4 replies to this topic

[unrealrocks]

Well I'm actually 18 months into this project now and the car is actually on the road with an MOT, but I will be writing it up from the start so there should be a flurry of posts initially!

 

I'd been looking for a Mini for a while, having been around them a lot as a teenager, and wanting a bit of a project I was looking for something which was fundamentally sound but if it wasn't road worthy wasn't an issue. I have a trailer etc. for trackdays in my other cars so again I was happy to go and pick something up - hopefully improving my chances of getting a good deal. I think I got something fairly decent, it was an almost completely stock, one owner, 1987 Mini City e. It had been owned by a lady since new, who passed away in 2016, and from then on sat in a barn near Bedford. The photos on the auction were very basic but after speaking to the seller it seemed solid and funamentally had very little rust and hadn't been fiddled with too much which was what I was looking for! Won the auction and went to pick it up, in the dark .. and rain, and was actually flying out to the US for work the morning after so didn't even get to see the car in the light for several days!

 

This was as I picked the car up, the reason the petrol cap is covered is when I got home I realised there wasn't one on there - I checked the pictures I took when I picked it up and it absolutely was there ... somewhere on the M1 between Bedford and Nottingham there is not a 1987 petrol cap haha

 

Leaving Bedford with my new project! The farm I picked it up from had literally no lighting so my first look was literally by head torch.

 

Safely home - now to go do work in the US for a while to actually pay for getting it back on the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funamentally after giving it a once over although its clearly had a few repairs and dings over the years, it was what I expected and wanted. Something which hadn't been changed too much from original, didn't have huge chunks of rust I was going to have to deal with (although obviously I end up discovering more than I expected haha!). However it was absolutely filthy inside and there was clearly some evidence of rodents! So the first job after it arriving was to just clear the thing out and give it a decent clean, certainly inside!

 

 

So it was on with the overals and mask and got on with the hoovering, washing and removal of plenty of mud and mice droppings! And then I might see about getting it off the trailer!

[colinf1]

Good solid looking shell so far, doesn't look like it got much abuse!

[Retro_10s]

What a great find! Looks like a very honest little Mini that,.. of course there's rust behind the tell-tale marks,.. but it looks a very solid little car , that. As you say,.. mostly unchanged. Looking forward to seeing this one develop!

[unrealrocks]

After giving the interior a bit of a decontamination I moved on to asessing it mechanically, the guy I bought it from assures me it starts however I never actually saw it run so took a bit of a risk. That said eventually I'd like to do something more interesting engine wise anyway so not the end of the world if the engine isn't quite as described.

 

 

Just getting the oil filter off was an absolute mission, it had been on there over a decade and I ended up using a chain based remover which you can clip on to a breaker bar - I had to put so much effort in it was actually lifting the front of the car, mental.

 

 

Next immediate issue was I noticed the sump was leaking, when I came to remove the drain plug I found out why - most of the threads came out with the plug what had started doing an hour on a weekend just to go through an initial service before trying to turn the thing over turned into a whole day removing the oil filter, and helicoiling the sump ... but its done now! What a faff!

 

 

Next job which didn't go to plan ... ordered some basic Nankangs, again won't be the end state but just to get the thing going. I had assumed the wheels were not holding air as the tyres looked awful, fitted some new tyres (thankfully I have access to tyre machines through a friend) and found two of the four wheels were quite corroded and not really holding air, I've sanded the sealing areas so they are holding OKish but getting some replacement wheels may have just moved up my list of things todo!

 

 

Quick lookie in the fuel tank revealed what I was expecting, some really stale fuel and a really crusty fuel tank, oh and the level sender fell apart in my hand haha. I've ordered a replacement tank as I considered trying to refurb this one but it looks like a bit of a nightmare and cost almost as much as just replacing so will stick it in the loft for another day! At least with a Mini it's dead easy to drain the old fuel out so at least thats done.

 

 

Another 'quick' fix which will likely become an electric fuel pump in the future but the previous owner mentioned he thought the fuel pump was dodgy, and the oil did smell quite badly of fuel so I can only assume it was leaking. I know these cheapo mechanical pumps have mixed reviews but given its so cheap I'll give it a go now and if it fails I'll move over to an electric one.

