recommend a morris friendly garage please?

[morrisbetsy]

my morris minor 1000 is due for a service as shes been used as the main family car for the last 6months and has done alot of miles in a short space of time (more than 2000 miles in the last 3months!!) i'm unsure whether to take her to my local garage which i've used in the past (not for this car) or find a morris minor friendly one? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. i'm hinckley/leicester area.

[morrisbetsy]

blimey...does no one know a garage where do you all take your car then?

[chrisryder]

a lot of us work on our minors ourself. apologies on behalf of everyone for not offering suggestions! i'm not that local to you, can't think of anywhere off the top of my head. you could try any local garage and find the oldest bloke in there!

having said that the garage down the road from me, where we take our cars to be mot'd, is run by a guy in his late 20's early 30's, and he loves the minors! he's got minis and says he wishes every car were a minor as they're so easy to do an mot on!

so young guys can be just as capable as old. all i can suggest is a drive around and see what's local. then ask each place for a quote for a service, and have a chat to see if you think you'll get along with them!

if all else fails, buy a set of spanners, and a haynes manual, and try it yourself!

[morrisbetsy]

thank you for your reply. i have obviously tried my local garage (no help) and i do have a haynes manual but have no desire to fit an exhaust myself. i had hoped for at least one member or "administrator" could supply a reputable garage in leicestershire?

[PSL184]

You could speak to Jonspeed on Attleborough Ind Est. They have always MOT'd mine and know Mini's inside out.... 02476351495

[cadetchris]

from experience, i haven't found a reputable garage in leicestershire (i live up by belvoir castle) the nottingham morris minor centre at flintham used to be an excellent source of advice, but alas they ceased trading.

a "service" isnt that hard for the novice minor owner to accomplish. tbh, i would throw out the Hyanes manual and have a look on ebay for a workshop manual, they are much more concise and dont faff around.
a simple service from my point of view consists of checking all oils (engine, rear axle, gearbox, dampers) to go around with the grease gun and grease all nipples. a new air filter (available from moss or esm), clean the plugs and check the gaps, check the points, change the coolant and replace if you fancy and thats about it really.

if you need any help, post another post, or drop a message to one of the more prolific members on here, we will always be happy to help

[LouiseM]

As suggested in response to one of your other posts, contact your local branch as I'm sure that the members there will be able to suggest a 'minor friendly' garage in the area. The Leicestershire branch meet at 8pm on the 2nd wednesday of the month at The Greyhound, Main Street, Botcheston so the next meeting is this coming wednesday (12th). Contact is John Hales: J.L.Hales (at) lboro.ac.uk (case sensitive address)

[d_harris]

I had hoped for at least one member or "administrator" could supply a reputable garage in leicestershire?

Hi Betsy, the problem is that (as far as I am aware) none of the moderating team live anywhere near Leicestershire, and therefore we would have no means of knowing whether a garage was reputable or not. As with anything like this local knowledge is king - I believe Louise has supplied you with local branch details? They will be able to help you far more than those who don't know the turf.

Also, fitting a minor exhaust is not a hard job at all. Any competant mechanic should be able to do it in less than an hour.

[ASL642]

In the early days of Minor ownership before we did all the work ourselves I took my traveller to the local exhaust centre. They ordered the part which duly arrived the next day and fitted it for me.