Hi,

This is my project for the summer
Hope to get it on the road for my 17th
Awaiting a quote to have the rear pulled out - all will be revealed shortly :go:

Ok, this is the damage...

I suppose you want the plans!

Ok here goes, I want it to look classic/Old school but be modern at the same time

Plans:

●12" Alloys
●Group 2 arches
●RC40 side exit exhaust
●New dash(keep centre clock)
●Cobra classic bucket seats
●Bullet mirrors


I could go on and on, but i will later

looks realy gud condition as far as minis go except the back end, luckily the majority of the damage only appears to be the bootlid, let us know how it progresess, as for the damage as for a price of pete in automotion he does a really gud job, plus if ya ask he will give ya a car, guess you wontv need 1 tho as ya not 17yet

Yep,

Car is solid and in fairly good nick,getting it pulled out by Windsors

The backend in daylight:

Why Windsors ??

Mates rates

O Right, i thought you were paying full retail price

Thanks for lookin' out for me

I will post some more pics in a while, if you're interested... I know its not a modified car and wont be until its complete but hey...

Ive also got a favour to ask: Can someone photochop sum 12" alloys to my Mini as i am getting some and was wanting to know what it looked like...

Thanks in advance

And can you put these 12" alloys on plz - would be much appreciated

Okay, that can be done easily but we need a side shop of your car, not an angled shot

nasty dent you got there! plans sound great should be awesome once finished! best leaving the repair to a pro, alot needs replacing there, rear valance, back end, boot, boot floor and depending on how bad the crash was maybe the raer sides aswell. keep the news coming!

Goddam!



I will post up lots of pics (no side views

Just climb up on your neighbours house roof mate and snap away

1970's baby! I bet youre lovin' these pics! lol

I am changing the exhaust for an RC40 - excellent reputation from mini freaks like me :cheers:

yeah baby! thats shag-a-delic.

It sure is

I will post up pics of what the mini is gettin' treated to

Eg. What bucket seats, dash etc...

:a:

The specifications:

850 engine (manufacturer's type 85H)
Type - 4 cylinder, in-line, ohv
Bore - (62.94mm)
Firing order - 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 (no1. Next to radiator)

u wanna get that bad boy stripped out,that is so retro,damage looks bad,is the boot floor ok? its gonna cost a lot if not,whats the overall plan for it,lookwise? ICE machine? cruiser?racer?track racer?

33bhp @ 5300rpm

ICE machine? cruiser?racer?track racer?

Nope - Its a retro Cruiser

Flick switches
New dash (centred clock)
Sparco sports pedals
Aluminium door handles etc.
Full Cobra Classic interior (with headrests) Vinyl
Black Gloss Glassfibre Group 2 arches
Angel eye headlamps
Side exit RC40 Exhaust, full system Maniflow LCB
12"deep Revolutions
Adjustable bullet mirrors (Bought)
Stainless steel polished bumpers
New door skins
Twin red air horn trumpets
Indicator clear lenses orange bulbs (bought)
Chrome windscreen wipers
Mk1 Moustache grill
Stage 1 kit
Road use sump guard
Full interior carpet
Rear speaker boards (Fits beneath seats)
Centre console
Aluminium gearknob (Made)
Smiths clocks/dials
De-badge rear
Monza chrome locking petrol cap
Chrome roof ariel
Aluminium rocker cover
De-sticker (City stickers)
Classic Astrali steering wheel red stitching 4 point (Bought)
New seat belts, harness pads

Cobra Classics:

My bullet mirrors (1 pictured)

Flick switches £5
New dash (centred clock) £100
Sparco sports pedals £20
Aluminium door handles etc. £25
Full Cobra Classic interior (with headrests) Vinyl £350
Black Gloss Glassfibre Group 2 arches £50
Angel eye headlamps £40
Side exit RC40 Exhaust, full system Maniflow LCB £120
12"deep Revolutions £320
Adjustable bullet mirrors (Bought)£35
Stainless steel polished bumpers £50
New door skins £45
Twin red air horn trumpets £20
Indicator clear lenses orange bulbs (bought)£5
Chrome windscreen wipers £15
Mk1 Moustache grill £50
Stage 1 kit £70
Road use sump guard £40
Full interior carpet £100
Rear speaker boards (Fits beneath seats)£15
Centre console £30
Aluminium gearknob (Made) £0
Smiths clocks/dials £20
De-badge rear £0
Monza chrome locking petrol cap £30
Chrome roof ariel £15
Aluminium rocker cover £30
De-sticker (City stickers)
Classic Astrali steering wheel red stitching 4 point (Bought)£0
New seat belts, harness pads £70

Real quick chop of the photos i had to hand


What do you think

Like the plans? Any ideas? What could i do to increase performance without transplanting any new engines?

These are the arches

I used to race a mini city in the mini stocks champs when i was 14 years old brings back some great memorys that.

Like what you doing dont see many mini's about now days.

Girl i know has one (lou) nice it is to.

im not sure how tunable a 850cc engine is,i reckon it'd be best to go for a carb of some sort,a huge one.Any maybe NOS,other than that,i think ur ****ed for performance,strip it,every couple of KGs lost is equivalent to 1 BHP gained

Ok, lol

Im not to bothered about amazing performance its more looks and no go!


How does a retro cruiser sound?

To me,bad,but then again i dont understand fully what u mean.If u plan goin round in a AM radio only tartan seated mini,then i dont think i like that,if however its gonna be tidy inside but period looking,i like

Its hard to describe it

It will have a period look, ripping out the seats putting new cobra's in and back seat also.

New dash with the centred clock, keeps character!

It will look nice i can assure you

Will look simple and tidy, very straight car...

I cant see myself taking it round
a 'track'

I will post up more pics etc as time goes on. Just getting it on the road is my main concern atm

Thought about the Mini performance wise,

The only things i could really think of is to port polish the manifold, freeflow system, Rc40 exhaust and maybe a twin carb, but that also means twice the petrol used!

Hmm, no thanks but great performance wise ONCE you have got the needles correct!

The 850 engine:

Good points:

Relatively good rev range,
Has a 3.77 FD in there which will help it along,

.........

Ok pics of the stuff I hope to get:

What do you think this time?












Sorry but its the only way of showing you lot what i mean...

And the Smiths dials:

plans sound good, looks like you have it all sorted! you're price looks tiny compared to my bill! think i've spent that already! i do have some group 2 fiber glass arches if your intertessted but they do need a bit of work? just pm me. as for performance if you put a lower final drive in there you could probabily keep up with some 1.1 fiestas or 1.2 corsas lol! when do you expect to have this all finished?

Hi,

Hope to have it done for my 17th this (November 06) :lol:

Ive already driven it... was fun

As for the plans Im not sure its Cruise Wirrals taste But im sure you will all like it when its done

How can i change the FD?

CW doesnt have a "taste" mate,everyones opinion is different,some people love proper in ya face styling,some love jags and range rover,some love performance,and most like any sort of modifiedd car,ur plans sound cool,theyre not "chav" in any way.And this is ur first car so performance doesnt need to be immense,only after about 18 months of driving will you really desire speed,mods look good,that manifold looks reet wierd,never seen a manifold for a 3 cyl before

...Yeah, its definately not gonna be chav!

Ps. Hows tha stickers goin? :cheers: Scoop for the general feedback

the mini engine is certainly unique, both its exhaust and inlet ports come out on the same side with 2 inlets feeding the 4 cylinders (1 per 2 cylinders) and the exhaust, the two outers take either end piston while the centre takes from the two in the middle. i'll try a get a picture..........

this is all i could find, but you can get a faint idea. you can get 8 port heads for the bugger which do release alot more power but then you usually have to cut a hole in your bonnet like so

Yeah, the ram pipes etc

That pic of th manifold is an LCB, yeah your right on what you said Saved me explaining it! lol

cars gona look well sweet! id love an old mini, this might be a stupid question but can you put new CD players, speakers and subs etc in old minis? will it all work?

Yes u definately can Its 12V

hard to find the space though! lol

Was in my garage today and i still have mini parts if you are interested.

Roll cage
wheels

also dazza my (not 100% sure) have a turbo and bits for a mini.

Ok, cheers for the pm Tony Not really interested in the parts you have mentioned. I'm not interested ina 6pt rollcage! lol (I think i can sell it for you if you like). Think i'll stick to buying my 12 inch revolutions!

Hey peeps: The mini has a really good embarrassment factor in that, setup properly with the right engine it can surprise lots of other cars, maybe not blow them away, but give them a run for their money, especially in the traffic light grand prix!

