1950 Morris Minor Low Light Business Coupe - Dashing

Picture 1 to keep the identity of the car, the others could be a Simca or some other ghastly creation.

Got the grinder out again today. First I sat the car a tad lower, welding some stands to the closest thing I could find to structural metal underneath.

Next, after some bracing, the join between the roof and body was brought forward to where the roof currently ends. Something you realise cutting up these cars is that they were never perfectly square to begin with, and there is not one straight panel - The join between roof and body had to be split and will need a filler panel several cm wide made up as the body is that much wider 160mm forward.

Here is where I got to today:








Here's what it will look like with the gaps filled:








And here's where it will sit when the doors are lengthened by the intended amount:








I'm nervous about lengthening the door as there are so many competing curves, hopefully the relatively small amount of increase in length will mean that the panel will still flow as it should. Any thoughts?

Looking at the lines again I am wondering if I can get away with shortening the window line a bit further instead of lengthening the doors.










Which do you prefer - longer doors or shorter side windows?

I really like the look of those Buick Y Job lights, could be a very neat solution.

I like the concept of the stretch as being tall my shoulders sit behind the B pillar, especially once the seat is lowered, and longer doors tied in with the sleeker profile, but as you have seen in my last photo comment, I am starting to ask myself the same question. I thought that bringing the end of the side window forward far enough to make the original B pillar look right might also be challenging, but the mockups look promising.

Catwalk definitely needs a big tweak. The belt line actually visually dipped as it went to the corners of the roof from factory, and once I brought that up to eyeball square it raised the middle quite notably, possibly too far. I slapped a couple of short bits of flat bar between the boot and the belt to just get the 2 panels aligned at the end of the day, but there definitely needs to be a lot more curve and finesse in that area. I've slit the panels either side of the boot to allow as much play as possible in how that panel transitions.

Shortened the side windows by 2.5cm and tacked in a pillar

Thanks. It's interesting how the perceived height or the roof changes with the window length. Suddenly the roof looks like it could come down a fraction more, but I don't think I would, as it would accentuate how tall the body is.

I think I'm happy with the boot length, if I brought the back of the roof further forward the rear may start getting out of balance.

It was clear in my photos, but as it sits the middle of the belt line across the back rises noticeably above the bonnet height. Seeing how it looks here shaved to bonnet height I think it would be quite OK for it to rise close to where it is trying to in the flesh.

I think next stage will be locking in the front half of the roof - double checking heights and angles at the windscreen, setting B pillars correctly and tying them to the roof, running a new seam for the top door rubber, getting the doors properly hung and their window frames right, then I can start finesses the rear half of the roof and the transition to the boot.

I may have the opportunity to acquire a Vauxhall Victor F parts car in coming months. A dashboard graft from one of these has been on my wish-list. A little too space-age for the body style perhaps without a more radical chop, but one of my favourite period dashboards, so it is tempting.

I did understand that thanks. Already put those slices in, but will need to probably tack the boot lid to the opening before moving it/fixing it in place at the correct angle as the surrounding panel distorts quite easily despite the pressing for the boot seal.