Time for a New Paintjob (Pics!) Registered!!! 23/2/2008

[Skidmond]

its looking great Shawn keep up the good work and keep the pics coming....

[Shawn]

I've been doing a bit of wet rubbing with some 1200 grit wet & dry. I could not be happier with the results. The photo doesn't do it justice. Flaws that I thought were going to be there forever disappear within seconds, leaving smooth. ready to polish paint. It's really motivating.

I've only rubbed through to the primer in two spots. They'll be easy touch-ups

This is the most fun I've had so far in this project.

Sad, isn't it

[Triumph Man]

[oliver-morrisminor]

Well my Tourer was painted 9 years ago
and has never been polished.

It should polish up a treat.
I was going to give it the once over during the Christmas break.

[Shawn]

[oliver-morrisminor]

Top Job!
Very Nice
Keep the pictures coming

[dirty hands]

green restoration by november

is a fantastic effort

[Shawn]

Many Panels re-fitted, polishing begun. I've found a few more small runs I'm gonna have to rub back.

Also, a useful tip: Fit the hinges to the bonnet, then the bonnet to the car BEFORE you fit the front wings, or you will scratch them.

[Shawn]

Plumbed in and running again as of this evening.
(this photo if from a bit before the starting of the engine)
Took a little while to get it started, first the oil pump wouldn't prime, then the fuel pump wouldn't prime, then some idiot had the plug leads out by one position on the dizzy cap...

[Skidmond]

thats looking great Shawn, keep the pics coming mate

[Shawn]

My headlamp wiring was in a terrible state. High and low beam had been crossed at some stage, some wires had been joined by the old twist and tape method, and I wanted to add proper H4s with integral parker units.

So I bit the bullet and scrapped the lot from the bullet connectors forward. Using a little collection of relay holders from a VN Commodore and a home made bracket, I put this lot together. The relay coils are fed from the original switch wiring with new 12V fused feeds for each relay. Almost all conections are soldered.

These are work-in-progress pics (hence the couple of missing connections), but the unit fits pretty neatly on the inner guard, and should offer much more protection and brighter lights then the former setup.

[John Ballard]

I have relays on mine also. I fitted them under dash to preserve originality Bought two 30 amp relays ( Supercheap) one per head light fitted fuse each light used standard switch and highbeam dipper Also relays on driving lights .
All this caused a MAJOR problem as car was generating 22 amps and using 34 amps night driving slowly draining battery on long trips However Mg Midget alternator solved the problem.

[Shawn]

More wiring... woohoo

Getting closer to being finished here. Many small things have been improved, fixed or removed altogether. I've taken out a huge amount of redundant wiring, most of which was non standard. There were seven wires earthed to the firewall - when I traced them back to their origins only two were actually connected to anything! I also added my badge bar, which fits nicely between the two foglight mounts. It started life as a wardrobe hanger rod!



These are all work in process pics - when I'm satisfied everything is working as it should be, I'll set about tiding it up. (Now would be a good time to buy shares in cable tie companies!)



On the more positive side (boom-tish), my fog lights work nicely, as does the aux input for my MP3 player! (it's the 3.5mm plug barely visible on the top RHS of the radio facia) Sound quality is excellent too, despite the prehistoric second hand components! Can't wait to try it with the 10"sub and 100w Amp!




I've also added the second fusebox for the lights' relays and whatever else I decide to run off it. It's a mixture of ignition switched and unswitched terminals.

[Triumph Man]

Man your screaming along lookin great.
Trev
Aus

[John Ballard]

Congratulations on your progress .Love the colour.
Just a couple of tips for others following. Headlights only need one relay high beam and one low beam
100watt high beam uses about 8 amps therefore two equals 16amps.
As most relays are 30 amp one will more than do the job.
On fuses and holders the coloured blade type are a smaller and neater unit and fuses can be bought any where,
Always add you power consumption up as the morris generator only puts out 22 amps of charge, and after some night time running the battery supply drops quickly.

[Scouse]

[Shawn]

Rear Guards bolted up and tail lights sorted. These too were re-wired with new and better connections.

Initially I couldn't get the brake lights to work, it turned out that there was so much air in the system that not enough pressure was building in the lines to activate the switch. A thorough bleeding with a pressure bleeder soon fixed the problem. I'd never used a pressure bleeder before, and was amazed at just how easy it was (compared to getting an un-cooperative family member to pump the pedal for you!) All it is is a tyre valve stem fitted to an old master cylinder cap - one press with a foot pump and presto! - no more air. Pedal feel is excellent!

[Auspest]

Just about there Shawn. And i am just starting
Just about take it to Ormistom for the Aust Day Run

Scott C

[Shawn]

The Ford Laser tribute post!

Installed window & door rubbers today. The horizontal window (squeegee) rubbers are courtesy of a '90s Ford Laser. Can be made to fit very neatly. You can use the original spring type clips, but only need a couple per window.

The door handle bump stop rubbers are also off the same Laser. they're the cushioning rubbers for the interior light switches. You use the retaining part, which is normally hidden and cut off the rest - each rubber has two retaining lugs. I couldn't find anything to neatly fit these holes anywhere.

Also off the same Laser, but not shown in these pics is the rubber strip at the top of the firewall, which seals on a Morris in the same was as it does in the Laser. (You can see it in the engine bay/foglight shot a couple of posts back)

Also today, finished wiring in my Hazard lights, which work nicely, adjusted the panel fit on the doors (which is only ok), and began tidying the wiring.

[dirty hands]

there is no way anyone could pick that from the original pictures of the morry

how many hours or are you not counting

now shannons insurance will want your business

[Shawn]

Ok, a big weekend of work.

Firstly, I thought I'd have a go at the windscreens myself before I asked for help. The hardest part was fitting the chrome trim. I used an old leadlighting tool to help ease it in.

The screens were much easier to fit than I'd expected. The front one went in very easily on the first attempt. I used a length of medium gauge electrical cable as a drawstring. I think the fact that it was smooth and fairly thick made the whole job much easier.



The rear was not quite as easy, but certainly not too difficult. I could see where a helper was needed here, so I made one myself. He was a good, willing and efficient worker, but somewhat lacking in conversation skills. He was very effective, in that when I pushed the screen from the inside, he slid down the window, locking it in place, sort of like a rachet effect.

The rear screen needs a little more manipulating, but I'll wait for a hot sunny day for that!


Finally, on Sunday, I finished refitting the boot, bolting in the floor panels and cutting a piece of car carpet to fit. I also made new trim cards for beside the rear seat, the B pillars and the front footwell. More on those soon.

[Shawn]

Interior trim time. All of these panels are cut from templates of the originals. I've kept them. The base material is felt covered plastic from office display boards. It gives a soft padded feel to it, but will be very water resistant. It should be far less likely to warp too. The orginal masonite door cards are badly warped.

Test fitting

A, B & C panels.

Door trims ready to fit (unless I get all motivated and decide to make some piping for the edges...)

I made these door pulls. Despite trying to take the credit, kittens are rubbish at sewing.

Front seats and carpet almost finished

[Drew]

Superb progress Shawn. Great to see it all coming together. You are an inspiration.

Keep up the photos,

Andrew.

[Shawn]

[Skidmond]

geez Shawn, when you get that finished, you wont know what to do with yourself.

I might send another 4 door over for you, you know, just to keep you busy