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Epic Morris Wedge restoration.


rovamota

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Crikey!  Good going

 

Mate lost his Allegro VP at speed with very similar issue.  Went up the bank and down again, came to rest and everyone hit it

 

 

[ I hope there was also an axle stand under in that kerbside shot.  Lost someone I knew last year ]

 

Like isn't really right here. One of the reasons it took me almost a year to fix the SLK fuel leak, and why that lift I'm reviewing is right at the top of my "spending money on tools" list is that I knew a family down the road in Tuxford where I was a kid, lost the father due to a badly jacked car. He was crushed, and there was a distressing mark on the driveway for a long time afterward. Also came close to dropping a W124 on my legs once.

 

So I wouldn't do the SLK because smashed up leg meant I felt unsafe going underneath without the ability to move fast.

 

Cannot understate how very, very important it is to not skimp on supporting the car properly. The kind of injury I got nearly 4 years ago was just one lower leg/ankle, and it cost money, confidence, mental health, work and stability. Life changing - and minor compared to what can be done. Just takes one accident.

 

Speaking of which, so glad to see the wedge let that failure be known at a low speed, early on, rather than belting down a motorway, and that there was no resulting injury to people or, seemingly, car!

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The yellow one is a photoshop someone did of my car. I doubt (and many would hope) that anyone will ever modify a Wedge to that extent.

 

Anyway, Maurice the Morris will be gracing the halls of the Practical Classics Restoration Show at the NEC on 5th and 6th March 2016 and you can see it on the www.leylandprincess.co.uk stand near to the live stage in Hall 9 soif you missed it at the NEC last year here's another chance.

 

We'll also have a 1976 Princess 2200 HLS known as the 'Celebrity Wedge'. This car was the star of the 2002 series of Channel 4's motoring programme Driven, presented by Mike Brewer, Jason Plato and Penny Mallory who were seen driving the car throughout the series.

They decided that it was time to promote the Princess as a bona fide classic car and their aim was to get the car featured on the front cover of Classic & Sportscar magazine. They enlisted the help Alex Sibley, the popular housemate from the 2002 series of Channel 4's Big Brother reality TV show, to get the Princess to as many celebrity events as possible. Stars such as Lulu, Jay Kay, erm, John Leslie and maybe even a few other celebs now serving a prison sentence, signed the roof lining.

Unfortunately, the then editor of Classic & Sportscar magazine defiantly refused to feature the car and at the end of the series the car was sold on. After years of storage the Celebrity Wedge has seen better days but it's now been dragged back into the spotlight after years of inactivity by current owner Richie De La Tour, who recently purchased the car and is setting about restoring it to its former glory:-

"So far we've run some paraffin through the engine, changed the oil and filter, replaced and refitted the coil and got her started. The bodywork is going to need a fair amount of work needing replacement doors but overall it’s a solid structure. I will get an MOT on her and run her as a rat look for a bit and gradually attend to the problems. I will probably get one side done at a time and fit a new vinyl roof and headlining.

 

You'll also be able to see my repaired yellow Princess after it kissed an Audi last summer.

 

 

 

 

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OMG, that 18/22 Wedge resto is proper AutoShite to AutoBrite, respect.

 

I grew up around BMC BL Tin so have many memories. My Dad picked up a 1800HL brand new and before we got to the end of the dual carriageway we had lost all four of the bright/black ring hubcaps. A couple of em got run over.

 

I was dispatched to collect them all up and Dad did a U Turn back to the dealer and sent me in to see so and so "just tell him your Dad say's he will have a new set and a couple of spares". The chaps jaw was on the floor.

 

Good to see this being saved, it has some interesting history and there can't be many of these left. I like to see them all, the low rent ones and the rather rare Wolseley variant with the six pot

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Well, after 18 months of restoring and owning this 1974 Morris 1800 it's time to say goodbye and pass it on to its new owner. We had a great time restoring this rare car after its 20 year slumber and hope the new owner appreciates all the hard work that went into it.

 

It's been sold for a sum I'd rather not disclose but it's a fair bit more than it cost us to restore, so we're happy about that. 

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Frankly, I can't think of how you could top this restoration, you started with just about the worst example you could and ended up with one of the best out there.  Truly motivational stuff.  That you've made a profit on it too is astonishing and a nice reward for all that hard work.

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I'm kind of sad to see it go and I've only driven it about 150 miles, but though the new owner will cherish it it's unlikely you'll see it around as it's going to be part of a collection of British cars based offshore. 

 

The restoration was also supposed to appear in a glossy classic car magazine but silly in-house politics at the publishers meant it never happened and so wasn't shown to a wider audience. We were very disappointed about that. Still, we live with the satisfaction that we were responsible for saving it and boldly went where no man - no restorer-  had gone before. 

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Sad that it won't be seen out and about due to the location of the new owner. However, that's great news that you turned a profit on it, and saved such a rare one at the same time. Unheard of, in most resto cases!

Based on the quality and 11/10 braveness level you achieved with this wedge, I reckon you should make the next project more challenging again. I hear there's a ship in the North Atlantic Ocean which is ripe for resto. Yes, it is at the bottom of the ocean, and it is quite rusty. Oh, and it's been there since April 1912. It's a decent project though ;).

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I've only gone and spotted this on the road - nearly lost control of my car I was that excited.

Was driving home from Bristol via Birmingham and spotted it on the M42 doing the correct seventies rep mobile thing and sat in the middle lane! took some pics on my dash cam which i'll post later. Looked the dogs danglies, but by eck it looked small compared to the rest of the cars around it.

Made my day it did 8)

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