That hot pink and rusty Mini

[SiC]

How heavy is a empty car shell? Can they be lifted up by two people?

[Ben_O]

How heavy is a empty car shell? Can they be lifted up by two people?

Mini shells, yes.

I can easily tip an empty Mini shell on it's side by myself.

[mercrocker]

I used to move my shell about on a Clarke flat trolley.   In fact I moved it from one lock-up to another one 500 yards away on it.   The only caveat of course is that its rigid enough, a rotten shell can fold up, or at least go out of alignment, when lifted - hence the bracing in the pics.

[SiC]

It really is crazy what some people consider an acceptable repair.

My dad used to bronze braze using his works oxyacetylene setup back in the 70s on his rotten old cars. Apparently almost everyone was patching up their cars between MOTs once they past a couple of years old.

 

Given kit is so much cheaper nowadays, bodge repairs is just laziness or cheapness.

[Datsuncog]

My dad used to bronze braze using his works oxyacetylene setup back in the 70s on his rotten old cars. Apparently almost everyone was patching up their cars between MOTs once they past a couple of years old.

 

The engineering works that employed my grandfather (James Mackie & Sons, Belfast) seemingly opened on Saturday mornings just so staff could sort their various bangers. He had a complete new floor welded into his A40 Countryman in the space of a few hours. There were apparently quite a few cars in the staff parking area with paint jobs that matched the machine finishes. Perk of the job, apparently...

 

It's true though that cars really didn't last at all, unless they were Ziebarted or Dinitroled from new. Whenever I boggle at a Golf or Passat with scabby, holed arches I have to check myself and remember it's a sixteen year old car or whatever. My dad's Marina estate had needed a full respray and new sills by the time it was five (with plenty more to come).

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...It really is crazy what some people consider an acceptable repair.

In many ways, that's surely part of the whole ethos of Autoshite !

[Talbot]

That orange mini is beautiful.  Some very lovely work done there.

 

It's true though that cars really didn't last at all, unless they were Ziebarted or Dinitroled from new. Whenever I boggle at a Golf or Passat with scabby, holed arches I have to check myself and remember it's a sixteen year old car or whatever. My dad's Marina estate had needed a full respray and new sills by the time it was five (with plenty more to come).

This.

 

I have to remind myself of this too.  My current merc is 21 years old and I baulked at the fact it needed a waft of welding for this years MOT.  I have to remind myself that the car has lasted 21 years and 170k miles with minimal welding, it's original suspension, original exhaust, engine never been to bits, original gearbox, etc.etc.

 

24 years ago, my first car was only 10 years old and was a complete rotbox and had had a lot of work done on it in the past.

 

Times change.

[johngarty]

Ditto bookmarked 

[Ben_O]

In many ways, that's surely part of the whole ethos of Autoshite !

I 100% agree and think that the odd patch roughly welded on to scrape through an MOT is fine providing that it is sound. After all, it doesn't have to look pretty.

 

I just find it hard to swallow when people do large scale bodges that they know are weak and dangerous and then pass the car on to a poor unsuspecting person for top money claiming that it's 'all good' like in the case of the orange GT above.

 

I do have to laugh at some of the things I come across and the materials used to pull it off but I guess if it wasn't for some of these bodges, the cars would have long been over the bridge..

[Dick Longbridge]

That orange mini is beautiful. Some very lovely work done there.

 

 

This.

 

I have to remind myself of this too. My current merc is 21 years old and I baulked at the fact it needed a waft of welding for this years MOT. I have to remind myself that the car has lasted 21 years and 170k miles with minimal welding, it's original suspension, original exhaust, engine never been to bits, original gearbox, etc.etc.

 

24 years ago, my first car was only 10 years old and was a complete rotbox and had had a lot of work done on it in the past.

 

Times change.

Ultimately, most modern cars are better built than the majority of cars from the 70’s and 80’s. Yes, there’s more to go wrong, and some look simply gopping. However, the finish of construction/paint/interior is superior, end of. Apart from some shit Ford products, obvs.

 

My fiancées ‘modern’ is a 2008 car, and I struggle to get my head around the fact it’s ten years old this year. It still feels like a nearly new car.

 

Take the Kia Picanto as well. Cheapish, Korean supermini. Depreciates at a large rate of knots, reasonably basic, and aimed at people who just need cheap transport. They don’t really go wrong, don’t seem to rot, and seem to last that long that they’re still around after the owner is long gone.

 

Compare it to the 1980’s equivalent. If you got to the end of the road with intact sills, floorplans and a running engine you were one of the lucky ones. And that was a car which had just left the showroom.

 

Back on topic, gr87 to see another of Issigonis’ children saved from the wide arch and Isopon brigade. Good man.

