(EP2) Dismantling a Minor Traveller

[@Velocipedium]

Very instructive and interesting. Just a point about the cab section. The van & pickup use the shorter 4-door saloon doors, and the traveller uses the longer 2-door doors. The van also uses the B pillar complete with semaphore blank. So they are similar but not the same. You can’t just swop body styles. I always fancied making a 4-door traveller - that would need a van chassis.

[@x_x_x_x_x]

Tim has the patience of a saint - brilliant work

[@JamesG75]

I'm really enjoying this series so far Ian. A very interesting insight indeed. Looking forward to the next instalments!

[@grayfool]

I know how these cars are constructed but to see one come apart is quite something. I wouldn't wnat the bill for that job! Nice one guys, thanks.

[@janvandekerk6877]

He's such a lovely boy , isn't he !

[@jefferysmith3930]

Amazing that building technology from the early days of the motorcar was still being produced up until the 70’s. That is some seriously tedious work to disassemble without doing further damage. Love it!!! Keep the videos coming, Ian. Very enjoyable series.

[@FantaLaStrada]

Very good and informative video. Thanks Mr Hubnut for taking us to Cambrian Classics. Hope you go on some trips soon. I like watching you drive your car through England, Wales, and the rest of Europe. Especially like the invicar going really fast with the camera facing the windshield!

[@HubNut]

Thanks. There will be such a trip on HubNotes very soon. Editing it today.

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Another great video on the Traveller, it's amazing to see it being taken apart, a Traveller was my Grandfather's first car I beleive and I always remember him telling me about restraining or varnishing the wood.

[@paultaylor7082]

I've got a Traveller (F reg, Trafalgar Blue), most of the wood is OK. When it needs to be replaced, this is one job I wouldn't want to go near, I''ll leave it to the experts.

[@guyreadman]

Loving this series Ian. My Dad had a sky blue Traveller that I learned to drive on. Took my driving test in it in 1968 ( I was 17) during a downpour and can well remember having to do hand signals with the window wound down getting absolutely soaked. Every other year he would scrape the varnish off the wood with bits of broken glass and revarnish it. Many, many cars later my Dad's old Traveller is still my favourite!

[@iainf]

I’m pleased to see this as I’ve a Traveller in bits & these videos & comments show the love for a traveller. Interestingly a traveller has 2 door, doors & a van/pick up (different beefier chassis) has the 4 door, doors so you end up with less room in a van as in essence the cab space isn’t as long.

[@2tone209]

AY UP MR HUBNUT AND BRILLIANT CAMERA LADY MISS HUBNUT

[@jaggass]

I can't imagine how quickly Woodie's rotted back then when they were daily cars being driven in all types of weather. I bet many got scrapped because people couldn't afford new Ash frames. It's a shame you can't stop Woodie's rotting altogether but it's what happens. Mini Travellers look good too. Having wood in or on a car has always been a British thing and it looks great.

[@ohshitnotanotherknob]

Possibly not that quickly compared to the metalwork as the wood isn't effected by salt.

[@jaggass]

@@ohshitnotanotherknob Salt no water yes.

[@HowardLeVert]

Owners were expected to varnish the wood regularly - BMC sold the varnish as an accessory.

[@HubNut]

Though one issue is that you can't access all the bits that need varnishing...

[@jaggass]

@@HubNut As proven when the final bits of the frame was removed. Can't wait to see it all put back together.

[@hondamonkeyboy]

An excellent project for a YT video. I am really enjoying this.

[@raymondgill9796]

In the eighties Barry Humphries was doing a piece to camera as Dame Edna in Stratford on Avon when a traveller went past he quipped "look possums a tudor car!"

[@tristanpage6805]

Enjoying this. That construction could hold so many bad surprises!

[@Bicyclehub]

It amazes me how handmade the Traveller was. It seems incredible to build a car using screws and tacks. Great content, interesting commentary.

[@duncangrainge]

Well done Hubnut, another woody rescued. Excellent video thanks ✌️

[@backintimeben]

Loving this Hubnut. Adds something extra special to your channel.. The New format and energy you've gained show's in these new videos. Show as well your a genuine chap who enjoys not just your vehicles but willing to show who's there to help keep these vehicles alive Big thankyou Hubnut

[@antonioercolino6087]

Ian this is the complete opposite of Hubnuttery! You'd have used a mechanic's hammer and a crowbar to remove that roof in no time 😂😅🤣

[@ginggur17]

Wow, I never realised they were constructed with so much wood. 👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@notmanynamesleft]

I remember as a kid being scared to travel in my friends parents 'wooden car' I used to cringe at the thought of being involved in an accident and impaled with shards of splintered wood!

