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Crunch Car: 1960 Morris Minor 1000 Traveler

right

This little Traveler for sale on eBay in Bangor, Pennsylvania could be an interesting project but big project for someone. The BIN is $4995. It needs collision repair on the left front as well as all or at least part of the wood frame repaired or replaced. The wood frame is a structural part of the car and not just decorative. Complete wood kits as well as individual pieces are available. The collision damage will also need to be repaired, of course. The engine starts on starter fluid but likely will need a new fuel pump as well a the carbs rebuilt. Here’s a video of the engine starting. And the brakes don’t work.

front left

The owner describes the damage as a “glancing blow”. It appears it was no passing glance.

engine

As you can see, the inner fender will need repair and there seems to be no radiator support. The previous owner was not able to start the car but the current owner discovered the distributor was 90 degrees off.

inside right

The seats are not original. Hopefully, a set of the correct seats can be found.

dash

There’s not much to the dash and this looks complete. An original style ignition switch will need to be found and installed, of course.

under

It looks very promising underneath. It’s mostly solid and rust free but there is this damaged section.

right rear

The tops of those front seats just look wrong, don’t they? You can see some of the wood rot at the bottom of the vertical frame in this picture. Repaired, this car could be worth between $15,000 and $20,000. The replacement wood could cost $5000 or more. Then there’s the front end repair and the mechanical work. At this point, it looks like it would take more to restore this, or even make it drivable, than it’s worth. This would have to be a labor of love. Do you think this Traveler is worth repairing? I think one could find a nice driver for less.

Comments

  1. Avatar Chris in Nashville

    Absolutely love these and have always wanted one and would be up for the project in the more realistic 3k neighborhood. Just can’t see 5k here…

    Like 0
    • Avatar Adam

      Hey, are you still looking? I have some of these for sale. thanks Adam

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Michael Cornish

    Wheeler dealers have done one of these
    Mike Brewer found a place in the uk that did the whole wood frame in Ash for about £1500. Parts are very cheap and plentiful from the uk for Morris Minors
    Great project

    Seats look incorrect though in this one

    Like 0
    • Avatar David Member

      The current price from Traverer Timbers, http://www.travellertimbers.co.uk/prices.html for a complete kit is 3150 pounds, or about $4500. Those seats do look terribly out of place,especially, as I pointed out, from the rear. Those highback seats are just wrong, aren’t they?

      Like 0
  3. Avatar Roger Owen

    Bit overpriced me thinks. The wood on these is structural, but not as expensive as $5k. From the one picture of middle underside – looks ok, but you would need to check carefully fore & aft. Twin carbs? Seat replacement is common for Moggies Alfa Romeo seats are a good fit.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Roger Owen

    Wood kit a lot cheaper here;

    http://www.morrisminorspares.net/shop_item.php?ID=4813

    And, with my loyalty card I’d get 10% off!

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Van

    Are these as much fun as they look?
    I’ve seen one with wire wheels that looked cool. I’m assuming their very slow.
    I’d be tempted to put a bigger 4cyl under the bonnet.
    How about TR6 wires, and a boogie board on the roof, kind of a beach boys woody.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Roger Owen

    They are enormous fun to drive! Very slow??? – Not a bit, my 1960 948cc kept up well with modern traffic – legal limit of 70 MPH with ease. This one will have the 1098cc engine and has twin carbs – should go like a rocket if the engine is in good fettle.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Geoff S.

      Accidentally hit report instead of reply whilst scrolling through. D’oh! Sorry, as we say in Canada!

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Blyndgesser

    If it’s too slow for you, a 1275cc A-series from an MG Midget is a direct bolt in and is good for about 72 hp. Some folks go further by swapping in a Fiat 124 twin cam with a five speed.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Bob Hess

    Drive train all AH/MG Midget running gear. Carbs are off the A series engines in the Spridgets. The 1275 makes a great engine for these cars if you want more power. Those carbs with a different street cam and a little more compression does wonders for the 948 that’s in it now. There is also an adaptor to put the Spridget disc brakes on the front.

    Bob

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Van

    Dam that sounds like fun. Just need heat reflective paint on top to help with southern heat.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Doug M. (West Coast)

    My son found one of these his senior year in high school, (about 20 years ago). Decided it would make the perfect school commuter car, so bought it and started driving daily. However, he soon found out it was a “fair weather car” because when it rained, and he would turn on the windshield wipers, it would blow a fuse. Problem is, the electric fuel pump was wired to the same fuse! 50 feet later, he was pulling over to the side with no power!

    Great, fun car overall, though!

    Like 0
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Your wiper/fuel pump situation was just one of the many special safety ideas from the Joseph Lucas Company. They knew it was not safe to drive in the rain without working windscreen wipers, hence they joined the wipers & fuel pump together with the same fuse!

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Paul B

    Good car overpriced. $1500-2000 considering all that must be done, and then you’d have a fighting chance not of breaking even, but of at least controlling losses for a labor of love.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar stillrunners

    Had a coupe and almost one of these….twin carbs and extra gauges say this was hot rodded before putting on those bolt on disks….

    Like 0
  13. Avatar MGSteve

    FWIW, there’s really only supposed to be one gauge on the dash, that being the big ol’ speedo. All the others have been added, although somewhat nicely. If you’re looking for pure originality, that’s about 4 holes to fill. If you want to know what’s going on, well . . . leave ’em!

    Like 0
  14. Avatar BarryP

    Coming from the UK I have seen a lot of these and there is still a lot of them on the road over in Jolly Old England. A friend of mine from school had a coupe and one of the things that he did and a lot of others did was to put a rover V8 in it. Now I don’t remember how much work it took to put one into the car but did it fly. It sure was a lot of fun to drive until he took a corner too fast and a tree ended its life

    Like 0
    • Avatar Van

      I hate hearing stories with this kind of ending. What do they say, the Lord watches over children and fools.
      I had a spitfire in the driveway for a year with a v6 turbo under the hood. It was going to be more work to make it stop and turn than it was worth to me. Sold engine, then the car. Anytime us old timers see someone making this kind of mistake I think we’re obligated to say something.
      Hopefully your friends family have healed from this and are doing alright.

      Like 0
  15. Avatar Roger Owen

    Don’t forget the brake lights that come on as you press the hooter!

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    Am I the only one who noticed that while the seats might not be original, the duct tape on the driver’s seat is the same color as the dashboard!

    Like 0

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