From traditional panel beating and welding to paint re-spraying and trim work, it goes without saying that it would be challenging to restore a Morris Minor to its former glory without some basic mechanical skills.

Tim Brennan, Company Director at Charles Wares Morris Minor Centre, said: “If you have these skills then it is a relatively easy car to restore. Knowledge of the quirks and tricks to get the best possible finish comes from experience and can’t be underestimated.”

Restoration is ‘labour and skill intensive’ – not for the faint-hearted. For those individuals who are inexperienced in restoring cars and too wary of going it alone, and choose a specialist such as Mr Brennan’s company to restore their Morris Minor, owners should be aware that it is a real challenge to keep the costs of labour down and that the costs of restoring a classic car, no matter how small and quirky, can quickly add up.

“One can’t just buy a part and fit it as one would with a modern car,” he said. “Rust and wear and tear of related parts can mean that what appears to be a minor problem can have wider related issues. For example, replacing a wing will often mean replacing the flitch (inner wing) and maybe work would need to be done on a chassis leg or engine tie plate so that the whole area is sound.”

For some engineers, restoring classic cars can prove to be a nightmare – mainly due to the time-consuming and often frustrating task of sourcing high quality parts and in the worst case scenarios, having to cast new parts, to considerable expense. But this does not appear to be the case with Morris Minors.

“Spare parts are still in quite plentiful supply,” he added. “There are genuine parts and pattern parts. There are sometimes problems with parts, how they fit or quality of materials, but in general the quality is quite high given that the car went out of production 40 years ago. Our parts department is always looking at the quality of supply, communicating closely with manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that any problems are dealt with quickly and corrections are made. 

“Where we can, we try to provide a dual supply. We offer high quality, but more expensive parts and a cheaper alternative, where there may be a little extra time involved fitting, but the quality is sound. We do not cast parts at the centre. But our panel beaters and welders will often have to make repairs to panels from scratch. Especially with Vans and Pick-ups where there are no new cab and rear panels made.”

THE CHALLENGE OF KEEPING COSTS DOWN

“The newest Minor you will find is going to be over 42 years old,” Mr Brennan said. “In that time most cars will have undergone much work at the hands of restorers and mechanics of various degrees of competence. They will also have dealt with years of weathering and bad storage. Rust is the main issue in a car like this and the welders in our workshops have seen a long-term deterioration in the state of the chassis. 

“This leads to a lot of unforeseen consequences even to experienced restorers. Dealing with these problems effectively, for long-term durability, can see costs ‘spiral’, as the time taken, to do the restoration properly, increases. Skilled labour and sourcing the best quality parts can keep these costs down. 

“We also work with the customer by doing the more difficult technical jobs and they can complete the more straight-forward jobs themselves.”