Vintage Minor Register

As a new member I thought that I would dip my toe into the water with an introductory 'first post'. Looking around for a project to occupy some retirement free time I had a rebuild in mind, having rebuilt modern sports cars and a kit car in the past. I bought my 1930 Minor, unseen(!), from e-bay, partly perhaps because it was described as 'an easy rebuild' (!), and partly because I liked the idea of resurrecting a piece of motoring history. What has amazed me since, and in a very short period of time, is how much support and information the clubs provide. My head is literally spinning from the detail I have tried to absorb over the past few weeks! The depth of knowledge is astounding, and I find it a great comfort to know that support is at hand when required.
Needless to say my car is not as sound as I first thought, but the challenges that it poses are not insurmountable! The dreaded woodworm are much in evidence, and various patch repairs have been carried out to the saloon body. My aim is soon to remove the metal body from the wooden frame and carry out all necessary repairs before reassembly. This will also mean reinstating the folding head which the car lost years ago. (Thanks to Tony Gamble who is supplying me the mechanism, and possibly some other missing parts).
Well that's all for now. The interior is stripped out, the front end is off, and hopefully the body will be ready for 'lift-off' soon after Xmas, (although the garage is currently freezing cold!) I take inspiration from all the other good work being done out there, and from the pictures available. If I can get anywhere near Halbe's standards I will be well pleased. (Greetings Halbe from the second club VG !)
When I have got the hang of compressing and sending pictures I will send some in.
My regards to all of you, Mike.

Hello Mike,

Welcome to the VG club! It's good to see you on the forum.
When I joined the VMR ,nearly one year ago, I had exactly the same welcome as you!
Today I can only say that joining the VMR and Morris Minor community has been great and more enjoyable than most other car clubs i know
Do start a new thread on the 'our cars' part, and try to post as many pictures as possible, once you get the hang of it it's really easy.

Regards,

Halbe

Hi Mike,

I echo Halbe's welcome and am delighted to hear that your joining has been an uplifting experience - I suppose it can only go down hill from here!

Now the Members' Area has been fixed (see the Problems thread), you can have fun rummaging around in there. I e-mailed you the username and password on 18th November - while you were in Egypt. Let me know if you would like me to re-send that e-mail.

Yes, do please start an Our Cars thread for VG 3260. If you need any help with this or with uploading pics, you can e-mail them to me and I can upload them for you.

For the record:

VG 3260
Chassis M30850
Original engine U30221
Current engine U28087
Body MP6528
Chassis laid down 25/11/30
Tested 25/11/30
Body shop 28/11/30
Final test 1/12/30
Despatched 2/12/30
Coachbuilt saloon
First registered 1/1/31
Acquired by Mike Houston October 2008
Previous owner Bill Tuckey - VMR member
Previous owner Geoff Thornton - VMR Honorary Member

Ian,
You will be pleased to hear that I have spoken on the phone to Bill Thornton who owned this car 40 years ago. Unfortunately he could not remember much about it, but he did dispel my impression that the paintwork might be original. Apparantly when he bought it, (for £10!), it was black and an aquaintaince of his coachpainted it in 'British Rail 1st class blue'! So much for originality. Still eventually I will be looking to return it to as near to the original blue as possible, and have seen a thread referring this subject. I hope to have some pictures to you soon,
Regards, Mike.