34 replies to this topic

[andysmini1]

Hi All

Well this is an odd one! I am about to take on for the 3rd time a total rebuild of a car that i have owned twice before spanning over 9 years! Here's the story:

I bought Rosie over 9 years ago from a young girl down on the south coast. She was a 998cc Auto Mk3 in pretty good condition (and so was the MINI !!!! LOL) but needed a few panels to make good.

I'm not sure how long i had her but after some fiddlin i sold her on to a friend who fixes up mini's for a living. After a few years i had the urge to build a mini and found out that my mate still had Rosie so i bought her back. He had fitted a new front and here is what she looked like before she came home.




I stripped the car to her bare bones and spent many an unhappy hour under the car getting rid of the mild surface rust and coating the whole underside in rust treatment. After a while i got fed up with all that and wanted to build another kit car which i did. My mate had the car back and now after 3 years I'm buying her back!!! This time it's for keeps.

I'm going to build a std looking car with 10" wheels (not decided which yet!), disc brakes, original colour but with cream roof and a hot engine. Just about everything going on the car will be new or recon. I'll post pics when the car arrives. Can't wait!

Edited by andysmini1, 18 November 2009 - 04:57 PM.

[mk1leg]

nice orignal looking mini are you going to keep it that way............

[andysmini1]

No. See below.

Edited by andysmini1, 21 May 2009 - 04:43 PM.

[andysmini1]

I have decided to paint the car myself and have bought the paint already. It's Land Rover Marine blue and it's an oil based paint the same as Rustoleum. This means being able to paint the shell at home and save £££££££'s I already have a tin of Old English White Rustoleum in the garage so that will go on the roof and perhaps the 4.5x10" Cooper S wheels.

This is the colour:

Edited by andysmini1, 21 May 2009 - 04:45 PM.

[Deathrow]

Looks a good base to start with, not much rust by the looks!

Lucky for some!

[andysmini1]

Yeah the shell is good. Once the sill has been done then there are only a few minor bits to sort before it will be a rust free shell Woohoo!

[Down&Out]

Ah that orange is brilliant. Shoulda kept it that colour .

[andysmini1]

Actually i may well keep the colour as i'm having 2nd thoughts on the blue. hmmmmmm

EDIT:

Sod it. i'm going to order the orig Bracken colour paint!

EDIT:

Paint ordered!!!!

Edited by andysmini1, 27 May 2009 - 10:27 AM.

[andysmini1]

Right... My mate is finishing off some welding this week so Rosie the mini can come home this week. I went round today and took a few pics.

Much work to do!!

Edited by andysmini1, 10 June 2009 - 05:02 PM.

[JordanRaisbeck]

Nice project there mate, love the marine blue, my grandad had 2 landrovers like that with a cream roof, looked sweet! Goodluck on completing the project!

Jordan.

[Down&Out]

I LOVE THAT COLOUR!

[andysmini1]

I LOVE THAT COLOUR!

Which colour... the orange (bracken)? if so then it is a very cool colour and will look superb with a cream roof. Can't wait to see it all painted!

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

great project there. Love the kit cars to, what are they, Locost, westfield or Caterham? i would love to build one one day

[andysmini1]

great project there. Love the kit cars to, what are they, Locost, westfield or Caterham? i would love to build one one day

They are both MK Indy's which are bigger versions of the Locost as in they use Sierra running gear. MK are (or were) the 2nd largest 7 type car manufacturer in the UK. I think they sell about 2000 kits a year which is more than Westfild ( so i believe) but not sure about Caterham. They are dead easy to build and fun to drive.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

sounds great, are they expensive? Il maybe just have one as a track car. Would love a caterham though, they are amazing cars.