My new project - 1965 Morris Cooper S - HOY 500D

[mk1]

Looking good!

[Dearg1275]

Looks cracking Andrew. Persistence always wins out in the end.

D

[IAIN]

Looking good Andrew. You only have all the filler work to look forward to now
I notice in the picture of the boot floor. The factory braised the bottom of the corner seam joint. Its a good idea because it holds the corner together and to the boot floor, and seals the joint from water leaks at the base of the upright seam.

[miniminor]

Just looking back at the start of the project, what a transformation!
Does the trailer you brought it home on belong to you and is it home made? Looks a really neat size to transport a Mini, like to see more pictures of it.

[Andrew1967]

Thanks for the positive and encouraging comments

Finished repairing the inner skin of the bootlid this evening so will get that epoxied at the weekend.

Iain, the corners where the rear panel meets the side panels and rear valence have all received brass on the outside to seal that area up. I'm a firm believer in adding brass to corner joints to seal. Brass has a bit of a bad name, its a lot stronger than many people think. Try breaking a brazed joint .... the metal will rip before the brass breaks !! I'll be seam sealing all the joints before any more paint is applied and before the tinted Raptor is applied underneath. That wont be done until the top side is more or less ready for the Surf top coats.

Most of the filler work is done and re-epoxied over. Plan is to let it all settle over the winter before staining down to sand and apply high build 2k primer where necessary.

Miniminor .. I bought it probably 15 years ago off a local guy who raced Minis. I did think it could be home-made but then noticed one that Coopertim has DPU on and noticed some distinct similarities.

It currently has a scrap Mini shell on it but I'll attempt to get some pics over the weekend. It is perfect for a Mini.

[Andrew1967]

So, the last couple of weeks I've been spending a little time on fitting the mint, original doors I recently purchased locally (no, not from the parts department).

Both required a little attention to get the gaps better, mostly to the front vertical and where it curves round to the door step.

The passenger door has the seal and lock fitted. I've still to do the drivers door, hence why it appears to sit out a bit at the back, but see no reason why it shouldn't close as well.

As usual, a little twisting was required here and there to get them to sit in the aperture nicely.

Overall I am very pleased with the results, especially bearing in mind how bad the shell was and what was subsequently replaced... and all in a domestic garage

[Andrew1967]

RH door

[STG95F]

Looking great Andrew

[Old English White]

Marvellous progress Andrew. You'll already know how important it is and how tricky it can be to get the doors to fit decently on a Mini. That looks very good already. When I restored my "S" I fitted a secondhand original replacement door to the LH side and got a good fit fairly easily. The RH side, despite many hours work simply never was as good as I wanted it. I'd been unable to find a good secondhand door and thought I'd bit the bullet and buy a new one from Heritage They might be better now but mine was terrible really and it never looked 100% right.

Keep it up Andrew It's difficult this time of year though isn't it with all the cold and damp......

[Nick W]

Looking good Andrew.
Good original doors are always the best fit , Heritage doors need a lot if work , and even NOS rarely fit , as they usually weren't used for a reason, and the later doors that were made for Vans/pickups were not well made.

[Andrew1967]

Thanks Ian and Richard

Finding a good drivers door in the UK as we all know is not easy. I recently bought a mint unrestored one on eBay, save for rot behind the lower hinge (even the reinforcer behind needs a bit of work). I was planning on repairing that be repairing the reinforcer and then letting a piece into the original skin. Then this door came up locally on eBay, £100 BIN, so I took a chance and bought it. It is 100% mint and original, well pleased. A Heritage door was never an option - too expensive and heard too many horror stories of fitment issues.

Yep, its not particularly encouraging this time of year to venture out into the garage.... but needs must

[Andrew1967]

Looking good Andrew.
Good original doors are always the best fit , Heritage doors need a lot if work , and even NOS rarely fit , as they usually weren't used for a reason, and the later doors that were made for Vans/pickups were not well made.

That certainly seems the case Nick

[WMU 211G]

Great work Andrew, looks great

[Andrew1967]

Trial fitted the original window surrounds today after drilling the clip holes yesterday ... I have found enough original clips that are useable, if I don't find any NOS ones in the meantime.

[Andrew1967]

Also trial fitted the NOS moustache I've had for many years waiting for a worthy recipient. The grille is HOY's original chrome on brass grille that will need rechroming at some point.

[Dearg1275]

Andrew, that’s all looking mighty fine. Is the grill moustache a chrome on brass one or stainless steel or chrome on steel. I’ve seen all three and always wondered if there were any change points or was it just a matter of what was ordered in at any one time. If you still have the packaging that might give a clue.

D

[Andrew1967]

I suspect its chrome on steel David as there is a little light rust on the back. I still have the original red with blue BMC logo packaging but the part number sticker is not legible anymore.

I'll take some photos of it and post up to see if we can work anything out.

[Toby]

It looks like the moustache would be the early version without the slight peak in the middle of it. Not sure if that would be correct for HOY though if it is

[Andrew1967]

I’ll have to look into that Toby.

Anyone know when the change dates were ?

Might have to swap for a later NOS one unless the 60 has a peaked one on it

[Toby]

Can do a swap if you want