28 replies to this topic

[Purple Tom]

Hi

I'm in the process of restoring a 1979 Pick-up. Much like Pickup76's, it is very rusty, needing the following parts replacing:

- Front subframe and all suspension
- Rear subframe and all suspension
- Front panel
- Inner wings
- Front wings
- A-panels (both)
- Doors (both)
- Inner and Outer sills (both sides)
- Door steps (both)
- Side panels (both)
- Much of the load bed floor
- Complete floorpan
- Cab rear bulkhead where it meets the load bed floor
- Rear subframe heelboard
- Tailgate
- Real valance (and corners)
- Light panels


So that leaves the roof and the windscreen scuttle as the good panels!

My plans for the motor are:

- Standard shell, with open front panel rather than the pressed steel grille, in Old English White with a black roof
- 1293cc M.E.D built engine with 5 speed JK Helical 'box, 4 pin diff, not sure of diff ratio yet. Lightened flywheel, competition (or uprated) clutch, centre oil pick-up, 2 core-rad, usual inlet and outlet upgrades (not sure of spec yet, whatever will be best for a 1293), electronic ignition.
- MiniSpares Cooper 'S' 7.5 inch disc brakes with alloy 4-pots (same as on my Clubby, fantastic brakes!), Minifin rear drums with steel braided hoses all round
- Adjustable suspension with 1.5 deg negative camber at the front, adjustable tie rods, negative camber brackets at the back too, with strengthened radius arms, and fully seam welded, powdercoated front and rear subframes.
- Wheels will be 5x10" Anthracite minilights, rubbered with Yoko A008's with black Grp2 Arches covering them.
- Polybushes all round
- Halogen headlamp conversion
- Interior will be, black carpets and centre console, with dark green edges, and black Cobra Classic buckets with dark green piping, newton commercial black dash lining, 3 clock centre binnacle with speedo, oil pressure and temp gauges, and independent smiths tacho. Cream headlining and door cards, and an Alpine stereo with 6x9's under the seats, and some smaller speakers elsewhere (haven't thought where yet!). Also a Mountey sports steering wheel and usual extras inside (gearknob, handbrake cover etc)
- Mk 1 Cooper style grille with the moustache
- Stainless front bumper, mirrors, wipers, bezels etc, and stainless (if possible) rear bumpers
- Wheels will be 5x10" Anthracite minilights, rubbered with Yoko A008's with black Grp2 Arches covering them.
- I've got the full height hoops for it, but it will probably usually have a waist height tonneau cover, and the rear load bed will be lined with chequerplate.

What does everyone think? Does anyone have any suggestions for improvement or innovation before i lay into it?

Cheers!

Tom

[Alburglar]

I love pick ups!

[Pickup76]

Sounds like it will be awsone mate i look forward to seeing it progress.
Who will get theirs done first? the race is on.

[Purple Tom]

Hehe, i reckon yours will be, haven't finished taking mine apart yet!!

Can't wait until its done, i'm going to wait until its completely finished, solve as many reliability issues (if there are any) as I can, trailer it to get it rolling roaded, then reveal it to the world at somewhere like Stanford Hall 2009 or Vineyards 2010 (thats how long i reckon its going to take! :cheese: )

[Pickup76]

I really hope mine doesnt take that long. Im working on it full time ie 5 days a week after the 13th and i dont have to stop till september 2005 when i go to uni.
It should get done pretty quick but i do have my mates car to repair in that time as well :tongue:
I cant wait till i get to unvail mine to my mates they all think im mad! ill show them.

[Purple Tom]

hehe, i'm hoping to go to uni in that time too! I'm only 19 though, so got a bit of time yet i guess.

normal people (!) don't realise how good Mini's are, pretty much all of my mates get out of the Clubby laughing after I take them out in it! They also don't realise how unbelievably cool Mini's, but Pick-Up's in particular are, anybody with a good eye can see there's something about them!

[Pickup76]

Luckily my mates are into minis as well, but more into crashing them than restoring them :sad:
There is definatly something special about pickups i just cant wait to drive it, its going to be so cool!

[Purple Tom]

Luckily my mates are into minis as well, but more into crashing them than restoring them

God i wouldn't be able to cope if i crashed either of mine! :: touches copious amounts of wood ::
I try to drive mine sensibly, unless its 1am and raining! :cheese:

I can't wait to drive mine either, will be awesome!

[lewis]

sweet stuff hope this goes well, thats alot of stuff!! pickups are really something else, i want one!

[CharlieBrown]

well err, Good Luck, hope you manage to get all that done, sounds like it will be brilliant when its done!!! :grin:

Remember to post some pics as you go along!

[Purple Tom]

Once my dad sells his military trailer which is stopping the pick-up from coming out from where its languishing i'm going to really lay into it, get it stripped down and assess it from there. I'm going to save and buy things bit by bit, get a lot of the preparation work done before hand, then once the shell is done start bolting things on, it'll be awesome to have a completely restored bare pick-up shell to play with, and fitting a nice new engine, subframes, brakes and interior etc to it will be amazing.

Think i've got some time to go though before that becomes a reality! :tongue:

Tom

[steeo]

- Front subframe and all suspension (BOTH OK)
- Rear subframe and all suspension (SUBFRAME YES, SUSPENSION NO)
- Front panel (YES)
- Inner winGS (BOTH OK)
- Front wings (YES 2)
- A-panels (both) (NO)
- Doors (both) (NO BUT REPLACED ALL 4 HINGES)
- Inner and Outer sills (both sides) (OK)
- Door steps (both) (OK)
- Side panels (both) (PERFECT)
- Much of the load bed floor (CHECKER PLATE)
- Complete floorpan (LITTLE WELDING BUT NOTHING MAJOR)
- Cab rear bulkhead where it meets the load bed floor (OK)
- Rear subframe heelboard (OK)
- Tailgate (PERFECT)
- Real valance (and corners) (REPLACED)
- Light panels (OK)

I must have got away lightly on my 72 pickup then as you car see above most of the parts on my pickup were ok, but i did have to change the full wire loom.

[Pickup76]

Hows the project going mate?

[Purple Tom]

well the bloke comes to pick the trailer up tommorrow, so i should actually be able to get at it then! Its looking very sorry for itself, needs its guts ripping out really, engine and subframes off will be the first job i think.

I've finally turned my clubby into a decent road car so I can afford to leave that alone for a bit now, and concentrate more on the pick-up. Should start in earnest in a week or so, i'll keep you informed.............................

how about yours???

[Pickup76]

Stripping a car is the worst part. The more you pull off the more falls off on its own. Its brill when you can see what you've done though. Where are you going to be doing the pickup, lockup, tent etc?