Morris Minor Forum

You should DEFINITELY be apologizing, Johnny. Now get out there and measure your stick!

My friend's 1951 MM 1 getting washed down. His daughter helping out. The Minor is near original with a good body and original engine and gearbox. Missing the hubcaps though.

The collection has a 1955 Austin 35 and a 1953 VW belonging to a friend which he is entrusted to drive and look after.

Lovely cars, Nalin. Quite a rare, early bug you have there too! What a terrific green colour!

Thanks Thomas.

Indeed, they are a tidy collection. He is lucky to be the custodian of the Bug. Of the three he says the Bug is the most reliable ! Just put petrol and off you go. Yes, the bug is rare even here in Sri Lanka with original engine and transmission. The mud guards and buffers are different and it has been converted to 12 V from 6V at some time. But all things considered a classic.

Is that a picture of Ian Fleming in your header ? To me Sean Connery epitomizes the character Bond. He is Bond. Only Pierce Brosnan comes close.

On a different note, the body panels sold by Charles Ware in the UK are mostly made here in Sri Lanka in the a town in the Southern coast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2492607.stm

Ran into another Morris four door sedan at the local Home Depot parking lot, Owned by a fellow British car club member, George Templin (who also owns a Traveller) . So he came by the house afterword to check out my newly constructed model railroad and we posed for a photo in the driveway, his grey 1957 sedan and my black 1960 sedan. We have the only two on the road four door Minors in the Eugene/Springfield area. Some fellow at the Home Depot seeing the two cars parked nearby said, "Oh there must be a Morris Minor convention going on here today"

John F. Quilter
Eugene Oregon

Wish you weren't so far away, John - we could have made it THREE four-door saloons!

I know there was at least one 4-door Traveller constructed. I would like one of those, but I'm not about to build one myself.

Gentlemen,
The photos posted by John and Thomas make me envious for the opportunity to use their M/Minors at this time of the year. Perhaps Thomas's photo was from late last winter or early-spring with some snow still evident but melting.
Over the past weekend we got dumped-on with two feet of snow which has virtually negated my chances of moving my M/M from it's shelter into the garage and mount it on a rotissiere. The snow will be around until early-April. Such is 'life-on-the-prairies'.
Our Forum members provide a great moral-boost with photos and up-dates of current projects so keep them coming and stay safe and healthy during this crazy Kung Flu pandemic. Incidently, if you have a friend with Covid-19 and wish to send them a Get Well card, don't get a card the the words..." Stay Positive" L.O.L.
Ray W

Ray,

You made me laugh enough that I got coffee on the keyboard. you need to higher the youth in your are to clear the way since there not in school full days (COVID-19) and then get the MM into the garage so that you can work on the project. You can't let a little snow stop your progress.

Keep a upper chin it can get better.

TX
Mr fixit
Chris

Both of my Minors are year round transportation, and neither are fair weather cars. They both deal with our relatively light snow falls quite well.

John F. Quilter
Eugene, Oregon USA

Lest we forget

John, oh to live in a state not obsessed by the way-too-liberal use of road salt when the white stuff comes down....your lovely Minors would have turned to iron oxide long ago, if they were here in Illinois.

The fact that Sadie was delivered new in Australia - without a heater - also has a lot to do with why she doesn't venture out much from November to May here too!

Tom

Tom - Same reason why Miss Marple does not leave the garage when the snow flies. New Zealand doesn't use salt either, although I did find one small place where the floor has been surgically repaired as well as some work done inside one of the door sills. My car was also delivered without a heater.A heater was installed in NZ in a rather odd manner, and I have that one sitting on a shelf. I obtained an original heater, rebuilt it and installed it in the car, albeit with the odd NZ plumbing. It works, though. As soon as I finish the kitchen in my daughters new 50 year old house, I'll mothball my cars for the winter. They got very little use this year. I question whether I really need a daily driver. I can use Miss Marple if I need to go to the lumber yard.

Johnny,

Thanks so much for the Lest We forget video. My mother was an army nurse in the Pacific during the last year of the war and spent the year after with the army near Tokyo. She died several years ago.
My father in law ran a motor pool in Tokyo for over a year after the war and later became a private pilot and engineer working for Hiller Helicopter and spent many years in the wind tunnels at Moffett Field in California working for Aerostructures designing & building mounts for aircraft parts and entire planes at times. He would have loved that video! He passed last summer & we miss him everyday.
I work in a hospital with many veterans with awesome and sometimes horrific stories to tell, but mostly they don’t want people to forget!

Their sacrifices are why we all live so secure today...

Thanks again,

Pat

Ray and Tom,
There are some interesting comments you both mention about your cars coming from NZ and Australia, and their lack -of-a-heater.
In the fifties and early-sixties in NZ a M/M was usually a family's second-car ( mum's shopping-car ) or perhaps a car for a student. Tight import-restrictions didn't encourage the addition of many 'extras' as they were often referred to and the comparatively mild climate didn't really necessitate a heater in a lower-priced vehicle. Similar reasons not many had a radio, and if they were so equipped, it was the older style bulky type of device compared to the 'micro' units of today.
Within the used-car market sales-people there developed a variety of terms and expressions for numerous 'extras' that a car was equipped with and in that era most cars were three or four-speed manual-shift etc.
Consequently a heater was referred to as a 'fire', and the following 'extras' were also identified: radio = fiddle,...auto-transmission = slush,.... sun-roof = 'hole-in-the-roof'., disc-brakes = round anchors or stoppers. etc. Not that many of them were applicable to a M/Minor of course.
The 'fire' that I recently removed from my M/M appears to still be in good working condition. Not that I have ever used it because the weather here isn't conducive to using a M/M when it gets 'cold' ! ( today we got another two inches of snow to add to the almost two feet we got last weekend) For next year I am installing a heater from a 1970 Datsun 110 and will see if it has greater capacity and effect than the original M/M one.
As this dreaded Kung Flu continues to reek havoc within society and encourage us to remain-at-home there will be more opportunities to accomplish work on our beloved M/Minors. Stay safe and Covid-free folks.
Ray W