Peter Simpson watches and learns while Ian Allen demonstrates the correct way to refinish Morris Minor Traveller woodwork.
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Last time, we left our Morris Minor Traveller project with the rear doors off, the rear windows and channels out and the wood thoroughly prepared for revarnishing, refinishing, retreatment – or whatever else you want to call the process of protecting the wood and also making it look right. Thankfully, this confirmed that our wood is as we thought extremely solid, and the few very localised areas of blacking are nothing more than surface discolouration. Be careful here though, because wood that’s turned black is often wood that’s rotting.
When it comes to treating Minor wood, different specialists swear by different products. Some like yacht varnish, which is arguably closest to the original finish and looks fabulous if done well. It does, though, have a drawback in the durability department. Because it sits on top of the wood in a similar manner to paint, it cracks eventually due to the wooden frame’s normal flexing, and once that happens, moisture gets in, becomes trapped and the varnish then promotes rot rather than stopping it.
Products which treat the wood internally by soaking in are generally better. Options include Sikkins window frame finish which is very tough and can be good for cars that are used regularly and parked outside, but darkens the wood and can, in restorer Ian’s words, ‘make the car look a bit Tudor.’ Osma wood protector is another option some people like, but Ian has yet to try. His preferred product is Liberon Superior Danish Oil. This provides a tough finish, but also dries to a satin-to-gloss sheen which seems neither too dull nor excessively shiny. Used wood that’s been prepared properly will need three or four coats, with the first two coats being a 50/50 mix of oil and white spirit and the final coat(s) applied neat. New wood will need more coats, typically five or six. Danish oil is widely available – including from Screwfix – and to treat a complete car you’ll need between one and two litres with used wood, or about double that to treat new.
Although Danish Oil treats wood by soaking in, you still need to give it a very light rub down between coats. This is because its action lifts the wood’s grain slightly, leading to a slight roughening of the surface. Use 240 grit, and allow 24 hours drying time before rubbing down and applying the next coat.
As mentioned last time, Ian has a patent way of dealing with cosmetic issues. After the first one or two coats of oil have gone on and dried (this is important), he paints over the marks using something most of us used regularly in our childhood – Humbrol enamel! You know, the 14ml tins we used to paint Airfix kits and so on. What colours you need will depend to some extent on what you are trying to hide and where; you can find the Humbrol colour chart online, and don’t forget that you can mix colours and/or add white to lighten or black to darken. Use matt paint rather than gloss, and in most cases Matt Brown Yellow (94), Pale Stone (121) and Matt White (34) plus possibly Matt Black (33) tend to be the best for most matching purposes. How well this works will depend on your painting skills, but you don’t need to be a skilled artist; with a steady hand (and an OO sized paintbrush) you should be able to hide minor marks and so on to the extent that they’ll be seen only by someone who is looking for a mark that they know was
there before.
As we saw last time, rainwater from the side window channels is supposed to exit via holes drilled in the main front-to-rear wood rail that the channels are attached to. However, the holes are drilled straight through the wood. In other words, rainwater is passing straight through key structural woodwork. Clearly it’s sensible to protect the wood here, and the usual technique is to cover the bottom of the holes with masking tape and fill the holes with Danish oil. Then, after allowing the material 24 hours to soak in, you remove the tape and allow the excess to
drain into a small receptacle such as the measuring cup that comes with some liquid medicines.
There’s also a maintenance tip here. Once or twice a year take the trouble to poke through the drain holes from underneath, to ensure they are clear. This is also the first, and easiest, thing to check if rainwater seems to be getting inside the car at the back.
When it comes to putting the windows etc back in, the technique is to fix the vertical front and rear channels into place first then, if you took it out at all, the top channel. After that, it’s a case of cutting and trial-fitting the bottom two channels, before fitting them finally with their respective windows as shown in the photos. Depending on source, the stainless-steel outer channel may be pre-drilled to take the screw mounting holes, but if not, make holes about 3in apart. You will in any case have to make the drain holes yourself, as the position of these in the wood is not at all consistent. Use 3/4in countersunk number 6 stainless steel screws, and they need to go in deep enough for the heads to be below the top of the felt so that the window glass can slide over. Don’t, though, go too tight, as that will cause the channels to distort.
When it comes to fitting the inner wooden trim at the end, it’s important to use a sealing material such as 3M which doesn’t fully harden. Do not use any kind of polyurethane, silicone-based sealer, or anything else that dries solid because once these have gone off, the wood trim is stuck on there for life and won’t ever come off again without breaking.
The picture sequence shows the key stages. With the woodwork completed, the specialist stage of our Minor’s restoration is over, and I will be doing the remaining work myself. That work will start next month with a full mechanical going-over.
THANKS TO
Ian Allan of long-established (since 1980) repair and restoration specialist Minor Services for allowing us to photograph him working, and for explaining his techniques. Based near Ely in Cambridgeshire, Ian offers the full range of Minor services from routine maintenance to full restorations. He can also sometimes be persuaded to work on other makes and models. Call him on 01353 662485.
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Don’t forget to treat all the corners, nooks and crannies. Give extra treatment to the bottom of the rear pillars and bottom-rear of the curved wood around the rear wing; here, wood that’s been cut across the grain is exposed directly to road salt and other dirt. Get some under that rubber seal, too.
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The first of many brush strokes. With Danish oil, the first two coats should be a 50/50 mix of oil and white spirit. Follow the grain of the wood as far as possible. Used wood typically needs three to four coats of Danish, with a very light rub down in between each one.