 

 

Plugs out and chucked some oil into the cylinders before trying to turn it over for the first time. They plugs looked pretty good, nothing mega worrying which was a good sign, one was weirdly gapped but was at least all still there! Gave it a quick look down the cylinders (couldn't get a picture as my boreascope doesn't connect to anything) and couldn't see any major pitting or scratches, and the crosshatching was still visible so again a good sign. The car theoretically has only done around 40k miles, but I don't have any service history and it's obviously had some new clocks at some point so the mileage jumps around so certainly not guarenteed! 

 

 

Last job for today was to start to test out the electrics and see what works and what doesn't - connected a spare battery, the good news - nearly everything would power up, lights, fans, etc. all seem OK - just a few things which didn't work like the interior light. The bad news, although the engine cranks it is hilariously slow, most likely will need to go round and clean up the grounds but even cranking the starter directly it wasn't happy. New starter on order! 

[unrealrocks]

 

Lots of new parts! Primarily electronic ignition, a new starter given the old one was completely toast, fresh HT leads, plugs, timing light (this is my first foray into a classic build ... I had to buy quite a number of imperial related tools to start this project haha)! Got the starter fitted, and the grounds cleaned up - now the car turns over really well ... but the carb is clearly in need of attention. I didn't feel capable at the time to rebuild the carb - although I think I'll have a go with the old one but then ordered an already rebuilt one so I have a 'good' reference.

 

 

In hindsight given I plan to eventually supercharge this car - I probably should have moved to a Webber sidedraft but wanted to keep it simple for now.

 

 

One very shiny item in the engine bay - but ... SHE STARTED! OK running off a coke bottle of fuel, but fundamentally this meant I could validate if the engine was good or not. It's a little tappy but it starts, runs and seems to rev with no significant noises or issues. This means I know I can progress with the project and not have to think about an engine rebuild or replacement engine to get the car on the road. I certainly didn't take it for a very brief run up and down the road at this point *ahem* ... plenty of clunks, and at least one brake seized, but massive progress!

 

 

I think my wife at this point has realised there is a package of Mini parts arriving most days! Now I know the engine is good I can start to crack on with other jobs - fuel hoses, belts, hoses, and basically anything rubber will be going in the bin!

 

 

Couldn't help to get a picture of my two 'fun' cars together haha. Toay's main job was to start to try and get the car water tight, we had all of the glass out, replaced all of the seals and did a few small metal repairs with some minor rust in the window frames. I've also cleaned out the gutters and removed the plastic trim - this now seems to mean the water 'flows' a bit better away when it rains. Thankfully a mate of mine came up for the weekend so we really were able to crack on with a load of jobs and fitted most of the parts I had got so far ... and made yet another list of other things I needed haha.

 

 

Talking of buying tools, I'm sure anyone who has had to take the steering wheel off has had to buy this socket ... certainly not one I had already! 

 

 

But that meant I could fit a nice new smaller wheel - feels great and they seem super cheap! 

 

 

More parts arrival, probably won't fit this for a while given I want to get through all of the suspension first, but I love the sound the RC40 exhaust makes so couldn't help but order one. May remove the centre reasonator later as I'm a bit of a chav at heart!

 

 

Got the fuel tank out, and discovered the first bit of rust I actually needed to do something about more urgently. I expect it's been like this a while and you can't see it from under or in the boot until you take the (also very rusty) fuel tank out. Couple of evenings tidying up, cutting out the rust, made up a repair panel and welded it in. Rest of the boot seems good, the other side clearly has seen a repair (with equally questionable welding like mine!) in the past, but its sound.

 

 

All cleaned up and repair panel made up.

 

 

Boot all cleaned up, bit of etch primer and painted to match. Quite pleased with how tidy its all come out.

 

 

New fuel tank is in, run the new fuel lines, and put in a fresh fuel sender which happily worked bang on first time! 

 

 

Didn't have much time as I was flying out somewhere for work so just did a little job which had been bugging me - took the unit apart and cleaned it up. I've also taken the door switches apart and the drivers one seems to work OK now, the passenger one I think may be toast so I'll have to replace it. Tidied up the wiring in the dash for this as well as it looks like someone else had been at it!

 

 

Having literally worked on the Mini all week, flew out, and immediately in the back of a very different car I always find it amazing how different what is effectively the same thing (a car) can be! I love modern cars as well as older things, but generally for completely different reasons. When I consider how simple the Mini is but how effective I think it's almost more impressive than 2 tonnes of tech, sound insulation and LEDs haha. Still ... nice perk of my job and a nice break from smashing through the Mini haha.