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Boris the '59 Minor.


Joey spud

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Nice to see this progressing, looking at rusty bits and chopping them out is deeply unpleasant but it is very satisfying getting new tin welded in place. Don't know if it's within your financial or physical situation but I've seen Minors on a car roller so you can do the welding standing up - weren't they originally manufactured like a Mini on a pole that passes through the central speedo hole and rear bulkhead? 

Just a thought

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On 08/03/2021 at 01:58, somewhatfoolish said:

Preface; I have never tried to repair the frilly bottom of a door; would joddling the repair panel and spot welding it to door skin have been viable and avoided distortion, or at least reduced it?

The panel did come pre ''joddled'' and i think you're right i could have got away with just spotting it on.

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On 08/03/2021 at 19:53, 2flags said:

Great to see this one being saved. A mate of mine used to rebuild/service/buy and sell these. I remember he has a frame that he used to bolt them to in order to be able to rotate them to weld. Boy did some of them need welding! 

Boris has got a lot of rot in him but at least his front chassis rails are sound.

But i guess he is 62 years old.

The funny thing is his original steel is an absolute delight to weld to,i can really crank up the amps and push the weld into the joins with no blowing holes or spitting back.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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So that'll do for repairing the inner wing and pillar.

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I used the end of the poorly made hinge panel to repair the original one.

I am going to hold fire fitting it and the door untill the sill,floor and spring mounts are welded in.

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I collected these 14" Corsa wheels today as i plan on removing their centres and carefully weld in minor wheel centres instead to create a 5.5J with a more rakish offset.

And the tyres are decent enough and the right size too.

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Time to look at fitting the spring mount/floor section to the chassis leg,unfortunately there's nothing to weld it to as the box section has in places lost its lower inch or so.

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I decided the easiest solution was to cut back to sound metal and use 1.2mm L section steel to rebuild it.

The joy of thick steel is you can really crank up the amps and get some good strength/ penetration into the repair.

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I had to cut away half of this box section to get to the back of the spring hanger and the adjacent rotten floor.

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Once it was repaired i was able to stitch it back in again.

It's looking a bit scruffy and it's still only tacked in in places but it is definitely getting some strength back.

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I took the Moggy and Corsa wheels with me today and "borrowed" a tyre machine to whip the tyres off of them.

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Once back home and after walking the Hounds i popped up the shed to see how difficult it would be to split the centre from the rim.

The twelve rivets drilled out easily enough but i still couldn't separate the two so i cut through the rim which sprang open and the centre came free.

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It was a bit late to start cutting the centre (welded on) of the Vauxhall wheel so i just laid the moggy centre in it to see how it'll look.

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I am well happy with that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am off doing any welding until my eye sorts itself out after a lump of metal was removed from it last weekend (always use well fitting goggles or a face mask kids) so i continued with the idea of re-rimming the moggy centres.

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These Corsa rims are only ten years old and are already devoid of any paint and badly pitted.

I was hoping that the Minor centre would be a nice snug fit bit it will need four 2.5mm shims adding which isn't the end of the world but is a mighty faff x4.

Also as the rim is now reversed the valve hole is on the inside so you have to weld it up and redrill one on the outher side which again is a bit of an arse as the Vauxhall rim hasn't got a deep enough shoulder to take an 11mm valve hole.

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But the idea is a good one (also cheap) and a 5.5J rim looks 'bob on' for clearance at the rear.

Doing some more digging the wheel i require is a four stud Fiesta,KA or Focus jobby as these are a nice tight fit against the Moggy centre and there is just enough room to drill a valve hole on its reverse side.

So armed with this info i dropped into Ace car breakers in Swanscombe who are a big yard backing onto the Thames only to be told we don't sell parts anymore,its just an end of life "cube 'em" and ship them out operation now.

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

I am off doing any welding until my eye sorts itself out after a lump of metal was removed from it last weekend (always use well fitting goggles or a face mask kids) so i continued with the idea of re-rimming the moggy centres.

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These Corsa rims are only ten years old and are devoid on any paint and quite well pitted.

I was hoping that the Minor centre would be a nice snug fit bit it will need four 2.5mm shims adding which isn't the end of the world but is a mighty faff x4.

Also as the rim is now reversed the valve hole is on the inside so you have to weld it up and redrill on on the outher side which again is a bit of an arse as the Vauxhall rim hasn't got a deep enough shoulder to take an 11mm valve hole.

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But the idea is a good one (also cheap) and a 5.5J rim looks 'bob on' for clearance at the rear.

Doing some more digging the wheel i require is a four stud Fiesta,KA or Focus jobby as these are a nice tight fit against the Moggy centre and there is just enough room to drill a valve hole on its reverse side.

