With my impending retirement from full time work , I set myself the task of finding a Hobby car. It was intended that this would be an older type of car, that I could spend some quality time on.
A car that I could,"keep" running well and be able to drive it well into my "Senior years".
The reasoning behind,why I chose to fill the first 3 or 4 years of my early retirement years -with a very involved and busy project like this-was that I had always been a very busy person in business and "down-time", and frankly did not fancy doing any of the very limited number of pastimes or simple hobbies, which I knew, or felt would not provide me the required challenges.
I thought about running a "Classic Car" as some people do,they have one produced for them and only drive it on "high days and holidays". But never generally seemed to get their hands dirty.
That's not what I wanted.
I also assessed I would not have that sort of income in my retirement, to allow me to go down this particular route.
I came to the conclusion I wanted to rebuild, refurbish, or better still to a renovate project car.
I felt that the car had , if possible, to be a Marque that I had previously owned and enjoyed in my younger years, one which would bring back many "happy motoring memories."
An additional consideration for me ,was to help me maintain a certain amount of mobility, to keep me as physically active as I could be, during this final active phase of my life.
My Wife and I had always been into MG's in the past, in particular BGT's, but due to having had two full metal hip replacements, felt I could not include one of these as my hobbycar.
I would have loved preparing an older factory BGT V8, like I had owned and showed for 16 years, but alas-"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" ,well these days anyway.
Getting in and out of my Sons '75 BGT is just about impossible for me these days, so as I'd never owed any of the other classic MG's, the next "best" choice was the ubiquitous Morris Minor.
My Wife Lynn, had owned a Almond Green saloon as her first car in the early 70's.
I had owned a late '53 ,Black 2 door saloon in the late 60's,before it was stolen from the Dockyard in Portsmouth whilst I was away at sea, serving Queen and Country in the Royal Navy.
My choice of car, had to tick all the right boxes, and for all the right reasons.
I had set myself a year in which to find and get the car home.
I wanted to find a half decent "Historical" car, that I could spend a bit of time on ,without using too much money,and with the appropriate amount of effort and maybe on the odd occasion, maybe spill a little blood , whilst rescueing it from oblivion- that's what I wanted.
It had to be a car that I could afford, not only to fix, but one that I could use as an everyday driver, well into my retirement. I felt it had to be a car that I could-hopefully- be able to fix up myself, and help it last another 50 years or so, instead of it just rusting away.
Finally I felt it had to be a car that I rescued, and like if I did not take it on, then it would definitely have been scrapped or just rotted away in a field somewhere.
I had been originally thinking about looking to the practical choice of a Van , a Traveller or even a pick-up to rescue. I think they are just lovely.
I was initially offered a 1969"Snowberry White"Morris Minor Traveller. (Oct'67 to July '69=1200773 to 1257181)
This "one owner car", was languishing in a Barn, on property belonging to a good friend of mine, Tony.
A car that I could,"keep" running well and be able to drive it well into my "Senior years".
The reasoning behind,why I chose to fill the first 3 or 4 years of my early retirement years -with a very involved and busy project like this-was that I had always been a very busy person in business and "down-time", and frankly did not fancy doing any of the very limited number of pastimes or simple hobbies, which I knew, or felt would not provide me the required challenges.
I thought about running a "Classic Car" as some people do,they have one produced for them and only drive it on "high days and holidays". But never generally seemed to get their hands dirty.
That's not what I wanted.
I also assessed I would not have that sort of income in my retirement, to allow me to go down this particular route.
I came to the conclusion I wanted to rebuild, refurbish, or better still to a renovate project car.
I felt that the car had , if possible, to be a Marque that I had previously owned and enjoyed in my younger years, one which would bring back many "happy motoring memories."
An additional consideration for me ,was to help me maintain a certain amount of mobility, to keep me as physically active as I could be, during this final active phase of my life.
My Wife and I had always been into MG's in the past, in particular BGT's, but due to having had two full metal hip replacements, felt I could not include one of these as my hobbycar.
I would have loved preparing an older factory BGT V8, like I had owned and showed for 16 years, but alas-"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" ,well these days anyway.
Getting in and out of my Sons '75 BGT is just about impossible for me these days, so as I'd never owed any of the other classic MG's, the next "best" choice was the ubiquitous Morris Minor.
My Wife Lynn, had owned a Almond Green saloon as her first car in the early 70's.
I had owned a late '53 ,Black 2 door saloon in the late 60's,before it was stolen from the Dockyard in Portsmouth whilst I was away at sea, serving Queen and Country in the Royal Navy.
My choice of car, had to tick all the right boxes, and for all the right reasons.
I had set myself a year in which to find and get the car home.
I wanted to find a half decent "Historical" car, that I could spend a bit of time on ,without using too much money,and with the appropriate amount of effort and maybe on the odd occasion, maybe spill a little blood , whilst rescueing it from oblivion- that's what I wanted.
It had to be a car that I could afford, not only to fix, but one that I could use as an everyday driver, well into my retirement. I felt it had to be a car that I could-hopefully- be able to fix up myself, and help it last another 50 years or so, instead of it just rusting away.
Finally I felt it had to be a car that I rescued, and like if I did not take it on, then it would definitely have been scrapped or just rotted away in a field somewhere.
I had been originally thinking about looking to the practical choice of a Van , a Traveller or even a pick-up to rescue. I think they are just lovely.
I was initially offered a 1969"Snowberry White"Morris Minor Traveller. (Oct'67 to July '69=1200773 to 1257181)
This "one owner car", was languishing in a Barn, on property belonging to a good friend of mine, Tony.
