103 replies to this topic

[CharlieBrown]

Seats came from MiniMadJonsey but the are a bit big. They will fit but the handbrake is rather difficult to get to (I think, not fitted them yet).

You can get them on ebay pretty cheap.

[sweetser]

dont know if you mentioned why but how comes you have taken all of the stickers off??

[CharlieBrown]

The main reason is that I am thinking of selling the mighty Beast

and using the money to make the fibreglass Sprint

Thats the plan at the moment anyway...

[sweetser]

ahh ok then, i thought it looked really cool with the stickers all over it lol

[Pie]

If only it was fast eh charlie

[RacingGreen]

How quick is yours at the moment si?

[Pie]

Faster than yours, mine has wheels

[998dave]

So, where's the latest update?

As for the brakes, didn't we do that, in, erm, 2005 actually, maybe it was a while ago.

Molly's just waiting for welding now, I might write a bit of a project thread at some point... And start Maisie's project thread.

Also, did you sell it? And wherre's the sprint?

D

[CharlieBrown]

Well I guess it's time to update this topic somewhat.

I did indeed sell the mini to concentrate on the Sprint (and you know how that is going ).

I sold, well swapped the mini for a mountain bike which I then sold and the money went on the Sprint.

A year went by and the progress was rather slow on the sprint. I was also thinking more and more about taking part in a little adventure called the Mongol rally. For those of you that don't know about it, historically it was a charity event that involved driving a completely unsuitable car under 1 litre (i.e. a mini). The rules have changed slightly since I first saw this event and wanted to do it some years ago. The rules now only let you have a car under 10 year so I've had to get some special approveal to take the car I love so much. (http://mongolrally.t...p?page=overview)

I decided that 2010 was going to be the year to go on the rally so a bit of begging to both the boss and work and I got the ok. It was the day (or so) after I got the ok from work that I saw my old mini for sale again and just couldn't help myself so a few weeks later and...

Mini number 2...oppsss.

So the plan is slowly (as thats about the only speed I do) get it ready for the rally.

The first step towards this was to see how the old girl was, so as I'm sure many of you have done I started prodding last weekend (then wished I hadn't):

Bit of rust near the sill and the area near the bottom subframe has split so MOT fail.

Fair bit of rust this side due to a leak in the roof, found a hole as well

Hole in roof

Hole near headlight

A fair bit of work needed but I'm sure I might be able to get a little help

As for the rally I will post more in the Charity's section soon but if you want a sneak preview then have a look at theminiforum2mongolia

If you are able to sponsor me (for either charity) that would be amazing. I really want to raise a huge amount on behalf of the forum so your help would be greatly appreciated, even if it is only a pound. Just make sure you say you're from the TMF so I can see all your support!

I'm a bit sparse on the sponsortship at them moment

Here's to rusty mini!

Cheers,

Charlie

[CharlieBrown]

I had a bit more of a dig this weekend.....

Drivers sill

Drivers side inner

Passenger side inner - a bit worse that last time

Drivers side footwell - subframe mounting point
Are those plates normally there or have they been added?

So not great but most of the rear of the car looks ok...(fingers crossed)

[CharlieBrown]

Well this week Dale from Commercial Autobodies, Bristol came round to look at it and has agreed to help me sort the mini in exchange for some sponsorship on the car for the run. The mini needs a fair bit of welding to make sure it will, A, pass the MOT and B, be safe enought to take on the roads to Mongolia.

So all I have to do is fully strip the mini, something I've never done before but I've always found things earier to take apart that put back together. So here goes nothing.

What I got up to yesterday:

Stripping the interior:

Stripping the boot:

Stripping the rear seat bits (note I'm bagging everything to aid fitting it all back in):

When stripping near the rear seat pockets I noticed some rust. Now this was both the areas I had "repaired" a couple of years ago...not impressed:

Nice weld....

Oh that looks solid:

Stripping the steering wheel:

Sorting all the wiring so that I could strip the loom, took a while but I wanted to make sure I labled everything so I could put it baac together easily, well that's the plan:

Stripping some of the electrical bits:

Removal of the headlights and indicators, this involved cutting a few wires and the indicator screws were beyond stuck....hmmm:

Then went back to stripping the dash but it got dark so will be carrying on today...

I got less done than I wanted but I've been learning. Should help during the rally as well. It dosn't help doing it outside in not great weather though.

Charlie's top tips:
WD40 is your friend also useful for old bullet connectors so you don't just rip out the wire.
Side indicators are difficult to take out without braking

Err that's it for now

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

It always regret able buying an old car again you realise why you sold it lol

[CharlieBrown]

Right, todays progress:

One of the first jobs was to drain the oil, now last time I did this it went rather wrong so I though it best to get something to do the job more properly. So a quick trip to homebase and I found some planting trays, perfect.

Draining the oil:

Getting back to stripping:

Removing the rear lights, this was easier than I thought:

Removing the instrument cluster, I even managed to work out that you have to use a screwdriver to pry off the plastic collar on the speedo cable, so didn’t snap it, winner:

Then it came to removing the heater, this involved a slightly different method of draining it, but then it’s not as if I had carpets to worry about:

Next were the windows, something I’d not done before, the rubber surrounds were perished any way so I ended up cutting them to make it easier to push them out:

Removing the loom without cutting it was looking tricky then I realised I could just remove the whole bulkhead panel thingy that’s behind the carb. Although one of the screws had rusted in place so I ended up pulling the panel off the last one, not pretty but it worked:

Getting there:

Removing the headlining wasn’t too difficult although for some reason the edges of it were painted over. The headlining was damage so a slight bit of ripping when removing it wasn’t a problem. Shame as most of it was ok:

Found this lovely bit of foam up there as well:

It then got dark so that was it from me for the day, just took a few shots then tidied up:

Oh yes, these are the bits that came out of my fuel tank, one set of bits from when my fuel was pinched years ago and one from a few weeks ago as the keys went missing:

The plan is to leave the rear subframe on, remove the engine and front subframe but I may just remove the engine and leave it rolling. We shall see how far I get tomorrow night.

Charlie

[Shifty]

While the headlings out remove the bits of foam that are in the top of the windscreen pillars.

They just promote rust!!!

[CharlieBrown]

Oh yes, I found them, are they just in the front?

It's supprising how much foam there is, bulkhead insulation, giant rust aiding sponge.

As I was stripping stuff I was having fun spotting all the lettle features that promote rust. Made me think of how I could protect it better in the future, lots of sealent may be a start.