135 replies to this topic

[gavfoz]

Yeah the project is kind of in its second wind! Nearly there now though. . .

All the paint is just rattle cans from Halfords. On the side on shots you can see the light yellow can that kind of blew up in my hand. I think I had it next to the radiator indoors which didn't help. That burgundy is 2 or 3 layers, straight out the can and not flatted off.

Gav

[Tomm]

haha thought something like that had happened on that rear quater, nice finish for a quick can jobbie!

[gavfoz]

Fibreglass front almost fitted this weekend. Just the last trim up required. Starting to look Mini like.

Then I got bored and started playing. . .


Gav

[stormduck]

nice one fella, comin on really quickly, you must really want this on the road! If you've bought the repair panel the runs across the very back of the boot floor then there's a lip that sandwiches inbetween the valance lip and back panel lip. You might be able to find a way of welding it so you don't have to remove the valance of course.

[gavfoz]

nice one fella, comin on really quickly, you must really want this on the road! If you've bought the repair panel the runs across the very back of the boot floor then there's a lip that sandwiches inbetween the valance lip and back panel lip. You might be able to find a way of welding it so you don't have to remove the valance of course.

Of course I want it on the road! Once its up and running I can sell the Land Rover before it drinks all my fuel money! You put so much time and effort into the damn thing and you don't seem to get anywhere. Then you add up the bills and realise you could of just bought a neat mid 90s Cooper! Still, I want to finish it big time.

My boot repair panel arrived the other day and yeah, I have noticed my error in that it joins the rear bumper lip bit. I wire brushed and painted the underside and it looked ok, then I wire brushed the inside and the holes formed. Bit of a bummer. Still, looking on the bright side of rust, its more welding practice for me

Gav

[stormduck]

a nuisance indeed! The same happened to me - welded valance, fitted great, then found hidden rust at the side of the boot floor (there's a lip, or curved downwards part of the boot floor where it meets the rear arches at the subframe mounting point that i didn't know about - the rust came through the arch after it sitting on my drive for a year) So now i'm replacing the boot floor and the valance has got to come off, tshk!

[gavfoz]

Not done much to look at really today. Sort of potted around for the day! A bit more sanding off the Mini's rear - I will make them Mk1 lights look stock. . .

Then I welded a couple of patches up. . . . .on my Land Rover! Been meaning to get it done for ages, well, the last six months anyway! The rear cross member near the drain hole and passenger footwell. Typical rust spots sadly.

Primered the rear end of the Mini, tracked down a copy of June (err, excuse me, its still April!) Mini World. How pretty is that Mk1 lookalike on page 34! Gives me a few ideas anyway (Chrome mirrors, retro Cooper S badges).

Then late this afternoon I met A-Serious Matt and Kattypillar to drop off the door cards they bought. Gained yet more ideas (centre clock conversion, full matching interior) and that was about it really.

This week I bought a TIM tacho, new door chrome strips, 4 Yoko A008 for my D1s and a few other bits. Thank god it was pay week!

Gav

Edited by gavfoz, 21 April 2007 - 07:25 PM.

[gavfoz]

Had a fun day today. Sanded and primered the passenger rear quarter. Tried to fit the replacement passenger door but its enough of a different shape to not fit with the same shim combination as the old door. Made same new shims up, still didn't fit, swore at it and then fitted the old door, which fitted like it was ment to be there! First time no messing. I may just get this door reskinned instead. Likewise the old drivers door fitted perfect first time.

I then set about filling the redundant wiper holes on the scuttle and primered. In the process I set fire to two dust sheets, an old bit of carpet I kneel on as well as my overalls and welding gloves. I wish auto-darkening welding masks went totally clear and then I would of noticed the flames sooner instead of waiting for the heat to singe my arm!

Anyway, I am away next weekend so little (if any) progress will be made in the evenings.

Cheers

Gav

[gavfoz]

What a of a day. I have a love hate relationship with this car. Today I could of cut the shell up if I had any cutting discs for the grinder.