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As explained in the text, the water drain holes through the main centre rail need special treatment as otherwise they form a straight route for moisture into the heart of structurally vital wood. Do this by first ensuring they are clear, and then putting masking tape across the bottom like this.
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The not-so-secret product used to mask localised woodwork discolouration is something that will be very familiar to many of us from our childhoods; Humbrol matt enamel model paint. These days the full retail price is £3.99 per tin rather than the 15p or so we paid back in the day!
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The Humbrol technique is simple enough; you choose or mix a colour to match the wood and then gently brush it over the discoloured section. This is the sort of marking you can hide in this way. Bigger patches are a bit more problematical, but can work if you also add a few highlights.
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The next bit is Important. You must remove any Danish oil that gets on to the paintwork immediately, using a cloth soaked in white spirit. While it’s still damp the oil will come off relatively easily, but once hardened it’s very solid and pretty much impossible to shift without potential paint damage.
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Then, after allowing the oil to soak in, remove the tape and allow the excess oil to drain out. This is one of our car’s holes after treatment; as you can see from the smaller hole to the right, one of our channel securing screws snapped off; this happens, and the ‘cure’ is to reposition its replacement.
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Then, while you are treating the top of the main member, fill each of the drain holes with oil. It’s also very important that this area gets a very thorough treatment, and that’s impossible without removing the windows and channels first.
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This is often where the rear door wood starts failing first, where the rear door handle screws on. As you can see, this one has been repaired already by use of a plastic Rawlplug. Fatter screws can also sometimes be used. In cases like this, if it looks right and it works right then it is right...
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The rear doors are treated separately, but using exactly the same technique as the rest. Because the wood here is thinner and is flexed regularly by being opened and closed, it’s not uncommon for the rear door wood to need renewing even though the main frame is still sound. Ours was fine though.
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This is the complete wood frame after the required four coats. This photo also shows to very good effect just why the woodwork is so important to a Minor Traveller’s overall structural integrity. It’s very strong as a whole box, but rot or damage to any single part will take all that away.
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The second coat of oil going on. Drying time is typically 24 hours between coats, and you do need it to be fully dry as rubbing down and applying a second coat too soon can cause the surface to wrinkle. If that happens, the only cure is to strip that section back to bare wood and start again.
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The short bottom member also benefitted from a little careful touching in. That chrome piece underneath is not original, but Peter is going to leave it as it doesn’t really look out of place and could well be helping to protect the wood here from road dirt.
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Three coats in, and it’s starting to look the part. It is quite normal, by the way, for the front curved part around the rear wing to be significantly darker than the back. That’s because, due to the angle of curve, it has to be cut from a thicker section of tree than the rest.
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The final job before fitting the trims and windows permanently is to punch the drain holes through to match the drain holes in the wood. There are no fixed positions for these, so it’s a case of holding the trim alongside, marking positions, and make sure it goes back in the same way round.
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After cutting and fitting the inner horizontal channel, Ian trial-fitted the wooden inner trim piece. This isn’t there just for looks; once in place it helps hold everything together and, with sealant on its inner edge, stops rainwater from getting into the rear of the car.
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All channels that are being renewed – and in most cases it’s a false economy not to – will need cutting to length. This is one of the two vertical sections; these should be cut so that they sit above the horizontal sections which run the whole length and go under the verticals.
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Fitting the front vertical window channel section. As you can see it’s held in by stainless steel screws; make sure the heads are below the bottom of the channel so that the window can close fully. The horizontal outer channel will slide in underneath and be secured in the same way.
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It’s now time to put the windows in, along with the lower channel sections. Working from the inside, start with the outer, and ensure that it fits snugly under the front vertical channel and against the back pillar. Then check that the window is free, but not too free, to slide from front to back.
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Once the oil has dried fully, we can start putting the windows back in. As explained in the main text, the windows and lower channels go in together, but first the channels (if being renewed) need trial-fitting and cutting to length. This is the outer, carried in a stainless-steel U section.
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The inner channel tucks under the metal section of the trim by about this amount. Because the rear sliding window is beside the luggage compartment, it opens only slightly, and the inner channel therefore has less movement.
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Now repeat the same procedure with the inner window and its channel, making sure that the vertical draught seal and window slide-handle are in place; if these have come loose you’ll need to re-stick them using the same 3M sealant as used later to seal the inner wood-trim gap.
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As we saw last time, someone had made a complete hash of refitting the windows previously, and though they’d used sealer, they’d put it in totally the wrong places. Use one bead along the side of the inner window channel, then two along the main member. Use enough to ensure a 100% watertight join.
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Nearly there! The next job is relatively straightforward; refit the two window locks, each held into the outer rail with three screws. You’ll probably be able to reuse the original screws and holes here. Use slightly bigger screws if necessary, but keep in mind the width of wood you’re going into.
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As the inner window has very limited movement, most of the channel is always covered and you can’t put any screws where the window is. No worries – just push the window fully forward and put one as close as possible, and then fully back to do the same. The window itself does the rest.
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Next, fix the outer trim in using screws. As with the verticals, ensure that the screws go right down into the channel with the heads below the bottom felt so that the window can slide over them. Make sure too that the channel is hard against the wooden rail.
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Final job, obviously, is to fit the wooden trim and secure it with screws. Then double-check that the windows slide and lock as intended. Assuming they do, go in, get cleaned up and make yourself a cup of tea to congratulate yourself on a job well done.