767 replies to this topic

[coopdog]

Haha looking good bro

[Chris1992]

Haha looking good bro

 

Cheers bruh!!

[Chris1992]

Well, bit of a miserable update, but anyway.... 

 

Firstly, a couple of nights ago some scummy bastards broke into my garage, but bizarrely, amongst the array of expensive power tools and other things (including JBL ipod speakers), all they took was a Halfords socket set, and 2 very manky HIF carbs. The carbs were not exactly on display, they were buried under a bunch of other mini parts, so why they singled out those I have no idea... I got very lucky I guess. Security measures are now being upgraded. Alarm on the door, Diskloks for all cars, as well as a baby monitor to put in the garage. 

 

The other depressing bit of news is that I have noticed yet more things wrong with the paint. including some rather worrying looking bubbling that is appearing all over the engine bay, almost as if its reacting. Its time to face facts that its needs redoing. I have spoken to the painter who did the car and he is coming to have a look as soon as possible to discuss what needs to be done. Safe to say I'm pretty gutted that I will now be missing my target of having it ready to take to Le Mans Classic, as well as every other show I was planning on attending this year.... Why cant people just do things right the first time?... 

 

Thats it for now I'm afraid, Hopefully the next update will be a little more cheery

Edited by Chris1992, 19 April 2016 - 11:55 AM.

[Jared Mk3]

Sorry to hear about that mate . . .

[lawrence]

That suck a bit you got broken into. Sounds like they just nicked what can easily be sold on. Hope your paint isn't too far gone too. It's still coming together nicely:)

[Chris1992]

That suck a bit you got broken into. Sounds like they just nicked what can easily be sold on. Hope your paint isn't too far gone too. It's still coming together nicely:)

 

 

Sorry to hear about that mate . . .

 

 

Cheers chaps, definitely just sounds like opportunists to be honest. the door was already slightly damaged from where a friend drove into it earlier. Thought I had secured it but obviously not. After a little look round today I've noticed that they have also taken one of my outer headlight bezels, and both my front indicator lenses   what the hell would they want with those? Especially when they could have had something like my bullet wing mirrors instead which were on the same shelf! ugh...idiots... Anyway, regarding the paint, I had a good chat with the painter and after describing everything that is wrong, he recons he can rub down polish most of it out (we shall see about that), except for the engine bay and valences which he will definitely respray. He also said to simply carry on assembling the car as I am, but just leave the engine bay alone, and when he has time to take the car away he will remove and then refit any parts for me if certain areas need respraying. Cant argue with that I guess!

[Chris1992]

Small update today. Just a few odd jobs that have been done and a few new shiny bits!

 

Firstly I got round to giving my polished rocker cover a make over by spraying it in black Hammerite, and then wiping the paint off each slat and from the rim around the bottom while the paint was still wet. Came out pretty nice! In the pics you will also see the chrome spikes that I got from the US to cover my head studs. I figured everyone has the Smiffy's Bits ones so these are a bit different.

 

 

 

And after a rather long wait, I finally received my purple Samco silicone hose set from Merlin Motorsport. Not cheap, but they are fantastic quality!

 

 

 

Also got myself a new cover for my top dash rail since it was looking pretty tatty. Not got round to fitting it yet though. That will probably get done while the car is back with the painter getting the problems rectified (which will be happening on the first week of May by the way).

 

 

 

Another small job, although it took me bloody ages because I didn't realise you just need brute force to get them off and on.... I was looking for bolts or screws... Anyway, nicked the CV pots off my old engine since my 1275 was lacking them.

 

 

 

Then gave my brake and clutch master cylinders some love. Took them apart and cleaned them up, then sprayed them with a few coats of black Hammerite. The brake fluid reservoir I flatted back and sprayed with regular spray paint. Quite pleased with the outcome. Im not worried about the paint getting eaten because I plan to use silicone brake fluid.

 

 

 

Mocked them up on the car quickly.

 

 

 

Since I'm now using a pre-engaged starter motor, I decided to use a starter pull switch. My dad's Healey Sprite uses one and I always thought it was pretty cool.

 

 

Mounted the switch inside the front wing, inside a tupperware box to keep the rain and dirt off. I'll cut the holes for the battery cables later.

 

 

 

Managed to wrestle the fuel tank back in too. absolute arse of a job...

 

 

 

Then wired up my amps before fitting the boot lining kit.

 

 

 

Then finally refitted the boot lid. She has an arse again!! 

 

 

The first of the bits to replace the stolen stuff. New indicator lenses which I then tinted black to fit with the theme I'm going for.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, not Mini related, but had a fabulous time at Japfest of Sunday!    Me and my dad took his twin-turbo 6 speed Supra along. One day I plan to buy this beast off him, but I have a lot of saving to do first.... Pic for attention!! 

 

 

 

More coming soon!

[minimissions]

That sucks about the people getting in sorry to hear that mate, cant believe the odd array of things that they took. Hope you get the paint sorted the car is really coming together now :)

 

That Supra.... I see why you want to buy that its stunning... 

[Chris1992]

I wonder what goes through the minds of these people! ah well, CCTV is all set up now so just have to live and learn I guess!   .... Cheers mate! Should hopefully be a quick jobbie. 

 

Haha, I maaaay have had a slight influence on him buying it in the first place 

[Jared Mk3]

That rear end looks so good with the bootlid back on now 

[Chris1992]

Hefty Update!!! Will probably be a 2 post jobby, so bare with me! 

