Readers’ Sagas
Meet reader Andy Ibbotson’s fleet at his Cornish workshop.
When you own more than one classic car (OK, a lot of them), it’s important to keep on top of routine maintenance of the road-going ones, as well as working on those restorations. A case in point is ‘ALW’, our 1969 Morris Minor Convertible.
Originally a saloon, in many ways this is the one that started it all as far as car restorations go, for us. Prior to 1986, my dad drove Mini vans. He was a plumber by day and a dance band trumpet player by night, and the vans catered for his every needs.
First GRL 158D, a 1966 van, then UCO 181L, a 1973 van that could still be out there. If you own this one, please get in touch. Then a Mini Clubman estate that had been expertly bodged by someone. A 1976 model, it rapidly fell apart and, by 1985, only nine years-old, it was a rotten heap. Dad drove them and fixed them, but they were just old cars.
Then my dad read an article in a newspaper about Charles Ware, the founder of the Morris Minor Centre, and his ‘Durable Car’ philosophy and bought his excellent book, Durable
Car Ownership. He was sold with the idea of a car that could be repaired indefinitely, so he bought a Morris Minor saloon.
That is how ‘ALW’ came into our lives, bought from a retired engineer who stopped using it after the seatbelt law came in. He hated wearing seatbelts and bought an older Minor without any! It didn’t need much for the MOT although, as was customary with every car my dad had owned, the first thing he did was to rebuild the engine. It was pressed into service and the Mini Clubman went for scrap. For the next decade, ‘ALW’ made long trips to Yorkshire and was a general work hack, carrying plumbing tools, ladders, timber and all sorts, as well as being the family car. A year later I found my own Minor – which I still have – and a love of old cars was born.
Time for some TLC
By 1997, ‘ALW’ was in a bad way and was taken off the road, being replaced by a Traveller and another saloon we rebuilt from scratch, (322 UXG if you’re out there). But dad decided to save it, despite it being really rough. The roof had gone through so he bought the kit to turn it into a convertible. Over a period of several years he welded it up.
Fast forward to 2021 and it’s been in the family all that time and back on the road for
about six years. It’s suffered a few
battle scars since and some of the work isn’t as good as perhaps it could be, but since dad has given up driving my son is now caring for it and has plans to improve it. The third generation to drive this car, as I passed my test in it. These things mean a lot!
It’s hardly done any work since the car went back on the road though, as dad’s driving frequency had slowed right down as he headed towards 90 last year. Now Sam has started using it in earnest and put a few miles on it, it was time to drain out the running in oil and refill with 20w50. We first took it for a good run to get the engine hot and then drove it up on ramps to get the car level, as my drive slopes downwards).
I like to drain the oil hot the moment the engine is switched off, so with tools, disposable gloves, new oil and a filter ready, we undid the drain plug.
Quick and easy
‘ALW’ has been modified with a Mini spin-on filter, so I have a pair of oil filter pliers that make this job a doddle. By this time, the oil had stopped draining, so it was disposed of into a large 25-litre drum. I keep it specially for this purpose and take it to the local recycling depot when its full.
Next task was to replace the drain plug, fill up with new oil and allow time for settlement.
Once over half the new oil had gone in, we disconnected the coil and spun up the engine to get the oil pressure up so the bearings are fed with fresh oil before start up.
Once the light went out, then we reconnected the coil and then again allowed time for the oil level to settle before topping up to the ‘max’ mark on the dip stick.
Finally, it was time for us to start up and run the engine to check for leaks. I always rev the engine a bit here after an unfortunate accident years ago with an oil filter that was leak-free at tickover, but under increased revs started leaking like a sieve, refused to seal and peed out while I happily drove away down the road… I was lucky enough to realise and to catch that one!
I always change oil every 3000 miles without fail as this gives good results. I once stripped down my Minor engine after 100,000 miles, had the crank checked and it had not worn at all following this method, so it’s tried and tested as far as I’m concerned. ■ practicalclassics@bauermedia.co.uk
‘ My son, Sam, is now using the old Minor in earnest’