31 replies to this topic

[Nuttoni]

Hi!
(BOLX - check the reg.)

 

I've been considering starting one of these for a while, but never got around to it.
I'm currently avoiding doing my dissertation, so this seemed a good thing to do while I'm watching the F1!

 

My car is a 1985 Austin Mini City E. I bought it back in 2009, with nearly a years worth of tax and MOT. It was my first car, and until November 2013, it was a heavily used and abused daily.

 

 

 

Here she is on the morning we collected her. In the previous few years she hadn't been used at all, the only mileage it covered had been to the MOT station and back. The previous owner said he had done a load of welding and had done the big jobs, such as sills, etc. we ended up getting it for a reasonable price, thinking we knew about all the work we needed to do.

We knew that it needed a bit of attention and a respray, but we weren't expecting too much work to make it a respectable daily driver. However, when we started looking a bit closer, we began noticing more and more problems, and we took her off the road for a brief restoration and respray which ended up lasting for about a year.

 

This photo was just before the resto. and it was black and white to hide the awful paint.

It was so bad due to it's age, a lack of attention, and because previous repairs had been painted in various shades of pink/red rattle can paint or primer.

 

 

 

When I took the lens off, I found a small garden growing inside of my fog light!

 

 

 

 

My dad and I did all the work ourselves and resprayed it in the garden.

 

When we finally got it finished, this is how it looked.

 

For the first 3 months or so, I had all kinds of trouble with the car, mainly due to it's long period of disuse with no attention. At times I was regularly breaking down at least once a week.

 

 

 

More to come, gimme a bit to carry on typing! :-P

[Nuttoni]

Being a daily driver right from when we got it back on the road, it was always a rolling project. I had all sorts of ideas and plans for it and slowly worked towards a final idea. My plans have changed a bit as I've gone along though.

Que a photo montage of some of it's various changes!

 

 

That last photo I took today so this is up to date.

There is alot more that I still want to say and post, so I'll keep adding, stay tuned!

[Nuttoni]

I've always wanted to try and make my mini a bit different, and I like to make my own parts and ideas rather than just use bits straight off of a shop's shelf.
I love rummaging through auto jumbles and breakers yards, searching for any unusual bits or inspiration that I can use.

 

I now have a Skoda Octavia as a daily, which is good for the mini. I'm currently commuting into London, and while I have no doubts that the mini could have handled it, it would have suffered. It's already begun to show it's heavy use over the last few years.

 

I've wanted to go down to 10s since I got the car, but while it was a daily I couldn't justify the expense of converting the brakes etc.

As soon as I got a second car, I bought 7.5 disks, fitted them, and found a set of 10" wellers for £20! :-D
They had been 'slopped' in gold hammerite, so they needed a bit of work. I'm using them as winter wheels, so I didn't want to pay for a professional refurb.
I stripped and resprayed them, then painted some red pinstripes myself.

The wheel centres I hand-painted on some carbon-fibre vinyl

 

My bonnet badge was pretty badly faded, so I repainted it, using the car's colours and following the original design.

 

I wanted spot lights, but didn't want them to stick out too much. So I cut some holes in an old grill, reinforced it around the cuts, then mounted my spots into it.
I know that you can buy grills with holes already cut, but they're the chrome-slat ones and are mega expensive. I've never seen another of this type of grill, with the spots mounted into it.
I got some original Lucas covers, and added the chrome strip. I think it finishes it off quite nicely.

The Austin/Rover badge at the top is to cover the external bonnet release slot

 

[Mini Cheddars]

I thought I recognised that car! Nice work, Nuttoni!

[Nuttoni]

I found these indicator lenses at the Beaulieu International autojumble. They're glass and are the same size and shape as the standard mini indicators, but I've never seen any since, on any car.
If anyone recognises where they've come from, please let me know!

 

I got the pair for £2, and there were four on the stand. I really wish I'd gotten the other two!

 

 

The wing mirrors are actually from a TR7, they're metal. They're very similar to some mini ones, and with the overlap of parts on BL cars, I'm not sure if some minis may have been fitted with the same type.

 

The Autoplas dash I got for a great bargain on ebay, but it did need a little work. We fabricated a glove box pocket, a new instrument panel, and repainted it. Most of the dials are from a Triumph Herald. The rear-view mirror is great. We've made a clip so that it just sits over the original, and it don't have any blind spot at all with it and the side mirrors! :-D

 

I modified a charging phone holder and mounted it into the car, with a rocker on/off switch to match the other switches.

I have various additional switches on the right. These are for an electric arial, the phone charger, and to switch between lorry horns and the standard mini one. One of the others is for the fog lamp, and the final one isn't wired, as I don't have a use for it at the moment.

This dial is fitted on the right, it came from a Herald and it all works, apart from the fuel light.

 

 

 

 

[Nuttoni]

I thought I recognised that car! Nice work, Nuttoni!

 Thanks! :-D

[Nuttoni]

I've mounted a cigarette lighter unit under the heater, and cut a centre console to fit it. The three cigarette lighters themselves don't actually work. I got three from a breakers to fill the holes and so that they matched. When i tried to put them in though, they were too big, so I had to cut them a bit to fit. I don't smoke, so it's not actually a problem.
Underneath, I mounted a sliding cup holder that I grabbed in a breakers, and again, shortened the centre console board to fit.

 

I fitted the map light into the corner to keep it out of the way, and used a clip from a pen-box to keep it in place when not in use.

[Nuttoni]

When we resprayed the car, I wanted the interior to be black, but the exterior to be in the original red. So we covered the respective areas and did just that. This difference is highlighted if you look at the edge of the doors.

 

The Crazy frog was left over from years ago, so I mounted it on my dipstick!

The rocker cover was a pitted second-hand, scratched one I got for cheap. After a little work, I got it looking pretty good without having spent much on it at all.

 

These truck horns I found at Beaulieu. They work with a normal air horn compressor and sound pretty good, but aren't as loud as a truck.
In trucks they use small compression tanks to provide a higher air pressure.

 

In the boot I've made my own interior to maximise space and save money. I used chains instead of the standard boot stays, so that they're tougher, and it allows me to open the boot lid alot further than the standard. I've also attached some netting on the side, so that I can use this space for better storage.

[Nuttoni]

I'll leave it at that for today, but I still have plenty to talk about and I still have all kinds of ideas for the car so stay tuned!

[leaky]

I like this car just for the factor that when ever I look at it I spot something I have never noticed before haha. 

[yeti21586]

Liking the little touches and attention to detail, one thing i did like is the switch to switch between the air horns and normal one, i have a feeling i shall be doing this now thank you

 

 

YetI

[Nuttoni]

Liking the little touches and attention to detail, one thing i did like is the switch to switch between the air horns and normal one, i have a feeling i shall be doing this now thank you

 

 

YetI

 

Thanks! For the horns I've used this switch:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350750183600

 

It doesn't look quite the same as the original ones but it's pretty close. (In the photo above it's the second switch from the left)

Edited by Nuttoni, 22 April 2014 - 09:14 PM.

[JordanGibbs]

loving the practicality of your mini! :)

[Ben_O]

There are some really nice touches on this Mini. I especially like the Herald warning light gauge.

 

So have you any further plans for it?

 

Ben

[Chris1992]

awesome mini! so many cool ideas here