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Newbie With A 1275gt Restoration Project


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#1 Beaniemoo

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 07:47 PM

Hi all, thought i'd better pop my head around the door and say hi as i reckon i'll be needing a lot of help with this little project over the coming yaer or so.
a bit of background, i started my driving life in minis 14years ago now and have always loved them owning a few over the years including a Rover Mini Cabriolet and a minisport engined 1994 cooper.
As many of us do i strayed away to modern cars but knew full well i'd be back. So when this 1972 mini 1275gt came up for sale through a freind i couldnt resist.

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It needs an aweful lot of love but theplan is to restore it to mint factory condition using the skills i've learned over the last few years turning my little Renault Clio from this...

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Into this...

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I also spent a great deal of time helping my brother turn a standard silver Saxo into this...

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Obviously they're not to everyones taste but I thought i'd share.

So the Mini is now tucked safely away waiting for me to make a start on it.

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Cheesr for reading. Chris

#2 Deano@84

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 08:06 PM

Hi

The mini looks mint. I will be following this thread with avid interest, so I look forward to see how it turns out. The Clio and and Saxo are not really to my taste so your right there lol. Even so I can certainly see and appreciate the work and effort that has gone into them both.
Nice work

Cheers

Deano

#3 Scallywag630

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 08:31 PM

Hi Chris and welcome to TMF. I'll read your thread with interest as a friend is also rebuilding a 1275GT.

#4 Beaniemoo

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 12:50 PM

Cheers for the replies fellas, I kept detailed progress blogs on both the builds for the clio and the Saxo on theyre respective forums and if theres interest then I'll do the same for the mini on here.

#5 mk1leg

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 10:25 PM

Hi..and welcome to TMF and enjoy............if thats what you done to a saxo whats in line for the clubman?????..... >_<

#6 Beaniemoo

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Posted 28 May 2011 - 01:14 AM

Hehe the saxo was an awesome car built for my little brother with a high compression c2 vts engine on r1 carbs pushing out 177bhp but in an effort to smooth the bay we removed the servo making it terrifying to drive so it was sold. The clio we still have and with grp doors bonnet and tailgate we got the weight to around 780kg and a 220bhp full race engine it's bonkers to drive too

The clubman however will fullfill my lifelong urges to restore a classic car right back to truely showroom condition. It's something I've wanted to do since I was 16 and I like the idea of doing for this increasingly rare mini variant.

#7 Minisport7

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Posted 28 May 2011 - 01:25 AM

Welcome Beaniemoo! I'm very excited to see the end product, i shall be subscribing to this thread!

#8 aaronrussell

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Posted 28 May 2011 - 01:47 PM

Like the work on the clio and saxo very nice,will be watching this!

#9 Beaniemoo

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 05:17 PM

Right!!! With the trackday season over the clio, which itmust be said has done it's self proud is now consigned to being Sorn'ed in the garage and the time has come for the Mini to get some attention instead.
so down the garage we headed and dragged the little Gt out..

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and started stripping it...

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Nothing too exciting to report really but just pics of a day stripping the car at the mo..

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As is often the case with our projects it turned into a bit of a family afair...

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And by the end of the day the car was about 50% stripped..

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The car has a thick very poor cellulose home paint job covering a LOT of filler and previous low quality repairs. Inside has been hammerited black and again it's quite clear that under that there's plenty of work needed. With a bit of luck we'll be able to bare shell it in the next two weekends then I can send it for acid dipping. Only then will we really know what's what and how much work is needed.

Thanks for reading...

Edited by Beaniemoo, 17 October 2011 - 05:19 PM.


#10 Boycie

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 05:46 PM

Lovely, an early GT. These 10" wheel cars are very rare now, I hope you're going stock-ish?! Is it still running hydrolastic suspension? Looks like the original 'shell too.. :gimme: Love the period plates and Rostyles- correct for your year :)
Welcome and good luck with the project!

Edited by Boycie, 17 October 2011 - 05:47 PM.


#11 Beaniemoo

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 06:18 PM

Lovely, an early GT. These 10" wheel cars are very rare now, I hope you're going stock-ish?! Is it still running hydrolastic suspension? Looks like the original 'shell too.. :gimme: Love the period plates and Rostyles- correct for your year :)
Welcome and good luck with the project!



Wow now you sound a lot like a man who knows his 1275gt's! My plan is a complete nut and bolt restoration to as it left the factory. I'm pretty chuffed as it was blaze orange originally which will look great when done. How can you tell the car is on it's original shell as I was pretty worried about spending the money dipping the shell if it's not the right one. I'm chuffed to bits the car still wears it's rostyles and cooper S brakes, that'll save me finding those. It also has a steering lock which as far as i know is correct. However the car is on rubber cones and after a bit of research there seems to be contradicting points of veiw as to whether thats right or not?

#12 Artful Dodger

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 08:39 PM

Lovely, an early GT. These 10" wheel cars are very rare now, I hope you're going stock-ish?! Is it still running hydrolastic suspension? Looks like the original 'shell too.. :gimme: Love the period plates and Rostyles- correct for your year :)
Welcome and good luck with the project!


hydro??? mine is an original GT and has never had hydrolastic,its also a 1972 :P ?
and are the rostyles rare?? awsome 8)

and beanimoo, nice cars, all of them, that engine on your clio looks awsome, i bet it goes some! good luck with the resto, il follow your thread with interest! :P

#13 Boycie

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Posted 18 October 2011 - 07:31 AM

Yes, on reflection I think the GT went to rubber cones in around '71? Certainly the really early ones were hydro.
I can't be 100% from the photos but I think I spy the oval-shaped hole in the rear seat base (up to 1973) and definately the drip rails (to '76). The oval hole is the best clue to a nice early mk3 shell :)
I'd also be wanting to see a twin-bolt (solid) front subframe, which I'm sure you'll find and a 'remote' gearchange- this is like the later 'rod' change setup (from '73) but has a big alloy housing running under the floor from the gearbox to the gear lever. The floor has a bulge near the gearlever too, which is absent on '73 onwards cars..
If all this checks out (which I reckon it will..) you can be almost certain it has the original (or correct..) shell... and the perfect basis for an absolutely top restoration :gimme:

I'll, um, just leave these here :D

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#14 Beaniemoo

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Posted 18 October 2011 - 02:33 PM

Woooo. Cheers for the info boycie!! As I said at the start of the thread I need as much info as I can gather about the car so its all very gratefully recieved.
I took the opotunity at lunch time to nip down the garage and take these pics.

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So that all looks quite promising! I've posted the pic of the rear bins as I've never seen a mini with ashtrays in them and a friend thinks they're home made.

#15 Boycie

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Posted 18 October 2011 - 02:38 PM

Yup, lovely lovely- the floor is correct, including the blanked over hole at the front where the 'pudding-stirrer' gearchange lever would have entered the car on the 850cc cars, the back seat hole is correct as are the ashtrays in the rear bins. These were fitted until '73- I've got a pair somewhere salvaged from an early mk3 I chopped up!
It's the right shell, the right car and will be a crackin' restoration :D




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