Mine looks so sweet and innocent and when minis race people are shocked they can be so fast! Thats what i like about minis. You just dont expect it, and you can imagine a great grin when you do it, even if the other person isnt trying. :lol: Go Mini! Youve just been Mini'd

Did part of this for a laugh: Scoop did arches, did the rally bits Not much lol

Going to make an effort to complete this part resto in the summer and to be on the road as soon as possible. I will continue works whilst its on te road but i just want it on the road and ready for use when i turn 17 and get my provisional. Take dad out in it then...

So in summer - Watch this space!

On Sunday I went out to the Mini and made the bonnet fit and go down another notch!

My Astrali steering wheel, and one of my new adjustable bullet mirrors!

Has some fun doing this, I know its not done properly but it still looks great!

where is the cruisewirral graphix on the windows and sun strip.

Im not that good!

Just realised...the wing mirror! Thats messed up...i was playin around but didnt think i saved it!

Finally managed to get the rear bumper off and light cluster... Right the 'bars rolling' what next...

Whens the bodywok gonna get sorted? what colour u gonna have it,keeping it orange?

Body getting soted ASAP, and im keeping the colour - Vermillion red

amazing how the minis can just crumple! keep up the good work!

Theres a brand new subframe behind that mess

Ive set to work on the new boot I have so i can get it all ready for when the bodywork is sorted and for it to be ready to be sprayed red!

A few pics:


Theres a small hole that needs welding up






Many thanks

Lund

liking it mate

Heres those wheels,and a subtle lowering

Cheers Scoop :cheers: Its much appreciated!

Ok todays work:

Oww... IT oww HURTS awww TO oucH! TYPE! ahhh...

Just been sanding again...and some more sandind and more....


Ok just feathered in the sanding down and I ^wet n dried^ it for about 5 hours...Ouch

Total dedication

Ok heres the pics:





Yea Scoop, in the long run Im going to puit it on adjustable Hi-Lo's to get the height just right

..>Classiccc!

((Done it all by hand! )

whats with all the bald patches,was there surface rust there?? noticed on the pic i chopped ur sills are lookin spotless rust wise

Yea, but the sills are stayin normal!

The bald patches was were there was blemishes in the paint a deep scratches etc... so i took it right back to the metal and its all fine now. Its escalated in size due to constant rubbing with the wet sandpaper. Used P320 to take off the paint and to bring it to feathering, then use 800 to feather it and polish it up. Ive put the boot indoors out of the moist garage so it should be fine rust wise. !And breath!

Do you think you could chop some gloss black arches onto it plz (not tooo large!) Cheers

Once the rear is sorted Im taking out the engine and gearbox for a good clean up and to make sure everything runs as it should. Got a problem with the gearbox at the moment, wont change from 2nd to 3rd!

Done a photochop of my own. with the rear as it is but with RC40 exhaust and Aston filler cap That is an RC40 exhuast :a:

OUCH!

The Force racing wheels I am wanting, (see signature) cost a bomb!

Details:

They come in a width of 5 to 8" wide,
use a cast alloy centre annodised silver, polished outer rim ,
brush finish inners,
as these wheels are modular you are required to keep a regular maintainance check on them ,
and clean , to keep looking there best ,
weigh from 2.5 to 2.8 kgs,

Recommended using inner tubes ,for ease of tyre fitting,[eliminates tyre fitters, and poss damage].

prices ,£120.00 .EACH. cast centre,
billet centres plus £25 any colour centre.per wheel.

stainless nuts a set 16no, £34.00.

shipping UK . £15.00.. lead time 6 wks max.

Ebay mate, so much cheaper......

I agree, but they are so rare to find on ebay! Keep a look out for me

Just polished the Mini, dents n all

Will post pics later if you want...

You can get a set of these for £5.00



Okay they need re-furbing but cheap as chips mate

Or these for about £20

Can you post the e-bay link plz for the top ones

It's ok found the link and showing interest

Got a quote!

I've got a quote now, for the rear to be pulled out on the Mini, from * * * * , Birkenhead.

The quote is...wait for it... £600

What I need to do is buy a new full rear panel assembley. I've got a boot.

I also need to buy a new valance and bumper, and the guy at the garage will do it for me, all of it including spraying.

The cost is too much really, so I think I'm just getting him to pull out the rear, fit the complete new panel and valance, and I will do the rest ie fitting boot and spraying it etc.

Sooo...ye GOT A QUOTE!

Thats not Cheap mate, i think he is taking your pants down and shoving it up your bum

Try Pete at Automotion, Click me for details..............

Or Spray Force Click me

Do they have facilities to pull out the rear? :rolleyes: Do you think he will quote much cheaper? What sort of discount do I get with being cruise wirral? (If there is one!!)

Discounts are at the discresion of each sponsor.
As each job is diffrent.

But mention that your from cruisewirral

OOOoooOOO sounds great!

Just cant believe the price, I think I will just buy a new rear panel and valance give them to him to fit and pull out the crease and then do the rest myself, i.e Painting etc and putting the boot on.

It was J$R motors Birkenhead, recommended by the MG owners club. Dad has seen some of their work and he says its to the highest quality an standard...soo I dont know. Will leave my options open. Himley Hall Mini Show is on In a few weeks so I'll see about parts their, are you coming STU? (steveobennet)

Cheers Webby n Scoob for your input

Bought a new set of points and they're not the right

I suggested Automotion as they have a state of the art Jig to pull the rear out, as far as i know Spray Force dont have a Jig ?

i agree with scooby, automotion would do a top job

Well the thing with my Mini is that it needs, like 'restoring'so I dunno really, I take it Automotion are used to dealing with accident and reapirs on say 5-6 yr old cars but not on like a 28 yr old car. Im sure they could do it and do a great job, but its not really me, it's my dad he's not keen when ever I mention 'Cruise Wirral' or companies related to Cruise Wirral he just seems to be off put! don't know why and I don't even think he really know's why. Its just with Automotion you only see the cars they have customised and modified not repaired. I havent seen their repair work so I cant really compare. So I cant really act or decide anything without his agreement etc. concerning my age... I dunno

Try this link for an idea. Click Me

To put your mind at rest why not pop down there,
if im right he has a few jobs
in there at the mo, New Front end on a car.

Totaly caved in and its had to be cut out
and rebuilt.

Its up to you, but many member have been there without complaint.

Good luck with what you decide.

Right ok,

Admin Edit : Company Removed Sponsor Conflict

theyll just qoute you on the job

i got my boot done my automotion and there work id top notch, perfect work and perfect colour match, iam going back to them soon

Ye Lawton got a Smooothe booty

lol, ok point taken, but no one is perfect,

That set of points I bought...wrong ones! )

cheers, only a quick one i put together,

Hi

Went to a Mini show today and bought this for my girl Aston Martin style filler cap inc. locking part...

Got Pete (fingers crossed! ) coming tomorrow from Automotion, to have a look at the Mini for me... will see about getting it sorted ASAP

Oh and also found my interior:

1990's Cooper interior

Reclining seats with headrests
Black cloth
Front seats and rear seat
Front and back door cards and a full carpet

All in great condition ((the door cards have a red stripe running through them...might clash, but its subtle so wouldnt notice))



Cant beat that!

Pete from Automotion came Top bloke,

Right... so I suppose its gonna be the last time you see my Mini like this:



Hopefully!

I think your going to be right.

I'm sure pete wont let you down.

Whens it gettin done,will it be drivable after the back end is done?

Yeh Petes gonna give us a ring when the Jig is free, he said about 2 weeks, its been a week, I think

Dad sprayed the back of the boot up yesterday and put seam sealer around the seam of the boot.

A few pictures:
(It wasnt actually dark, it was light outside, but the camera thinks different :rolleyes: )

it looks focus ST orange lol.
wierd colour, ur worrying about insurance on an OE manifold,no assessor would pick that up when they give it a going over post crash,a rusty manifold is a rusty manifold.i wouldnt tell em if it were me,an aftermarket manifold yeah as theyre shiny and easy to spot (and the noise is a huge givaway) but an Oe manifold,nah

Risky buisness ...

I know it's like the paint every time you look at it it changes colour! The wierdest colour it ever looks is when its at night under a street lamp, it turns brown and green

whey hey some progress pics! looks good, wish i had invested in a spray gun, would have saved me a few dollars. can't wait to see this retro mini on the road. what have you planed for the brakes?

MINI'S HAVE BRAKES!?

