Looking for a SU carb in the bylanes of Bombay's Flea Market today, Guess, what I found ?
yes a Minor that too in India , under piles of junk , rotting
no body , but the chassis, engine and bits and pieces.
some pictures taken from my phone are attached.
the car is 1930 tourer.
M28904 : Another Minor in India
Moderators: Ian Grace, Will Grace
-
KartikeyaL
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:37 am
- Location: Jaipur , India
M28904 : Another Minor in India
- Attachments
-
- IMG00376-20111029-1234.jpg (35.27 KiB) Viewed 2531 times
-
- IMG00373-20111029-1232.jpg (51.5 KiB) Viewed 2530 times
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Kartik - a super find! It is in fact a tourer! According to the Genome, this was a single tourer in the middle of a big batch of saloons, so probably built to special order for someone in India. Can you save it?
Looks like the steering drop arms have been reversed to bring the track rod in front of the axle beam - maybe to fit a bigger engine, or does it retain its original OHC engine?
The general condition looks excellent. Any clue as to its history or why it has survived?
Fascinating!
Looks like the steering drop arms have been reversed to bring the track rod in front of the axle beam - maybe to fit a bigger engine, or does it retain its original OHC engine?
The general condition looks excellent. Any clue as to its history or why it has survived?
Fascinating!
-
KartikeyaL
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:37 am
- Location: Jaipur , India
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Ian,
I was truly thrilled when I found the Morris chassis no. on the dumb iron and could not believe what I saw, truly fascinated.
As far as the rescue mission is concerned, I will be meeting the dealer again in the next couple of days that I am in Bombay,
he bought it from somewhere in Gujrat ( Parth's state ) a few weeks back, the little
history that he told me was that the car belonged to a priest of some temple.
He has quoted me a very unrealistic price but I am trying my best, hope to either buy it myself
or to atleast find a good home, so that its not sold off as scrap.
interesting observation about the steering drop arms, I will soon find out and update about the engine.
by the way , the moment I came back from the Flea market the first thing I did was to open the Genome to find out about the
make of this car ; many thanks to the register for this treasure trove of information.
cheers
Kartik
I was truly thrilled when I found the Morris chassis no. on the dumb iron and could not believe what I saw, truly fascinated.
As far as the rescue mission is concerned, I will be meeting the dealer again in the next couple of days that I am in Bombay,
he bought it from somewhere in Gujrat ( Parth's state ) a few weeks back, the little
history that he told me was that the car belonged to a priest of some temple.
He has quoted me a very unrealistic price but I am trying my best, hope to either buy it myself
or to atleast find a good home, so that its not sold off as scrap.
interesting observation about the steering drop arms, I will soon find out and update about the engine.
by the way , the moment I came back from the Flea market the first thing I did was to open the Genome to find out about the
make of this car ; many thanks to the register for this treasure trove of information.
cheers
Kartik
-
KartikeyaL
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:37 am
- Location: Jaipur , India
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Well, the negotiations were held today too, and the dealer was adamant on a certain price,
that was when I asked him to list all the parts that he will give me with the car, and to show me
the engine, as Ian Grace had pointed out about the steering drop arms being moved forward to fit a larger engine perhaps,
and yes that is the case.
The engine is SV and am not sure about the make , it could be from some other car,
the body is non existing and that now brings me to the question:
Is it worthwhile trying to rescue the chassis with bits and pieces ?,
body can be reconstructed
but engine and gears would be difficult to find .
plus the cost involved .....
Kartik
that was when I asked him to list all the parts that he will give me with the car, and to show me
the engine, as Ian Grace had pointed out about the steering drop arms being moved forward to fit a larger engine perhaps,
and yes that is the case.
The engine is SV and am not sure about the make , it could be from some other car,
the body is non existing and that now brings me to the question:
Is it worthwhile trying to rescue the chassis with bits and pieces ?,
body can be reconstructedbut engine and gears would be difficult to find .
plus the cost involved .....
Kartik
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Well, he'll be lucky to get anything for it. I'd think that you and Parth are probably the only two individuals in India that might be seriously interested in it!
If it isn't likely to be going anywhere, maybe make an offer and keep in touch with him?
It would be a shame to see it lost - is getting it to England an option? Completing the car in India would be a monumental challenge, I would have thought.
If it isn't likely to be going anywhere, maybe make an offer and keep in touch with him?
It would be a shame to see it lost - is getting it to England an option? Completing the car in India would be a monumental challenge, I would have thought.
-
KartikeyaL
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:37 am
- Location: Jaipur , India
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Ian,
You are right , not many people would be interested in this , not many Morris cars have survived
and two under restoration are with Parth and me, I have been in touch with many vintage car
enthusiasts and owners and people usually associate morris with the later Morris Minor - Baby hindustan.
as far as this chassis and the bits are concerned they would be of no use to any one I can think of right now.
Exporting of vintage cars from India has been banned since long and so that option is not there.
I did make the dealer an offer today and hope to keep in touch with him, I am sure either he would get tired of it
and sell it for a reasonable price to me or he would look for somebody who falls for it without knowing the originality
of the car, which looks remote ( he has the chassis since almost 2 mnths now)
as you said it would be shame to see it lost and I do hope I can rescue it, buy it and store it, till I find another
minor which could be resurrected with the help of this lot or I find an OHV engine.
are OHV engines easily available in UK ? what would be the cost of shipping ? any ideas
regards
Kartik
You are right , not many people would be interested in this , not many Morris cars have survived
and two under restoration are with Parth and me, I have been in touch with many vintage car
enthusiasts and owners and people usually associate morris with the later Morris Minor - Baby hindustan.
as far as this chassis and the bits are concerned they would be of no use to any one I can think of right now.
Exporting of vintage cars from India has been banned since long and so that option is not there.
I did make the dealer an offer today and hope to keep in touch with him, I am sure either he would get tired of it
and sell it for a reasonable price to me or he would look for somebody who falls for it without knowing the originality
of the car, which looks remote ( he has the chassis since almost 2 mnths now)
as you said it would be shame to see it lost and I do hope I can rescue it, buy it and store it, till I find another
minor which could be resurrected with the help of this lot or I find an OHV engine.
are OHV engines easily available in UK ? what would be the cost of shipping ? any ideas
regards
Kartik
Re: M28904 : Another Minor in India
Kartik,
OHC engines are not that easy to come by and are expensive - at least partly because they fit the M Type MGs - hence you have to pay the MG sort of price for one. Having said that, it might be possible to source one within the Register membership at a more realistic price (any offers, guys?). And a Plan B would be to fit a SV engine - at least initially - until the correct engine turns up at some point in the future.
An option might be to make it into a nice special - which would save a lot of coachwork effort.
But I guess the first step is to see if it cvan be secured.
OHC engines are not that easy to come by and are expensive - at least partly because they fit the M Type MGs - hence you have to pay the MG sort of price for one. Having said that, it might be possible to source one within the Register membership at a more realistic price (any offers, guys?). And a Plan B would be to fit a SV engine - at least initially - until the correct engine turns up at some point in the future.
An option might be to make it into a nice special - which would save a lot of coachwork effort.
But I guess the first step is to see if it cvan be secured.