Project Traveller
The stripdown begins. You could win it in October!
Visitors to the NEC Classic Motor Show last November hopefully caught a proper look at our Morris Traveller competition prize car on our sponsor’s stand, Footman James Insurance. Matt and I worked on the car inbetween talking to the huge, friendly crowd delighted to see us tackle such a popular classic. The lucky winner will be collecting the keys and the car from the same show in 2014. Sounds like a long way off? Not in restoration. Instead, it will likely race past in a flash. So just how good, bad and ugly is our £1700 purchase. We know its previous owner and the man responsible for saving the car from being crushed, Keith Hibbert, had done much work to the car since 2009 to make it solid.
The question most asked of the Traveller at the NEC was whether we would replace its all-important ash frame. The answer is yes. While ours is solid, the fit and cosmetic appearance of the timber is such that, once new paint is applied, the wood will look awful. We could let in individual repair sections, but the wise money and time is spent achieving the best finish offered by a completely new frame. New wood, fresh paint, full mechanical overhaul – this prize’s value is climbing ever higher.
Before removing the headlining wires completely, tie some string or wire to their ends
Space at the show was limited, so we had to ensure items removed posed no threat to the public or ourselves. We began by removing all the engine bay ancillaries (1), right down to the wiring loom. That will also be replaced. Items such as the carb, fuel pump, coil, fuse box and wiper motor pose no problems on a Traveller. All the electrical connections were undone. As we removed components, they were bagged using sandwich bags, if possible, for safekeeping.
Headlining removal
Knowing the wood is being replaced, we wanted to strip the inside in readiness. Ideally, the seats should have come out first but even so access was good thanks to the Traveller’s load space. The cloth headlining is secured using a variety of methods hidden from the finished view. We began by removing the wooden trim finishers, upper seat belt mountings, window latches – anything preventing access to the many staples along each side of the roof pinning the cloth in. Each staple was lifted using the push and twist action of a thin flat-head screwdriver (2,3,4). Take care if re-using the headlining though – a slip could be costly.
As the headlining’s sides are undone, the roof is exposed. The join between the rear roof section and ‘cab’ roof is finished using a capping strip. This was unscrewed as was the capping above the rear doors. The wooden cross rails supporting the headlining were then unhooked and removed along with the headlining (7,8). The cab’s headlining uses a tensioned wire system. Removal is easy once you’ve found the wires’ anchor points. Before removing the wires completely, tie some string or thin wire to their ends for refitting or you’ll have to thread the wires through the body again.
Outer panels’ and beyond
We concentrated on the driver’s side at the NEC, purely for reasons of visibility for viewers. The bonnet and front panel unbolted without incident. The front wing was held in fast with sealant once Matt had removed all the fixing bolts. A good tug freed it. The same was true of the rear wing. Plastic cap Torx head fittings were used. They proved a faff to get purchase on, but we got there. The wing piping was doing a hopeless task trying to follow the uneven wood profile (11). We also removed the side glass but will cover that in detail next month.
Back in our workshop, I was able to rip into the car in only one afternoon. Out came the seats to protect them and provide working space. Keen to see inner metal, I removed the sill splash covers. Plenty of evidence of gas welded repairs mixed in places with unremoved old rot. Solid, but not pretty. We’ll make good where necessary as we work towards achieving the correct door gaps, bonnet gaps and peripheral panel alignment. In addition, there’s the wood… Picture 14 explains the extent of the ill-fitting timbers. Sections ABC are all too short, resulting in D sitting too high to run true following the correct (dotted) bodyline from the front of the car. It simply isn’t worth chasing, so new wood is on order. Elsewhere, we noted this rear gap (15), front chassis rail rot (16) and a pushed in bumper iron tube (17).
All in all, not a bad start and a fascinating car to work on with its wood, steel and alloy panels. Most fittings have come undone easily enough thanks to Keith’s previous work. The worst so far include this rear seat bracket (18) and those plastic capped Torx bolts on the other rear wing. Next month we’ll cover removal of the side glass and the rear roof section, and know doubt find a few more little charmers to sort.
Sections ABC are all too short, resulting in D sitting too high to run true following the correct bodyline