Hello everyone.
I was bitten by the classic car bug through suren181's fiat and not least, Hillram's amazing collection of classics.The way these guys used to talk about their cars was enough to make one feel like its truly a pleasure.Then came Stanher as well and his love for all things old just oozes with genuine appreciation and one cannot help but fall into submission to appreciate their efforts. I blame the above three for getting me hooked as well! .
There are tons of old cars running about in all their glory post restorations on here as well and it was always a nostalgic feeling, the pureness one gets to sense in these old charmers is something i craved for. Albeit, i wanted the same but wasn't inclined towards the FIATS as such. It was always going to be a Rover mini or a Morris to ever get my own attention and bring them to fruition. Mini's are by and large scarce and i wasn't inclined to spend the kind of prices quoted for them. Spending that kind of money and still having to do a resto was out of the equation and hence, the search continued for a MM.
After bout 3 months of soul searching within myself in trying to figure out if this craving of mine was a passing phase, the bug had not diminished and i finally decided its bout time i fulfill my wish. Yes, i spent a fair few hours fantasizing about it online, downloaded pics ... hot rod way , retro way, crazy engine swap way, roof chop way - all ways possible and cherish-able!. The virtual desire finally ended and i landed up with some news from a friend bout a lil curvy car all covered up in a street. My passion for wanting one had rubbed off on all my pals and the quest and effort to find one was a much easier task as they did all the hard work and spotted one!.Yes!!! .... the curvy lil one was indeed a Morris and not the Baby Hindustan. I'll leave the trivia out for now since you lot are way ahead of me in that department and just go ahead with the only pic i currently have of the car . Ravveendra was gracious enough to accompany me in "le tank" and helped me in the purchase. After a lengthy chat with the owner bout all things possible under the planet (Shyam would know bout this as well, lol ) we finally discussed bout the car and came away with it!. I proudly present
Curvy to all of you'll .
This is a 1953 4-door MM .How i wish i could find a low light model!. Anyways..... the body, chassis and floor is in real bad condition but mechanically there are not many shocks. All we had to do at the time of purchase was to fill her tank up, pump the tyres and get going. Once again thanks to Rav's Laura and the tools he's kitted up with. He even had Allen keys which helped unblock a loose tyre valve!!.
Ofcourse, there was the standard, "thoda bonet kolkey pump manually karna, thabhi start hogi gaadi" and other standard practices.. but they were all giving me a buzz!. We covered close to 15kms en route to the garage and had no issues whatsoever even in stop go traffic . I was idling for 5-10 mins at times near traffic signals and hoped that the vehicle wouldn't heat up on me. It surprisingly didnt and the only problem i had was finding the gears to slot- what with lever travel close to a whole 2ft in all directions, lol.
Right, that's that for the intro part. I'm yet to inspect the vehicle thoroughly and hence cannot request for much assistance right away. Rest assured, im confident that with the help of the members knowledge on here ( I'll need plenty of it ) and the quality of info available all across this forum, that I'll be able to get this car back into shape and fulfill my craving for old pureness in driving pleasure.
In case the intro above has confused anyone on what i plan to do as a final result ... the answer is I've decided Curvy would be restored as stock and as original as possible through every inch - lets hope the SU-carb doesn't scare me off the 1st time i crank her post the restoration, lol.
It'll be a week before I return home and be able to take detailed snaps on her condition.Any feedback and comments prior to commencement of this restoration is much appreciated and eagerly anticipated from you lot.
cheers
Arun.