Primered drives rear quarter, painted second hand but straight front subframe red. Tried to replace sheered off rear wheel stud only to find one of the other studs wouldn't undo and has actually stripped the knobbly bits off the stud where it sits in the hub. It just spins around. Anyway, cut head off nut. Remove wheel. Cut shot stud and replace with new stud. Replace original sheared off stud. Try to replace old wheel with the new nuts I have bought. New studs have different thread to new nuts. Old nuts won't fit on new studs either. So, I put new nut on one of the two remaining old studs and all is ok. . .until the stud shears off without any provoking.

this for a game . . . pass me the classifieds

[gavfoz]

Looked at the classified, only a pick-up took my fancy but I couldn't afford it. Looks like I am stuck with Ganja. . .

So, thankfully I had a good day! I had an old hub assembly from ages back when I bought a random box of Mini bits off ebay. It had the correct studs in it but the bearings looked knackered and were full of grit. The hub from my car came off without any troubles once I had destroyed the cap thingy. My hub has had new bearings, as in they look brand new, so all I did was transfer the studs across from knackered bearing hub to my hub.

It turns out my new nuts don't fit the new studs. Likewise the old nuts don't fit the new stud and if I am being 100% honest the old nuts don't fit the old studs. What the previous owner did was cut the nuts down to the point where the threads don't match. One of the worst botches I have come across so far.
<-makes a good bike rack!
Had to put a D1 on as the new nuts are a different shank size to the "Special" alloys. Looks more Mini like. Rear quarters both finished in primer and windowed. I am fed up with been out-bid and about with knackered doors/botched repaired ones so have decided to have a go at repairing my origonal doors myself. In for a penny, in for a pound. It may work out nicely.

Also:

made a coil cover out of John Smiths can just because I could and I couldn't find a Guinness can. . .

installed my Cooper "S" twin HS2's, just need gaskets and air filters. . . .

and this is my red subframe, could do with a few more coats to be honest.

So the end is nearing. Just need to weld up boot floor, rebuild the car to a bare minimum, MOT it and see what it fails on, gane MOT ticket, tax it, insure it, paint it and then its sun, see, sand, loose women and the hard shoulder of the motorway on every long trip. . . .can't wait!

[Mincento]

its sun, see, sand, loose women and the hard shoulder of the motorway on every long trip. . . .can't wait!

gotta love your confidence in it

good luck with it all they can be barstewards at time but there worth it (at least i hope so )

wayne

[gavfoz]

gotta love your confidence in it

Can you tell I have owned old cars in the past! If it turns out anything like my 27 year old Land Rover it will be 100% dependable until I am 300miles away from home, half way up a hill side down a beaten track, in the rain at dusk!

Due to the schizophrenic ( spelling??) weather no progress made. Damn I am bored. . . anyway, this week I have bought carpet, door skins, door frame repair panels and a few other little bits. Just need the weather to buck up and I can get welding again. Tomorrows weather looks even worse. . .

Gav

[gavfoz]

Rain, rain, rain, leaky tarp, rain, rain, rain, no garage to work in, rain, rain, rain, where did the sun go, rain, rain, rain, only a few jobs left, rain, rain, rain, wish I bought a pick-up, rain, rain, rain, its still raining. . . ! Not a happy bunny. Feel like a caged animal

Removed speedo clocks, heater, central switches and preped and painted dash horizontal bars. Then the tarp started to leak so called it a day

Gav

[gavfoz]

Most of the dash re-fitted. Considering centre clocks though. . . Windscreen re-fitted but it is scratched on driver side by wiper and chipped on the passenger side. Floor pan, where hidden under carpet, has been red-oxided.

Their is still a hell of a lot of Mini in the back of the Land Rover. God only knows where it all goes back.

A photo of my D1. EVERYONE needs to have 10inch wheels!


Jobs still to do:
re-skin doors, sort under side out (red-oxide, stone chip, waxoyl), weld up boot floor, reattach hand brake, final fit of flip front, re-fit of remain bits and plenty more time consuming fiddly jobs. I bet if I took a week off work I would nearly be ready for MOT. . .

Gav

[gavfoz]

I hate rainy days. You sit inside collect ideas you can't afford!

HVLP spray kits, 4-pot 7.5inch disc set-ups, FWD R1 conversion kits, 6-point roll cages and getting my extraction alloys made into split rims. The saying goes "save your money for a rainy day". I think I just spent my saved money 4-times over. I refuse to spend any more on the Mini until its got an MOT certificate. . .

Anyway, things to do this week: win the lotto!