[DSdriver]

My DS was supposedly Ziebarted but by fifteen years old even the Ziebart sticker in the back window was rusty.

 

I can now look forward to Mondays and the evening installments of this thread.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...My fiancées ‘modern’ is a 2008 car, and I struggle to get my head around the fact it’s ten years old this year. It still feels like a nearly new car.

....

Not wrong there. There are loads of 51-plate and even older (Mk.4 Golfs particularly) still on the roads, which suggests basic build quality is a lot better than what it was in the 1970s.

 

My daily work car is a 53-plate Bora TDi 100, and that has hardly needed any attention over the years apart from a couple of ball joints and a patch on the exhaust. The overall economy was so good I had it remapped for even greater economy. It's on 135,000 miles which is nothing for these cars.

[Datsuncog]

I 100% agree and think that the odd patch roughly welded on to scrape through an MOT is fine providing that it is sound. After all, it doesn't have to look pretty.

 

I just find it hard to swallow when people do large scale bodges that they know are weak and dangerous and then pass the car on to a poor unsuspecting person for top money claiming that it's 'all good' like in the case of the orange GT above.

 

I do have to laugh at some of the things I come across and the materials used to pull it off but I guess if it wasn't for some of these bodges, the cars would have long been over the bridge..

 

My XM estate had a recent MOT when I bought it. The owner assured me it was very sound and, as I just needed a big, cheap estate with towbar for a house move, I bought it despite some misgivings. Ten months on, I put it through for its due test and it turned out the sills were made from offcuts of electrical conduit and plastic bags, all plastered over with Isopon... 

 

 

 

That was far from the only issue, so it found itself dispatched to a specialist breaker to keep others on the road. Still the best driving car I've ever owned, mind.

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...it turned out the sills were made from offcuts of electrical conduit and plastic bags, all plastered over with Isopon... 

Plastic sills!?

[Datsuncog]

Plastic sills!?

 

Well, there was rather less metal than I'd hoped to find... some impressive laughter from the testers at the Larne MOT station. They brought me over from the waiting area to the hoist to see the devastation for myself, as they'd run a screwdriver down the length of the n/s sill and gutted it like a fish. The whole car was basically a masterclass in bodging (the heater had been bypassed using domestic plumbing items by persons unknown, and they'd tapped the block for the return... still no idea why). Which is why this Mini looks pretty damn good from where I'm sitting!

[Talbot]

Shame.  An XM estate is a brilliant tool, and when maintained properly is generally quite reliable.  Bodging them makes them go downhill very fast.

[Datsuncog]

Shame.  An XM estate is a brilliant tool, and when maintained properly is generally quite reliable.  Bodging them makes them go downhill very fast.

 

I've promised myself that one day, I'll have a properly good one. This example had been used as a swanky hotel's general hack from new, and then latterly used to tow a rally car (ghostly stickers would reappear on the glass when misted up), so it seems it'd led a hard enough life before passing over to my ownership. Never once let me down or needed anything doing, got me through the harsh winter of 2010 pulling others out from snowdrifts, plus an unbeatable motorway cruiser from Belfast to Dublin. One day!

[Fabergé Greggs]

Yes! It will be amazing to see this coming to life!

[Ben_O]

Just looking through some pics online and found this

 

 

This is exactly how the pink one will look when done except it will have a full compliment of gingercators 

[Rusty_Rocket]

^^ just as it should be

[Ben_O]

^^ just as it should be

Yup!

Here is one i did last year however that was a sportspack

 

 

 

I love a red Mini

[Rusty_Rocket]

Beautiful! I have a 'few' and my carb Cooper will be going back to 100% stock this summer.

[mat_the_cat]

I am no stranger to Mini's and restore them for a living among other classics so am planning to do a very through restoration to a concourse standard

 

Have you seen this thread before?

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/topic/239272-mini-cooper-998-screamer-nut-and-bolt-rebuild/

 

It has to be one of the most thorough restorations I've seen, with the bonus of a Maestro van tow vehicle on page 1!

[Ben_O]

Beautiful! I have a 'few' and my carb Cooper will be going back to 100% stock this summer.

More and more people are returning Mini's back to standard now and I really like that notion.

Good original Mini's are few and far between with so many special, limited edition or even base spec cars blending into the wide arch scene.

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of modified Mini's and love the fact that people put their own stamp on them, It's just nice to see standard ones around.

 

Have you seen this thread before?

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/topic/239272-mini-cooper-998-screamer-nut-and-bolt-rebuild/

 

It has to be one of the most thorough restorations I've seen, with the bonus of a Maestro van tow vehicle on page 1!

Yeah, Pete is very through and has left no stone unturned.

There is another member there called Frank who is a retired panel beater and he has turned out two restorations in his garage at home that are to a very very high standard.

