14 replies to this topic

[benb12]

My '76 clubby estate could do with a bit of a resto. Have a picture.


I have always planned to restore it in the future but I haven't really thought of doing so until I have a nice garage of my own. However, I've been thinking that I've got time on my side (I turn 17 in November) and my nan lives 10 miles away and has a large garage with power, a welder and a grinder. The only thing I don't have on my side at the moment is cash, although I do work Sundays and earn ~£25 a week so if I saved for a bit I could probably make a start. I think it needs new A-panels, new doorskins, possibly sills and other bits of rust cutting out. My question is, how cheaply could I do this, and do you think it's worth it? I could probably get away with leaving it for a year or two (it passed it's MOT with no problems bodywork-wise) but it would probably make the job harder if I leave it. It's all swings and roundybouts really. My other concern is that I could start stripping it and find that the whole shell is as rotten as a pear and it would cost a fortune to put right.

Does anyone have the answers to my questions?

Cheers,
Ben

[il-barba]

i say that its better if you save up some money before beginning restoration. most probably you will find more rust and its better if you do it well instead of bodging it because of lack of money

[Retro_10s]

I would do some simple tarting up to make you feel better about it for the time being - colour code the front valance (i take it the rear valance is also painted in stone chip)

It's a beautiful example of an original clubby estate

[benb12]

Yeah, paintwork is rather mix and match and has waxoyl everywhere, including inside. The thing is, I want to do it, but I need to know from the experience of people that have restored minis how much this is likely to cost me. As long as it's not in 4 figures I think I could do it over the period of now til November. The other thing is that my dad doesn't like it being in our garage because it means he can't get his bikes out...



So it would free up space at this end, and my nan's garage has about twice the floorspace. I've got a lot of my stuff sitting in boxes in my nan's garage which will need shifting, if I do this I think I'll eBay it all and put it towards the Mini.

I think I've convinced myself I want to do it, now I just need to convince my nan that she wants a Mini in her garage!!

[mab01uk]

I'd also advise waiting and carry on using it if its got its MOT ok. I have seen countless Mini's stripped for total restoration only to become abandoned projects later due to lack of time, money or interest. They are nearly always worse than you think when stripped so always best to have a contingency plan and extra funds ready just in case.
When working on a tight budget I have always found it best to carry out a rolling type of restoration, doing a bit at a time while trying to keep the car in use wherever possible. The car may not end up as an immaculate concours winner but at least you end up with a good, usable and sound Mini to last for a few more years or until time and funds allow for a total rebuild / restoration.

[benb12]

I'd also advise waiting and carry on using it if its got its MOT ok. I have seen countless Mini's stripped for total restoration only to become abandoned projects later due to lack of time, money or interest. They are nearly always worse than you think when stripped so always best to have a contingency plan and extra funds ready just in case.
When working on a tight budget I have always found it best to carry out a rolling type of restoration, doing a bit at a time while trying to keep the car in use wherever possible. The car may not end up as an immaculate concours winner but at least you end up with a good, usable and sound Mini to last for a few more years or until time and funds allow for a total rebuild / restoration.

I was thinking about a rolling kind of restoration, at the moment there's no need for the car to be on the road but I don't think I could strip the whole thing down because I'd probably find so much more to do that I would have to spend shed loads on it, I'd probably do it a panel at a time.

Does anyone have a rough figure for what this will cost me?

Cheers all,
Ben.

[Tomf]

Its impossible to give a rough figure of how much it will cost to fix without seeing the car in flesh as pic and lie alot as i have found out on ebay a few times lol.

If i was you i would go round the car, think of all the bits you can see that you want to get sorted and write it up in a list.

Once you have done this get on your computer and price up how much everything will cost you to buy. Then what ever that cost it, you will probably double it where you find other things wrong lol. Thats the way iv always done it and its never let me down lol.

Where abouts in Kent are you?

[mini-man-dan]

My '76 clubby estate could do with a bit of a resto. Have a picture.


I have always planned to restore it in the future but I haven't really thought of doing so until I have a nice garage of my own. However, I've been thinking that I've got time on my side (I turn 17 in November) and my nan lives 10 miles away and has a large garage with power, a welder and a grinder. The only thing I don't have on my side at the moment is cash, although I do work Sundays and earn ~£25 a week so if I saved for a bit I could probably make a start. I think it needs new A-panels, new doorskins, possibly sills and other bits of rust cutting out. My question is, how cheaply could I do this, and do you think it's worth it? I could probably get away with leaving it for a year or two (it passed it's MOT with no problems bodywork-wise) but it would probably make the job harder if I leave it. It's all swings and roundybouts really. My other concern is that I could start stripping it and find that the whole shell is as rotten as a pear and it would cost a fortune to put right.

