It's a 1968 Morris 1000 four-door. One lady owner from new. It's be sat in the back of the garage pictured for the last six years but had been used as an everyday vehicle as recent as 2002 I beleive.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
From worse to worser.
I had a disastrous trip down to the garage to book Molly's MOT the other day and returned with this!
It's a 1968 Morris 1000 four-door. One lady owner from new. It's be sat in the back of the garage pictured for the last six years but had been used as an everyday vehicle as recent as 2002 I beleive.
It's a 1968 Morris 1000 four-door. One lady owner from new. It's be sat in the back of the garage pictured for the last six years but had been used as an everyday vehicle as recent as 2002 I beleive.
Tick tock goes the MOT clock...
Well, I'd made some progress with Molly and got her driverside door back on. Rather than using wood this time, as per Martin Walter coach builders, I went for what I hope to be a more lasting solution and made some plates up of of 3mm mild steel. These were drilled for the hinges and had their nuts welded int position so I can really do up the mounting screws tight without fiddling around with spanners in small sapces.
I then welded large bracing sections that I cut serrated sections into to grab the glassfibre when it was laid.
I then glassed in some more wood between the plates replacing the original door frame. The plates were bolted to these and the whole lot was glassed over with thick matting and Polyester resin.
All fixings are stainless and of larger size than original.
That door won't be going anywhere for a while!
One down, two to go.
The glass issue was sorted very easily by a local company in Taunton called Roman Glass. They were incredibly helpful and in the time I'd gone to get money from the cash machine they had made a prefect replica of the original out of 6.4mm laminated glass inc hole and cut outs. The chap charged me £10.
The aluminum strip at the back edge of the sliding window didn't fit with it's original gauge gasket so I have refitted it with a smear of silicone.
The fixing screws for the bottom section of window frame were long passed serviceable and had to be drilled out. I found a 4mm nut held itself captive between the aluminum channel so I used these with CS stainless screws to reassemble.
The second MOT is tomorrow!
I then welded large bracing sections that I cut serrated sections into to grab the glassfibre when it was laid.
I then glassed in some more wood between the plates replacing the original door frame. The plates were bolted to these and the whole lot was glassed over with thick matting and Polyester resin.
All fixings are stainless and of larger size than original.
That door won't be going anywhere for a while!
One down, two to go.
The glass issue was sorted very easily by a local company in Taunton called Roman Glass. They were incredibly helpful and in the time I'd gone to get money from the cash machine they had made a prefect replica of the original out of 6.4mm laminated glass inc hole and cut outs. The chap charged me £10.
The aluminum strip at the back edge of the sliding window didn't fit with it's original gauge gasket so I have refitted it with a smear of silicone.
The fixing screws for the bottom section of window frame were long passed serviceable and had to be drilled out. I found a 4mm nut held itself captive between the aluminum channel so I used these with CS stainless screws to reassemble.
The second MOT is tomorrow!
Friday, 13 July 2012
From bad to worse
Both Rach and I have been away for the majority of the year so sadly Molly has been somewhat neglected. I got back last week to find her with a seized clutch and cover in crap from the tree overhead.
She is booked in to make an appearance at a retro festival this August so once again I find myself rushing to get her ship shape for her MOT on the 24th of July.
Here's the link to the festival;
http://www.retrofestival.co.uk/ - Come and say hello if you spot us!
Nothing much has changed since last year other than we had another problem with the driver's door (falling off!) after someone tried to swing on it. The last repair was seemingly not up to the rigors of modern life so I'll have to have a rethink.
I didn't get off to the best start however, after tripping over my dog and dropping the door;
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Smart girls go Debonair!!
Molly and her contemporaries (Series 1 Debonairs) proudly drove out of the Bedford factory 48 years ago... and counting! Long live the Debonairs!
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
300 Miles and counting
We haven't had a great deal of time spare to take Molly out for as many jaunts as she deserves to clear away the cobwebs, but she has already racked up over three hundred miles and (touch wood) hasn't missed a beat.
We know from the previous owners that she used to holiday a lot in Devon and so we decided to take her back to see a few of her old hang outs and show her what has chaned, if anything. So, with this in mind, we went to Beer Bay, Watchet, Sidmouth, the Donkey Sanctuary and the Bakerlite museum (which was her particular favorite).
After having her fill of fish and chips in Beer, she made a somewhat unhurried ascent out of the village and on over the hills toward Sidmouth. Her temperature guage barely flinched as she trundled along mile after mile. She wasn't even as thirsty as we had predicted. 55mph is quite an experience when one is perched upon her finely upholstered bench.
In Sidmouth her old fashioned tastes came to the fore when we could barely drag her away from a shop selling bespoke hand made Royal wedding memorabillia.
Sadly the chap who owns the Bakerlite museum was not present as Molly was impatient to complement him on such a fine establishment. We agreed, truly it is a wonderland. All in all, a rather tired Molly concluded, "Not much really changes."
And with that she lit another Marlboro, recoiled on her velour poof and closed her eyes.
We know from the previous owners that she used to holiday a lot in Devon and so we decided to take her back to see a few of her old hang outs and show her what has chaned, if anything. So, with this in mind, we went to Beer Bay, Watchet, Sidmouth, the Donkey Sanctuary and the Bakerlite museum (which was her particular favorite).
After having her fill of fish and chips in Beer, she made a somewhat unhurried ascent out of the village and on over the hills toward Sidmouth. Her temperature guage barely flinched as she trundled along mile after mile. She wasn't even as thirsty as we had predicted. 55mph is quite an experience when one is perched upon her finely upholstered bench.
In Sidmouth her old fashioned tastes came to the fore when we could barely drag her away from a shop selling bespoke hand made Royal wedding memorabillia.
Sadly the chap who owns the Bakerlite museum was not present as Molly was impatient to complement him on such a fine establishment. We agreed, truly it is a wonderland. All in all, a rather tired Molly concluded, "Not much really changes."
And with that she lit another Marlboro, recoiled on her velour poof and closed her eyes.
More Rot
It took two session to release the water container housing from the van, It was jammed good and proper. Anyway, it has had a few reapirs of the years but really it's fairly shot. I'll be making a new one of the winter during my luch hours as well as a few other body parts and trims etc.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Good Golly Cream Teas Postcards
We've been pretty slack with the blogging lately and had a few complaints! After the MOT we breathed a sigh of relief, had a little holiday and finally had a couple of weekends off!!
We still have plenty of work to do, not least the inside and exterior paint work, so the bloggings definitely not over!
I'm getting things started for Molly's foray into business next year, here's her new promotional postcards...and we even have our first booking for next August already!
We've had a couple of practice runs with 'Cream Teas for Charity'... Molly was admired almost as much as my cakes!
Molly's scone selling has raised a massive £280 for Charlotte Miller Art Project (UK reg charity no 1064645) and will help fund a new programme of Participatory Photography with street children in Ecuador (designed and run by yours truly starting Nov 2011 until May 2012... I'll be back in time to make the most of the cream tea season I promise! )
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