On a more serious note

Just keeping the standard drums for now, when I start improveing performance I will put 7.5 cooper discs on

Semi smooth boot, (No badge)

Sanded and primered

Painted Vermillion red, ready to be fitted by Pete

(excuse the flash)

Looking good

Is there much more to do before its on the road now?

someone copying my semi smooth boot, , only joking, looks good mate

If my car looks as half as good as your, I'll be happy

Lets put it this way...Im sick of sanding:





Oh n Jay Ive found another coil in the garage so I'll see about getting it fired up...hope for the best! Other wise Its gonna be a hard push :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed!

:cheers:

So tempting...

Click Me

£125 for 4 alloys 10 x 6 Revo's/black VAT inc.

Cant go wrong! Juast need to buy tyres...

What do you think?

really cheap that for 4, id get them if i was you look tidy for the money

Deffo mate, you could spray the black part orange

:go:

Wahey! Slowly coming together...

• Buffered the paint (cellulose)
• Added the hinges
• Added the number plate lamp

I'm keeping the numberplate lamp black because Im thinking of buying those 10 x 6 Black Revo's so the black would keep to the theme...

Still cant decide on the colour!?

Orange/red/\Vermillion?!

A few pics:









850 Hits... my engine size lol

shiny!

in ur sig ur car looks red but in the pics it looks orange. IS the body repaired yet? boot looks well done

I know, I was comparing that before lol

When you see it in the flesh it will all come together!

Or...what do you think to these?



10 x 6 Black Mamba alloys...been offered four for £50 IF my mate buys the car with them on. I'll try find a pic with one with the centre caps on.

What dya say?

Tyre wise I was thinking along the lines of Yoko A032-Rs , which are to be fitted to 10 x 6's. Basically road legal slicks, but for an everyday car I dont know...



I think they wont last 2 mins for an everyday car really...

More thinking along the lines of :

Click Me

A more practical sensible option...

I would deffo do the wheel centres Orange, i used to have a MK2 escort many moons ago in signal orange with RS2000 alloys with the insets orange, looked cewl.

LOL! nowhere to paint vermillion on the alloys..

Paint code is CML

Rubber to metal ratio is a bit poor there mate. Whats the biggest wheels u can fit on a mini without looking OTT??can u get 7x13s for instance?

I dont want 7 x 13s because you have to chop away part of the bodywork to fit them, you have to have sportspack arches to cover them, and the wheel bearings would'nt last 2 minutes and mine are set up perfectly or so my dad says lol. On my Mini, it is designed to cater for 10 x 5 wheels and Im going to put 10 x 6's on... Ive heard many times now that Mini's with 13s on are not very good for the cars handling.

But because Im going for the 'Retro' look only 10's will do! With gloss black grp2 arches with the chrome strip running down them. Ans lowered so the wheels are slightly tucked to the arches Trust me , its going to look ace!

you don't want 7x13's you'd only be copying me! i reckon you go for the road legal slick rubber! you can't beat that retro 10" look! well.......

Yeah...

I've try knocked up a photochop to show my grp 2 arches, and revo's.. really tempted by the road legal slicks!



Whats happenin bout 2morro Scooby?

I could'nt find the videos thread? So I thought I would post it here, other than a new topic... Groovy lil' U turn

Video 1

&

Video 2

Ok so Mini's in Automotion...

Erm, anyone knows whats happening? lol Anyone been in or past? Hows my Mini doin? Any progress pics, or has he even started yet!?

Im going their later so will take some pics on my phone for ya.

the people demand restoration pics!

Cheers mate

I didnt see it in the worshop mate so am guesing it aint ready.ssorry lol

If you didnt see it in the workshop then where is it!!!???

Hope it gets done fairly soon as I need to take out the engine and gearbox, strip the gearbox n refurbish it so that it makes 2nd gear

hehe keep up the work on it buddy

Any progres???

isnt that what we should be asking you? i too have quite alot left to do! you can't beat that 2nd gear chocolate sincro! (or however you spell it!)

??????????????

Any mate?

Erm, not too sure bud......

Does this help ?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Arial,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Scooby:
<strong> Erm, not too sure bud...... Cheers Jay for the pic

Ive been on holiday for the past 2 weeks so havent been able to keep a check on CW lol

Mini looks as if its been straightened at the rear, been pulled out! So by the looks of things, we have progress

:cheers:

Thats the only one, i know there was a delay as the Jig was stuck with another car on it.

when does the big rush of new shiny bits come then? surely you have saved enough to buy a big wad by now?

Soon very soon... got some stuff already :go:

woo hoo pics! its best ot go to shows and buy bits, as you can find some right bargins there, just a shame i'm left to me wee computer and the internet to get my stuff!

Heres the pics!







My Mini's so fast it flies Needs lowering lol

Ordering a new boot hinge panel, goes right the way across, as you can see from the pics, its quite rusty and rotten, getting a genuine British Motor Heritage panel, ooo I say"

Ordered the new panel, from MOSS in Stockport, genuine panel, so work on the Mini is on hold, until I get the panel and then get it to Pete. Promised it before the weekend...we'll see lol £12 postage! Comes to £58 for that...

...I was right to doubt that the panel would arrive before the weekend, its set to come Monday morning now... we'll see lol

wahoo, some progress, bet you cant wait to get it back mate

Yeh cant wait! Ive got the panel now, its going to Pete first thing Monday morning

looking gud, bet you cant wait. Should look gud

Cheers, lets hope so!

petes done lodsa work on my cars including full resprays and am always made up with his work. So much so that hes havin the herald to at the end of the month

Sound! lol I cant wait for your Herald Hotrod to be done, Rover V8 all the way 3.5 Mini should be looking more 'retro cruise' soon, gloss black group 2 arches with a chrome strip running down the side, aston filler cap, de-badged boot and bonnet, Mk1 moustache grill, Rc40 side exit exhaust, lowered onto deep dish 10 x 6 Minilights that are being re-sprayed gloss black too. Charcoal dash, with the centre clock where it should be! Black cloth Cooper interior, stage 1 kit, opening rear quarterlites (windows) chrome... etc

should be gud, what is meant by stage 2 arches are they diferent widths etc????

Yes, Grp 2's are smaller than grp 5's lol basic!

This is the new panel:



&

Some more progress pictures! Pete has said I can have it back all done on Friday!

Another look into the future!

woah that looks amazin. Even though I'm not a fan of mini's, I'd be proud to own that. I'd love to see it in the flesh

Them wheels with the arches make it look the dogs

It's exactly how it gonna look

you should look at this
Click Me

I'll let the pictures do the talking! Good old 2 pack paint, chemical reaction so I will hopefully have my baby back by tomorrow!

... At a high cost that is

Anyway heres the pics, will post more of it when I get it back tomorrow :

Ta daa!











Wooo!

Looks good very very shiney. keep it coming

Thanks...will have to polish the rest of the car so it all matches!

seen it today when i drove past in are seans corsa to make sure the suspesion was alright after lowering it, looks really shiny, keep the good work up mate

...and this is what Lawton saw!











Cheers to Jay for taking it and also bringin it down on the trailer Cheers mate

And of course well done to Automotion...will my Mini make the front page yet?

ooooooo shiny! so whats next on the big list?

ALOT

and in that list of alot what are you doing next?

Probably get the interior, fit it, get the alloys spray insets gloss black.Fit them, get the group 2's off you - fix them, paint and fit! Err and much more! Gearbox rebuild...

Put the front bumper on too:

Mate, it looks Stunning.

The paintwork looks excellent now the bumpers are fitted up They make such a difference its unreal....

The wheels are very nice, starting to look like a real head turner in the making...

Keep us posted with the good work

agree with scooby looks a real minter, wheels make a huge difference and look really fat and deep. Also like the fact you got ones with a polished lip. Cant wait to see it at the meets when ur sorted. Keep up the gud work

Cheers guys for the compliments, it is looking fresh once again! Yeah the wheels are 10 x 6 Deep Dish Minilites, polished rim I just love the deep dish look. Think Im going to need the Group 2 'wide' arches just to cover them up! Arches will be gloss black with a chrome strip running dow nthe side The only problem is that it doesnt want to start! Its running a bit rich coz the sparkies are covered in black! ...until I broke one that was

Hmmm what next? I'll leave you in suspense...

the black on the plugs could be cause you stop and start it cause the engine and plugs need to reach a certain temp before they start burning any carbon of them.again looks gud

Yeah your right, It got it fired up! I said I would get it going today even if it killed me. And i did, all by myself! Gave the sparkies a light sand, put them back in and replaced the one I managed to break

The black on the sparkies was because it was a bit rich from using so much choke to get it started!

Anyway, jobs a gooden!

nice to hear it running well, you will prob find that when you are legit and take it on a proper run it will improve.

