6 replies to this topic

[Garagiste]

Hello all.

Been meaning to get this together for ages, but in the last few weeks I seem to have been spending a lot of time in my garage.

And sorry the "enlarged" pics aren't very, really. This is the first time I've ever got it together to upload anything ever, also the first time I've ever seriously attempted to maintain my own car, despite a 18 year history of "bangernomics".
Bit of a learning curve here, and "what the hey are you doing it that way for?" comments are welcome.

But back to bravado mode.

Almost every story you read about a protracted three year restoration seems to begin with the tale of buying what appears to be a basically sound Mini, only to get it home and discover untold horrors.

Here instead then is one that turned out to be as sound as it looked, and the long weekend budgeted for some TLC being all it took.

Well, sort of.

Didn't get any pics of Jimmy as bought because the digital Camera was AWOL. Lovely wife came home with a new one just as Jim went up on stands, seen here with a it of my own shopping:



And from the back:



We had as good a nosey at her for rust before we got her, (don't care about the name, ALL Minis are female – no other way you could fall so in love with them and be so utterly maddened by them simultaneously!)

This is about all we saw:

Bubbles on bottom of doorskins:




Battery box, rear sub etc - totally intact, but that surface rust wants looking at:



Floor. Again, it's rock solid - but it wants working on, boy!




I took the plastic wheelarch covers off of a MK2 Golf a month or so ago, and there was enough wet mud behind them to plant tomatoes in. Really, it looked like someone had ploughed a field with it! This came as something of a relief then:




Bit of surface rust on back bumper seam:

back bumper:



So while it's up, a mini service is in order.
Mostly because the starter motor had stuck on me, with no tools, at 4am, which made me miss the Australian GP. Yes, I know that’s no problem – in a manual.

(Somebody might be trying to tell me to give up smoking, so I'm not at the 24 hour garage at 4 am having got up for the build up to the race and realised that 2 tabs does not get through a GP.)
Cue several walks home after returning with most of what I needed, except a screwdriver to get the grille off.
Then, no teeny tiny ratchet to fit the socket I'd got to fit on the end of the spindle of the starter.

Called RAC in a bad mood, walked home, drank coffee and caught last 10 laps. Didn't give up smoking.

RAC contractor gets his "service tool" from the back of the van and clouts offending item with it while I hold the ignition on. I'll remember that one...

Sooo, starter motor off and well oiled, and along with it the oil filter housing, rocker cover and rad steady get some Hammershite. (Rad is off being flushed):




A new thermostat has to be done - you get change from a lady, and the temp needle has not budged since we got her. Go at that gasket, girl!



(My lovely wife. I'm watching out for Jammy on her behalf! )

New oil and filter:



Greeze zooze nippelz:




Oh lordy, what have I started?




To be continued…..

[Garagiste]

No replies?
Ah well, this is sort of Jimmy’s service history, so I’ll persevere…

Rust bubbles on doors were wire-brush-on-drilled back to shiny metal. On the passenger door this left nothing larger than a pin hole, so a bit of knifing putty took care of that.
On the offside I was left with three small holes, each about the size of a pea. Now my enthusiasm with a welder is not matched by my skill or experience, and I guess a doorskin is easy to warp even if you're good. So that was out for now and it didn’t warrant a new skin either as I’m not looking for a show peice, just a decent, working classic car.

So, a bit of ally mesh:



And too much bodge:



A surform and sander later and it’s looking a bit more like it:



Inside of the doors were cleaned as best as possible with the limited access, then treated with metal ready and waxoyled. Hope is really to keep them basically intact until a new skin is really needed, by which time a full respray will likely be on the menu anyway.

Subframe, bat box etc get first coat of POR15:



Back on the inside, floors cleaned up with the whizzy brush, and given a dust of primer:



Now something always goes wrong, but this got me off guard! I wasn’t after a top finish on the floors because they were going to be a) hidden by the carpet and B) covered in Dinitrol. So I gave them a quick first top coat from the Halfrauds rattle can, took my finger off the nozzle and the thing just carried on spraying!
Yanked the whole nozzle off, and it still carried on hissing and coughing up random splats of paint. So I just grabbed a paintbrush and chased around with it after the (now freezing cold) paintcan.






Better luck with the can up front:





All around the hidden bottom seams got POR15 before the arches and trim went back on.

Inside:


Not very attractive, but better than rot.


This stuff went all underneath, in the doors, sills etc.



Time to put back together:



Inside in:



Where did I leave that bit of grille trim?




Out to play.





Since then the doors have had another dusting to blend the paint in a bit better, and we’ve had a huge amount of fun - and some more frustrating moments. But the smiles it gives you when you drive, and those you get from other people when they see it more than make up for the dents in the back of the head!
I'm hooked and I need to get myself a manual - anybody fancy a Jag?

PS: Thanks to imageshack, and I'll try and get my next pics a better size.

[93-rio]

Aww poor you not gettin any replies, had i known you was waiting on some i would of surely been there to place a good word. So here goes...keep up the good work arent projects fun.

[miniboo]

looking good there.
why not get a mod to move it to the projects section and that way it wont get too lost in the mini chat section

[Bungle]

so are you back on the road now ?

keep up the good work

[monkey]

Looking good, cant wait to get mine on the road, fed up of driving escort cab i must admit i had to laugh when you said yuour paint can went crazy, hope you had masked everything well and it didnt end up going places you didnt want ti to! lol

[Garagiste]

Cheers, I knew I'd get some response if I begged.
I thought about posting this in projects, but it seemed a bit pretentious after looking at some of the transformations going on in there.
Oh yes, we are on the road!


That was taken after I had temporary madness and went to look at a 1963 Marcos that was up on Ebay - without half of my tools. Again.

Broke down twice.

First time, just cut out at lights won't start again. Can't bump an auto.
Rescued by passing mechanic in tranny van who promtly kneels in a puddle to re gap my points.
"Can you stick it in fourth for me?"
"Um, no."
Bunged him a fiver (perhaps a bit tight in retrospect) and carried on toward Marcos.

Saw it, loved it, realised it was going to sell for waaay more than I was prepared to bid, forgot it.

On the way home, same symptoms - cut out in a queue but this time I got the CLUNK noise that can only mean the starter motor is stuck again. No sooner than we had her pushed out of the queue and I'd had a pathetic attempt at freeing the starter with the OE "bent paperclip" wheelbrace, a brown Mini appears.
"You alright?"
"B starter motor's stuck and I don't have my large hammer"
"One moment!"

Thwack, vroom, home.

Since then, the points, plugs, timing, leads, mixture etc have been done and she's going must stop before I Murray myself.
But that journey just would not have happened in any other car. It aint just character - these things have souls.