Mike is keen to track down his beloved restored Morris 8
A FORMER motor repair specialist has begun a search to find one of his beloved restoration projects from the late 1970s.
The car in question, a Morris 8 Series E, featured in The Journal, a seasonal magazine published by the Morris Register in autumn 1981.
Mike Jeffreys, who has restored and repaired his fair share of vehicles as a business and as a hobby, was curious to know what happened to his Morris 8 after a recent article in the Guernsey Press about Amos Ozanne, who was reunited with his car, 59 years after selling it.
Mr Jeffreys said that when he found it, it was just a heap of rust in a hedge in a field in St Peter’s, and passed it by.
He and fellow restorers, Ian Smith, Pete Robert and Charles Jeffreys, then thought ‘what the heck’, purchased it for £40 in 1979 as its 14th owners, and began working on it.
‘It was a heap of rust with some metal showing,’ said Mr Jeffreys.
Required parts were no longer available to assist with the restoration, so a Morris spares retailer in Cumbria made up parts specially.
‘The amount of work that went into it is off the scale – it was worth around £1,500 in the end.'
He estimated it took two to three years to complete, before he sold the car and his business in 1981.
One thing that is not so common anymore is the use of cellulose paint, which allows for a glossy appearance and had better resistance to impact and scratches.
It has not been used for more than 30 years due to its high volume of volatile organic compounds.
Mr Jeffreys said that the Morris 8 was repainted in its original deep green and black bodywork.
‘I know that Barry Le Prevost bought it from me in 1981 but I lost track of it after that, the registration has likely changed. Never say never, it could still be alive and here in Guernsey.'
It is understood that there are only 19 Morris 8s registered and with an MOT in the UK.
Anyone with information about the car can call Mr Jeffreys on 07781 164196.
