157 replies to this topic

[rick.spi]

Right i got the lil beast for 2200 ish about a year ago after getting completly bored of a mk4 golf after 6 months of driving. so exciting when we picked it up as we had arranged to meet half way with the owners as it had to come a fair distance, after an hour of waiting in anticipation it rolled in and we had a look around, first drive in a mini was back home straight from the services onto a motorway which was crazy as i couldnt be less used to a car (golf drives no end different than a mini lol) well i got it home in one peice.

it came with a dyno sheet with dates from about a month before i brought it saying it had 66bhp which aint bad for a standard SPI (dont think has that much now despite the extra bits lol) it had 66000 on the clock and back then the bodywork and paint was pretty sound .

anyway heres the pictures when i got it home that day:




in the first few days of having it i spin into a high kurb killing the back bumber, valance and arch, i fixed the arch and sprayed, and now have a new bumper, and rear valance (yet to be welded on)




next thing was to clean the lines on the front so:





then black plates (now off because i got pulled )




then i brought some 6 x 12 revos:



then a few with them fitted and new cones and spax shocks on the front (and small maniflow stickers on the wings):





then due to rust i got spax on the back to match the front (no pictures), and hi-los all round





now its largly like this exept with a lil more rust (that really needs sorting out ), no bonnet stripes and no spots again




like this but with the grille on and spots off again lol (not got 1 up to date piccy lol)



inbetween all of this it has also had a modified throttle body, full maniflow lcb - decat - stainless backbox, k&n, and some other small bits

currently it on stands getting rear and front camber, sure stop brake kit (green stuff with drilled and grooved disks) and loadsa MOT failures lol...

will get some up to date piccies soon.

well any honest opinions?

Edited by Ethel, 15 February 2010 - 10:20 PM.

[MiniBonkerz]

Like it mate nice car good to see someone enjoying a mini

[Sir Cheat]

Looks very smart!

[rick.spi]

Cheers to all of you...

yep 1 year and still loving it

[rick.spi]

where do i start... well big updates due to forgettin i had this thread and actually doing something on my mini for once.

right, firstly i had a poke around under my headlights at few bubbles i found. which being a mini turned into these:





ive lost the repaired pictues somewhere down the line but youve got my gurantee that it was steel and weld and not just filler, no bodges on this one , the rest of the front end was solid so it has had a new front panel at some time im guessing.

between then and now i blew my first engine up and brought a brand spanker 1293 from minisport and used that for 500 miles before my mini was off the road again.

more poking around lead to this, it looks alot worse than it is, ive had a goood look in the bins and it seems to have rotted from the outside in as a good poke with a screwdriver reavealed no other rust:



and this, have a leaky windcreen i think and the water had went under the carpet and under the soundproofing and rotted it, again a good poke around showed the rest of the floor and sill to be solid:



so i thought, if i have to do some welding i might as well put one of these in the bulkhead:



and place one of these under the bonnet (which now meant my brand new 1293 is for sale) :



whilst watching beetle crisis and watching them buture an old beetle i noticed thing looked alot easier with air tools than the trusty grinder so for a grand sum of £40 i got myself some cheap airtools to get started with, ones an air cutter and the others a die grinder, my grandads got a compressor so with any luck we i should be able to give them a try and see whether my money was wasted or not, this is them, anyone had experience with these?:



and i managed to get an old vice from work for free by saying it was seized lol:



a lick of paint and some realeasing agent and it was like new:



my favorite buy of recent times by far has to be my new cooper s clock set from bingley tho:



this is how its looking now minus an engine as i need to weld the bulhead box and respray the whole engine bay before i even think about placing the turbo lump in:



im hoping for a taget time of 6 weeks intill im on the road again as i miss mini-ing so much, but im not going to cut corners, as id rather have a decent end product so that deadline may well extend. i have got some holesaws to make holes in certain places for weight saving. the engine will be going off to either MRA or MED for an inspection checkup type thing and and overhaul to replace certain parts if needed, a cross diff pin and SC drop will also be added for peice of mind.


what you all think?

Edited by rick.spi, 15 February 2010 - 09:29 PM.

[kitroxin]

looking very smart! and i cant wait to see the new engine either!

If you dont mind adding a few more close up pictures of the engine bay i would appreciate it, im giving my spi a going over at the moment too =)

[Tim1970]

Great plans for this mate, Turbo lump should make it fly.
Know how you feel miss driving mine so much but will definitely be worth it in the end.
Look forward to seeing how it all goes.
Best of luck with it all.

[rick.spi]

looking very smart! and i cant wait to see the new engine either!

If you dont mind adding a few more close up pictures of the engine bay i would appreciate it, im giving my spi a going over at the moment too =)

engine bay is nothing special at the moment just an empty tired looking bay (that last piccy was just before the engine was hoisted out ready for selling) , hopefully not for long tho.. ill post pictures of the angine bay when its welded, painted and polished up

i think its all the little bits that make a big difference in an engine bay, a nice clean and some fresh paint, not a big fan of chrome tho so will be avoiding that in mine.

Edited by rick.spi, 16 February 2010 - 04:43 PM.

[rick.spi]

Great plans for this mate, Turbo lump should make it fly.
Know how you feel miss driving mine so much but will definitely be worth it in the end.
Look forward to seeing how it all goes.
Best of luck with it all.

thankyou

yeah nothing quite compares to driving a mini, especially when the sun comes out and your out on a roadtrip lol

hopefully it should go well. im hoping for around the 140bhp mark once the engine is rebuilt

[Tim1970]

Most definitely, can't wait till it's back on the road and if we get a bit of sun it'll be perfect.
I guess having it off the road at this time of year saves it from the salty roads a bit though little bit of a silver lining.
With 140bhp it's going to be awesome hopefully see you at a show some time when it's done have a little nose around
Best of luck with it.

[rick.spi]

Most definitely, can't wait till it's back on the road and if we get a bit of sun it'll be perfect.
I guess having it off the road at this time of year saves it from the salty roads a bit though little bit of a silver lining.
With 140bhp it's going to be awesome hopefully see you at a show some time when it's done have a little nose around
Best of luck with it.

yes hopefully.

ye i hadda have a nose around yours n all lol, itl be on 10"ers by then ay?

Edited by rick.spi, 16 February 2010 - 09:02 PM.

[Down&Out]

I spy effects pedal

[Tim1970]

Most definitely be on tens then, hoping to have the wheels on by the end of feb but depends on what the weather does.
Won't be as exciting as yours under the bonnet i'm afraid, for the moment anyway
You thinking of going for tens at all?

[rick.spi]

I spy effects pedal

Marshall vs102r channel changer lol

the amp behind the pictures is my Marshall JTM-45 relic re-issue

Edited by rick.spi, 16 February 2010 - 10:42 PM.

[rick.spi]

Most definitely be on tens then, hoping to have the wheels on by the end of feb but depends on what the weather does.
Won't be as exciting as yours under the bonnet i'm afraid, for the moment anyway
You thinking of going for tens at all?

id be on 10"ers right now if the thing that will be under the bonnet wasnt going to cost so much 10"ers are in the future plans either minilights, GBs or some shiny MB splittys lol



its all money tho ay, and it soon runs out

lol

Edited by rick.spi, 16 February 2010 - 10:43 PM.