21 replies to this topic

[toadstool]

Right here we go

Bought this mini a caouple of weeks ago, it has been in a barn for 6 years so now need rebuilding although i dont know how bad it is yet.
cleaned the rotor arm, put a battery on and filled the carb with fuel and she was running , waste of time realy because i will be changing the engine but was curious to see if it would run, by the way will be selling the engine soon it has done les than a thousand miles since having an unleaded head fitted (although that was 7 years ago )

It must have started life as a clubby but at some point has had a round nose fitted, which is helpfull because all of the front end appears to be relatively rust free, the back end though is full of it so thats where im gonna start

wish me luck

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•  mini.jpg   19.61K   9 downloads
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[Claibo]

Ooooh!! Glad someone from here bought this one, I was hanging my nose over it, be great to see what you do with it Does he/she have a name yet?

[toadstool]

cheers, not yet, depends on how bad she is before i give her a name.

i havnt had a mini for 15 years so looking forward to getting stuck in

Think i had better go and order some wire brushes, grinding discs , etc, etc, etc

[mk3 Cooper S]

I like !!

Unique too

[toadstool]

right, i have got my wire brushes and cutting discs so im gonna attack it this weekend.

some of the seems are badly rusted and i cant see the spot welds to drill them, whats the best way to sperate the joints?

[olds_kool_lews]

Cut off which ever panel you want to replace as close to the seam as possible, then use a grinder with a flappy disc to grind of the seam metal you don't need! Hope that makes sense!

[toadstool]

Right, managed to start working on the mini again now thw ******* weather has passed, have been busy shopping while i couldnt do any work on it, sourced a MG metro engine, carb and manifold, loads of body panels, another rear subframe and loads of bits and bobs
Took the head off the engine and all looks good so i have fitted new stem seals, re-ground, with the amount of body work i have to do im gonna stick the engine in and hope for the best.
Looks like its going to be a total rebuild as the floors, sills, door steps and posts, heel board, rear valance, a panel all need replacing
I will get some more photos over the next few weeks so you can see the progress,

this is my first mini rebuild so please feel free to chip in with any thoughts or advice

Edited by toadstool, 25 July 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[toadstool]

Started Doing some work on the doors this weekend

Bought some door repair panels from Magnum which were quite good but bigger (taller) than i needed so i chopped them down a bit and used the offcut to repair one of the back doors, i think the other door is in roughly the same condition so hopefully will get both remaining doors fixed with one repair panel.
Drivers door frame was shot at the bottom so i had put some new metal in before repairing the skin, the rear door frame wasnt to bad so I treated it with some rust converter and primed it with red oxide.
All i have to do to these two doors now is pump some waxoyl in
Going to try and takle the other two this weekend

[james94]

very nice work and love the car :). looks awsome

james

[toadstool]

Cheers James

cant wait to start ripping more rust out but damn kids/wife/work keep getting in the way

[james94]

i have the money issue getting in the way off me being able to repair my rust

[stretch tech]

looks good mate, some nice work

i'd really like a round nose estate, a lot more practical than a saloon and look cool too

Edited by stretch tech, 15 August 2012 - 11:42 AM.

[toadstool]

Thanks

i bought it because it is a bit different, alot more work than i expected though

[Peskett]

Nice to see a round nose estate, currently building one myself at the moment. You got any plans for how it'll look when it's finished?

[toadstool]

Hi Mini Mad

im going for cream with black roof and black arches, mk1 grill
havnt decided what to do about wheels yet but i am fitting 8.4 brakes so cant go 10" unfortunatley,
keep me posted on how you get on with yours

done a bit more work this week, i have started painting the insides of the doors, the outsides will get painted on the car, the lads at work have painted my engine for me and it looks great,( sorry about the phone pics) just hope it works ok

all doors should be repaired and prepped next week so it will be on to the shell, wish me luck
Just a quick word of warning to any body who is repairing their doors, if you go for replacing the door bottom instead of fitting a whole skin be very patient when you are welding the joint, i tacked mine in several places (see photos in previous post) but then did larger welds in between the tacks, the door warped like a bastard so i had to cut a re-weld, on the next one i did the whole joint in tack welds and i turned out great