767 replies to this topic

[Chris1992]

Damn it's been a while! My car looks pretty different to the last photos I posted, so I figured it was time for an update. Especially as I'm in the process of half rebuilding it AGAIN; well I needed something to do during lockdown!  The progress photos I'm about to post are from around the end of 2018, and show some of the steps leading up to before Brooklands Mini Day (I shared photos of this a few posts back, but didn't go into detail). My car then evolved further after those photos, but I'll get on to that...

 

So. A few years back I mentioned that I had the car resprayed in 2K for the first time during my second rebuild, and the guy made an absolute mess of it. After a while bubbles started to appear around the headlights and front seams which looked like paint reactions, but these eventually turned into rust bubbles. Fast-forward to the end of 2018 show season, I had just had the car inside at FittedUK, and decided it was time to finally tackle this problem. I began scraping away the flakey paint and was relieved to find only surface rust underneath. It looks bad but it cleaned up nicely with a wire brush.

 

 

The paint looked good from the A-Pillars back, so I decided on just a front end respray. I then figured that since I was going to all the trouble, why not do the engine bay too, so out came the engine. 

 

 

I took the car to a friend of mine who runs Silkmead Paint and Body in Buntingford, and he did a lovely job! I also opted for a rather special colour for the engine bay.

 

 

Pearl Cadbury Purple! I absolutely love this colour, as it really shows off just how much work I've put into the engine bay. 

 

I also went for a fiberglass smoothed bonnet from ABS Motorsport, mainly because I have quick release bonnet hinges, and taking the steel bonnet off at shows was a royal pain in the neck... and back. 

 

 

I then decided it seemed a shame to spoil my fancy engine bay by putting the ugly master cylinders back in, so I went for an ABP pedal box. This was described as a kit for classic Mini's, and while the quality is superb, it couldn't be any less suited to a Mini if it tried... Still though, after a lot of swearing, I got it to work.

 

 

Some modification required... Don't even get me started on the throttle cable location. The point where it fixes to the pedal is in a completely different place to standard, so it would have clashed with the subframe tower. Instead I had to bring the cable out the bulkhead diagonally through the old hole in the crossmember where the brake limiter valve used to mount. 

 

 

Since I don't know how to weld, I braced the dash rails with some steal bar, and then braced the pedal box to the floor on both sides. It's solid as a rock. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of it fitted, but I'll try to get some in the future. 

 

The steering column mount had to be completely revised, so with some thick steel plate I made this. It's crude but works a treat.

 

 

Couldn't resist giving the reservoirs a lick of paint. I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with these. 

 

 

A photo to show how I mounted the brake light switch

 

 

Treated myself to some bling

 

 

That's about it for progress shots and changes that are below the surface. I'll do another post now showing photos from 2019 show season which was absolutely incredible. People really seemed to love the changes I've made, and I can't wait to show what I'm working on now! That will have to wait though 

Edited by Chris1992, 24 September 2020 - 10:55 AM.

[Chris1992]

Following on from the last post, now it's time to show off a few photos from 2019 show season once I had completed the cars new look. I'll start with a photo of the engine bay, as I was particularly proud of how that came out 

 

 

The first show I debuted the new look at was London to Brighton, and holy hell did it get some attention. I had to wait until the end of the day when everyone had left before I could even get any photos! 

 

 

 

So here she is, You'll notice the banded steels on the rear have been replaced with 13x8 Image Billet 19s. I think these compliment the Force Racing TF Turbos perfectly! I also fitted new dishes to the Turbos to widen them to 8j like the rears. Next, I redrilled each wheel by hand (TERRIFYING) to accept custom m7 spiked neochrome bolts from SRR Hardware. Tricky to see in photos.

 

The tyre lettering is also completely custom. no way was I paying nearly 400 quid for the pre-made ones, so I bought a sheet of white silicone off eBay and literally cut each letter out by hand with a scalpel. For glue, I probably tested about 10 different ones before I finally found one made by Permabond specially for sticking silicone. 

 

The livery (if you could even call it that) is a homage to the old Cooper Car Co. race livery which I've always loved, but I wanted to put my spin on it, so I changed the font and added the logos for some of the main parts fitted to my car.

 

I can't remember if I mentioned my exhaust already, but just in case, it's a Maniflow Miglia setup with custom extra long tips. I then sprayed the whole thing in black high temp BBQ paint, and added a stripe of heat tape to the tips inspired by the Hoonigan Twerkstallion (google it).

 

I think those are all the notable changes, so I'll let the photos do the talking now. 