So armed with this info i dropped into Ace car breakers in Swanscombe who are a big yard backing onto the Thames only to be told we don't sell parts anymore,its just an end of life "cube 'em" and ship them out operation now.

 

 

 

Love that. I ran some sketchy spacers on the back of my 69 years back, but this solution looks way better. I keep on looking at MMs on ebay (amongst many other things I don't have the time or space for) and values seem to be all over the place. I loved my old one and I'm still pleased that I bagged my girlfriend at the time because I was 'the guy with the cool old car'. 

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Lovely work on that spring hanger. It does save many hours of labour being able to buy these repair panels off the shelf, unfortunately, they rarely are available for anything I buy.

I had the grinding sparks in my eye a few years ago (removed at the hospital) and it was a most unpleasant experience. I do sympathise!

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Boris's engine is an Ivor Serle 1275cc Midget unit but he is still running his 1098cc carburettor and exhaust so i have been on the look out something better...

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And this combo turned up on a face book group the other day.

This vision of loveliness is a 1300 Ital manifold and matching down pipe.

The down pipe will need a serious talking to with a cutting disc and the welder to alter it to follow the route of the Minor's system through chassis leg but it'll be worth it.

Then i think 45mm pipework and a cherry bomb silencer (or two) will see it right.

I still need to find a HIF 44mm su carb (at a sensible price) to manage the "fuel in" situation.

 

Today i thought it might be an idea to loosely mount the door hinge panel to the A post with self tappers and hang the door to see how much i have cocked it up.

 

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Something is now different as the door was fouling on the quarter panel before and now there is a generous gap although the door can move further back if need be.

Obviously its no good having the door fitted if its too far forward and is going to rub against the trailing edge of the front wing so i loosely fixed that on too.

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Well it sort of fits ok or it will do with a bit of trimming of its rear fixing flange that i had previously remade but it turns out not very accurately.

All told i am happy enough my aim was never to make the car a trophy winner i just want it to look right and have a door that will close snugly.

I now need to hold the door where i want it and weld the hinge panel and its closing panel in the right place.

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14 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

I had the grinding sparks in my eye a few years ago (removed at the hospital) and it was a most unpleasant experience. I do sympathise!

Alas this wasn't my first Rodeo and i am a bit embarrassed to admit i have been careless/stupid way too many times over the years.

I have a solar powered welding mask but for some reason it no longer seems very reliable when used outside so i thought i had got a bit of a 'flash' as my eyes were stinging and watering that evening and sleeping was a big problem but after five days the left eye wasn't improving so it was more than just Arc Eye.

But the excellent NHS and Maidstone Hospital quickly sorted me out but i have been left with a badly scratched eye ball that doesn't need me trying to 'frazzle it' again just yet.

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Despite my gammy eye i did a bit more Boris fettling today.

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With the door still fitted i welded the hinge panel in place.

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Followed by the hinge closing panel.

I am just quickly coating everything in a thick layer of zinc rich paint as i go and will seam seal everything prior to top coating much later.

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The sill and stiffener panel was loosely tacked in next using the door as an aid to where exactly it went.

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Then there are two panels that bridge between the sill to the floor pans to form a full box section and also join up with the spring hanger.

I wasn't happy with the alignment of the forward edge if the hanger panel so have trimmed it off to remount a bit squarer later.

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Boggy the Dog came up the garden  to check on progress too.

Annoyingly my usually trouble free welder is having a hissy fit with its the feed liner.

Unless it is straight and with no curves in the lead it is snagging up and making welding near imposible and the gusting wind was blowing the shielding gas away too.

So game over till next week end.

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My Sealey welder is nearly twenty years old and has started to complain.

Rather than just change the nylon liner again i went in big and purchased a complete torch assembly for £28 instead.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14AK-MB15-MIG-WELDING-TORCH-REPLACEMENT-GAS-GASLESS-FIXED-WIRE-3M-CABLE-w-TIPS/282801135461?var=582116662555

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This one is three metres long instead of the old ones two and the liner is much more robust being made of steel.

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Now i can lay a tidy weld again without it "coughing and snotting' everywhere.

My mask is even older than my welder and hasn't been great for a while so i spent £36 on a SIP one from Toolstation.

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Much recommended too.

If it don't snow tomorrow i should get a bit more of Boris done. 

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The right kit makes life so much easier. I bought an auto-dimming mask a while back and it's so much easier now, just put it on and crack on with the job, spent far too many years trying to hold the torch in the right place before flipping the mask/visor down and missing the mark.

