42 replies to this topic

[Amsfeld]

Morning All,

In August last year, I finally managed to do what I always said I would, and bought my first mini. I've been driving for years, but always made sure cars have gone in my girlfriend's name, so that my "first" car could be something a bit different.

I'm what I would term as a VERY novice mechanic - I actually have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but have next to no practical knowledge, although I have a Haynes Manual....

Here's a picture taken 2 days after I picked up Grumpy. We decided to up through the Highlands for a long weekend.

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[Amsfeld]

Unfortunately, on the first full day of driving, I had an accident. Thankfully no one was hurt, although my pride took a knock. I hit another car coming towards me on a single track road after it had been raining when I went round a corner. Somehow I slid 180 degrees. Fortunately I was going slowly, and the impact was only about 10mph.

I did suffer some damage to the rear though.

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[Amsfeld]

Because of the damage to both cars, I had to go through my insurers. After they'd had it for a while, they picked up a number of issues, unrelated to the accident. The front subframe was barely attached to the rest of the car, and in their words - "make the car extremely dangerous to drive". They also said the brakes were not in a good way. The car had been MOT'd a week before I got it....

In the end, the insurers offered me cash, rather than completing the repairs themselves. Having (hopefully) learned my lesson about checking to see how safe the car was I took it to my local garage to get the front sub frame reattached. This took all of the insurance payout.

Lack of funds forced me to stop using/repairing the car for the next few months, then I had to have reconstructive surgery on my shoulder, that put me out of action for a few more months. Now I'm I a position where I have the cash to repair the car, and hopefully the strength to repair it myself.

My current plan -
Fix the brakes!
Repair the damage to the rear
Put on a new bonnet (the old one was almost rusted though)
Put I new suspension - the ride is bad (based on the picture, I'm glad I'm replacing the cones)
Stage 1 kit
Repaint the car - there are loads of scratches and scrapes
Possibly replace the rear subframe if needed.

I've been on a spending spree, so have most of the parts I need.

I'm going to try painting it myself with a roller doing the $50 paint job that's on the internet. I'll use a boot lid and bonnet as a trial.

The picture below should show the state of the rear subframe - it doesn't look good to me....

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[Amsfeld]

I've not been able to get much done the last few days - I still don't have much strength in my arm. A child could beat me in an arm wrestle at the moment....

I'm just waiting for some HiLos to be delivered, then I'll go for it with the suspension. I'm not looking forward to doing the front ones, or moving the fuel tank. Are they as tricking to do as I'm expecting?

In the meantime I've taken off the ignition coil to give it a clean up. You can see from the pictures that the engine bay is pretty (very) untidy, thankfully the engine itself runs well. I got myself some new spark plugs, just need to get a spark plug remover now to take out the old ones.

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Edited by Amsfeld, 03 April 2014 - 10:11 AM.

[Amsfeld]

I’ve not had a chance to do a massive amount to the car over the last couple of months due to working all hours.

 

I’ve continued stripping parts, finding more and more rust along the way.  Rather than repeating everything, I’ll just link to my other thread.

 

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/topic/284880-more-bldy-rust/

 

I should be able to get the mechanical parts finished off soon, then I’ll get the bodywork finished, and move onto the interior.

 

I’m still repairing the accident damage, hopefully I’ll be able to get the bulk of it done tomorrow, ready for the repaint…..

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I’m having second thoughts about the new bonnet I bought - I’m probably going to go back to the standard one.  What do you think?

 

 

[Amsfeld]

Made a start on the painting - I needed a change from body filler!

 

 

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I'm not going for anything fancy, just sprayed it from a can.  The bonnet stripes are painted on, no messing around with stickers or vinyl for me!

 

 

[Amsfeld]

Been stripping off the vinyl roof covering, and fighting the good fight against rust - I think I'm done now.

 

I've finished the crash repair.  It's definitely not a professional finish, but it'll look good from a distance....

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Then I started priming the car.  Ventilation in the lockup isn't great though.

 

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[Amsfeld]

Making a bit of progress.

 

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[Amsfeld]

My paint/lacquer is taking ages to dry, so unfortunately I've not been able to make much progress. Time to tidy the lock up I think...?

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[Amsfeld]

After not having done much for a few months, my New Year's resolution is to get my finger out!

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[MattMiniS96]

Its looking smart mate, love the colour!

[Vinay-RS]

Nice work, the colour looks really good. I am in a similar situation to you. I have an engineering degree (lots of theory), but very little practical experience. Purchased a mini with the aim of tackling jobs and learning as I go. 

[Amsfeld]

Starting to get more done again, I've got a week off coming up, so fingers crossed......

 

I'm starting to get the interior redone, and hopefully that should be pretty straight forward.  I'm planning on replacing the front seats, so will be selling the current purple ones - if anyone's interested give me a shout.  The plan is to use the money from them to finish the last few bits and bobs.

 

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I've got some Cobra Superslots that I'm going to put on, spent the day stripping the paint off of them in -2 degree temperatures.  Fun!  I'm in two minds about having two sets of wheels, or selling one.  Having wheels with summer and winter tyres is appealing.

 

Finally - does any one know how to refurbish my nudge bars?  Not sure if I want to put them back on, but I'd like to get them in good condition if I do.

[Amsfeld]

Still making progress - got the exterior almost finished.

 

I’m happy with how the back turned out considering the dents I put in it.  The repair and the painting won't win me any awards, but it should last me a couple of years until I save up for a proper rebuild.

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Now to get the interior done…..

 

 

[Amsfeld]

I got myself some supaslots on ebay about a year ago, and did a quick DIY refurbish on them.  They came with tyres that looked ok at first glance, but wont hold air for more than an hour.  I was planning on getting a new set anyway, so no biggie.

 

Far prefer the look of these ones with the wider tyres over the originals!

 

 

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