I owned a 998 and then a 1275GT in my earlier years so I knew my way around Minis, which meant it seemed logical to buy one for his first car.We started hunting, initially for Coopers, before I found out that it would cost £1500 more for insurance on a 1275cc compared to a 998! It was then that I stumbled across this blue 1000: http://www.ebay.co.u...9#ht_500wt_1202
Admittedly, it was older than I was really looking for being a 1977 car, but it had been owned by the same family since new and had only done 40,000 miles. It had a brand new front end and A-panels, as well as a newer (less brown) interior and front brake discs in 2007, and rust-wise there was hardly anything to report. On the test drive it ran brilliantly and after looking at three other cars, this one was definitely the best and the one I really wanted.
Here is a pic from the advert:
We drove the 75-mile journey home and the car never missed a beat, although we thought that, even though the engine only originally had 40bhp, by cleaning it and freshening everything up it could feel a bit more sprightly. There was no doubt that it was in brilliant condition for its age, but we knew that there was more room for improvement.
The first thing we did was have all the wheels off and rustproofed under the wheelarches and in the sills, before painting it all black.
Before:
After:
We also detailed the wheels (he wants some new centre caps for these as well)
The underneath of the car was also rustproofed whilst the exhaust was re-painted:
After this, we set to work on the interior. We removed the seats and carpets (and underfelt!) which revealed a reassuringly solid shell. This was then cleaned and any surface rust was treated and painted with Hammerite. We then removed the dashboard and soundproofing and new soundproofing has been installed (not shown on this photo).
The interior has been left like that for the time being until I get a new radio and all the speaker wires must go under the floor, so then it was time to tackle the engine bay. It was probably the weak point of the car because it was very grubby and needed a thorough clean, so we decided to remove the engine.
The engine as it was before removal:
Hung on the hoist!
The engine was then placed in front of the car so that we could begin grinding off surface rust and dirt. The results were very surprising - even before painting, it was looking quite shiny!
The block was then painted black, with the rest including the cylinder head silver. I plan to get a blue rocker cover which should be added in the next week or two. Here is the engine now:
Meanwhile, the gaping hole in the engine bay meant that we could re-paint the bulkhead and all exposed metal the original blue it once was. Surface rust was removed and then it was sprayed with grey primer before the blue was added on top. We also painted the subframe with black Hammerite.
Here is a collection of bits that were taken off the engine before removal which have also been cleaned where necessary and sprayed black/silver:
That is the stage that we are currently at. There are only a few more jobs to do before the new year when the engine and interior will be going back in. I will keep this thread updated as things progress.
Thanks for looking
