691 replies to this topic

[alchall]

Stunning job on this. It’ll be great to see some paint on it soon too.

Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with it, the guys that have come to quote for paint have been complimentary which is nice, there's a few bits that require some correction but nothing serious.

 

Looks like you have your self a nice mini as a replacement for the pickup, shame that was such a big job, should be a good project for somebody but looks like you have yourself a fantastic running car instead.

 

well done looks great

 

Thanks!

[g111mds]

 

Stunning job on this. It’ll be great to see some paint on it soon too.

Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with it, the guys that have come to quote for paint have been complimentary which is nice, there's a few bits that require some correction but nothing serious.

 

Looks like you have your self a nice mini as a replacement for the pickup, shame that was such a big job, should be a good project for somebody but looks like you have yourself a fantastic running car instead.

 

well done looks great

 

Thanks!

 

thank you . Really enjoying it so far, and great to have something that I can use. Does need some bits and pieces doing, but nowhere near what the pickup was going to need. New owner planning to restore, and it’ll be great to see it when it’s done.

[thewormman]

Been reading through the whole thread over the last few days, you've done a fantastic job so far. interesting to see how your quality and standard of work has improved from your first welds.   

With regards to the bonnet cable you want to shorten, give Speedy cables a go https://speedycables.com/ they will actually make you a brand new cable whatever length you want if you send them the one you have as a pattern. Been using them for 35 years! used to get all our custom cables made by them, always good quality.

[alchall]

Been reading through the whole thread over the last few days, you've done a fantastic job so far. interesting to see how your quality and standard of work has improved from your first welds.   

With regards to the bonnet cable you want to shorten, give Speedy cables a go https://speedycables.com/ they will actually make you a brand new cable whatever length you want if you send them the one you have as a pattern. Been using them for 35 years! used to get all our custom cables made by them, always good quality.

 

Thanks, I definitely got better over time, and there's a lot I learned along the way, there's plenty I would do differently now if I started again!

 

And thanks for the cable link, that's really helpful, I'll get on to them to see if they can help!

[alchall]

Off it goes....

 

 

I have dropped on lucky, a workshop locally has ended up with some space in their schedule to accommodate me due to the COVID situation having messed up their schedule. They do a top quality job, so not cheap, and they filled me with confidence that others did not, clearly passionate about what they do. It will take a while to complete as they are fitting it in so probably 3 or 4 months, they spent a good time inspecting the car and there are a few things they will fix / improve on for me as a first step.

 

So now I'm an observer, can't wait to see how it progresses! while I wait I can press on with subframes etc. so I'm ready to rock and roll when it returns.

[g111mds]

Off it goes....

 

 

I have dropped on lucky, a workshop locally has ended up with some space in their schedule to accommodate me due to the COVID situation having messed up their schedule. They do a top quality job, so not cheap, and they filled me with confidence that others did not, clearly passionate about what they do. It will take a while to complete as they are fitting it in so probably 3 or 4 months, they spent a good time inspecting the car and there are a few things they will fix / improve on for me as a first step.

 

So now I'm an observer, can't wait to see how it progresses! while I wait I can press on with subframes etc. so I'm ready to rock and roll when it returns.

Major milestone in the build. Really looking forward to seeing this with some paint on it. 

[johnR]

I found it good to have my shell out of the way so I could lay out all the components, check I'd got everything, re-furb parts and build sub-assemblies ready for when it comes back. Doesn't take long to get it all back together once the shell's painted. Can be frustrating waiting for it though!  

[alchall]

I found it good to have my shell out of the way so I could lay out all the components, check I'd got everything, re-furb parts and build sub-assemblies ready for when it comes back. Doesn't take long to get it all back together once the shell's painted. Can be frustrating waiting for it though!  

 

Yep that is exactly what I'm hoping to do, if I can get everything ready while it's away then I can crack on with the build, exciting times!

[REVVIT]

 

I found it good to have my shell out of the way so I could lay out all the components, check I'd got everything, re-furb parts and build sub-assemblies ready for when it comes back. Doesn't take long to get it all back together once the shell's painted. Can be frustrating waiting for it though!  

 

Yep that is exactly what I'm hoping to do, if I can get everything ready while it's away then I can crack on with the build, exciting times!

 

 

My 6 month body shop estimate turned into nearly 1 year..! not down to problems just there work load and my mistake saying 'no rush' ..Spent the interval prepping/re-making and restoring everything ..finally got it back mid last December..Have spent at least 2hrs most days on it and its only just an interior and the usual teething troubles to seeing the finish line ..Enjoy the next stage of the restoration and the  jem it will be at the end..