[@Ragnar8504]

That did happen! Thankfully not all that often but that's one reason why timber body structures fell out of favour. Labour costs and maintenance being another two major aspects of course. Austria banned timber body frames on new trams in 1957 because of the accident risk and in 1960, ten people died when an old tram ran away (sadly the driver suffered a heart attack and couldn't stop the tram, although he was also found to have been severely drunk), derailed and hit another old tram that then toppled over. If you think modern tabloids are gory, have a look at the press of that era! One article on that accident contained a map of the surrounding area with an array of crosses in one spot, denoting where the bodies had been laid on the pavement during cleanup! The bodywork stands up to the elements surprisingly well though. Some of these trams are still for hire and as far as I know very few of them have needed significant timber repairs over the past 30+ years.

[@notmanynamesleft]

@@Ragnar8504 wow very interesting 👍🏻

[@Bucharestguidedtours]

Great instalment on the Traveller, some real hand craftwork went into that back in the day. Best wishes.

[@paultaylor7082]

Vans are rarer and tend to be dearer than Travellers. I wish I'd kept my C Reg (1965) ex GPO van (painted dark blue, similar to Trafalgar Blue), I owned between March 1972 and March 1973. I sold it when the gearbox gave up the ghost. I replaced it with a 1960 948 Traveller in Smoke Grey and had that for a further 12 months, by then the wood rot had become terminal. Fast forward to July 2010, when I bought my current one, for £2700. The dearest models tend to be the older ones, the dearest of all are the pick ups, they're very rare.

[@Jamcam99]

Great video. Never knew there was so much hand building in them. Must have been very labour intensive.

[@stevem268]

this a wonderful project, my family had one decades ago when i was a child

[@smulh]

Next week - the wattle and daub version

[@gryfandjane]

Great stuff… it’s really interesting seeing how these bodies go together.

[@colinwithey6792]

I remember my brother doing the wood replacement on a traveler at a carpentry factory once

[@johnheaney414]

Brilliant series. Love it well done

[@tony-yp6qk]

Another great video has always Ian and miss hubnut and hublets and hubmutts 👍

[@silkyfan]

This series is really fascinating!

[@frothe42]

Interesting to see how a mass produced vehicle like this was also hand-crafted. The wood, fitting the panels, all done by hand, and I assume on a production line. And this was done decades ago without robots! Also interesting to see about the SU carburetor and craftsmanship that goes into that as well!

[@MrButtonpresser]

Proper British tinkering, marvellous!!

[@robertwhite361]

Thank you Ian! This is really interesting to me as the owner of a 1969 Traveller with original wood. I need to decide whether to attempt this myself. All the welding has been done on mine but the wood wasn't great when I bought it in the 1990's so I used my O level woodwork skills to restore the rotten bits. I have since done this twice and used more Ronseal wood filler each time. It is solid but the time has come for a new frame. One video I watched asked for tips on doing a frame change and the advice was "get someone else to do it". I have born this in mind since I heard it! The other factor is trying to do this in a single garage so up to now I have not been inclined to attempt it. I wonder if you could ask the guy at Cambrian Classics roughly how much it costs to do this? N.B. The Morris Minor vans have a separate chassis so are not quite the same as a Traveller without its wood. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this! Thanks again!

[@TheStobb50]

It’s easy to forget how popular these Morris travellers were, even into the late 70s it would be common to see at least two in every street

[@daniellee9015]

Brilliant video Ian 👍 where did we go wrong lovely little cars hand built back then now they don't last 5 mins that car will still be around when modern cars have gone the way of the dodo

[@HubNut]

Yeah, but how many times will the wood need replacing? ;-)

[@alansmith1770]

Very interesting Ian the Moggies wood is well rotted

[@hedydd2]

I worked on a farm in Scotland many years ago where they had three or four of the very late model pickups, which I suspect were just a traveller with a bulkhead behind the seat and none of the woodwork. A common issue with them was that every one of them needed your knee jammed against the gear lever when in third, to stop it jumping out of gear. They were all post-office red so I never could tell which was which. They also had a couple of Renault 4 cars which were much better vehicles.