Does anyone have the answers to my questions?

Cheers,
Ben

Just got to go for it I think. Got to take the risk, but properly check it over to see if there is any rust in bad bad places before you strip it and run out of money. If it just needs the body work doing, do it bit by bit. It won't look pretty, but then after everything is sorted you can save to get it resprayed and looking lovely!

And sorry but you must have one cool nan! Wish my nan had a welder, grinder and a big empty garage

[benb12]

Its impossible to give a rough figure of how much it will cost to fix without seeing the car in flesh as pic and lie alot as i have found out on ebay a few times lol.

If i was you i would go round the car, think of all the bits you can see that you want to get sorted and write it up in a list.

Once you have done this get on your computer and price up how much everything will cost you to buy. Then what ever that cost it, you will probably double it where you find other things wrong lol. Thats the way iv always done it and its never let me down lol.

Where abouts in Kent are you?

Okay, I'll do that. I'm in Lenham.

My '76 clubby estate could do with a bit of a resto. Have a picture.


I have always planned to restore it in the future but I haven't really thought of doing so until I have a nice garage of my own. However, I've been thinking that I've got time on my side (I turn 17 in November) and my nan lives 10 miles away and has a large garage with power, a welder and a grinder. The only thing I don't have on my side at the moment is cash, although I do work Sundays and earn ~£25 a week so if I saved for a bit I could probably make a start. I think it needs new A-panels, new doorskins, possibly sills and other bits of rust cutting out. My question is, how cheaply could I do this, and do you think it's worth it? I could probably get away with leaving it for a year or two (it passed it's MOT with no problems bodywork-wise) but it would probably make the job harder if I leave it. It's all swings and roundybouts really. My other concern is that I could start stripping it and find that the whole shell is as rotten as a pear and it would cost a fortune to put right.

Does anyone have the answers to my questions?

Cheers,
Ben

Just got to go for it I think. Got to take the risk, but properly check it over to see if there is any rust in bad bad places before you strip it and run out of money. If it just needs the body work doing, do it bit by bit. It won't look pretty, but then after everything is sorted you can save to get it resprayed and looking lovely!

And sorry but you must have one cool nan! Wish my nan had a welder, grinder and a big empty garage

Hiya, what would you call bad bad places? I haven't been able to get underneath it and see what's what but I think it's all smothered in waxoyl so it's hard to tell what's underneath. I've tried getting it on the ramps before but it's too low to get up them

To give you an idea of how cool my nan is, she's 75 and is addicted to Facebook and MSN!

[Down&Out]

as long as you keep it that colour, im happy . i LOVE YOUR CLUBBY ESTATE.

[fugazied]

as long as you keep it that colour, im happy . i LOVE YOUR CLUBBY ESTATE.

I love it too and agree on the color.
As the other guys have mentioned, don't half ass the restoration, the car deserves better. Don't pull it apart until you have the cash to do a good job on her.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished project!

[Prawn]

I'm not generally a clubby estate fan, but something as original as yours is fairly rare, and it's well worth doing it properly! I love the colour, it suits the 70's look so well!

If it's got a 12 month ticket now, keep it on the road and save up until you can afford to do it properly. If it's just body work, the cost is entirely dependant on your skills really, the panels needed won't cost that much, and painting them is cheap if you've got the equipment yourself, it's a case of how much help you're going to need to get it done properly.

Either way it's a lovely original car, and it's worth doing it properly

[benb12]

Thanks guys, I agree the car doesn't deserve a half ass restoration! And I'm going to make sure that's not what it's gonna get.

I've taken pictures of the things I'm definitely going to do.

Swollen A-panels



New wing, I think it's been hit at some point and is very wonky and rusty.



And the drivers side door needs some attention as it's dropped massively and is hitting the bodywork everytime it shuts and has cracked the window frame.


There are some other things I want to do, painting the front valance antique gold and painting the front wheelarches inside the car antique gold (they're currently underseal!). If I find anything else that needs doing then I'll do it.

2x A-panels @ £26.94...................£53.88
Wing...........................................£81.02
-------------------------------------------------------
£134.90

Minus the magic TMF+ discount.....£121.41

Multiply by three to cover paint add anything else I come across = ~£350

[joe f]

im pretty sure you can get those panels a lot cheaper, iirc, my a-panles for clubby estate were £12.86
try sc parts group, that where i got all my panels.

[benb12]

You can get non-genuine A-panels for about £6 but I would rather spend a bit more for a higher quality panel