Squire's voitures

[DodgeRover]

I lump of copper might be less burny than wood whilst achieving the same outcome

[Hooli]

I've seen it done with wood, but yes that's probably a good point.

[fried onions]

The scrapper arrived to-day, and not before time. And no, before you say "why did they leave two cars behind", the scrapper I refer to is this 2-door saloon donor car. My station wagon still needs a lot of work, I am convinced its done nearly 200,000 miles. Mechanically it is shagged and although solid the bodywork is tatty. Hence the donor car with low mileage oily bits and some better panels.

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One careful lady owner, serviced every 1,000 miles, low mileage, WCPGW?

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I can't remember a Boniface and Cousins from my time in Fareham a few years ago, unless they morphed into one of the many new car dealerships there now, in which case I wouldn't have been paying attention anyway. W. Edmunds and Sons the GM dealer in Warsash might still be going.

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And as a Billy Bonus I get a period Unipart battery for the Aggy, which although long given up its last volt is just the thing for the concourse engine bay....

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I wiped it clean and stashed it in the garage. Definitely not one for the scrap battery pile.

So, the plan is to strip what I want off the car, swapping the better panels over to my station wagon, and salvage the entire engine and transmission. I believe the mileage to be probably genuine, which will be much better for me once I get around to fitting them and freeing the seized engine. I have often read the 948 'A' is the sweetest of the bunch, and is what my car should have anyway, not the 1098 engine fitted. That's in trouble now, because on the drive back from my soon to be relinquished storage in North Wales yesterday it showed signs of steadily getting worse. Kangarooing under light throttle and severe drop in the radiator water level point to head gasket problems, in addition to the dipstick indicating an extremely low oil level despite filling up before I set off. It's getting on time for some serious work.

[Hooli]

£2.70 for a service, those were the days!

[mercrocker]

Shame when a cherished Minor has to reach the end of its life, especially one as unmolested as that saloon.....We all know how expensively difficult they are to repair properly, though!

A stitch in time would have saved it long ago....

Regarding the local-to-me dealerships, both were functioning in the 1950s - Boniface & Cousins had an Austin agency (together with Humber!) presumably until the BL days. Edmunds of Warsash are now defunct but I seem to remember it being one of the Vauxhall dealers that were amalgamated into Picador in nearby Sholing. In the Fifties they were Morris agents....

I don't know which premises they operated out of but the long-held garage of Boniface & Cousins is now the Kwik-Fit in Fareham.

[mercrocker]

£2.70 for a service, those were the days!

And no "environmental" fees!

[fried onions]

It might live again. Once I've got what I want I'll punt the rolling shell on, as it's a 2-door it could be taken on by one of the custom/race guys with workshop facilities and the budget to do it. The headlining is mint. It is a shame it fell on hard times, but at least its not going to scrap.

[mercrocker]

No, it is the best outcome what is happening in your hands.....Mine has lost all of its originality over the years and probably still needs nearly as much work as that one! The front carpets at least might do you a turn, too. Trouble is with Minors that a little rot in the wrong places is as expensive to repair as lots of rot if it is to be done properly....

[fried onions]

If you need any parts just holler.

[MLOR]

I stuck Boniface and Cousins into Gurgle and found this article.
Hopefully of some interest.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/ ... irefox-b-d

(From Cache to defeat their blasted "register to see our site" )