Morris Minor Owners Club

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Much happier now I've finally settled on a plan of attack for the rest of this restoration.

I am opting to go for a chemical dip and strip the bodyshell and external panels and have provisionally arranged the process for mid January 2021.

This gives me time to restore the last few mechanical items, locate better door top frames etc., and decide what I am going to do about the interior.

When the shell and parts come back it should be a pleasant task to sort out the cosmetic welding and panel fitting in a cleaner environment.

I've added a few photos to try and show why I have been struggling with the way forward.


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Today I have been mostly cutting out the rear side window glass.

I have previously reported that the rubber items on the car have all turned to 'stone' over the years and these window rubbers were no exception.

Using a Stanley knife and cutting from the outside of the car I pushed the glass and what remained of the rubber seals inwards. Job done.

My questions are - what are the metal clips there for? Is it an early car detail which was revised later? Do I need to replace them with the new seal? Are they not needed with a new seal?

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I've spent an interesting morning stripping down the passenger door frame, or trying to.

Both quarter-lights on the car are pretty rusty and are junk. The aim now is to save the both the quarter-light glass panels as they have the original Triplex coding on them. I've done that on the passenger side. Now to tackle the driver's side.

The second photo shows the little locking tab on the passenger door. It doesn't appear to want to come off so I can't remove the door handle. There must be a well hidden clip inside the door but I have yet to find it!


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The little door locking tab is secured with a circlip which is a little tricky to see and to remove but perfectly possible
Once you have had your car chemically dipped, how do you propose applying the initial coat of protective primer?

Thanks Many Minors, I will have a good look tomorrow.

In answer to your question, I don't have any spray equipment at home so I am having the initial primer coat applied by the stripping company as part of the deal.

I don't expect the leaded seams above the rear wings to survive the stripping process so that area of the body (for example) will be re-primed locally with a rattle can.
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To answer you other question regarding the metal pieces around the rear quarter windows: They were fitted all the way through production of the 2door saloons I think. My later Minor 1000 had them and BMC must have thought they were required as an added bit of security but I must admit I didn't refit them when I replaced the window rubbers.

Having the bodyshell dipped is an interesting way of doing things. I have never considered having a bodyshell dipped myself partly because I have never needed to dismantle my cars quite to that extent, also because the process would have been too costly for the budget I wished to spend and partly because I would be reluctant to loose the original rustproofing nature of the first coat of paint applied by the rotodip process unless I was convinced that somebody could replicate it. As you have said earlier. It seems to have been very effective. I am not in any way criticising your decision to use this method. It will be very interesting to see how it goes. Your car is already a much better and well preserved example than most!

Good progress. Just to say remember to get an early door top to replace the quarter light. The hinges changed in 195, the spacing being wider.

The hinges changed in 195, the spacing being wider.

Sorry Stevey, which year??
I ask, as I too have an issue with screw spacings on the quarterlights.
Best wishes,
Mike.

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As Stevey hasn't come back to us with confirmation of the year change, I thought I would take a photo of my dismantled door top frame showing a measurement of approximately 10 inches from the lower corner upto the vertical line of the hinge point.

I'm guessing the later quarter-light hinge points will be further away from the front of the door? Or the hinge design itself has changed?

If someone could post a later door top with a comparison measurement as in the photo above, we could see what the change looks like.

Thanks in anticipation.
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As a comparison - the centre of the top mount hole for the quarter light hinge is 245mm from the bottom leading edge of the chrome window surround.
I do not know what year the chrome window frames are as they were was taken from a Minor traveller about 30 years ago.

The hinge point didn't move. It needs to be in line with the lower one. It's the spacing of the screw mounting that changed. The theory on why it was changed is because the old design was easily broken to gain entry.

Sorry for the mistype. 1956 was the change from chassis number 412558. The screw spacing is wider on the early cars.

I’m confused now!

Do you mean the two screw heads to the upper hinge that can be seen when the door is open?

I meant the screws into the glass surround, I'll take a photo later today.

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As part of the total shell strip down, I have to take out the early Series II 'rigid board' headlining.

You will see from the photos that it is in remarkable condition and initially I wasn't going to remove it but deciding to go the shell 'dip and strip' route, means that I am now going to have to.

The rear window was already out of the car when I bought it so I can see the two screws holding the back of the central section of headlining, no problem; however, the front of the central section of headlining is I believe pushed over the top of the windscreen frame and held in place with two spring-clips. Is that correct? Does anyone have a photo of what these clips look like and how they might be released without damaging the lining.

With the central headlining section and the panel under the rear window out of the way, I believe the two remaining side panels just lift out of the 'gutters' that run over the door and side windows.

Any pointers/photos greatly appreciated.

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took a photo of the early and late hinges for comparison

Have a look at this link for the front end removal.

viewtopic.php?t=29881

And yes the sides are held in place by the center section and just slotted in at the sides.

Thanks Stevey on both accounts.

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First time back in the garage today after Christmas and finally managed to dismantle and remove the passenger door lock. I don't think I have ever attempted this process before and I just couldn't see how to remove the locking lever.

In the end I made a simple 'hook' tool which enabled me to pull the retaining spring out, releasing the locking pin.

Chrome door handle is too pitted to retain so a new one is ordered.

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Having decided to 'dip and strip' the car I now have to get everything off the shell for that process to happen.

Both doors are now fully dismantled and off the car ready. All their relevant parts are now' bagged and tagged' and a shopping list compiled mainly for rubber items and clips.

Today I finally tackled the job that I was really dreading namely the removal of the 'hard' headlining panels on this early Series II.

The first panel to come out was the one under the rear windscreen held in place by four screws. I then turned my attention to the three screws holding the rear of the central panel to the top of the rear window. With the screws removed I thought the whole panel might come out with some judicious pulling backwards from the front windscreen but it didn't want to budge at the front edge.

With the central panel now hanging down at its rear and looking at the two side panels positions I could see that they were supported by 'wads' of sound deadening as well as the central panel. I removed all the 'wads' thinking this would take pressure off the central panel at the front. It didn't, but I was able to pull both side panels out so that was a step forward.

In the end I ran a thin wall paper scraper across the joint where the front of the central panel rests on the metal shell thinking there might be some hidden clips but there weren't any. It appears that over the years the front of the central panel had become stuck to the metal's edge and by teasing the two apart it came away.

With the panels out I can now see how dirty with nicotine stains they are or if you like, how clean they once were by looking at where they overlapped.

Any ideas of what product to use to clean them?

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