103 replies to this topic

[CharlieBrown]

Cheers guys,

Yup, as you can imagine this means that the Sprint project is on hold. Looks like I may have to sell the shell so I can use the garage to put the mini all back together. Not ideal but the rally means a great deal to me...

[998dave]

Surely you can't sell the Sprint shell, have you nowhere else you can keep it for a bit? Like on the driveway under a cover while you rebuild the 30, then swap them back?
I'd let you keep it at my house if I was nearer, and had more room, useful I know!

Dave

[CharlieBrown]

Well a bit more progress just befor the mini gets picked up by Commercial Autobodies. Had a mate of mine come over to help, very nice to have a second pair of hands.

Engine split from the subframe:

Engine cranes are awesome:

Draining the rad. took a little bit of pursuation in the form of an angle grinder:

Engine lined up to go in, enter the engine crane once more:

Mini back on all four wheels all ready to be collected!

So the plan is to get it back in a month, then all I have to do is remember how it all went together!! Ekk

[daemonchild]

So the plan is to get it back in a month, then all I have to do is remember how it all went together!! Ekk

You bagged everything with labels, it'll be fine.

[CharlieBrown]

I managed to get a tiny bit more done this week. I removed the rear bumper which was a pain as the bolts are not captive, yay.

The took off all the door bits:

Then on Friday the mini got picked up to get sorted! So just waiting to hear what the damage is, gulp!!

I will keep you all posted

[garrett3]

Did you get a rough guesstimate when the guy collected it?

[CharlieBrown]

Nope, they are having a look at it first and getting back to me. I will get a list of what they are doing and a cost so it's all clear from the go (I think that's what you getting at)

[lindy119]

looking good, liking the gold wheels as well!

[CharlieBrown]

Hi all well it has been a little while since I last posted on here, mainly as I have been working my socks off trying to get the mini on the road.

I’ve recently hit a bit of a sticking point so while I wait for a solution here is a quick update.

I got the mini back from the spray shop looking the best it has in 5 or so years now:

Yes I still have the gold wheels

There was a fair bit to put back in but one of the first jobs was routing the brake line, fuel pipe and battery cable on the inside of the car. As you know I’m doing the Mongol Rally so this will hopefully keep the stones/massive rocks from causing too much trouble.

This next picture shows the fuel tank in place and if you look closely you can see the fuel pipe running into the rear seat area.

I even got the good lady helping! Thanks!

I’ve never seen so much rust come off such small bits of metal. Then came the paint:

Then a sneak preview of the mini mid build.

It got dark at this point so finished for the day.

Next job was the headlining, now I got a how to guide from....well theminiforum of course. Now I had cleverly snapped two of the plastic roof bar end pieces so Chris of RetroRetrims very kindly let me have a spare bar to take the ends from, thanks! It was a bit fiddly getting the ends off without breaking them but I managed and then got them in the headlining:

Then one evening a very nice chap called Gaz from West Country Minis came round and gave me a hand with the headlining. Cheers Gaz! So we started gluing it in place. Man it’s a tricky job. I carried on doing the rest of it but its not exactly perfect but will do.

I then got the engine back from Mak of MiniTec, top job! I was really chuffed. So I started adding the bits to it to get it in the min. After a quick trip to Moss in Bristol to get some bits I had forgotten.

Now some of you may know this but after market engine mounts don’t always line up with the engine holes so I had to do a bit of adjustment (really glad I had a Dremel type tool).

To get the engine in easier I removed the top ball joint from each side. It was a bit tuff to get the joint out once it had been split as the cone was pressing the top arm down so I developed a little method of compressing the come a bit:

Then in went the engine:

It went in ok and I even managed to get the drive shafts in ok, brilliant. Well that was until I realised that it wasn’t quite seating properly.....

Now for those in the know it may be obvious but I hadn’t a clue what had gone wrong. So after a phone call to PurpleTom and Gaz it became apparent that it was an Auto subframe, yes they are different.

When the mini was being resprayed the very nice chap from Commercial Autobodies had let me have a spare subframe that he had that was all fixed up with decent running gear and mounts. Unbeknown to him and me this was an Auto frame even though a manual had come out of it. After a bit of digging I found out that you can get conversion plates but it is still missing the front lower engine steady mounting point, not something I wanted to be without on the rally.

So once again West Country Minis came to the rescue and it looks like I will be getting a manual frame soon and will then set to swapping everything over and getting the engine back in, joy.

So that’s where I am at the moment and I am desperate to get it on the road by the end of the month so will be busy this weekend!

Thanks to all those that helped me and if others want to help me on my little 10,000 mile adventure please go to http://mongolrally10...amp;teamid=3537 and donate what you can to Macmillan.

Theminiforum have been supporting Macmillan for some years now and it has always been a goal of mine (and others on the forum) to get the forum involved more with this Charity. So please give what you can, let me know that it’s come from a forum member and it would be amazing if we could all raise alot for Macmillan!

Thanks,

Charlie

PS More to come soon

[minimadjonesy]

blimey, looking good fella. Where did you get that roof rack from?? quality item!

[998dave]

Looking good Charlie, especially the very shiny paintwork, how much did that hurt?

Looking forward to seeing it finished!

Dave

[george91]

wow lots of progress good job, the paint looks so shiney, should be good seeing it all back together.

[CharlieBrown]

I got the roof rack on ebay bargain at 15 pounds, its a DESMO (or something like that), little bit big for a mini but I have made it work, well chuffed.

The work/respray cost 1,500 and that included a big discount as it was done by Commercial Autobodies in Bristol who are sponsoring me. It came back fully painted, rolling with doors and boot fitted. More than I wanted to spend but as you know the mini was a state and it looks so shiny now.

Just got a subframe tonight so one busy weekend coming up. Yay.

[GraemeC]

Dare I ask what has happened to the Sprint?

[jay30]

Wow! Paintwork looks incredible. My '30 is going in at the end of the show season. Hope it turns out as sweet as yours.