Afternoon all
As I said in my introduction, I am currently building a classic from what is basically a new shell. So here goes with the pics and details
For my 40th a couple of years ago, I got myself a butchered shell, it was a 1275 Mayfair from 82. This has sat in my drive since then and done nothing, except rot away more. There's no doors or front end and the previous owner had cut away big chunks of the floor and sills, but never braced it. It's hopefully going to a new home soon. But not long after I got it I spotted a shell on Gumtree that was almost complete, every panel was brand new heritage except from the roof, b-pillars and c-pillars. Unfortunately at the time I just couldn't lay my hands on spare funds so I missed out.
Roll on a year later (May this year) and I'm busy browsing a local VW forum and one of the guy mentions he has this shell just sitting doing nothing, all he wants is what he paid, it was the very same one. Now I thought to myself, even if this thing has been put together really badly I could remove the panels I need and fit them to the shell I have in the drive. 1 week later and this.....
My boss said I could use the shed at work for as long as I needed it and that I could hook up power. Like I'm going to turn that down, free garage and free power.
Sadly, about a week later my 97 year old gran passed away, hence why this is Project Gladys.
Now I don't do electrics, so I was at the mercy of my workmates to wire up the shed. I've got a couple of sockets and 2 strip lights, but only 1 light wired up. This took a good while of nagging and moaning. They eventually got it done, now I was ready to start.....
Now I've loved Mini's since I was old enough to know what they are, but I have absolutely no clue on how to build one. So bear with me, this is gonna take a while
First up, I decided to flip her on her side and get the underside primed to prevent any chance of rust as in the heavy rain the water just pours through the shed
I used scotchbrite all over the underside so the primer could get some bite then gave her 2 good coatings of etch primer
As you can see she is lying on a couple of motorbike tyres we had in the scrap pile
I also primed the OSF wheel arch
And the lower part of the front panel
It was at this point it dawned on me......I think I should have seam sealed her first
I've had that tub of brush on seam sealer for about 20 years, horrible stuff to work with but hopefully it will do the job. Now I know the sealer looks a mess, but I will get it all tidied up before any paint touches her.
That'll do for now, I have many more pictures and post to make, but I need to wait for my approval before I can add to this thread.
Cheers
Tony