Blake's Den

The old student grants have bought some good chod there!

A bit of an update. I've been struggling to get into the garage due to work commitments, illness and life getting in the way. However I managed to find some spare time at the weekend so I decided to strip down the radius arms. Despite their appearances they aren't actually in too bad of condition with no noticable wear on the hinge pin thing. The wheel bearings are goosed, all of the grease has dried out. It was always the plan to replace these. I'm going to buy new pre-assembled backing plates for ease, the ones left over will go into my strategic spares pile. They will fit both my Mini Cooper and my Turner Ranger.

Nice stage 1 V8 🙂

But none of those funny little Japanese cars!

Rawling Road Gateshead 1990. That Mini has seen better days 😮

The John Cooper Garages 'Cooper Sport 5' conversion used the Jack Knight 5 speed box. Again, not factory fit but sort of an approved conversion.

A quick google says that the last Reliants were produced in February 2001 so that just pips the end of Mini production. Assuming that the Reliants were 4 speed (I think they were). Other thoughts - what about those Ledbury and Apple Maestro's? Did they all have the VW 5 speed box?

+1 for a classic mini. Production ended 4th October 2000 , last off the line X411JOP. There are a few 51 plate ones floating around.

There used to be a council tip (as they were known back then) just off the Scotswood Road. Many happy memories of going there on a Sunday morning past the tank parked outside of Vickers.

Scrapyard at Dunston in 1981. Looks like an RO80 at the front? GS and Triumph also visible

Round nose mini projects are currently running about £1500 to £2000 at the moment. A clubman estate might fetch more. As a double mini owner I actually get upset seeing the prices going into the silly territory. As fun as they are I just don't think that those prices are justifiable.

I'd love to have a mini pick up. I'm still hoping to find one in a back of a shed for about £100! I think those days are long gone, even a project is £2.5k upwards

Another Mini addict here. 97 Cooper and an 89 Designer special edition. Also a 96 Defender 90 in its natural habitat

After a surprising first time pass of its MoT for my Mini Cooper I found myself with some spare time on my hands so I decided to do a bit more on Project Designer. I knew that there was a small patch that needed replacing on the floor directly under the passenger side companion box. After a bit of investigation I realised that it had been welded in the past, it is the first bit of previous welding that I have found. Instead of having a patch over a patch I decided to cut it all out and replace it with a new piece of 0.8mm zinc coated mild steel. Also I needed to replicate a small lip on the wheel arch which had rotted away. I was quite pleased at how it worked out in the end. It is all going to get covered with Upol Gravitex but its nice to know that it is a half decent repair. I'm not 100% sure when the next installment of this project will come along, I seem to be juggling quite a few projects at the moment 😀

Yes, guilty as charged! I originally got the cover to stop the mini getting too dusty during the winter lay up. It also reduced the chances of scratches when I've needed to squeeze past it. In my defence I have used the cover when both mini's were living outside for a bit.