[@matthewjenkins1161]

The vans and pickups used the smaller 4 door front doors and had a separate chassis, unlike the cars and travellers. The travellers, like the 2 doors had larger front doors to ease access to the back seat. I had a van that I let go for peanuts around a decade back, in hope it was to be restored rather than scrapped. DVLA indicates it has recently been issued a V5 so look out for OJN 146F.

[@hedydd2]

@@matthewjenkins1161 Useful information. Thanks.

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

That was interesting to see being done.

[@stusoldcars4248]

With all this knowledge your gaining there you should be able to tackle one yourself. 👍

[@HubNut]

Not sure about that! He's very good at making this look easy.

[@video99couk]

I had no idea the wood was structural. I thought that the wood was just stuck on the outside for show. These things were still being sold when Avengers were on the road, but technologically were of a different era.

[@HubNut]

Still being sold when the Citroen GS was on sale!

[@stephenshippam9374]

Hi Iain another great video really interesting and enjoyable Looking forward to your next one

[@garyholland4227]

I think I would get the van version after watching this.

[@HainjeDAF]

Love this series. You never dress that professional when working on your own vehicles :LOL: And nice to see Mrs. HubNut is there as well :)

[@johnwaga3702]

Very enjoyable!

[@rolandlivings2370]

Really Interesting keep them coming!

[@bigjohno242]

The first car I ever went in - December 1969 - my dad drove me home from the hospital after I was born - in a blue Morris traveller.

[@woofgbruk5947]

I can think of an ideal car for your next project, The Imp based Hillman Husky!

[@twocvbloke]

When people talk about rot in their car, they have no idea how much worse it could be if they had wood in the structure... :P

[@michaelwright2986]

Fungus. There is a book that opened my eyes to fungus: Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake. There's more to fungus than meets the eye (literally), and this book is informative, challenging, funny, and occasionally terrifying (predatory fungus; apparent signs of intelligence, or at least problem-solving in fungus). Nothing to do with motoring, unless your car has wood in it, though.

[@nevillecapper6529]

This video should be useful. As I have an elderly friend who has been restoring a traveller, but he has come to a halt for various reasons. and the car needs assembling now. Would be great to do it for him. ,as he’s not getting any younger.

[@meirionevans5137]

I see Miss HubNut has done her ptchoo handlers training. Not easy, much care required.

[@tonys1636]

Finally got to view, internet down most of the day. If one had enough money, up until a few years ago one could buy a new MM Saloon. A company had bought up all the NOS parts from BL and built a few hundred, to order, new ones from them. If any cash left over, a cherished number bought from DVLA and you had a period correct number plate to match. If very lucky it might have come from a MM.

[@frglee]

A chisel is not a tool I normally associate with car repairs, except for perhaps for when you get very bad tempered.

[@isaacplaysbass8568]

Is there such a thing as a caravan that suits the Traveller aesthetic? I'm loving the series so far :)

[@johnstonstewart9683]

Interesting stuff...

[@johnalees99]

A job where you need to be a panel beater, an upholsterer/trimmer, and a carpenter. Certainly a test of all the trades. I wonder if anyone has contemplated replacing the wooden frame with carbon fibre?

[@garychilds1130]

that's the easy part now you got to put it back together

[@HowardLeVert]

At 9:27 there is a pressed recess visible in the 'B' post - is this where the trafficators would have fitted on older cars?

[@HubNut]

Yes, I believe so.

[@brianreardon159]

I reckon the weld was put in by Grandad Hubnut 😁

[@HubNut]

My Grandad was a tank mechanic. I hope he was more competent than me!

[@paulbennell3313]

I'd be scared to death! I'd look at the diassembled car and go "What have I done?"

[@kevkfz5226]

interesting. see how it goes together. surprised its Ash. Not the most durable. But I guess Oak or mahagany would be too heavy.

[@jimmyquinn9639]

Good video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍👍

[@DavidKing-vs1nr]

Dear me. Looks like a job to be avoided!😂

[@williamwade641]

Very English, Dame Edna Everage called the them half-timbered motor cars.

[@weaton25]

I love the look of the old woodies but a thought that has often come to mind is would it not have been a good idea if some company could have pressed out a full side panel ok it would not have looked as good as the wood but it would have been a permanent repair and not as expensive as having to do this every ten years or so if it is going to be a daily driver and not a summer toy.

[@HubNut]

Problem is the wood is actually structural here.