Yeh, it just needs running really

Painted underneath the wheel arch in rust proof paint, over the seam sealer Also taken the alloys off for now, so keep them in good condition!

woah very shiney...looks amazing! love them wheels

I could see the floor throught the floor! So to make things more strong and with less rust, dad set to work on cutting out the rust and welding the floors up. So here is the cut out section:





Welded up:



Weld grinded down:

Welded up some holes in the rear wheel arch, put some seam sealer over and painted it in rust proof paint, ned to apply top coat yet tho.



Oh and a few moe piccies:

Oh and a few moe piccies:



definetly get arches nmatey as pigs will b onto you like a flash as it is illegal to have tyres pertruding the arches

Yeh putting some group 2 wides on, so it will cover them

Its looking amasing Lund,
You have to be well chuffed with the progress.

I can see you crawling on the floor to
take a few of those piccies

well its all happening now! don't fancy lending some money for my project do you? like the wheels but i thought you wanted revolutions? keep the progress coming as i have, well, very little!

Im sorry Stu but I can hardly afford to fund my own project! Yes I previously wanted revo's but fell in love with these babys! I just love the deep dish look Will keep the progress coming once it has been made! Oh she's a first time starter at the moment...well for now anyway, not sure how long that will last!

Painted the floors today

Oh and...







Its sooo lowww

wondered what the phone was for! are you having carpets or are you going for the stripped look?

looking good matey. I think it would look nice with carpets, but thats my opinion

you could have picked something a little more general to show how low it is....like a can of coke lol or just something a bit more modern than that phone at least!

low? u taking the piss? looks nearly roadworthy. IS it?

Heya, yeh that phone is there to take the pi** out of the people who put there mobile phones under there cars to show how low it is!! Just thought it would be funny to use a house phone!

Dont worry, it is getting a full cooper interior carpets and all, extremely tidy, hardly used 1990's full Cooper interior for £100 what a great price! It includes front plain black cloth, reclining seats with headrests on subframes, full carpet set, back seat to match, all door cards and furnishings, side bits n all!

Was also looking into buying some brace bars for the doors, a company used to produce them many years back, but I dont know if they still do... just to add a bit more metal in the doors as its only the frame and the skin! Would help incase of side impact... God forbid!

Lund

Painted the sills and under the rear arch in some vermillion enamel paint, instant shine... well impressed Under neath that is a fair amount of rust proof paint, plently of coats of primer and stone chip paint... I think it should last a while!

Here are the pics:





Standard wheels are on ^^

Oh and I don't think you've seen these pics before, of my Mini arriving home after the bodyshop. These pics date back a while now!







Cheers Jay

good idea, looks great too

Looking verygood matey.

When do you think it will be on the road.

Whats left to do???

Sooonish! Sometime around next summer probably, Ive just got all the forms for my provisional lisence now, as im 17 this November so the lessons start soon too...hopefully! Can I have some lessons is your NISM? Just joking!

Whats left to do, off the top of my head:

Gearbox strip down and re-building
Passenger side floor doing
Passenger side sills and rear arch tidy up
New door skins
Fit rear quarterlights (opening windows)
New door rubbers
New bump stops
Engine maintenance
Fit arches
Fit exhaust system
Fit twin red trumpet air horns!
Replace roof gutter trim
Fit chrome windscreen scuttle, (in the rubber)
New wiper blades
Sort the brakes
Sort the handbrake
Fit a whole new interior
Fit centre clock dash board

... etc

Quite a fair bit then, but its all progressively being done

Mock-up photograph of how the arch will fit:



Red air horn:

I dont know why you havent nominated yourself
for car of the year mate.

This topic is credit to the work time and effort
you have done

Nominations end the 21st

Should I? Its not even road going is it! It isnt really a contender is it, after all its an A series Mini...

think its too late now matey, but I reckon you should of, I was saying you should of when people were nominating their cars, but your name never turned up on the list

I would have definately voted for you, the amount of hard work and effort you've put into this project

WOW! Thanks lol AT least I have the satisfaction of knowing you would have voted for it!

looking very nice bud, cant wait to see it in the flesh, keep the pics coming cause i love pics

Gave her a wash as she looked rather sorry for herself:

As far as I am concerned; forget the votes cos that IS car of the year!

Cheers Bud

Just a lil' tiny update, not much happening at the moment I've put the driver side front seat in and put my alloy gearknob in:





AHH when am I doing 50mph?! Oh well doesnt matter as it wont reach 50!

HAHA class!

Guess thats the anti-lag

your s..ting me is that a photoshop job or for real lol

i love the descret-ness of the photoshop, with the mudflap in a random place under the car and all. lol

Quite a good'n! Yep It's a wolf in sheeps clothing

** Warning Hot Topic **

Should see her when I rev her a lil...

Quality chop - had me fooled

:a:







Not much happening atm, as weather permits welding etc, cant do much in this sort of weather unfortunately...

Lund (Hibernating )

Youve chopped them on there !!

I thought they were real again lol

please don't tell me your going for those eyebrows! thats one thing i truly hate! still looking good

Don't worry Stu, I aint! Just thought I would put them on as the Mini was looking too pretty

lookinging good and really really really shiney lol. Some nice pics. Bet ur polishing it every night he he

Im 17 today!

Happy B'day to me...

happy bday bud, now you can start your lessons, hope you had a gud day

Whens the first driving lesson then.....

Congrats buddy

They start when I get my provisional, as I only sent off for it yesterday lol I've had the documentation for ages but only recently got it all sorted!

Thanks

doh! forgot you can't drive..........legaly.......

Taking driving lessons now, on the third one, driving a lil' Dark grey Clio 1.5dci , no stupid banners on or advertisments, just L plates! Tis rather grooovay


ooo and look... my interiors back in fashion!!

i've noticed that that black and white pattern is on a lot of clothes in next and the likes.

Cant wait to see the mini rolling

Yeh thats all it does at the moment ... roll lol!

Yeh its called 'Dog Tooth' , note the drivers seat is brown, but dont worry I have brand new unused seat covers all in dog tooth! ...Cooper Interior tho...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-5-cobra-sl...916QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just seen these on ebay £1.20 1 bid 8 hours to go, thought you might be interested, looking good anyway mate

Cheers for that, but I've got 4 10x5 Cobra slotmags already lol! still putting the 10x6 Minilites on tho

Watch!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

*** Link might not work just yet as its just freshly uploaded onto Youtube, the link will eventually work...just be patient! ***

Still processing...

Its sorted now, take a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0uZIzYUP4

good dude, whats next on the list?

Bingley hall Mini show... lol

SNOW!

New Cooper seats, excellent condition, no sagging or anything just great! £100 FULL INTERIOR, the lott! bargain ;D





Same pattern as Checkmate seats i guess?

It looks like you should wear those red/green 3D glasses looking at that!

This is what I get for £100.

Excellent conditon, new barely used full Cooper interior:

2 Reclining front seats, with headrests

Matching rear seat

Rear door cards, pockets

Front door cards, pouches

Full carpets and matts

Not my interior, someone elses!
Same door cards and seats:

never liked the mini seat, apart from the fact that you fall out of them round every corner, and the seats have more suspension than the suspension! get some better seats in there!

Pffft!! I can't refuse this offer haha full cooper interior £100 im snatching his hand off

What are the heaters like in your mini ?
Any mod cons like de-mist?

doors card you can make/change/invent yourself.
it could be a really rare interior but its still poo! just you wait any corner you turn and you'll fall out the seat! 2-1

the heater is basic. 1 speed either on or off. you can direct it at the wind screen or you feet or the center of the car. but it does its job so its not too bad

:lol:

As I have only one seat so far, (just to see what it looks like in the Mini) I decided to put it in and try it out, I thought there would be a bit of a colour clash with the Vermillion against the red and green pattern, but all looks well So I think I've just about, decided to go for the interior. Here's the pic:



All comments welcome...

Oh and about that heater, they work well they've heated up! As with any other car i guess, actually Stu there is meant to be 2 settings, on off and believe it or not hot or cold air, push heater knob in for hot and out for cold! :lol: Somehow dont see that happening! My heater wont heat up at the moment Just blows cold air, even when knob is pushed in...It was fully refurbed a while ago so It's all good except it doesnt heat!
Tom

just take the heater valve out! if you want cold air then wind down a window! oh, and you heater valve may be blocked if you aren't getting any heat! i don't really count off as a speed.

Yer I was thinking that it might be blocked, I'll flush the system and add fresh water and anti freeze when its a nice day, don't have a cover like yours!

something of interest for you and steve
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-turbo-ro...Z006QQcategoryZ38708QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

mate thats so clean, looks sweet, u should be proud of ur work !! nice motor !

random photos of the car, superb!

