopefully it should be all scookum now :D
ArunW
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Re: 'George' 1965 2 Door Restoration Log

Post by ArunW »

So its been a while since my last post and I've mostly only got little things done. I have replaced the gearbox rubber mounts now though :
IMG_20180526_215328.jpg
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Couldn't resist painting them whilst they were out so they are gold now, I know they won't be seen but I like it aha :D

I'm also working on getting the engine bay cleaned up a little and then getting everything all running (After I've replaced the front suspension bushings and welded the front cross member...etc...etc :roll: ). So anyway, today I did a compression test and I got 190psi on all cylinders, now what I'm hoping that one of you wonderful people can tell me is, is that good, normal or bad for a Morris Minor? Seems okay to me but I seem to have misplaced my handbook and besides I doubt it'll be like factory anymore?

Thanks in advance chaps (and chap-ets!) :D
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