58 replies to this topic

[markje]

Great job

[danotje21]

As usual, it's taken forever for me to make an update, but here goes. I finally managed to get the bonnet pinned on, and I must say, it's very cool, especially the headroom! I tried a few different ideas, but wound up using straight post pins in the back with spring loaded latches in the front. I wanted a little positive down force on the bonnet, and I think the latches also give a little bit of a rally look. They are also very easy to do/undo. I'll paint the hardware or use allen head bolts in the final iteration.




In trying to come up with something to hold the rear pins, I found two triangular braces on the underside of the bonnet. These turned out fitting perfectly and look nice. I'll beef up the bonnet once I put the cross brace back on.



Finally, we're moving across the country in a week or so, so I had to get the Mini tow capable. I put all of the major subsystems back in and got it rolling. Really good idea of how the bulid up is going to go. Also found that clean parts with new hardware are MUCH easier to install.



Pretty weak update, I know, but have had loads going on.

[danotje21]

Oh, and here's an engine teaser.

[Ben_O]

Excellent progress. Can't wait to see more!

 

Ben

[HarrysMini]

Great project... will be following! Can't wait to see the end result.

[danotje21]

Thought I'd upload a couple of shots of the car on the car dolly in case anyone else is considering how to tow a Mini without a tow bar. It fits fine, but there are some sill clearance issues. I raised it all the way up (Hi-Los) and didn't have much of a problem. Don't think I will move it cross country like this again, but for a short drive, not too bad.







Mini is now safe in the desert (no more rust!), and work will commence once I get rid of all the moving boxes.

Cheers!

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

I adore this car, great project keep it coming

[danotje21]

Wow...it has been a really long time (2 years!) with zero progress on the car, but it is time to go down the home stretch. I've moved house, spent a year overseas and the car has sat the entire time. However, I've recently ordered some wheels (10" Rose Petals) and a full wiring loom, and now that the front end is coming off (again  ), I plan on doing the final ordering push for some front end components, namely hubs. I also found some paint shops in the area that specialize in restorations as well as an interior place to redo the seats. With a little welding left and about 3 weeks of off time, I should be ready for paint in Jan/Feb. It's going back to orange, but with a black top and the stripes painted on. So here's to the final push to get the car done and for an updated pic of how it sits currently:

 

Project Orange pt 2 by Dan

 

By the way, the garage space is not as good, but still pretty nice :)

[danotje21]

Inspiration for the Rose Petals:

 

http://www.theminifo...sepetal-wheels/

 

[danotje21]

And just got these in the post:

 

IMG_5313

 

Yes, that's a whole loom, too. Quite a bit of work ahead.

[johnR]

The difference in the size of garages in America compared to Brit ones always makes me laugh (jealously)
One advantage of the standard bonnet catch is that you can open it a notch for cooling when you're climbing mountains!
Keep up the good work
JohnR

[danotje21]

So here’s a note to all of you guys looking to tackle a big project like this. I’ve been in this for nearly a decade, and it still isn’t done ?. I move house every 3 years or so, so it isn’t a fair comparison, but life does get in the way. In AZ, the place where the last pic was taken, it was an older neighborhood that wasn’t as conducive to grinding metal in the garage as well as ungodly hot most of the time. I didn’t plan on that being a derailment, but it obviously was.

Next, we moved to Alaska, and had the opposite problem. We needed our garages for our daily cars, and it was ridiculously cold. The car didn’t actually travel with us, so zero progress for those 3 years. We also adopted our 2 sons, so there was no way I was going to get anything done anyway.

Now we’re back in Japan, and the possibility of owning a second Mini is real. It got me thinking of Orange and this post. It’ll be at least 3 more non-productive years, but at least it’s on my mind again. Additionally, retirement is looming, and the boys are coming of age.

So while I haven’t gotten much done, we are getting set up to push through the end when we get back. I think it’ll be great putting the car back together with the boys and even better when we go for our first drive. We bought a Jeep in AK, and the boys love it! Can’t wait to share the Mini bug with them, too.

Attached Files

•  BCBA5DC9-88DE-4FA2-B1F1-F684BE325FB6.jpeg   63.86K   4 downloads

Edited by danotje21, 05 July 2020 - 11:40 PM.

[slidehammer]

You are doing a great job, I am impressed with the work you put into getting the pattern front end to line up so well. I think possibly the Heritage panels do fit a lot better but are getting really expensive even in the UK. They seem to go up in price every time I order them. I looked back recently on some old invoices from a previous project and some have doubled in price in 8 years and my wages haven't gone up anywhere near that much! Good luck with the rest of the build.

[danotje21]

Thanks for the kind words. The panels did take quite a bit of work to get sorted, but in the end, they fit better than what was on the car (though those were probably patterns, too). When I bought the Heritage quarter, it cost quite a bit, but the pattern was virtually unusable due to the odd angle of the belt line. It was worth it for that one, but can’t imagine spending the money on all Heritage panels. Luckily, the only thing left is the passenger sill, and I have that one. In fact, I have most everything to finish it, so hopefully I’ll finally get across the finish line when we get back.