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Newish Member Finally Starting A Project!


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#1 autocomman

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Posted 09 July 2018 - 04:30 AM

Heyooo,

 

So new to the forum sorta of, been lurkin forever as I recently boosted my a-series bugeye sprite.  Holy crap, forget building a big displacement motor, the A-series loves boost!  But thats another topic.  My wife has had a mini on her bucket list, and I always kept an eye out incase one popped up at the right price, and well...one did.  Ebay of all places and I bought it sight unseen, aside from some pics and talking to the caretaker of it.  Its an Mark4 and was used at an amusement park called Dollywood here in the states in their christmas parade for years.  The car had been done up with lights and music, the whole 9 yards apperantly as you can see in the pics below.  They decided to update the parade and shuffle a few cars out and this was one of them.

 

Mileage Im guessing is legit at 49k as it wasnt driven much in the last 20 years.  But its a solid car, 998, littel rust in the lower door skins, the cowl and the boot corners.  Hole in the boot lid for the giant wind up key that was in there, and one in the floor for I dont know what else.  Rear seat bottom missing but other than that its complete.  Was delivered to me and it ran, so I drove it 30 miles home.  Even falling apart it was a blast.

 

Ran pretty good, but it has issues.  The suspension is original, and its on the bump stops, cones all collapsed, brakes are toast and adjusters frozen, drums front and rear.  Half the lights and what not didnt work when I got it, a quick fuse box cleaninig and some connector replacement brought almost everryting back to life.  oil pressure light didnt work, turn signal indicator broken, who knows if its running hot cause it has no temp light or gauge haha.  Rebuilt the carb and changed the oil, and found no threads left in the sump.  So drilled and tapped it in the car, and of course didnt get it perfectly straight so it still seeps.  Dunno what im gonna do about that yet other than going a little bigger than the original drain plug.

 

Plan is for now weld up the holes.  The wife spent a few hours with a heat guna and removed all the vynal stickers.  Its been sittting for almost a year, no time or $$ and it wasnt really safe to drive.  So I finally made a big order, new 10x5 Mamba wheels, 7.5" discs, full performance suspension kit with adjustible everything, GAZ shocks, new stock cones. Front and rear subframe will come out to be cleaned and inspected.  want to be sure rust hasnt gone too far and its easier well to do everything that way.  Motor will get a full reseal, new clutch, all hoses, waterpump, aluminum radiator, stage 1 performance kit with an aluminum intake manifold, header, carb needle, air cleaner and exhaust system.  It needed an exhaust system, air cleaner and needle anyway.  Wiring is a little butchered but thats what I do for a living so Ill go hrough it and replace connectors as needed, new fuse box and all bulbs etc etc.  And it will get an electric oil pressure gauge, electric temp gauge and center Mini S gauge binnacle.

 

Motor will stay stock as will the gear box.  Adding power brakes because well the brake cylinder is already there and its a dual line system and power brakes well are better than non power.  I already have the master, servo and brackets, but no crossover bar for the pedals yet.  If I cant source a used one (havent found one yet) then I will end up fabbing something up.  Ive found em new, but the kit is like $500 and thats way too much for 15$ in steel and a few bushings.  Its getting converted to LHD cause driving on the wrong side in the states makes left turns and drive throughs kinda suck haha.  Gonna just be a driver, something to enjoy and have fun with.  Long term it will get painted, dark deep blue and pearl white roof with pearl white wheels, tan interior, thats the plan at this point anyway.

 

So here are some pics, Ill post more once I start the tear down.  Gonna be a few weeks at least as Im trying to finish up a chevelle project for a buddy.  But i love the forum and love sharring projects!

 

 

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#2 1330RG

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Posted 09 July 2018 - 05:04 AM

Nice save! Im in the u.s at the moment and you just dont see minis around, iv visited ny sevral times, florida a couple and im now in seattle and heading to atlanta and iv never seen a mini in the u.s yet. Always good to see minis outside of the uk getting some love! Good luck with the build plans.

#3 minimissions

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Posted 09 July 2018 - 05:38 AM

Cool little Mini we look forward to seeing some updates..



#4 autocomman

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Posted 09 July 2018 - 02:46 PM

Yeah, once in a while you see em on the streets of California, usually at a cars and coffee or something.  Its one of those cars like my bugeye, makes everyone smile.






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