5 replies to this topic

[Nistur]

Hi all,

 

So, where to begin?

 

When I was 17, I bought my first Mini, a '93 1275 Rover Mini, 'Italian Job'. White with black roof. It was great fun. But I didn't have a full driver's license at that point. And then I went to University without a license, and without my Mini. It lived in my Mum's garage for a few years, rotting away a bit. At some point, I decided I couldn't keep it, and someone needed to look after it. So I ended up selling it for £400 to one of my brother's school teachers, who wanted a project car.

 

In the following 9 years or so, since I sold the car, I've finally got a driving license, and gone through two far less interesting cars. I've bought a house, and I think I'm finally getting to a point where I can realise one of my dreams - to have a project car. I've been umming and ahhing over what to get. Part of me wanted something less common maybe, a Citroën 2CV, a Renault 4, or an old Fiat 500 perhaps, or maybe something with 2 (full) seats, like an MG Midget... but every time I considered my options, I came back to a Mini. I loved my Mini. There were so many things wrong with it, but there's something you cannot really describe.

 

I ended up talking to a colleague about this, as he has a 1275GT, and he also mentioned that he was on the lookout for his Dad's old Mini. He'd been keeping track of it on the DVLA site and last year or so it had got SORN, so the chances were slimmer that he'd be able to find it. Out of curiosity, I went over to DVLA and put in the details for my old Mini, and found that it hadn't been taxed since '07, and it was also SORN. That made me think 3 things:

- It was quite likely the guy who bought it still had it.

- It looked like he hadn't finished it yet.

- If the above two were true, then there was a chance that he might be willing to sell it.

 

I sent my Mum a message, asking if she knew how to get in contact with him, and later that day, I had all three points confirmed. I will be going to visit the car next week. I am definitely hoping to buy her back.

 

About the car then, I still have a photo of when I still had it.

 

Now it looks a little more... streamlined, shall we say

 

I've been told that he has all the panels to make her whole again, apart from new wings, and that she's had an almost entirely new floor, and new pillars, as well as a lot of other work done on her. I was very shocked when I first got some photos of it, but, the more I think about it, the better it is that it's like this, as I can see what is good, and what is not. And I don't mind doing work. I cannot weld yet, but the current owner has said that if I do end up buying it back, he will teach me to weld.

 

---- I guess I wanted a project car, right?

Edited by Nistur, 13 March 2016 - 11:49 AM.

[sonikk4]

Hi and welcome to TMF. At least you can see the car in its naked glory and not hiding very much.

[MaxAndPaddy]

great story, hope you get him back

[Nistur]

Thank you for your replies.

I was shocked to begin with when I saw the photos, but after the shock wore off, I realised that it was probably a good thing. Not only was all the structural work completed, so it was, in theory, totally sound, but bare enough to easily check.

I have no idea what kind of speed the acquisition, if it goes ahead, will happen at but I don't expect my work on it to be particularly rapid as I've never really done much more than change a tyre on a car. Lots on smaller projects but none of them I would sit inside of, trusting my life to.

I'm sure it will all be fine

[Nistur]

I have just got back from seeing the guy who currently owns the mini. I have some good news, and some bad news.

 

Starting off with the good news, he doesn't want a crazy amount of money for it, and it's within my budget, so it looks like I will almost certainly go ahead with buying it back.

 

The bad news, there is a LOT more work to do on it than I had anticipated. A lot of welding still needs to be done, and even what has been welded, he's said a good deal of it was temporarily tacked on, so would need to be redone.

 

As I mentioned, he has already offered to give me an introduction to welding, but I still feel that it's quite likely that I'm biting off more than I can chew right now, so I think the current plan is to make the purchase and put the car in a garage, then put some money aside each month and get someone 'professional' (or, rather, who has more experience than me) to do the bulk of the welding. That way I can be pretty sure I won't ever be nipping around a corner and the wing goes flying off. Once that is done, the superficial welding I can then practice on, and I'm not particularly phased by most of the other work. The engine still works fine, so most other things seem 'relatively simple' albeit time consuming and maybe costly.

 

So, for the bodywork, does anyone happen to know anyone around either Stoke-on-Trent, or Coventry that they would recommend to do a good job. I'd be mostly looking for a quote for now, so I know what my target is, and I'd obviously far prefer to spend a bit more and get it done well, than go for the cheapest option. As I don't have a trailer (or a driving license which would allow me to drive with one) I'd pretty much be relying on renting one, and my Mum's free time to ship the car around, so I am not sure I can go too far outside either city.

[Nistur]

Hello all,

 

I wanted to stick up an update on my mini. I purchased the car a few weeks ago and it's currently sitting in my mother's garage (as I don't have a garage of my own at this point --- working on it) and I've already approached someone to do the welding work for me. I've been given a reasonable estimate based on the few photos I had at the time, and I know that this guy done great work (it's actually from a Volkswagen restorer, my mum got a VW T2 from them last year and it is almost showroom quality. They've done minis in the past and are more than happy to take on this work)

 

I've got a whole load of photos on an imgur album (I won't link yet because I haven't read the forum's policy about linking albums, or posting a million and one photos) but there's a LOT of work to do. I'm hoping to get the body panels I need together in the next few months, and save up the money needed to get it all welded together shortly after. After that I don't think it's _far_ from being roadworthy. It's a million miles away from being pretty but I should be able to get the seats bolted in and get it past an MOT.

 

One question though, does anyone have experience with non-genuine parts from minispares? (I will trawl through the forum shortly but thought I'd ask here so I might get information specific to my car and the parts it needs) I am looking at getting the following parts

 

BMP454 - R/H Wing

BMP455 - L/H Wing

HMP441001 - Scuttle panel

? - Rear valance

HMP441019 - Rear panel

? - Boot floor

 

I am trying to see if I need more than those parts, but I don't think I do yet. Obviously I want the car to be 'right' so I'm tending towards buying genuine parts, but on the other hand, the genuine parts cost over 2x the cost of the replica parts, so it would mean I could get the car ready a bit earlier.