:a:Thank you for the comments, yeh very random pics, had my mate bring some group 2 wide arches round, but they are too wide, so standard group 2 arches, with the chrome strip down the side should do nicely! haha Retro

Will pick up the rest of the Cooper interior fairly soon.

The interior light (yes it has one!) keeps turning on, I often look outside and see it on... flattened the battery didnt it! charged it up again and then today she started first time Chuffed! Had 7 or 8 driving lessons so far, doing well

Tom

When O When will we see this one in the flesh,
its getting lighter and your car is looking
better each time you show us new pics.

Its a amazing job, and yes you should be proud
of the time, effort you have put into this.

Well done, looking sweet.

Will you be entering it into any compertitions
or anything?

Thanks Mark, but I gotta thank dad as he's put alot of time into the car aswell! Once its on the road ? this summer ? We'll see... What sort of competitions did you have in mind? CW based or other car shows. This Mini will be my everyday car once its done, so it's gonna be used everyday! As it should be.

Purchasing a fibreglass bonnet, however there are lots of different styles using bonnet scoops, cut outs, indents, I could even get a carbon fibre one?

Can someone photoshop me a carbon fibre bonnet on the Mini please? De-badge also. Thanks in advance, use a suitable pic from above...

Tom

carbon fiber! hack no! don't go damaging the nice vermillion mini! if i were you i would remove the bonnet from the hinges and use bonnet pins instead, but if you get the carbon bug then you'll want more! trust me. the only scoop i'd really put on a mini (and which i will do soon) is the era turbo scoop. everything else looks stupid. i still have those grp2 arches if you want them, free of charge.

heya thanks for the offer of the arches, I think I shall take them off your hands, try see if they will fit, and hopefully mend, friend around the corner thinks he can mend the split as he always fixes holes in his fibreglass dinghy!

Ok I wont go the carbon fibre route! I want a Mk1 bonnet and moustache, but moustache grill is like £70 or something maybe at a later stage...

looks great mate you done fantasitc job on it

Cheers Still quite a fair bit to do, engine out re-furb clean up. Gearbox restoration! passenger floors etc etc

Don't think I posted this pic up, its one of my favourites ... If only I had closed the door properly!

Was a suuny day today, so thought that progress on the Mini had to be made! It has been a while since I last posted! Removed the rear subframe, give it a good going over etc..

Lund: Let the pics do the talking!

Hi,

As summer is approaching, progress on the Mini will be made in due course! As you can see, the rear subframe is currently off the vehicle, I am stripping down the subframe (which is in amazing condition!) The subframe will tidy up nicely, sand it down primer it and paint it chassis black. As far as the suspension, brake pipes, raduis arms, brake hoses are concerned they are in good condition. Just a tidy up and general clean up will be fine =]

However, the brakes need dismantelling and building up, just bought 2 good condition brake back plates, for £5 each. Need some new drums and the pads look to be in good condition so I will be using them again. Save as much as possible! Will get round to cleaning the underneath of the Mini and tidy up the overspray etc, Prime it and I will paint it using enamel paint =] Good for the job Use turps to clean the underneath.

Battery cabling is also in good conditon, to be used again. I have calculated a few insurance quotes online, cant seem to get anything below £1624.24 with:

* Interior changes
* Alloy wheels, non standard size
* Exhaust changes
* Exterior changes

>_< >_< >_< >_<

Argh! Looks like I wont be puttin an Rc40 on as hoped! Oh well, one thing at a time.


Here is a picture of the engine as it is at the moment! It looks very dirty/dusty, but she runs... just! (fingers crossed!) ...Although firing on 3 cylinders! :dontgetit: Its totally blathered in wax (I think) so everything sticks to it! A nightmare to clean!



Picture of the 850 carb:



Random images down the side of the vehicle, hoisted into the air: (I know TMF like pictures!)



&&&& Another imagesalong with it !



Rear subframe:




Any comments anyone??

omg that lookin sweet, but £1600 insurance, they're cheeky t**ts.have u tried direct line, u can get multi car discount for more than 1 car at an address or get ur dad to insure it cos they give named drivers their own no claims discount....

ooo 850, feel the power! only kidding, we all have to start somewhere. you should be able to get that quote right down to around £1000 if you insured it yourself or even less with your dad.

looking good matey. nice to see you're doing a thorough job

Try Liverpool Victora for a quote, they're good for young drivers.

What you gunna do about the engine?

Or tesco or sainsburys matey.

Look forward to seeing your car soon matey.

Today was a nice day ;D Collected the rest of the Mini interior yesterday It's all looking well, just fitted the carpets and seats just to give an idea of what it will be like inside

Cleaned up the subframe and underside of the vehicle, used petrol as turps was strong enough! All that wax, had preserved lots over time! ;D

Also welded up a hole in the passenger rear wheel arch, sanded down and partly primered underneath. Anyway here's the pics, from quite a productive day!

Pics are in the wrong order, but hey lol

Still cant get a quote below £1600 even with Liverpool Victoria





















£5 each:



Interior:









;D

bloody hell mate you doing a sweet job on that looks well good keep it up

We have to get yours and steve's mini's out together as there both MINT and amazing topics to follow.

I know i couldnt be bothered to strip, build, strip build, strip build as much as you guys have done.

A real passion you have and the results are easy to see

Cheers for the compliments Mark, much appreciated!

It's the Mini bug, once you've got it you can't get rid of it!

Cleaned the subrame with petrol, will sand it down and re-piant it in chassis black, including the radius arms etc.

The problem at the moment is car insurance, Im performing loads of quotes Liverpool Victori, e Modified Car Insurance, Money Super Market n all the rest of it! BUT Cannot get a quote below approx £1600

Exhaust mods
Flared wheel arches
Non-standard sized alloys
Interior modifications (even tho its still a Mini interior!)

Argh...

Have you tried getting quotes from Moneysupermarket.com for basic quotes (wihout the mods) first matey?? Do you really have to list the interior mods if its just a mini interior? I know insurance compnies can be a pain, but their not usually too bothered about interior, so long as its pretty standard and nothing particuarly fancy.

Might lower the price a touch.

Your doing an absolutely fantastic job matey, keep it up, it will be worth all the effort when it's finished and ya out n about driving it!

Yer I've done moneysupermarket, n got quotes of about £1000 without the mods, but then when I listed the mods n put in my details it went upto £5000 how can they justify that!?

Oh and another thing I found was that post codes have risk level areas, mine happens to be a D* (A low risk - F - high risk) So that puts my insurance up loads! Its only bloody Pensby, I tried a quote, from my Girlfriends house, eveything the same except the address of course... turned out £300 cheaper!

Im not a happy bunny lol I did one of those Live chat things with LV, and asked them about interior, the guy stressed that any changes from standard must be listed.. errmm no matee lol They well wouldnt get onto it being different interior as it is still a Mini interior, but the thing is its a risk...


================================================================

Anyone know of any more insurance companies?

Im with Quinn Direct, they worked out far cheaper for me when I was getting quotes then even Liverpool Victoria.

Mind you, due to them making mistakes, its now only costing me £15 per month to insure my car... they say I have 3 yrs NCB when I told them I only have 1 yr... and for some reason their charging me about £8 per month less then they should be!

Not that im complaining

Yer I tried them, got to the bit where you select the age of the car... didnt go down to 1979


Elephant car insurance: "your price: £5086.45"

Shud try phoning Quinn for a quote then matey. Its worth a try given the fact its a freefone number. The number is 0800 587 8000.

Good luck

Ok thanks for that, will do that nearer the time A long way off completion at the moment!

Lol, when you lookin at atm to have it how you want it? Or is a case of ye will just know when it comes to the time that it feels like its done, and theres no timeframe??

Im looking now to weigh up what insurer gives a good quote and for preference in the future, not looking to buy now as the car is SORN declared and other reasons obv, like Im a learner

Once your 18 the cost of the insurance might come down a bit, its worth considering that.

So remember to give your birthday in as a few months earlier when getting quotes, (as it would be a few months later when you would even consider taking a quote) to see if it makes any difference. You can be amazed at the scams insurers try and pull off.

Sanded down some more, added some seam sealer here and there:

Paint preparation:








Grey stone chip:





Sprayed Vermillion:





More pics to follow...