[@rahmann936]

I've never driven a Minor traveler but I got a lift in one many moons ago. The art teacher who owned it never liked modern cars they all looked the same to me, too complicated to fix & that's why i have a classic car he said to me. Whilst he was driving it in slow moving traffic I noticed he was in third gear for some time so I said to him has it only got 3 forward gears? He said no it's a 4 speed, just not going fast enough to get into 4th he said. Okay I said, I was young & nieve at the time.😆

[@Phil_Wragg]

Good this 👍🏻

[@MrBobchat]

Someone should make all of the ash pieces out of aluminium . With the right finish it would still look great, just different and you'd only ever have to do it once. Or maybe there's a better material than aluminium that won't rot. It must cost a fortune to replace the ash which might only last 20 years in some conditions

[@lux1469]

Hi Ian, tangential question - where did you get the Matiz sills replaced? I have a 406 which needs some welding and I remember they looked like they did an excellent job... I also recall it was a Midlands company? Cheers, Jamie.

[@HubNut]

DFTR Automotive. They're pretty fully booked these days but worth an ask.

[@moschops2002]

Traveller cab & a Van cab are different. The Traveller uses the bigger doors from the 2 door saloon, whereas the van & pick-ups use the shorter doors from the 4-door. You'd never get into the back seat if it had the same doors as one of the LCVs!!

[@HubNut]

Thanks for that. I was wondering about door length in bed last night. As you do...

[@paultaylor7082]

Any chance of converting it to a pick up, then no problem with wood rot?

[@fv7765]

I was curious which wood type did they used when the Morris was out of factory?

[@HubNut]

Ash. Very common in the car industry for a time.

[@mrmitch5054]

Is there any way that the frame can be made out of non-rotting metal such as Aluminium

[@HubNut]

The wood is structural, so I don't think so.

[@alan-sk7ky]

4:55 whats this.... Hubnut hears a who!

[@johnathanpearson3203]

Charade please 👍

[@HubNut]

We've had to take some time out, but hoping to progress with Project Charade after Easter.

[@johnathanpearson3203]

@@HubNut can't wait. Please do a show and tell of the engine bay cleaning and restoration and rust removal. I find it relaxing to watch someone else work hard 👍

[@MattBrownbill]

When my dad's Moggie van went in for repair, they welded a cross member in, instead of bolting it. Result: can't remove gearbox, without taking engine out... 🤬

[@HubNut]

Ugh!

[@JC-he7yk]

This will be a case of the repair work costing more than the cars final value... Great job though

[@HubNut]

Not sure about that given Traveller values!

[@daviemaclean61]

Do we see a Traveller in HubNut's future fleet?

[@jamesdecross1035]

It's a bit like boat-building.

[@nickdoughty518]

How on earth did BL mass produce the Traveller profitably?

[@HubNut]

I suspect they didn't...

[@tonys1636]

I belive the Traveller was around £600 + PT when introduced about £100 more than the Saloon.

[@phillycheesetake]

Do you want the fun of maintaining a classic car compounded by the fun of maintaining a classic wooden yacht? Buy a traveller!

[@d2factotum]

They really didn't care about making these things easy to repair back in the day, did they? I thought Citroen engines were bad for that, but they've got nothing on this!

[@huwdavies6650]

The Naked Traveller.

[@stephinepaul7483]

Glad there was nothing major with this Minor..........Eeeeeee.

[@micheltebraake7915]

You have to be more of a carpenter than sheet metal worker.

[@tonys1636]

A coachbuilder was skilled in both.

[@Nathan1975Liggy]

that would make a wiked pickup

[@MrOvershoot]

They did a Pickup Morris Minor, I fitted a Fiat Twin Cam in one in 1984. It was bloody lethal but I was young & stupid, sold it to a friend who smashed it backwards into a tree.

[@glennboyd7049]

Morris did indeed produce a pickup version from the factory. It differed from the traveller in that it had a full-length steel chassis ( Traveller chassis only run from the front bumper to the doors. The rest of the chassis being the wooden fame, which is structural. Hence you do not want to wood to be in a poor condition. Its not just aesthetics!) Unlike the traveller you can now buy replacement chassis for the pickup, which are galvanised and a real boom for restorers.

[@HubNut]

To be fair, the rear floor is the chassis on these and is still steel, along with the inner wings. The wood is ultimately what stops it folding in half though...