[alchall]

 

 

I found it good to have my shell out of the way so I could lay out all the components, check I'd got everything, re-furb parts and build sub-assemblies ready for when it comes back. Doesn't take long to get it all back together once the shell's painted. Can be frustrating waiting for it though!  

 

Yep that is exactly what I'm hoping to do, if I can get everything ready while it's away then I can crack on with the build, exciting times!

 

 

My 6 month body shop estimate turned into nearly 1 year..! not down to problems just there work load and my mistake saying 'no rush' ..Spent the interval prepping/re-making and restoring everything ..finally got it back mid last December..Have spent at least 2hrs most days on it and its only just an interior and the usual teething troubles to seeing the finish line ..Enjoy the next stage of the restoration and the  jem it will be at the end..

 

 

Hopefully won't take a year they've definitely started, he sent me a picture of the roof during and after stripping the paint back, there were 3 layers of filler!

 

Looking forward now myself to putting it all back together, depending on work commitments and how long it really takes in the body shop I should have a good chance of getting it on the road for next summer....

[KTS]

here's a tip i should have followed myself :  if/when you buy something for the eventual re-fit make a note that a) you've bought it, and b) where you put it

 

i can't tell you how many hours i've spent looking for things that i'd thought i'd bought, given up and bought another one only to discover the original later on.

[I hate Brian]

I can agree with that in great quantities of swear words   

 

here's a tip i should have followed myself :  if/when you buy something for the eventual re-fit make a note that a) you've bought it, and b) where you put it

 

i can't tell you how many hours i've spent looking for things that i'd thought i'd bought, given up and bought another one only to discover the original later on.

[alchall]

here's a tip i should have followed myself :  if/when you buy something for the eventual re-fit make a note that a) you've bought it, and b) where you put it

 

i can't tell you how many hours i've spent looking for things that i'd thought i'd bought, given up and bought another one only to discover the original later on.

 

Yes that is a top tip, I have already fallen foul of this trap, I have two bonnet release mechanisms, neither of which I've ended up using 

[alchall]

The guys at the bodyshop are making some good progress and are keeping me up to date as they go, I also popped in last week to drop a couple of things off and to have a nosey. From what I'm seeing I am currently very pleased with the decision I've taken to go with these guys!

 

First thing that came up after a couple of days was the state of the roof, 3 layers of filler and lots of dents!

 

 

Thankfully salvageable, they've knocked it into much better shape, now with much less filler...

 

This is more or less how it was when I popped in...

 

 

He was going to tidy up my gutter repairs before finishing it off, after I left they did exactly that....

 

 

And primed it....

 

 

What you can't see on those photographs was that they had also gone around and sorted out door and bonnet gaps for me, I didn't take any photo's while I was there but I'm really pleased with how it was looking and they have since gone on to work their way around the car in detail, this is how it currently stands as of this morning...

 

 

 

 

 

I think you can see here that the door gaps are now spot on, the A panels didn't actually follow the same shape and line as the doors edges (despite the A panels and door skins both heritage!) so he re-worked the A panel to match.

 

So while that is on going I've also sent the subframes to be powder coated along with a bunch of other parts, they will be back in 2 to 3 weeks, I'm also having the exhaust headers ceramic coated at the same place, should be better than wrapping and save on the premium space in the engine bay!

 

So I'm now on with various bits and bobs.

 

I've started cleaning up the fuel lines, there's some rust on them, particularly where they run under the rear subframe, I'm hoping it's nothing more than surface rust, when I've finished them off and assuming they're ok they will be off to the bodyshop as well for a good coat of paint, you can't buy them anymore so full replacements aren't in order, I may have to do some kind of repair sections for the rear if the rust is more than just surface deep.

 

I bought a K1200RS throttle body set from eBay a while ago as it's a better fit for various reasons than the K1100 set, I had already cleaned it up and bought the new ram pipes from SC to suit, so I drilled the new blank back plate to fit and popped it on, I've fitted it 1cm higher than centre this time as there's plenty clearance with the bonnet and it's easier to take the filter on and off as the slam panel is not so obstructive....

 

 

 

 

I also replaced the -6 oil feed pipe from filter to block with -8 nylon braided to improve flow, I had also purchased an adapter to fit the oil temp sender but the sender is actually too long so I've now sent the filter head off to DSN to have their modification applied to fit the sensor directly to the top.

 

It's now a matter of tidying up some bits and bobs, cleaning up parts that have been sat in storage waiting to be used etc. while I wait for the subframes to return, I've a big order of parts coming so I can start to build them up when they're done, hopefully everything will just all slot into place nicely.

 

[MaximMini]

Hi,

 

May I ask why the K1200RS throttle body set is a better fit than the one of the K1100? I'm currently playing with a future project involving the same head swap.

 

 

Cheers,

Christian