9 replies to this topic

[Retroisbest]

Hi Guys

 

Couple of quick questions if i may?

 

I like to think that I have edcuated my 2 boys (8 & 12) correctly and as such they love old cars.

 

My eldest wants an old skool mini (not that BMW rubbish) and i had the great idea of buying something we can restore together.

 

With that in mind a plethora of questions arise.

 

What mini is best for beginners Austin/Rover?

How much do i realistically need to spend?

Do i need any specal tools?

 

All help greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

[Bubblebobble]

Phew ! , where to start !  To start i would say you need to have somewhere to do it , a double garage is good .

 

 Then you need to read as much as you can on here , reading peoples restoration threads to see what work people have to do .

 

I would also look at doing a welding course at a local college , and perhaps a car maintinence course .

 

 And buy Lynsey porters restoration book !

[Ben_O]

You can puck up an 80's mini in need of a restoration for not alot of money. They don't seem to rust as badly as the mid to late 90's cars.

 

Learn to weld and you will save a fortune. Consider a gas mig welder as they are much easier to use.

 

Tools wise, you won't need a massive toolkit to strip and rebuild a mini but for bodywork, you will need a grinder, drill, lots and lots of clamps and a basic panel beating kit always comes in handy.

 

As has been said, look on the projects section of the forum and you will see what others have to do and where the common rust areas are and what is involved in repairing those areas.

 

Take your time and work methodically

 

Good luck!

 

Ben

[alex-95]

Welcome to TMF.

 

It doesn't really matter what you get, citys and mayfairs are usually the cheapest model to get and 80's cars. 90's cars tend to be more rusty and mk1's to mk3's are usually more expensive ('59-'74?).

 

It depends on what sort of project you want, I would try and find a whole car so that you can strip it down, know where peices go and that you should have every peice. Panels will soon add up, usually wings, a-panels, scuttle, rear quarter, doors, sills, boot floors... Like above have alook through the projects on here to see where the majority of rust forms, You'll need to be able to make you're own panels from sheet metal for small patches.

 

You'll need a welder and grinder, If you haven't welded before try and find someone local that is willing to lend a hand to show you the basics then once you know that you can practice on scrap metal until you feel confident.

[sonikk4]

Hi and welcome to TMF, any of the more common mini's like Mayfairs or City E's will be ideal for what you need.

 

Now there is a plethora of info on here with regards to restoring your car and various pinned threads with a lot of the info you need. Like these for example

http://www.theminifo...se-for-welding/

http://www.theminifo...he-right-tools/

http://www.theminifo...nnet-boot-gaps/

 

There are also the FAQ's as well.

 

Now a starting price for a reasonable car to restore without tax or MOT look around the £1k area maybe less. Do try and get a complete car though.

[mini 100]

What about a clubman

[Ben_O]

Another thing i did when i first started out was to study the exploded panel diagrams on Somerfords Panel catalogue.

 

It gives you a good idea of the panels available, where they go and how much they are as well as different options with regards to repair panels vs full panels.

 

M-Machine do good quality panels and are very well priced too.

 

Here is a link to somerfords online catalogue for body panels.

http://www.somerford...page=page&id=25

 

The Lindsay porter restoration manual has a very comprehensive buying guide as well as covering the basics of restoration. well worth the £17 if you are beginner.

 

Ben

[Retroisbest]

Thanks guys. A lot of food for thought. Will read through the other threads and let you know how I get on. Will definitely look into welding as it seems to be a popular comment.

[Ben_O]

Thanks guys. A lot of food for thought. Will read through the other threads and let you know how I get on. Will definitely look into welding as it seems to be a popular comment.

You will need it if you are taking on a resto.

 

You will be very hard pushed to find a solid mini that's just a bit scruffy requiring a bit of TLC. You can get them but they are not cheap.

 

£6-800 will get you a complete car but it will most likely need alot of work to the body.

eBay has lots to offer but look out for previous bodge repairs like oversills, new floor panels welded over the top of old and lots and lots of filler hiding gaping holes etc.

 

I was lucky with mine as the only welding that had been done had been done nicely and although still required cutting out and replacing, made my life easier. Thats not to say that mine wasn't very rusty because it was but if it's just a case of cutting out rusty panels and replacing then thats far better than having to chop out layers and layers of steel plates, biscuit tins and old scrappy bits as you can see how it is supposed to be welded up.

[JDImini]

Good luck! Doing the same but my son is 16 so I have a year to get it finished. The couple of bits of advice I would give are expect everything to take much longer to do than you would think and take absolutely tons of photos and don't get carried away if something starts coming to pieces easily get photos at every step. Buy loads of penetrating fluid and imperial sockets and spanners. Try and get the best shell you can unless you can or want to learn to weld. Trying to work in a single garage even on a small car like a mini is still a bit of a squeeze.

But good luck anyway