379 replies to this topic

[CanadianMiniFan]

well, not too much advancement on the car really. I painted the wheels silver, and mounted them on the tires. The car will be going in for bodywork in the next few weeks "hopefully" and the engine is still done haha. Just giving an update really.

[mad4mins]

glad to see you've not deserted us...

wheels look good!

[CanadianMiniFan]

haha. So i have to pull out the wirirng harness, up to the A pillar, and i've disconnected everything in the back, no problems, except one damn connection that's under a little plate with the fuel tank strap...and I can't get the bolts undone. I'm thinking that the connection is a ring around the bolt as well? because it will move, but I can't pull it out like other connectors. any tips to get it out too? I need to pull this, as the bodyman figures he'll have to heat up the roof seam to straighten it (makes sense) and it would melt wires. not cool, so I have to do this. damn complications.

[CanadianMiniFan]

well i gave in and cut the wire with my luck, it'll be the most damn important one ever. anyways, with that out of the way, plain sailing right? just thread the harness through the hole. no. it won't budge like at all, i've even pulled from the other side, and crammed the interior light wires into the roof "guttering". So how can I get it through?

[liam-ds]

hi glad to see some one else restoring a mini at 13 as I'm doing the same Ive had mine since march and was a total rust bucket of a 1982 Mayfair here are some photos

[CanadianMiniFan]

nice project mate! i'm 14 now but yeah, i'm hoping in two years it'll be done.
but over here, you can get a learner's license at 14, with a parent. no mini driving...YET!

[WillMini]

ahah yours is lookin pretty sweet aswell! it is nice to see some canadians on here, your wheels look awsome. i have some mambas but someone drilled out the lug hols to fit larger studs, so im a little screwed. SO i was thinking about getting some wheels from across the ocean. i have a freind that lives in england and is comming home, i was gunna get her to take them back with her. do you know if this is hard, i was gunna get her to put them in a little box and take them as an extra parcel. wheels are SO hard to find here for a good price and it seems they are a dime a dozen over there.

but keep up the good work!

[CanadianMiniFan]

well i got these in the UK, at a mini show, off of PaulTVR on here, and what we did, we put two in a suitcase, and just checked them. make sure your not TOO overweight (the bag not you ) as that costs (when i went) 8 pounds a pound, but even worse is extra bags...like 100 quid is was i think. i think you can only have 2 bags, stuff all your clothes in between the wheels, make it fit!!! Yeah, totally get your friend to help you out. You could maybe try to sleeve the holes? you know, little cylinder of metal, to make it smaller? dont' know about the safety etc. though. Yeah, spray painted and spray cleared them, and they turned out sweet! yeah, it's coming, it's officially going for bodywork Wednesday.

[CanadianMiniFan]

Well the car went for bodywork today, out to Allan in Devon, and it'll be rust free hopefully near summer. But it wasn't issue free. my dad picked me up from Kens, and we took the truck and trailer. now we had to back into our driveway, and we hit our hedge, go stuck in melting ice, struggled with the straps, but eventually my dad left. i had to go to hockey, so off he went alone. so he gets to the achorage where al works/lives, and he doesn't have much turning circle room. so he gets stuck, moves this 'n' that, finally the mini is off, rolled into the shop. but there was another part of the deal. we had to bring a completed mini BACK to kens, and it was lacking a rear subframe, so it was on a little frame with casters, so it was hell on a stick to get on the trailer. took ages apparantly. then, on the way out when my dad was getting gas, he brushed a guy's bumper, and he gave the details etc. no real damage, a serious "it'll buff out" situation. so he gets home and tells me all this. I gave him a hug and a beer . Some more good news, i was talking to a friend of mine, the chap who runs the local icehockey rink no less, and he proposed a deal to me. if i buy paint, he'll paint my car. I was stunned. that saves me a large amount of money. It's getting closer!!!!

[James182]

when you rebuilt the engine did you have to replace the shell bearings as the oil can sometimes eat through the top layer of metal and pit the bottom layer-if its been sitting around for a while-(or seven years as in your case)great news about the body now!

James

[Al*]

hey warren good to hear the cars getting soted... just a question though... whos doing the filler work? because (correct me if i'm wrong) allen will not do filler work only the metal work.. then you have a guy painting it... you going to do that yourself?

Al

[CanadianMiniFan]

Well, i'm not sure about the filler work, if allan doesn't do it (first i've heard of it really) I will have to find somebody!!! So you mean just smoothing out dents, etc. right? I don't think i'll be doing that to be honest, but I'll have to talk with Ken about what to do. Thanks for brining that up then Al. To the bearings question, refresh me on which bearings the shell are? But I think we replaced all the bearings as a matter of course really, if you're rebuilding a motor, might as well do the bearings eh.

[CanadianMiniFan]

Well today i set about stripping down a set of front hub assemblies, as it will be easier to have a rebuilt pair to just throw on right away, rather than waiting for the car to come back, then having to rebuild them. So i got everything totally stripped, and started cleaning parts...so I guess that's some progress!

[CanadianMiniFan]

So I can't stop my luck, nor can i stop spending money...a pair of complete cooper s hub assemblies have come up for sale, and I'm almost 100 % sure i'm going to buy them...he was talking 1500 (750) apparently, but ken figures i could maybe get tehm for around 1200 (600)...so that's good news. I've justified them to my mum as "safer" . I'll get pics when i know their mine.

[mad4mins]

the safer ploy! ive used that! nice one..

hows the shell coming dude?