Wow you don't half do a lot of work to this, I wish I was as skilled as ye with cars. Keep it up matey!

nice one buddy. wish i had the time and space to do a restoration job ! 10/10

dam mab you got some skills keep up the good work looking well smart

hell man yours is going to be cleaner than mine! i'm just happy with hammerite protecting the underneath. hats off to you

wish i had the patience to do work that tidy, i'd get fed up half way thru,mind u a 4 yr old who always asks 'can i help dad....' doesnt help lol

you could always let him help mate sure kyle would do a great job of spraying

Thanks for the comments so far!

Sanded down the rear subframe, using a mouse sander, the bit which couldnt be reached had to be done by hand!

Painted the subframe in a coating of red oxide paint

Also given the floor its top coating of vermillion red! :proud: That grey stone chip takes alot of covering! Will use white stone chip next time I think, oh well, at least i know that its well protected underneath

Rear Valance has also been painted in cellulose vermillion, can polish and buff it up nicely!

The radius arms have been cleaned up and restored ready for painting as with the brake backplates.

Here are the pictures of the progress so far :proud:

I wish i was your age again, with so much passion..

Amazing, the pictures have made this topic

Keep it up

Red oxide all the components:























Tom

good job

keep that damn rust away! haha

i get bored of coating evrything in red oxide, just end up painting it and the rust comes back twice as bad

keep up the thorough work

Fully wax-oiled the floor using '3M' attatched to the compressor. Also fully waxed the subframe and components, Its not as shiney now >_< , but it will protect it so I guess thats what matters!

Here's the pics: (Note: Gold painted subframe pin, I had to do something different! ;D)





Subframe back in place:









As you can see, the subframe touches the floor of the Mini, I guess this was due to the accident, when everything was thrown out of line:

god mate you got some tallent wish i had the time to do even have that work lol

sod the heavy rear subframe, ditch it and throw a beam axle in its place! least we know the rust should stay away for many years.

Progress!

Work continues on the rear subframe, infact its almost finished. Except for fittin of the brake shoes to the rear drums, will need to buy some new ones and I also might possibly get away with keeping the drums as they are. Need some slave cylinders, but these will be fitted when the rest of the work had been completed on the car, I guess the brakes will be one of the last jobs to complete.

Attention has now turned to the passenger floor pan where it meets the bulkhead, tricky repair but one that must be done!

Managed to get some spares from Himley hall Mini meet, such as roof guttering, bits of trim, genuine door rubbers, arch rubber strip (the rubber which goes between the arches and the bodywork) Saw some at the show finishes the arches of quite nicely!

Some progress pics:

that looks well sweet mate.

it's coming along nicely

comeing along good nw matey cant wait 2 c this finished

Great work as always matey.

As it stands =]



Passenger floors:

I would be so proud to own that car.

I am proud =D
Just looking through the topic then, so much work has been done, and the majority of it by my dad! What a star =D I hope to take after him, anyway i've been watching and learning so i know my stuff, watch out CW

Just a quick mention; I passed my driving theory test today

Well done
Only the licence now and you on the road.

Congratulations to you

Minis are wicked! Loved mine, glad to hear you are a step closer to being on the roads properly, good work!

cars lookin gd mate an well done passen ur theory

Thanks people for the comments

Booking test soon, (long waiting list) will have to get a move on with the Mini pretty sharpish! Brakes, engine, gearbox, bodywork... not alot really lol

hmm

Well done and good luck matey. Hope you an you're car are on the road soon!

well done passing first test mate and good luck with driving test

some more progress has been made on the passenger floors

made a piece out of metal, cut it formed it and bent it in place, cut out some weak metal from the floor pan and then bent a lip on the metal, to form the floor pan. The next step now is to weld it in place.

mate... wish i had the time and more than that, the patience to take on such a project, my hat comes off to you, you should be very proud of your work !!!

*Ahem*

is it all sorted then matey?

you driving yet?

if so, make it to the meet if you can, im leaving now as mark is outside

Not quite... its MOT'd and ready, need's tax and sorn undeclared anddd insuring. which is a absolute bugger to get ='[

18 year old + modifications = they laugh.

Tell me about it.

I'm 20 and my insurance quotes are a piss take.

We haven't seen you for a while, you been too busy with the car?

Have you passed then?

Wow Looks great mate

Hello,

Its been a while, been busy and to be honest kind of forgot about this forum, since it changed from Cruisewirral I have very rarey been active and I don't know why.

So I guess its time for abit of refreshment and blow away the cobwebs from the thread!

I havent worked on her much lately, just been out enjoying her, had a problem with the starter motor bendix sticking and had it out and fixed it! Not much else in the way of problems, well to be honest...nothing. Not bad after standing for nearly 10 years and now being used as a daily driver!




Just recently bought a fibreglass bonnet, I am going to bonnet pin it down, but keep it hinged therefore the pins will be based more towards the top of the bonnet.

I hope to refurbish the dorrs this summer as they are in need of some attention!

Thats all really. Im back.

Tom

welcome back mate looking good

Yeh Glad your enjoying the ride

looks good mate

Welcome back the mini looks great.

Thanks guys, shes idling abit fast, could do with a tune really, but apart from that shes great! The 850's abit sluggish, but I have to start somwhere, a 998 would be a good upgrade for me at a later stage or possibly 1071, 1275, 1293, 1300, 1380, 1430!

All is well so far, if it aint' broke don't fix it!

Looking good matey bring it the meet thursday.

I'm working overtime sorry!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Started fitting the fibreglass bonnet today, made up some brackets and shaped them to fit, without fouling the radiator. (Left-hand bracket shaped to miss the radiator)



As you can see, the old bonnet was completely shot!



As the fibreglass bonnet will be hinged, I have put the bonnet pins towards the top middle section of the bonnet:



Not such a bad fit:



Need to give it a light sand, align the pins and drill the hole and give it some paint.

Tom

you can now get pay as u go insurance for learners if this helps and ps nice wheels

Nice matey, actually looks okay in white lol. Contrast's well with the Orange.

Ive yet to see this in real yet, but some day soon maybe!!

Keep up the great work fella!

Completed more work on the fibreglass bonnet today, painted the brackets gloss black and rivited them to the wing gutters.





Aligned the bonnet pins and bolted them to the brackets, fiddling with them to align them correctly. To mark the holes where I needed to drill i brushed a small amount of paint onto the tops of the pins, lowered them to the maximum, and closed the bonnet.






The paint then marked where I needed to drill the hole for the pin to fit through. I then filed out a rectangular hole large enough for the pins to fit through.







The bonnet was lightly sanded and the pins were then fixed to the bonnet.



End result:



The bonnet needs filler in places and a light sand to bring it upto scratch. Now I shall pray for some good weather so that I can spray the bonnet vermillion. So for now, I have a white bonnet!

Funilly that looks really really good.

Cheers bud for the speedy reply! It does look well, think it will look better in paint though, will look more smooth and finished!

I'm sure we will get some good weather soon so you can spary it. keep up the good work

Small update!

Bought and fitted these: (Real leather gaitors)





Thats all folks!

Nice little touch that matey; you got a shot of how it was before??

Just a small update. Shes running well, so far so good! Will be equipping her with electronic ignition this weekend and then will be getting her properly timed and set up, hopefully on the same day. I changed the standard centre clock housing for the Cooper style pod. I havent put any clocks either side as of yet, I quite fancy a Smiths Vacuum guage and clock. The dash cards are a b*tch to fit! Once they're in they're in, so wont be adding extra gauges for a long while yet I dont think!

I can hear the carb sucking in the air from the standard filter, as the pod is less sound deadening! Sounds really good, as if I was running something special...but its merely the 850!

Anyway heres the pics:

looks great that mate

She now has elctronic ignition. She idles so much better and I have also notice a slight increase in perfromance, better pick-up

Update - Since its been nice weather, finally managed to get my bonnet prepped and sprayed!

looking very smart matey, nice spray job too !!!! just goes to show that you dont have to spend a fortune at a spray shop to get it done !!

lookin tidy that mate.

Very nice paint job mate.

Look great. I've still not seen you about in it though

come work for us, that spray jobs brilliant

Very nice mate

Update!

I have had the Unleaded head skimmed, and have now painted it gloss black replacing the red that it was before. I also painted my rocker cover gloss black at the same time. I'm waiting for a Cooper freeflow and alloy inlet manifold, and will fit it all at once. Im hoping the valve seals are all in good condition.

























Smart hey!

I have also sprayed the radiator bracket to neaten things up abit, its not the best job, but look alot better than before.

looks swish that.

where di you get the head skimmed in the end?

