9/7/13: Moggy Update

Despite my slightly off-putting start yesturday morning, I have soldiered on today, sanding and varnishing the back and the other side of my car to yesturday, meaning that I only have 1 more bit, and load of coats of varnish, to finish the job.

This is a prospect that excvites me greatly as I am not ery good at finishing a job, so the idea of actually getting there is great! I have also had a lot of fun doing it today. There is something quite theraputic about it, and I now feel a lot closer to the car, I feel like I should be taking a bit more care when driving and looking after it. This is all good stuff.

I have also been thinking a lot about what Ishould be doing as the next steps with the car too. I know I need to do the wheels, and I would really like to build a caravan or a trailer of some sort, but it is what and how that is puzzling me. I quite like the idea of a teardrop trailer, yet I also like the idea of it looking a little bit like a chicken run, seeing as the car has been a farm runaround for a large part of its life. 

However thinking into the long term, I thought about the wood and the bodywork. The trouble is, to replace all the wood and respray the bodywork, it seems to me like you take away all the character of the car. That little bit of a scratch adn a dent here and there tells a story of the cars working past, and the discolouration in the wood adds to the authenticity of the car. In fact, I think I will preserve the little scratches and lumps and bumps, it is a part of the cars heritage and that is something I should be proud to be driving round in.

So really the work on my part is going to be in making the car look as wacky as I can: roof racks; suitcases and picnic hampers; floral galands and dreamcatchers; things like number plates, wheel trims and seat covers; and finally trailers and other addons.

I defintely feel the need for another post about the trailer. Imagine how cool it would be to drive around towing a little chicken run, which is actually a fully operating caravanette, with bed, cooker, storage and even some little gadgets and stuff!

Thanks for reading!

Moggy Update 7/7/13

After spending an absolutely scorching afternoon in England (we only get 2 a year so I have to let everyone know) in a Park with LOADS AND LOADS of cars, I thought I would take this moment of inspiration to fill you in on the progress (or not-so-progress) on Lucy.

I always like talking about things I am going to do. It means I can sound like a very busy person, when, in reality, I do bugger all. Until now. Tomorrow is D-Day. That's right, the weather forecast says 27 degrees, working party has been gathered and the order has been placed at the chippy and the tab opened at the pub.

We Are Ready.

About 8.30 tomorrow morning I will be starting to strip Lucy ( naughty :0 ) of her varnish, and make her look really stunning with a new coat of the finest UV Waterproof Protection Oil, and some standard issue brown wood filler, to get this baby looking hot. 

As I sit here listening the Gentlemen by PSY, I can't help but feel inspired. If you are unsure as to what I mean (which you should be, I will put it that way) just watch the video on YouTube, along with the other 50 bilion people, and imagine Lucy in that film... And also not Korean...

So I will by seeing my fellow Morris Minor Enthusiasts bright and early in the morning, where we will finally get this bloomin' job done. 

I can't wait to make some progress to be honest with you, and hope this will be a catalyst to loads more good work to come.

To keep up to date with tomorrow's progress, follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Thanks for reading!

Moggy Update 3/6/13: Some rusty troubles...

I thought I would update you again with progress of Lucy's life and restoration. Unfortunately, after all my excitement on starting work on the woodwork... it never happened. Bloomin' English weather is all I can say! However I have been keeping a keen eye on the weather forecast and have noticed a significant improvement towards and into the weekend which I am looking forward to finally getting stuck in.

This doesn't mean I haven't been busy though. I seem to have had a few issues, maybe brought on by the winter, others that just used the winter as a catalyst to break stuff. I have been plagued by the unfortunately inevitable rust trouble. This is something non-avoidable on a classic car, so it's a case of if not when. I have been very lucky though as I seem to just get corroded parts, as apposed to the bodywork. As soon as the bodywork starts getting rusty, it travels through it like a virus, attacking everything and leaving nothing but rusty flakes on your drive when you go out the next morning...

I have had 2 things to sort out over the past week. The first, I noticed that my tyres were wearing slightly unevenly, with the worst wear on the inside. So I took it down to the local tyre pace to ask them to balance my tyres. Turns out it wasn't the balancing, it was the tracking. Ahhhh...

So I went back to my local mechanic, who booked Lucy in for the next day and gladly fixed the tracking for all of £15 (how he can do work for the little is beyond me). Turns out she was an absolute mile out, so no wonder the tyres were wearing unevenly!

Anyway, I have also had a bit of a boost in the sound my car makes due to a slightly rusted and broken... So I kind of need to get a new one I think. So my gran, bless her, dutifully went and got a couple of quotes from her favourite mechanics and came back to me, both of whichw ere cheaper than I could buy the part on the internet and fit it myself. So upon this revelation, I went down to my local mechanic and spoke to him. I am currently toying between going for a stainless steel one or just a normal galvanised one. The thing is, seeing as this is a car which I will have for a very long time, no question, I want things to last me a long time, so that means it is a bit of a no-brainer on going for a stainless steel one, as it will last more than twice as long as the bog-standard model. So for an extra £15 (which it seems I have already spent on the tracking so might as well spend it again on an exhaust) I wouldn't mind betting that the stainless steel one is a better option.

So that is where I am up to with dear Lucy. In the process of sorting out the exhaust and a beautifully aligned tracking, I am good to go! And with the prospect of the weather improving enough to actually get down to do some woodwork on her, I am excited! All is well with the world.

Apart from the fact I will have to splash out the best part of £100 at some point in the near future for a new exhaust... Bad times...

Thanks for reading.
Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Lucy The Moggy Update 28/06/2013

Well what a few months it has been for dearest Lucy. She has been to the grim north twice, and also to see about 1000 of her friends in oxfordshire at the Morris Centenary Rally at Cornbury Park. She has also had a lot of attention for her human supporters, namely me, and is about to get a full makeover...

We have been visting the relatives that Lucy came from more regularly this year, as they have 3 holiday cottages which we are trying to renovate. My working shifts disallow visits at weekends, but during the week I can pop up quite happily on my own, and so Lucy has been the fateful one to get me and a load of other stuff up there, and back, safely. Which I must add, she has done twice so far! Also my Great Uncle, from whom the car originated has much appreciated seeing Lucy again and on the road, running in her former glory.

Then the other weekend, I took some time off and headed down to Charlbury, a little village in Oxfordshire, with the most ginormous stately home and grounds, where the MMOC National Rally was held in conjunction with the Centenary celebrations event of International recognition, to celebrate 100 years of Morris car manufacturing, and massive feat in itself. And yes, we did see some vehicles from 1913! So she spent a day in a field full of Morris Minors, and lots of other different types of Morris, which both of us really enjoyed.

Now, onto the makeover bit. This is the most interesting bit for me as it has been something I have been wanting to do since I got Lucy. I have just received the varnish and scrapers to start to redo Lucy's woodwork! With a lot of time over the summer, and with any luck (or not knowing Britain) the weather on my side, I can't wait to get out and start work on re-varnishing the woodwork. When the rain actually stops of course!

Alongside this, I have also picked up a roof rack from my Great Uncle's farm which I have now found some suitable attire for: in the form of a suitcase from the 60s and a wicker picnic hamper, as you can see in the picture below:

So the minor is really starting to look the part, and I hope to be able to take some lovely photographs of her when the skies show a hint of blue in them, whilst I keep looking around for vinatge suitcases! As an aside, if you have any you are looking to get rid of, then let me know!

There is loads more on the way this summer in terms of Lucy and her restorations and adventures, so please feel free to keep checking my blog for further updates on my baby!

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146