120 replies to this topic

[vincent300]

So I picked up my Morris Mini 1973 a couple of weeks ago and am now attempting to restore it to its former glory. At the moment it is looking very sorry for itself and has more resemblence to a piece of cheese, due to it having to many holes. Anyways here are some pitures of this rust bucket Already taken out the interior mostly.













At the monment I am trying to remove the engine, the front subframe needs replacing and so does the rear. Then I will work on the bodywork more. Go easy on me I am still a noob

[Boycie]

Brilliant project vincent! You have a pretty original mk3 mini there, everything is correct for it's year.. I urge you to try and restore that original body shell as they are different to the 1976 onwards mk4s!
Have fun )

[luke666222]

Nice project!

[vincent300]

Thanks. At the moment I am almost at the point of actually removing the front subframe and engine. I have currently only to disconnect the track rods, shock absorbers and undo all the bolts connecting the subframe and it will be freeeeee!!!.....i hope, I am having extreme trouble with the nuts on the track rods and the shock absorbers tho, hope they come off tomorrow. Sprayed a gallon of wd40 on them for the night. Progress is quite slow at the moemnt, as I am still a noob and I am learning as I go, plus I only have the weekends to work on it, so don't be surprised that there isn't a huge change since last time. It also seems the more I remove the more rust I find . Rust to car ratio, not so good at the moment.












Jimmy rigged








Here are about the only parts from the car that need very little doing to them.




Also, when I was cleaning this I noticed the symbol looked very familiar, am I going crazy from too much rust on my brain or do you see it to?

Edited by vincent300, 09 April 2011 - 12:18 AM.

[grahama]

A very brave decision to restore that mini, best of luck.

Graham

[tedmcedd]

looks great! lots of original hard to find bits on there!

keeping the original colour? its fab!

Ed

[vincent300]

looks great! lots of original hard to find bits on there!

keeping the original colour? its fab!

Ed

Im not a big fan of the beige colour, so probably not . Just wondering which parts on there are the hard to find ones? just so I don't wreck them by accident without knowing . Also, managed to finally remove the front subframe and engine after lots of swearing and flailing of the upper extremeties . Even tho the hanes manual said that four people can lift the chassis and roll it away like a wheel barrow, me and my dad did it no problem, we must be super human or something, lol.

A very brave decision to restore that mini, best of luck.

Graham

Thanks. funny, I was actually following a few of the pics you have up from your build to see how you went about getting your engine and subframe out. By the way your build is looking sweeeet. Anyways, pics coming sooon...

Edited by vincent300, 09 April 2011 - 07:07 PM.

[vincent300]

here are some pics of current progress.





WOOP engine out

















removed the speedo and some dash stuff.





took the front panel off.



engine bay isn't terrible





need replacing?



well thats it for today. Made some pretty good progress, i think. But as my dad said, anyone can take something apart, its the putting back together that counts, or something like that lol. Tomorrow, engine strip down, woohoo...

[vincent300]

so today i looked closer at the front subframe and after cleaning it up a bit, it actually isn't in such bad nick. There are a couple of dinks here and there but overall from what I can see it is mostly surface rust. However I won't know for sure until I get the engine off the subframe. I did attempt to strip down the engine somewhat, but I came accross the tough as nuts sump bolt which refused to budge when I tried to drain the oil. So I left some wd40 on it (i know its not the best) and went to work on some other parts, and before I knew it, it turned dark. So I will have to wait till next weekend

Edited by vincent300, 10 April 2011 - 08:07 PM.

[vincent300]

some of the parts I was working on.



thats not rust, its just the lighting





these parts are coming up nice, especially the boot.

[Boycie]

Good work, you'll need to get some primer on those shiny bits before the damp causes rust again! We're lucky with the weather at the moment but when it's damp outside, airbourne moisture can cause rusting in a matter of hours. Looks like you've got a good bootlid there.

Whats the plan of attack on the bodyshell?

[sonikk4]

Cracking little project and it s very doable, oh and by the way its jury rigged and not Jimmy rigged unless of course that's your name

[vincent300]

Good work, you'll need to get some primer on those shiny bits before the damp causes rust again! We're lucky with the weather at the moment but when it's damp outside, airbourne moisture can cause rusting in a matter of hours. Looks like you've got a good bootlid there.

Whats the plan of attack on the bodyshell?

Thanks, my plan was to get the rear subframe off first. Then Build some sort of structure to put the shell on top of. As for attacking the body work I was thinking I would work from the front to the back doing the major bodywork. Start with the door hinge mounting areas, then foot wells and floor, then the sills (inner / outer), then the foot steps, then the rear seat, then the lower rear quaters, then rear inner wheel arches, then the boot area (battery box etc.), and finally the rear apron. And for the final final "then" do all the little rusty areas and small holes. I was planning to fit a fibre glass flip front but I'm not sure, I don't want it to detract from the car...

Cracking little project and it s very doable, oh and by the way its jury rigged and not Jimmy rigged unless of course that's your name

Thanks, must have picked that phrase up from my mate who uses it all the time, i will be sure to correct him (his name isn't jimmy) lol

Also I have to say, the colour is starting to grow on me a bit.

[ajperry]

Looking cool man! I like the colour a lot... bootlid has come up really well but as Boycie said, get some primer on it ASAP even if you're keeping it indoors.
Look forward to seeing your progress as I am also a complete novice!

[vincent300]

Thanks, got the boot lid sprayed this morning before I headed out to my place. Turned out alright except for a few small areas. Also it just started to rain before I was about to take it inside and it seems to have left loads of small dots all over one side (if you look closely you can see them in the picture). I am hoping it hasn't damaged the paintwork too much...it looks ok



Also when I do eventually come around to getting the whole car sprayed, in a few decades lol, I was wondering if I could get a good finish doing it myself outside, as I don't have anywhere to do it indoors or the moonies to get it done professionally. I have done alot of spray painting before, so I would say I am pretty proficient with a can but nothing on this scale.

Edited by vincent300, 11 April 2011 - 03:03 PM.