 

Next up was the Coventry Motofest. I didn't give it the beans around the ring road track this time but it was still a great day out. Apart from all the finger prints left on my car which always seems to happen at this show, even with the bonnet closed 

 

 

After that was once again my big milestone journey of the year, the Le Mans 24 hr road trip. The first photo was the night before we left. For those wondering, my underglow kit is not a cheap one from ebay; it's from XKGlow in America and is brilliant quality.

 

 

Just a few of our convoy

 

 

Incredible weekend as usual. There were certainly a few of us!

 

 

aaaaaaaaand of course I broke down. This was on the way back about 3 hours south of Calais. The car died for no apparent reason and then started showing all the signs of poor fuel delivery. After rebuilding the carb 3 times I tried the coil from my dad's frogeye and it started right up! It also started fine once we swapped the coils back so we pressed on, thoroughly confused. We missed our ferry and didn't get home until about 3am. All part of the fun though!

 

 

In fact if you want to see for yourself some of the shenanigans we get up to, I made a montage of our last trip which you can see here 

 

 

So anyway, after that I had a week to get the car ship shape for another 500 mile round trip down to Goodwood for Players Classic. By far the best show of the year, I was given one of the best spots on the Saturday, and I even took home a top 10 award!

 

 

Next it was Broke Boys at the Farm, where I took home a trophy for best engine bay.

 

 

Then it was Gravity at Stoneleigh Park, which was another amazing show. I was lucky enough to be put in the VIP section. 

 

 

Next was Stance Fever at Cressing Temple Barns which has to be one of the most stunning venues for a show ever. 

 

 

And finally, FittedUK. A notoriously difficult show to get into. 

 

 

I also had a photoshoot for The Street Kids Garage on Instagram, who took these incredible photos.

 

 

And just finishing off with a moist photo that I like 

 

 

So that's it! I took the car off the road after FittedUK and got VERY carried away. I've been working on some big changes during this lockdown malarkey so expect to see something truly wild in the future    

[Steve220]

Why did i think you'd go full purple with the engine bay   Looks great Chris!!

[Chris1992]

Why did i think you'd go full purple with the engine bay   Looks great Chris!!

 

Haha, purple is low-key my favourite colour  Cheers mate!

[KTS]

cracking work as usual - great car.

 

..did make me laugh to see the 'best spot' at Goodwood was right outside the Ladies    

[Jared Mk3]

Perfect colour in that bay. This car just keeps getting better 

[Chris1992]

cracking work as usual - great car.

 

..did make me laugh to see the 'best spot' at Goodwood was right outside the Ladies    

 

You're not the first person to point that out!  Ironically it's only blokes that seem interested haha. 

 

Perfect colour in that bay. This car just keeps getting better 

 

Cheers dude, just wait until you see what I've got up my sleeve! 

[Daviewonder]

Just amazing   Well done on the awards.

 

Cant help but think that Coke washer bottle is crying out to be turned into something Cadburys. 

[Chris1992]

Just amazing   Well done on the awards.

 

Cant help but think that Coke washer bottle is crying out to be turned into something Cadburys. 

 

Thanks man! Haha I had toyed with the idea, but I kind of like the splash of red on that side of the bay. 

[Steve220]

So boosted next?

[Midas Mk1]

Saw a teaser of 8 extra valves in another forum post   

Looking great as ever Chris, proper purist build. 

[Chris1992]

So boosted next?

 

Here's you answer to that question! 

 

Saw a teaser of 8 extra valves in another forum post   

Looking great as ever Chris, proper purist build. 

 

haha I was wondering if anyone was going to spot that! Still keep it hush hush though!    

[Jasonc]

I’ve just bought my first mini after years of wanting one. I’ve read the whole of your post, your car looks incredible and you’ve given me so many ideas! Thank you! I’m keen to know what your mini is now like...

Edited by Jasonc, 31 March 2021 - 06:12 AM.

[Chris1992]

I’ve just bought my first mini after years of wanting one. I’ve read the whole of your post, your car looks incredible and you’ve given me so many ideas! Thank you! I’m keen to know what your mini is now like...

 

Thanks man, really appreciate that! I'm so close to getting it back on the road, just small jobs now. I'll be revealing the changes very soon 

[Jasonc]

I’ve just bought my first mini after years of wanting one. I’ve read the whole of your post, your car looks incredible and you’ve given me so many ideas! Thank you! I’m keen to know what your mini is now like...

Thanks man, really appreciate that! I'm so close to getting it back on the road, just small jobs now. I'll be revealing the changes very soon

I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ll upload a pic of mine as soon as I can on a laptop.