 

 

First up, after giving it a lot of thought, and inevitably deciding 'f***k it', I decided to stick the wiper motor behind the dash to further de-clutter the engine bay. Decided to dismantle the thing even further and split the curved piece of pipe off from the rest to try and bend it further so it would curve into the hole.

 

 

 

In this pic you can also see how bad the paint finish was on the engine bay. Those little dots are actually blisters in the paint.

 

 

 

 

Next job was the dashboard. Decided I wanted one that went all the way across to make hiding the wiring easier, so I got to work and cut a template from ply wood and marked out the gauges and speakers.

 

 

Glued on a bit of structural reinforcement 

 

 

Got all the holes cut out. Also nicked the Chrome ring from my original center pod.

 

 

I decided to make it match the speaker shelf I made, so out came the 70's pub coasters again!

 

While doing this I managed to slice my thumb pretty much down the bone, rendering my left hand useless for about a few days until it healed slightly, so that stopped play for a while which sucked...

 

 

Finished! And after 2 coats of PVA, followed by 2 coats of high gloss varnish, I masked off and sprayed the area inside the chrome ring with my lens tint spray to give a bit of contrast. Came out nice I think! 

 

 

Gauges mounted up!   Now just to figure out a way of actually mounting it into the car.

 

 

 

Next I moved on to getting my Top dash rail to fit. Had to do a fair bit of chopping to get it to clear the cage.

 

 

You can see here how much I had to cut away

 

 

Also cut some material away to fit around the speakers

 

 

Its a bit rough, but I have a new cover to stick on it so that will be getting done soon

 

 

Next up i moved on to the wiring, which was something I had been putting off for a while. 

 

I have no bloody clue what this thing is, but its now screwed behind the dash instead of in the engine bay.

 

 

Fuse box also relocated and wired up. Please excuse my rather crude method of remembering which connector went onto which terminal...

 

 

Bought a dashboard wiring loom from a Land Rover Freelander for a fiver to cannibalise for my extended wiring loom.

 

 

Cracked out the soldering iron and extended all the wires going to the passenger side lights.

 

 

All wrapped up nice and tidy.

 

 

Soldered female spade connectors onto all the wires. The lights themselves will get male ones. Should make removing the lights easier in the future.

 

 

Horn also relocated to inside the wing and wired up.

 

 

It was at this point that I shipped her back off to the paint shop to have all the issues with the paint rectified, so it's back on the trailer...

 

 

This basically includes a minimum or respraying the engine bay and valences, and the flatting the entire car thoroughly to remove the many runs/imperfections and copious amounts of eggshell. We shall see how it looks when I get it back. You can bet that I'm going to give it a hell of a good inspection before bringing it home this time. This was the diagram I gave the painter showing all the areas I wasn't happy with...

 

 

Anyway, part 2 of this update coming up... Give me a second. This takes bloody ages!

Edited by Chris1992, 11 October 2021 - 05:44 PM.

[Chris1992]

Continuing from the last post, after the car was shipped back to paint I got stuck in with refurbishing more components for the engine, starting with the fan shroud.

 

Looking pretty crusty...

 

 

And after a thorough wire brushing and a spray of Hammerite it looks like this.

 

 

Fan and pulley wheel up next.

 

 

Fan and pulley mounted to the engine.

 

 

 

Next moved on the bracket thingy that holds the radiator and engine mount

 

 

Stripped, cleaned, painted, and reassembled.

 

 

Added a little custom touch to my rad.

 

Lettering roughly masked off.

 

 

Sprayed red.

 

 

Then I wiped the paint off while it was still wet, leaving the lettering filled in.

 

 

Radiator mounted to the engine, along with a Smiffy's Bits polished top bracket, and my silicone hoses. Loving how the purple looks with the black and yellow!

 

 

 

I then gave the distributor some love.

 

Looking mucky

 

 

Partially stripped down, cleaned, and primered.

 

 

Sprayed silver

 

 

Reassembled

 

 

 

Well, that's about it so far! 

 

I'll end with some new stuff I've bought. Firstly, some new Bezels to replace the ones which were stolen.

 

 

Also manged to pick up this pretty cool old-school tool box for 4 squid at a local classic car show. 

 

 

Plan is to give it a good scrubbing to get the dirt off, then if the patina looks good  I'll leave it as it is, but if it still looks rubbish then I'll strip it back and respray it in dark blue hammered Hammerite like it was originally, then cover it in retro stickers and line it with foam. I'm planning on keeping it in the car as a means of carrying tools and spare parts for emergencies. Currently on the hunt for a suitably sized old jerry can to go with it .

 

Anyway, watch this space, I'll be back with more soon   

Edited by Chris1992, 12 May 2016 - 12:31 AM.

[Jared Mk3]

That dash is brilliant! The contrast created by the tinting around the gauges is such a unique idea. Love it! The purple hoses too,

[James_eaton_thewholething]

I like the lettering on the radiator. I would have been really sad and masked up all the letters individually

[Chris1992]

That dash is brilliant! The contrast created by the tinting around the gauges is such a unique idea. Love it! The purple hoses too,

 

Thanks dude! Was worried if it would work or not but I'm glad I went for it. Yeah never seen another Mini with purple hoses so it's something unique! Although now I've said that they'll probably start cropping up everywhere    

 

I like the lettering on the radiator. I would have been really sad and masked up all the letters individually

 

Cheers man. Haha I thought about doing that at first but in the end just thought 'screw it, whats the worst that can happen?'