I got my Mini for my 15th birthday, which will be 20 years ago this year *sobs*
My Mum and Dad bought it from a friend of my uncle's - it had sat, for a couple of years,un-loved in the garage at the bottom of his garden in Chiswick.
We paid £130. A damask red 1000, with original logbook and dealer documentation. It only had one seat, no bumpers or grill, a miss-matched bonnet, the lights wouldn't work, and it had no wheel trims. To me it represented the promise of freedom, and all the things I had to look forward to - driving holidays to the continent were planned despite having no licence.
To be fair, it shouldn't have taken 2 years to get it ready for my 17th birthday, but being young and full of beans, a fairly simple job was complicated by my youthful "exuberance"
I bought "new" seats (MG Metro) and alloy wheels (Mini Special) but being on limited income, the progress was slow, and if I'm honest, I ruined the poor little car.
The project got sidelined, and I spent a good couple of years not learning to drive, but spending my free time and money drinking and chasing girls. The poor car got forgotten about.
About 12 years ago I decided to start over on the project, plans were hatched, and I decided to respray the car. The paintwork was stripped back to bare metal, and I painted the car in Black Tulip. The plan was to build a car with 70's period mods - a set of 5 Wolfrace Elf wheels were purchased and collected from Wales.
This time I had more money, so I spent the money on shiny things and better brakes. However, I didn't do a particularly good job of the paintwork prep, the windows didn't come out, and I didn't put enough primer down.
I was relatively happy with the paint-job, however, it didn't last, and soon I was lured into the aircooled VW community, again the project got shelved.
The paint-job deteriorated in the intervening years, and about 6 years ago I decided to have another crack, I started to strip the car back again, with the intention of doing a better respray job, however, I lost interest, and once again the car went back into the garage, and mouldered.
I used my money to buy Italian sports cars, and then later to fix said sports cars, I then saved up and bought a house. During this period, my Uncle, who had spent his formative years whizzing around in my car with his friends, passed away, I drew up plans to start the project afresh, however, with the economy in poor shape, and a new house, the money went elsewhere.
Two years ago, my parents announced that the garage was soon to be knocked down, to give way to a single storey extension to their house. My father, who has MS is sadly getting less mobile, and he needed a bedroom on the ground-floor, so alas, the Mini's home for over 15 years was going.
I considered selling the car at this point, as even though i had a garage at my new house, I had managed to do what every grown-up does, and filled it with crap. Crap and mowers.
I mentioned my thoughts to a colleague at work, and she put me in touch with her partner Andy, who was a panel-beater and spray shop owner. And in August 2012, the car departed my parents house on the back of a trailer, having never left the premises under it's own power.
The car was then stripped back to bare-metal (again) and rust treated - thankfully, there was no structural rust, and Andy remarked that it was one of the most solid Mini's he'd ever encountered, but bearing in mind it had been garaged for at least 20 years, it wasn't surprising.
As Andy was doing the work on mates rates, and as he had a lot of work to do, progress was slow, the car spent time being moved from storage unit to workshop and back again. The car was bought back into the workshop in early December 2013 with the intention of finishing the prep and getting the car in paint by the beginning of 2014.
Sadly Andy passed away while out mountain biking a few days afterwards, and never got the opportunity to finish the paint-job.
The job was passed to an old friend of his Paul, and the car was moved to his workshop, where it has since been primed, and painted.
<Undercoat>
<Topcoat>
I have a lockup lined up, and managed to obtain the parts to get started back on the project. I am determined to get the project finished now, as I see it as a fitting dedication to both my Uncle Phil and Andy - both car mad legends, who loved Mini's
Please expect semi regular updates in the coming months, and probably the odd stupid question.
****I've got photos to add in but I'm going to do this tomorrow****
Edited by Matt Zane, 25 February 2014 - 10:23 PM.
