Blake's Den Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 I've managed to make some more progress on the Designer. I was going to work on my Ford tractor but the weather decided otherwise. As such I spent the day in the garage fitting the rear valance. Visually, I think that it makes a big difference and it now looks more like a Mini again. The next job is already half filmed - fitting the closeure plates on the valance which stop it from filling in with mud and road grime. After this it will be a case of painting the rear underside with gravitex and fitting the rear subframe. I'm really trying to build up some momentum on this project. When I looked at the tax disc I realised that it expired in 2014 which was 10 years ago! Heres the video and applogies for the lazy thumbnail which is pretty much the same as the previous one. mk2_craig, Dyslexic Viking and JMotor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Even more progress has been made. I fitted the rear valance closure panels. Not the most exciting of content but it is an important panel as it stops the rear valance from filling up with rubbish chucked off the rear wheels. I ended up bonding on the panels with stixall. I'm not sure if it was the extreme cold we that had last week or the heat that I added by grinding off the excess but when I went into the garage the next day the panel had de-bonded from the valance! So in the end I decided to plug weld them on, I'll cover that in the next video. It is good to get some momentum back into this project. N Dentressangle, tooSavvy, JMotor and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 In sort of mini related news I've bought a mini caravan! A Thomoson mini-glen to be precise. It came up on marketplace nearby and I decided to go for it. The plan is to turn it into a garden room (without sounding too middle class....) but also it would be nice if I could get it road worth and habitable again. Here is the video of the latest project: Shep Shepherd, Remspoor, Dyslexic Viking and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Dentressangle Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I do like those old vans, but hope you didn't pay much for it! 😉 Lots of work to do there 🔨 Blake's Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 2 hours ago, N Dentressangle said: I do like those old vans, but hope you didn't pay much for it! 😉 Lots of work to do there 🔨 I didn't pay a lot. I reckon I can get back what I paid for it anyway. The original features are quite hard to find and it has most of them. Yep it's a lot of work but it's only small so it shouldn't take long! Remspoor and N Dentressangle 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 Back to Mini content. I've been making more progress on the Designer, I've finally got around to coating the underside of the boot floor with Gravitex. Top tip - it is messy stuff! I got it absolutely everywhere - over me, the floor, cupboard, wall, seat, camera, overalls and shoes! It is worth it though, I'm very happy with the result. The next step is to build up the new subframe. Remspoor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 More progress to report. This time it involved me rebuilding the rear subframe. It did not go as smoothly as I hoped. Firstly, one of the brackets which hold the radius arms on just wouldn't line up with the four bolt holes. Whilst sorting that out I realised that I should have put the front trunions on before that. Needless to say, the other side went together a lot easier! Also a viewer pointed out that I mounted the rear trunions back to front. In the back of my mind I knew that there was a mistake in the parts manual but I coluldn't remember exactly what it was. Its an easy fix, I just need to swap left with right before I attempt to mount it to the body. tooSavvy, Dyslexic Viking and Remspoor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 An update on the Copper MPI. March is an important month as it means two things. I've owned it for another year - I bought it in March 2009 The MoT is due I've kept it in hibernation throughout the winter. As expected, it fired up straight away. I decided to try some Lanoguard rust protection on the underside. I'm quite happy with the product so far but time will tell. I was surprised at how good the underside of the Mini was looking too. It passed the MoT with only one advisor so I'm taking that as a win! Remspoor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remspoor Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Just trying to catch up. so will be watching the one about the tractor generator. Blake's Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake's Den Posted Wednesday at 20:27 Author Share Posted Wednesday at 20:27 More progress on the Designer! I've fitted the rear subframe which means that I am one step closer to being able to put it back on to its wheels. I've also given the inside of the sills and the cavities on the subframe a liberal coating of Dynax 50 which should hopefully keep the tin worm at bay for a bit. Dyslexic Viking, Remspoor and N Dentressangle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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