almost two years ago i bought my '81 Mini Van from it's second owner. He stored it 14 years ago after failing the MOT.
I didn't have any experience restoring cars whatsoever (except changing a wheel perhaps) so it was quite the challenge for me.
This is how I bought the car:
Fortunately it really wasn't bad at all, except for the front which kind of had an accident.
After some serious de-assembling (is that a word??) i started with the rear subframe. Surprisingly after having it blasted, it showed no holes whatsoever, so after a fress paintjob it was as good as new. In this pic you can see the frame and the coated underside of the car (which really did help against the rust!)
After this i revised all the other parts on the frame, resulting in
Suspensing was renewed as well, but I can't seem to find the image.
After the rear frame was done, the engine was removed and we could start welding the front
Resulting in a fresh nose!
I decided to save me some money by not painting the inside, so i could let the painter do all the prep-work. Finally after about one year, the mini was painted. Colour is the Porsche-colour, L63A, which was only used on the Porsche 911 Sport Classic.
Then it was the engines turn, first some repainting
Front subframe refitted, ready for the engine!
Now the front is pretty much completed, some more overall pics
Since i decided not to paint the inside of the car (most parts), i wanted to upholster the side panels. Doing this with a ribbed pattern is not the smartest move... Aligning really uhm, was a challenge.
After some sweat and tears, i was pretty much pleased with the result. I thought some wood would look great, somewhat like the old USA chevy pick-ups. Well, why not just give it a try?
I thought this was the hard part.. i was wrong, that was filling the seams! I just the same stuff they use on teakdecks. You can easily sand it down after drying.
Well this is basicly the status right now. Next step is refitting all the windows, doors, dash and then some.
Of course chrome detailing has yet to be done, but he no rush right? Also, all those beautiful parts need to be shipped overseas first..
I'll keep you guys posted!
Grtz, Snackey from The Netherlands