The one he has just finished is a very rare coach built called an Oyler Contessa. It's a very good read

[MarvinsMom]

gr9 thread.... and the mpi's got white front indicators new from the factory.

 

though it didn't stop me putting orange indicators on Cocopop......

 

i'm in too minds as to whether or not i should put the white ones back on for that full factory fresh look.

 

we too have another mini project too, RDD900M, which is according to the log book is a Morris Mini 1000.

 

looking at it today, i wonder if we've bitten off frankly more than we can manage. considering that it "just needs putting pack together" and has a good body, i still am wondering......

 

dunno how we are going to get the seats repaired, which kinda make a  car like this.

 

 

[Ben_O]

gr9 thread.... and the mpi's got white front indicators new from the factory.

DSCN0220.JPG

 

though it didn't stop me putting orange indicators on Cocopop......

DSCN6386.JPG

 

i'm in too minds as to whether or not i should put the white ones back on for that full factory fresh look.

 

we too have another mini project too, RDD900M, which is according to the log book is a Morris Mini 1000.

 

looking at it today, i wonder if we've bitten off frankly more than we can manage. considering that it "just needs putting pack together" and has a good body, i still am wondering......

DSCN6819.JPG

DSCN6854.JPG

DSCN6859.JPG

DSCN6857.JPG

DSCN6858.JPG

dunno how we are going to get the seats repaired, which kinda make a  car like this.

You could try companies like Newton Commercial for the seats. They may be able to supply replacement covers.

 

It looks like a great condition Mini by the pictures. Well worth finishing!

[MarvinsMom]

the black one has the potential to be a great little car,

 

the body is all original, save the bottom of the n/s A-panel which we know has been repaired (just where the BL badge used to stick into the panel)

 

otherwise the body is spotless and original, which on a '74 mini is i guess nearly unheard of!

 

there is a trimmer out in Dormanstown, near Redcar so we are thinking of popping the seats over there to see what (if anything) can be done with them.

 

the story with the car is that is was off the road between 1984 and 2011-ish. apparently it went to the 25th anniversary show and lap parade at Brandshatch, and then went into a shed where it stayed! it was at an old-school garage who sold it to the PO for £450 (i think) as an MOT'd car who set about its resurrection. irritatingly, as we do go to this garage (they have a Hydragas dalek and the knowledge of how to use it, useful when you are running about in an Austin Metro) and saw it sat outside looking sorry for itself, but never thought to ask if it was for sale! if i'd known, i'd have snapped his hand off there and then! as we knew the lad who owned the car, it became a running joke when ever we went down to their unit as to whether or not we had bought the mini yet. i guess i'll never play poker, everyone seemed to know that i would buy the car, before i did....

 

i'm wondering now though if i have the skills/time/patients/money ect needed to do the car justice.

[Vince70]

gr9 thread.... and the mpi's got white front indicators new from the factory.

DSCN0220.JPG

 

though it didn't stop me putting orange indicators on Cocopop......

DSCN6386.JPG

 

i'm in too minds as to whether or not i should put the white ones back on for that full factory fresh look.

 

we too have another mini project too, RDD900M, which is according to the log book is a Morris Mini 1000.

 

looking at it today, i wonder if we've bitten off frankly more than we can manage. considering that it "just needs putting pack together" and has a good body, i still am wondering......

DSCN6819.JPG

DSCN6854.JPG

DSCN6859.JPG 

DSCN6857.JPG

DSCN6858.JPG

dunno how we are going to get the seats repaired, which kinda make a  car like this.

When I worked on the print years ago in Tunbridge Wells a lad at the firm bought an identical burnt orange Mini Cooper new.

I wonder if it’s the same car as I doubt many must have come out of the factory.

[MarvinsMom]

volcano orange (paint code is EAC) is i think one of the rarer colours on the MPI mini, remembering that only something like 5200 cars were built to start with.

 

it was only available for one year, 1997 model years, though you could also order an MGF in the same colour.

 

with the very end of the mini, the 2000 (i think) model year did list volcano orange again, but i think its a slightly different shade?

 

mine was registered in Leeds on December 24th, 1997 so we think it musta been a Christmas present, and what a present to get! with the leather trim, interior alloy pack, sports pack and paint it came to the better part of £13k new!

 

i so SO wanted one when they first came out in 1997, i'd just bought the first house and there was no way, no way i could afford that, and a brand new car

[overrun]

IS IT MONDAY YET 

 

My manager at work has I think he said the last carbed Cooper, 30 miles on the clock and never registered. It lives in a Carcoon.

I've seen pictures of it, very new.

 

£numerous has already been turned down, a few times.

 

Anyway, I look forward to the transformation of this one.