Arthur's Arrival

As a kid I had a pretty wierd fascination with Morris Minors, all started by my dad when he restored a 1000 Traveller when I was about 8. Luckily I grew out of it, though recently my dad bought a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow to put back on the road, and it got me thinking that I fancied restoring something myself.

After a surprise birthday present from the missus and my parents, I'm now the proud owner of a great little project car that I've decided to call Arthur (no reason - it's an old car, and Arthur sounds like an old mans name).

Arriving on the back of a trailer

Its a 1956 series two, 4 door saloon, and has been off the road since 1976 when the owner decided to store the car under a carpet in a barn and then forgot about it. The car sat there for over 30 years until the owners cleared out the barn in 2008 and the car was found.

It doesn't look too bad arriving on the back of a trailer in the sunshine, however there is a bit of work to do. Aside from the general stuff you'd associate from a car that hasn't moved since before I was born (cracked tyres, crappy brakes, window seals perished), most of the work is the usual stuff for Minors (wings, patches in the floor, etc). Unfortunately I wont have the joy of getting it started for the first time, as this was already done by previous owner, but I'm going to give the engine an overhaul anyway.

I'm also keeping a blog of the whole project from start to finish. It'll keep me busy during lulls while saving for parts, and hopefully people might reply with some friendly tips and advice on any specific problems I'm having, or suppliers of elusive parts.

Here's some pictures before I get started: