96 replies to this topic

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

cheers for the comments guys
@GlynC, all the magnum panels have fitted surprisingly well, sometimes a tad wrinkly from the press but still a very good fit, door skin went straight on and the front panel just needed some fettling and a fair few vice grips i wish i had of thought of thinners but i just used a wire brush drill attachment and took it off no problem

[GlynC]

Thanks, I bought them from Old Skool Minis in Bham who use them for their own work and assured me they fit well, so glad to hear you have had a good experience with them. I noticed the flanges are a tad "wrinkly" on a couple so will have to sort that before fitting. Otherwise they seem on the mark to me.
Look forward to your next update mate, I am in the cutting and grinding stage which can be a tad soul destroying as you probably know!!. So seeing you moving forward drives me on!
Cheers
Glyn

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

cheers i found it was more soul destroying looking at the rust all the time

not really and update but more of a depressing post after the 2 update pics

i just liked this pic abit

the rear subframe has now been painted with por15 which really is brilliant stuff



and now for the depressing bit, i went with my neighbour up to a farm which has loads of cars, my neighbour had said that he knew there was a few minis there and 1 may have been good enough for a project for my dad, i wasnt expecting what i saw










this is just a few of the minis there, he has just stripped most of them for parts and took a digger to them, there are many other cars there such as a very old mini bus and old tractors etc. the blue mini has a surprisingly good blue vinyl interior so i might go back and offer to buy it off him
i wish i had got pics of the next bit but the guy opened up his 'workshop' basically just a huge barn filled with mini parts, tractor parts and all other things, everywhere i looked, mk1 seats, cooper s wheels, a cabinet filled with cooper s engine parts
in the corner though are 4 absolutely mint mk1 cooper s minis
theres also a caravan that has an abundance of mk1 doors and parts from all ages

he is sitting on an absolute fortune worth of parts and cars and i dont think he realises it

[minimuk]

a mini grave yard, how bad is that, but as you said some bit of treasures in there perhaps,......

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

its a grave yard for too many cars now unfortunately, most of them could have been easily saved before they were stripped of parts and crushed and very few treasures would be left now on the outside cars at least anyway, the barn is a completely different story though, i could be lost for many happy days looking through many parts and some extremely rare parts aswell as admiring the mint coopers

[minimuk]

so we should go toghether perhaps,.................nah it is all yours!!

[minimuk]

you stopped again??

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

i havent completely stopped but things have slowed down alot, mum went away to miami to see her sister and her new niece so me and dad have worked for the past week and a bit, re-decorating most of the house so it then became an excuse for me to do a full clean of everything in the garage and get the help of my neighbour to put in new lighting in the garage and garage roofspace so ive got lots more space and lighting to see better im off thursday so that will be an early morning and straight into the garage

[minimuk]

you be excused,...at least it is work for a good reason,.....garage ready........I always like to have some light in the garage,.....and a bit off heating. hope it is not such a harsch winter this time......

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

haha i love good lighting, 3 fluorescents along the garage and the whole place is just illuminated heating doesnt bother me though cus i work with the garage door open every time im out even in the snow like last winter

i have got a few pics of what i have been doing mini wise to be able to start clearing bits that i wont need for a little while

cleaned up the rear subframe mounts then etched, stone-chipped and then just poundland black spray over it and then a few things bolted to the subframe and all bolts copper greased so theres no problems in the future and now its out the way in the shed waiting for the soon to be re-furbished radius arms



re-painted the petrol tank, its alot better finish than in the picture but its done and in the roofspace now out the way


took the drivers door to bare metal and etch primed it so it will be ready for paint prep with everything else


both front hubs have been stripped apart waiting for new bearings, ball joints, brake cylinders and brake shoes and gaitors so i know everything will pass MOT no problem, parts are just being bare metaled, etched, red oxide and then poundland black again cus its just quite good paint


Adam

[minimuk]

you shop a lot in poundland????,.........carefull no petrol near it!!!! all paint will desolve and run of, I am sure you can buy decent metal spray paint somewhere in the Ards area,.......might cost a few pounds more but woth it in the end, but you subby lookws ace never the less, nice those trunnions!

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

im only using the gloss black from poundland as a top coat just to make things look shinier cus its cheap but good, and definately better than a few other sprays ive tried like from halfords, everything under it i decided not to go cheap on though just in case

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

alright then, ive got a little bit of and update at least


finished painting those wee bits up so they have been set aside waiting for the other bits to be finished so it can be put back together



rear valance and closing panels are all finished now



made up a couple of brackets to finish the welding underside

also spent a day grinding down many welds so i have only got a few pin holes to fill in and then thats the main shell finished welding, just a few drilled holes to fill in in the boot lid and a small patch to the bonnet and the support bar thing for the bonnet

i found a new problem that im not to sure how to fix, i bought a riley elf dash and was planning to just have it re-laminated, problem being is that british leyland didnt make my shell very well, the gap from the bottom dash rail to the top is at least 15mm smaller at the left hand side than the right so it doesnt fit at all so i may just make my own custom dash, what do people reckon?

comments welcome, Adam

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

heres a little bit of an update ive basically just been stripping away old paint, etching and then a coat of red oxide


i had to strip back the bulkhead agin and re-do it all properly, everything is now seam sealed and primered ready to go


spent ages working in the wings getting high of paint fumes trying to paint everything properly and not mess it up by pressing my head against bits of it but its now all done in zinc phosphate and red oxide, just need to stone chip and underseal now and i can get a rolling shell


gave the 1st coat of satin black on the engine and put a few bit back on to see how it will look


also got a couple of birthday presents that will come in handy


ive already posted a topic asking for advice on the radio and a sound system set up so hopefully it will be sorted soon enough

all opinions welcome, Adam

[cityspeed]

Those snap on hammers look tasty!, good work with the project, are you planning to have it done in time for the show season?