Thanks, I got the head skimmed at Merseyside Engines Parts and Repairs

looked good the other ngt mate, sorry i couldnt talk, was arguing with the gf lol

OMG yeah how embarrassing! haha I saw you 3 cars ahead, so chased after you then you vanished so I thought I'd go round w.Kirby again to see if you had parked up, found you in the private car park thought I'd stop and have a chat! You were like give us 5 mins.. 'fine yeah' . When I got back in the Mini, 5 mins later I clicked on! haha was like shittt ahh! So rang the g/f! decided it was best to go. Will have to speak again sometime , then the car wouldnt Idle as I hadnt set the carb up correctly, and the door wasnt properly closed when I got back in >.< haha!

every time I see your post you always making it more of a minter than it already is lol. you must be running out detailing now lol.

p.s Looks very nice and agree with everyone else about how good the bonnet respray looks well done

Nice Mini!

Started taking out each valve one-by-one yesterday as I found the valve compression tool in the depths of the garage. Will need to grind in and clean up the valves, the top hats look fine and can be re-used, so quite happy about that. My alloy inlet manifold has arrived, just waiting for my cooper freeflow manifold to arrive, along with a new coil. When I have it all I will proceed to take off the old head and de-coke the pistons, and build up the top engine with my new performance bits.

no problem mate, it was a first one in 7 and a half months so not bad, lol. yeah defo need to catch up soon

yeh I'm 7 months with my g/f... I can see it getting bitter lol! Not argued yet either...

Cooperfreeflow, choke (gone through about 3 in 2 months) and coil arrived today:



Just washed:

Found a nice set of Champion High Performance Ignition Leads in the shed, so decided to clean them up and number them with cable ties. Do they really give any better performance? I also fitted the new coil for now.









Getting there! I know, the wiring to the coil is poor >.<

they are usefull when you are running mahoosive spark plug gaps, mind you i'm only using some bogo standard ford items.

OO righty, so If I were to open up my gaps abit? Im on standard points at the moment... The spark plugs are at 0.025"

you want to keep them at that really. the wee points system isn't really that powerful tbh. with my mapped system i'm running .035 gaps just for a bigger spark but i'm using a coil pack.......

Okay cheers stu.

Just another small update, I have sprayed the freeflow manifold in high temperature paint. This should help it last abit longer!

Heres what I've been playing with today. I took the rockers off the head and dismantled them to the shaft, gave it a light sand and a good clean, I then individually sanded and cleaned each component in the rocker assembly. Patience is a virtue! I also filed the edges of the inlet manifold to allow the inlet and feeflow to sit nicely on the head ports. The inlet and outlets are significantly smaller than those of the manifolds. Is it really worth porting the head to match the port sizes? If so how can this be done and what with?

yes its a well worth mod porting the head. it won't be as good as if a mini shop did it but it will be better than standard. you might have to check the mixture when you've done this or even get the car rolling roaded just to make sure. nice job on the cleaning, i know what a pain/bore it can be!

Cheers stu, how could I do this myself then? Drill it out?

lend or buy a dremel, or get some decent grinding stone for your drill and some burrs. theres a few guides kicking round on the web i think

Okay cheers Stu will have a look, don't really know what I'm looking for, but might give it a go!

Today I spent the day taking the 'shoulders' off of the cylinder head ports. I matched the ports on the head to the sizes of the inlet and freeflow ports. Im not after polishing the ports to perfection, but just to match the ports. Hopefully this will have help the Mini's efficiency in some way., maybe some more donkeys if I'm lucky. Here are the photos:

Before:



After:





Sanding and polishing an exhaust valve on a lathe:

Is that your own lathe??

Its not my own no, It's a friend of mines who has been racing for many many years and knows too much

Home-made jobbie, cold air feed!

I found a knackered old Henry in the garage(without the smiley stickers, made me feel less guilty ;)) and took his nose!



I then had a plasticy ring bit in my hand, which wouldnt fit the airbox as it was, i.e. it was to big to fit in the air entry bit. (is this making sense? ) So I cut a small section out of the plasticy ringy thingy so that it would close up more and fit in the hole. I the cleaned out the hose/nose as it was full of henry poo.





Slots in nicely:



In place:



Hose in place:





Sprayed the jubilee clip black:







So far so good!

I then lowered my standards and cut the top of a 'Lenor' bottle :-/ Cut it as neatly as I could ;D Then primered:



And then gloss black:



The bottle top fits nice and Snug over the tube, and stays in place.

All together now:



On the beast:





I spy:



Done, quite proud of myself What you all think? Oh and it cost me £0.00 rather than £35 that Pipercross want.

Today I worked on the little niggly bits that p*ss you off. I re-aligned the passenger side door so my passengers don't keep slamming the door to make it shut, when it already is. Re-fixed the door card where it keeps popping out. Re-sprayed the wiper arms gloss black as the old metal bonnet used to rub and pull the paint off. Fitted my stainless twin washer jets. Re-fitted the heater air intake to the tube. Fixed the rubber back on the arches as it kept popping out making my arches look square. Used paint thinners to rid the stainless bumpers of overspray. Then I gave her a really good polish.

I'm pondering over the idea of spraying the inserts of the alloys black.

Looks fookin amazin

love the cold air feed

I'd say keep the alloys how they are

**Update - I havent updated in a long while, quite abit has been achieved, but its a matter of 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Here goes...

Well as you know, I have purchased a stage 1 kit bit by bit and, have swapped the head for an unleaded one. When removing the old head, it was all coked up and the bypass hose was completely blocked - nothing was getting through. The water pump had really worn away and was only sealed by a small eroded shoulder against the gasket. So I purchased a new water pump also!

With the head removed, the bores looked 'clean', but it looks as if cylinder number one, was wearing away the bore wall to one side, almost as if it wasnt firing down straight! I cleaned it all up, did'nt see anything really major, so just went ahead and fitted a new gasket and unleaded head, cooper freeflow and inlet manifold.





With everything built up:



She still is'nt quite there yet! My order arrived today - AAE needle, distributor vacuum unit - as mine doesnt seem to be working. So hopefully that should help. She needs a rolling road really, but its effort - never mind cost!

Will update again soon when I have fitted the other parts.

Then this was the next problem/obstacle to overcome:

The problems were (and currently still are) to do with my Minilites that I have on the car. As one of the tyres had a bulge in the sidewall, I bought a new tyre from Minispares and took it to my local tyre fitters to get the tyre put on the rim ready for my 3-day road trip through Wales. However, the local tyre fitters had serious problems getting the tyre off of the alloy. So I took it to ATS, ATS also had problems getting the tyre off. The tyre fitter described that the well was centred and therefore the tyre wouldnt go on at the right angle. He managed to ge the old tyre off but couldnt get the new one on without breaking the beading. On the morning of the road trip I took it to a local motorbike specialist, who managed to get the tyre on the alloy by heating the tyre to get it on. The tyre eventually went on. It got me to Caernarfon Wales and part way back. I pulled into the service station on the A55 (ass road) and noticed the tyre looked deflated. So I got the footpump out and started to pump it up. It had about 8Psi in. I pumped it up to 24psi, and heard a psssstttt, put my hand round the back of the tyre and felt a huge bulge! I pressed it in with my fingers and the tyre just let go, scary moment! it just dropped onto the floor, so whipped out the original 29 year old scissor jack and put the also 29yr old spare on! India GT tyre!

Anyway, I'm after a new set of wheels still 10's of course, due to the fact that these are cheap and crap design by Midland Wheel Spares.The centre well, needs to be offset to get the tyre on without damaging the tyre. So my new £30 tyre was ruined in a moment.

Heres the damage:

Old Tyre Before:





This was done at manufacture ^ ^

New tyre that still let go:





Not a happy bunny.

I'm still after new boots and shoes, I seriously do not trust these. I rang up Huddersfield Mini Spares about there ultralites and they claim to have no problem fitting tyres. He knew exactly what I was talking about, about the MWS wheels - and MWS are aware of the problem (apparently).

The new rubber I am after are: Yoko A032-R's - Quite an aggressive tread pattern, soft compound, but are road legal. For the amount of miles I do in the Mini they should last for a reasonable amount of time.

Huddersfield Ultralite on A032-R:



What do you think?

Tom

They would look really good on the car, I think deffo go for them.

The toyos will be a very good choice as well, very grippy even in wet. Closest legal tyre you can get to slicks

Scary bout the bulge in your tyre though, lucky it didnt go whilst you were driving.

Your airhose btw, it doesnt get too hot by the engine does it??

They look really good go for it

The airhose is now removed, it was too restrictive, I happened to notice whilst trying to overtake someone at 60, she kept bogging down! And I know for a fact shes good for 70 - pushing it abit. She was bogging down at 60mph, which was a scary experience whilst trying to overtake. Im now after some aluminium ducting as my freeflow manifold becomes extremely hot, the previous air feed was too small in diameter.