I never got my SIP welder to behave unless the lead was in a dead straight run from the welder, and that was bought new. Now I have an ancient Clarke that's less powerful but just works every time.

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This was my old one made by Hobart in America back in the late nineties and i remember it was over £140 back then.

It's solar powered with a built in battery but the battery has just about died and it was slow to darken and fogetting to clear again unless i looked up at the sky.

I tried a cheap Chinese replacement lens that looked the same but was pants.

The new SIP one is also solar powered but has two easily replaceable batteries,bigger viewing area and it has four light sensors whereas my old Hobart only had the one.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIP-Meteor-2300-Automatic-Welding-Helmet/293297578344?epid=812084916&hash=item4449e5e168:g:F1AAAOSwGyZd92Ys

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have revisited the wide wheel idea again.

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I used a vauxhall wheel first time but it was going to need four 2.5mm shims adding to take the slack out which i'm sure would lead to much cussing getting it all perfectly aligned.

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Step forward a Focus 5.5j wheel that once carefully dissected was offered up to the Morris centre.

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That's much better,it's now a nice snug fit.

I am going to enlarge the rivet holes somewhat so i can use them to puddle weld the two parts together and also add a couple of strong weld runs on the edge of the Moggy centre and the Ford rim.

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And the design of the Ford rim has a bigger shoulder on its reverse for easier fitting of the valve.

I now need to work out the simplest way of getting both parts perfectly square before welding them together.

And i need to decide on a suitable colour to paint them,i want to save as much of the cars original grey paint as possible and the wheels will be painted the same colour as the grill slats and a thin pin stripe down it flank.

Currently it's going to be either Post Office red or Kawasaki green.

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While i had a couple of hours i did a bit more reassembly of the drivers door.

Luckily Boris came with a full set of new window rubbers including the quarter light ones.

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These with the aid of a bit of liquid soap fitted very nicely.

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I fitted the frame to the door and everything still opens and shuts ok but the frame is quite close to the top edge of the B post,maybe i can tweak it better when the car is back on its wheels.

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One thing that i have noticed is the door skin repair panel i slaved over fitting is a bit pants in the squareness department.

Its rear edge wasn't folded square when it was formed and now the door is on the car it is quite obvious as the lower rear edge of the repair panel starts to taper away from the B post by about 8mm at its bottom corner so that'll have to be rectified at a later date too.

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1 hour ago, Joey spud said:

I now need to work out the simplest way of getting both parts perfectly square before welding them together.

Can you sit the rim on a bench and the centre on a flat block of steel or wood, and carefully measure the height all round from the centre to the rim?

48 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

 the lower rear edge of the repair panel starts to taper away from the B post by about 8mm at its bottom corner so that'll have to be rectified at a later date too.

I've seen this fixed by welding steel rod to the edge then grinding back to get an even gap. Will need a skim of filler obvs

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In between rain showers i got around to joining the Ford and Morris bits together.

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Using the dial gauge i was able to quickly true up the rim before adding four tack welds.

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Once again i rechecked the run out and it had remained at about 0.25mm.

I wasn't sure what was acceptable so i measured a couple of standard Morris wheels and their run out was near 1.5mm so i think i will be ok.

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I plug welded the old rivet holes and also fully welded the edge of the hub to the rim.

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And once again checked it was still true.

I am confident enough that my welds are strong and have good penetration so am happy to continue making another three wheels also they're being fitted to a Morris Minor that's going to mostly trundle around locally and not tramp around the M25 everyday.

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Two coats of my favourite zinc primer have been applied and i am now ready to top coat with some post office red enamel using a decent paint brush.

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My enamel paint arrived on thursday. 

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I brushed on a fairly thick first coat,the instructions advised a second coat was possible after two hours otherwise wait six days to avoid the possibility of wrinkling.

So i bunged another coat the same evening and left it alone till the morning.

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I am really pleased with how it came out the shine is impressive and the paint has flowed out nicely with just a couple of shallow runs that aren't really visible.

Flushed with success i knocked up another wheel earlier.

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On 5/22/2021 at 6:22 PM, Joey spud said:

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My enamel paint arrived on thursday. 

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I brushed on a fairly thick first coat,the instructions advised a second coat was possible after two hours otherwise wait six days to avoid the possibility of wrinkling.

So i bunged another coat the same evening and left it alone till the morning.

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I am really pleased with how it came out the shine is impressive and the paint has flowed out nicely with just a couple of shallow runs that aren't really visible.

Flushed with success i knocked up another wheel earlier.

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Great work. Boris won't know himself on those flashy banded steels. 

One thing though, are you going to knock the house down to reverse the old boy back onto the road eventually, what with the width being greater now? 😅

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