This initial project , was to have been called "Project Enid " named after my good friends lovely Wife, whose life was cut short, far too early. It was thought this first project would have made a fitting tribute to her memory.But that was not to be
The car was initially purchased from Appleyards in Leeds, in January 1969. Bought for the Princely sum of £744, 5 shillings and 6 pence.
The original sale invoice had a Mr Appleyards signature on it and contained a brown stamp over which the sales sig was made.
The specifications of this first car were:- Registration number= RUG 138G and body plate details MAW5D No 123750 M . Engine number 10 MUAH 349996 ,with a standard speedo SN4423/06 that is with a Black face (after number 120703).
First registered on 16th January 1969 with "dark"silver wheels with black interior trim and carpets,a red pin stripe on the side of the car,and a snow-berry white grill.
The car had been one of the Deluxe models and was used extensively by Enid . It was her "pride and joy".
Sadly, in later years, the car had been sent away to a local quite small engineers firm, to have an engine refurb,the company went out of business,a short time after this which this entailed Enids husband ,Tony, having to go out and hunt for the car, which was later found abandoned without its engine being properly finished and the whole car had been totally neglected.
When I was first offered the car, my initial inspection, when it was sitting in the barn, made the car look rather better than she was.
My initial ideas were to look into the possibility of using an E30's diesel engine and some of the running gear in the Traveller, some say that may have been a little over ambitious, but hey nothing ventured-nothing gained .
My chum Garry,a fully qualified mechanic-(married to the Local Lady vicar Sue)- and the director of a local garage, came along to inspect the car as it sat in the Barn- and the rest,as they say, is history.
I obtain a few parts from Project Enid, in the hopes that I may be able to use some on the next project-but in the main-she was in a very very sorry state-which is really a crying shame. If only I was five years or so earlier.
After discussing my ideas, thoughts and plans with the Forum members on , on morrisminorowners.co.uk, I reluctantly decided that this Traveller was too far gone for what I wanted to achieve and I reluctantly walked away from it, the car was passed on eventually
The car was initially purchased from Appleyards in Leeds, in January 1969. Bought for the Princely sum of £744, 5 shillings and 6 pence.
The original sale invoice had a Mr Appleyards signature on it and contained a brown stamp over which the sales sig was made.
The specifications of this first car were:- Registration number= RUG 138G and body plate details MAW5D No 123750 M . Engine number 10 MUAH 349996 ,with a standard speedo SN4423/06 that is with a Black face (after number 120703).
First registered on 16th January 1969 with "dark"silver wheels with black interior trim and carpets,a red pin stripe on the side of the car,and a snow-berry white grill.
The car had been one of the Deluxe models and was used extensively by Enid . It was her "pride and joy".
Sadly, in later years, the car had been sent away to a local quite small engineers firm, to have an engine refurb,the company went out of business,a short time after this which this entailed Enids husband ,Tony, having to go out and hunt for the car, which was later found abandoned without its engine being properly finished and the whole car had been totally neglected.
When I was first offered the car, my initial inspection, when it was sitting in the barn, made the car look rather better than she was.
My initial ideas were to look into the possibility of using an E30's diesel engine and some of the running gear in the Traveller, some say that may have been a little over ambitious, but hey nothing ventured-nothing gained .
My chum Garry,a fully qualified mechanic-(married to the Local Lady vicar Sue)- and the director of a local garage, came along to inspect the car as it sat in the Barn- and the rest,as they say, is history.
I obtain a few parts from Project Enid, in the hopes that I may be able to use some on the next project-but in the main-she was in a very very sorry state-which is really a crying shame. If only I was five years or so earlier.
After discussing my ideas, thoughts and plans with the Forum members on , on morrisminorowners.co.uk, I reluctantly decided that this Traveller was too far gone for what I wanted to achieve and I reluctantly walked away from it, the car was passed on eventually
Oh I shall mention here that when looking inside the drivers side glove compartment I found Enids driving gloves and a copy of the Sunday Express newspaper dated 28 June 1992,I am hoping to be able to find my first pictures of the paper, driving gloves and a Ladies rain hood.
These items were handed over to Tony, along with the Chassis plate and top Bonnet emblem and handle.
These items were handed over to Tony, along with the Chassis plate and top Bonnet emblem and handle.
Here is Enid showing her best side part way through my initial assessment, no longer looking like Cyclops, still with a few bits missing, but I took this one, which made her look a bit more respectable-as a "start" picture.
Sadly she was too far gone for my skills such as they were at that particular time, and my limited budget, so it was time to say goodbye.
On these initial visits ,I removed the original engine from the Boot,where it had been temporarily stored , for about 20 years, this allowed the car to return to an even keel.I then pumped up the tyres ,to allow better access and move her around the Barn .
It was then she started to look a little more like she should do, by the time I took the picture above -as compared with the first one I have shown.
The car ,much as she looked above ,was passed on to a friend who will try to make of it as best he can. The docs were signed and DVLA informed, so it was time for me to look for another project -since this one was too far gone for me.
Sadly she was too far gone for my skills such as they were at that particular time, and my limited budget, so it was time to say goodbye.
On these initial visits ,I removed the original engine from the Boot,where it had been temporarily stored , for about 20 years, this allowed the car to return to an even keel.I then pumped up the tyres ,to allow better access and move her around the Barn .
It was then she started to look a little more like she should do, by the time I took the picture above -as compared with the first one I have shown.
The car ,much as she looked above ,was passed on to a friend who will try to make of it as best he can. The docs were signed and DVLA informed, so it was time for me to look for another project -since this one was too far gone for me.