Im after 50mm aluminium ducting, anyone know where I can get this cheap?

Thanks for the feedback. I will be purchasing the alloy and tyre combination as pictured.

What next?

Tom

doin a great job on that keep it up!

Why not put a l'il vent on the bonnet. Getting louvres on mine soon, the heat is unbelievable!

If I was going down that route, I'd tilt the bonnet, raises the bonnet near to windscreen, when moving the air is sucked into the back of the engine, exactly where the filter and exhaust manifold is. People with Turbo'd minis usually do this for extra cooling and for the denser cold air feed.

Just my "ten cents worth", have you thought about stripping the mini out, and having a full Rollcage, not the crappy show cages that kill you in a crash, but a full one???

I think that could possibly finish the car off, unless you wanted to carry on doing other things like??

Louvres (or stamped cut outs) I think looks a bit more subtle. Just depends on what the object of your car is.

My friend has a full cage he said I could have, but to be honest it would be too much weight, even stripping it out wouldnt gain much as the backseats weigh virtually nil. And adding a rollcage at this current time, would be drastic on my insurance!



I'm liking the ideas keep them coming. I would toy with the idea of a half cage, simply for the fact of having somewhere to bolt my fire extinguisher. I guess Im going for a classic look, with colour themes and simplicity in mind. Shes going to be a right sleeper one day!

id say tilt the bonnet keep it lookin as standard as poss mate! lovin the "city" decals btw

The rollcage would make the body stiffer overall tho...

Depends what sort of thing your after, as you say yourself, depends on Insurance. Are you wanting more performance based modifications, or Looks??

I love the City decals also, I have a brand new set somewhere. I have no excuse to tilt the bonnet at the moment, cooling isnt a problem and I'm not turbo'd. The fibreglass bonnet is bonnet pinned towards the front, but is still hinged for practicality - saying that I have no bonnet stand!



I agree about the added rigidity, which is quite a substantial safety gain in a mini, just dont think the 850 would be upto the extra weight, shes quirky right now, with her being stage 1 kitted - I don't want to work against myself with the weight factor. Power to weight ratio is an important factor when it comes down to minis, and lets face it, I need all the performance I can get! She weights about 730kg with the driver.

Just a random thought, have you thought about an uprated flywheel??

Its funny you say that. I was looking at a lightened billet flywheel tonight, was roughly £250, however I could spend the £250 elsewhere for more noticeable gains. What made you enquire about the fly?

Well, you want to keep weight down, and yet improve Performance. So a Lighter flywheel will hopefully improve things like acceleration, whilst giving a slight drop in overall weight. Im not too sure about prices for things like that though unfortunately.

Another possibility could be to replace the side windows of your car for the PVC ones often found on rallycars, with the sliding section if you still want to open them.

I like my glass! Still don't think I'd notice the difference of PVC windows, I see what you mean about the flywheel - maybe an idea for the future, but I doubt it. When insurance permits I could drop a 1293 in for about < £400 mark - instant power gains.

Right now Im focused on clocking up that no claims and getting the bodywork to look how I want it. Its more or less done, just the doors let it down as they're abit shabby, need to refurb them when I get time. I do tend to get carried away and tinker under the bonnet tho

Im in the same boat as you buddy, with no claims. Ive had enough of my car, and wanna start afresh though, with something completely different. I could theoretically, drop a 1300 into the micra, and get cheaper insurcance claims !!! Which is really odd.


Glass is quite a lot heavier than the PVC variety, but frankly this is only really shown when the car has been fully stripped out, and your after those vital few grams.

If your gonna leave performance alone for a while tho, and concentrate on looks, have you though about spotlights?? I know a lot of people have the odd spotlight here and there, but I think they would look good on yours, give it that slight rally edge??

Don't mention spotlights! I've just whipped out the wiring loom and relay that I had in place for the spot lights, would be a bugger to get back in. Im after a subtle, subdued look. It's debadged apart from the City stripes, but nothing too drastic.

Hahahahaha, kk man no worries.

Considering your situation then, Im not too sure what else you could do to the car. Unless you were to try and find a 1300 to drop in, but with the work youve already done on your engine, is that really something you wanna do??

Webbers??? (not much gain on the 850, but possibly an idea for a 1300?? sound fecking awesome as well...)

Pictures don't do them any justice - taken on my phone. Well here they are...







What you think?

Tom

After posting pics, Lund then realises the tyres are direction. Doh! Back out to swap the rears!

They look really good mate.

Good choice.

Noticed any more grip from ur tyres??

The grip from those will be fantastic!!

I run 888s on the race car and the difference between them and a normal road tyre is amazing - even in the wet there is masses of grip.

My only concern about using them on the road, is how long they would last..

They are very soft, and Id expect 2-3000miles life if I where to use them on the road - Ill get a season out of the race car ones - maybe 300-400miles...

They're like wrapping chewing gum around your tyres!! Well impressed, I do under 1000 miles per year so its all good for now

they look fantastic

yep 3000miles with athletic driving but you should be able to push 6000 with granny driving.

I certainly hope so! Just fitted a K&N filter, and its louder than ever; all noise no go!

Hows the Mini running Stu, havent heard from you in a while.

Tom

angel eyes maybe? apart from that i cant really think of much else u could do without keeping it looking classic yet original

Im running on Relentless



Sorry to join the band wagon, its doused in copper ease between the coil and the can.

On another note, my mini was parked up my drive, and I peered out of the window n some little sh*t was right behind my mini on his bike on my drive, bent down and started to nick my dust caps! He got away with one of them! Jumped in the mini and zoomed round the local area hunting him down, eventually found the little fu*cker and told him never to do it again, jus tthe cheek of it!! >_<

Was he on a silver bmx???

If so its the same lad who robbed mine cheeky gits.

I can't remember sorry, just glad I caught him and get them back. Am I able to torque them up abit with a spanner or will it damage the valve?

Small update, I bought a pair of genuine rover mirrors from minispares for £10. 'A lucky dip sale' mismatch of colours.

I rubbed them down with abrasive pads (like a brillo pad) to remove the gloss to make them matt. I then sprayed a plastic repair clear coating over the mirros and prepped them for 2 layers of gloss black. They look ace. I haven't managed to fit them yet as its raining and they're a b*tch to fit!





Heres a random photograph as requested! Parked alongside my dads series 111.

Hi all, not much good news to tell unfortunately!

I've been dismissing and shying away from the fact that the little 850 is nearing the end of its life; losing compression, burning oil, using masses of petrol, and using water. On inspection of removing the head the cylinder bores are worn towards the top of the cylinder and I'm getting a slight piston slap. She has covered 89,000 + miles. I suspect cylinder three to be the worst affected. As the spark plug is always black in colour whereas the other plugs remain a 'normal' colour ; sugesting perished oil seal?

Realistically, I can't afford to have the engine bored out, with over-size pistons and reground crank. Were talking hundreds of £££s?

That leaves me with several options;

* Renew insurance again this year in december and run it as it is in its unefficient state - constantly losing money with no driveability
* Have the engine bored out, over-size pistons and regrind crank?
* Locate a new A-series engine to drop in? A larger engine, in its standard state, for instant power gains. However, I dont know where that leaves me regarding insurance prices!?


Difficult timessss....

Tom

Ouch mate, quite a dilemma.
How much is the mini worth? Im not sure how much Minis go for these days, and I know youve done quite a bit of work on yours.

One thing you could do is a dry run Insurance quote on Money supermarket.com. Select a bigger engined mini, fill in the details and see what you get quoted.

Ive used it a lot recently, to give me an idea of what I expect to pay. Quite a useful tool.....

If the shell is still good, drop a 1000 in, or 1275 if you can get one

If your feeling really brave, see if you can find a 1340

Hey, yeah the shells great, will need a new front end soon, but nothing too drastic. Its a shame about the 850. Its useable but is abit of a pig to drive, you feel like your not getting anywhere and its costing me alot in petrol! Yeah I'm looking at 1275 engines, I need one asap really.

I'm unsure whether to re-insure it come december, or keep it 'on the road' and change the engine as qucik as possible!

hmm... anyone got a mini engine lying around?

Eye's are currently peeled, looking out for another Mini engine.

could u not use a k series rover engine? im sure they are basically the same engine ith 16v head aint they?

Your talking alot of money for a conversion. I intend to stay with an A-series engine, just replace mine with a bigger bore, such as a 1293 like Stu's.

still looking for an engine? i can help ive had loads of minis and know a few people who will do good deals
ive got all the stuff to fit a newone aswell