300 replies to this topic

[spraybeater]

Having finished my Rover Sprite project, as said onto the next one when I bought this

over a year ago I promised  the lady of the house I would wait till the Sprite was finnished

So here we go .

I went to look at this for a friend whom was looking for a mini as a quick easy project and on

first sight walked away from it thinking it was a Fred the shed de-seamed mini, BUT had another

look!!!! The short version is after posting on TMF a very helpful Gent namely MAB1Uk came back

to me on it and a deal was done. 

 

As was when purchased, Coachbuilt by Oyler Coachbuilders to Queen Victoria in Halifax West Yorkshire have

a lot of original parts and paper work for it including original build spec sheet, looking forward to getting it

back to its former glory and take it back to where Brochure photos were taken Shibden Hall in Halifax

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside was trimmed to a very luxurious level including Wilton Carpets an very comfy seats .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to follow thanks for looking.

[Daz1968]

Nice project, something unusual

[Northernpower]

Nice to see the history with it. There's certainly some material in the seats. Probably costing 2 or 3 miles per gallon with their extra weight.

[rhys-89]

Nice looking project good luck and those seats look so comfortable:)

[Will16]

They aren't seats, they're armchairs

This is very cool!

Edited by Will16, 20 January 2017 - 09:22 AM.

[slidehammer]

Great project and looking at your previous project definitely in the right hands for a top quality restoration. Can't wait to see some progress updates. Good luck

[Ben_O]

I would love to get my hands on something like this.

 

Good luck with the rebuild

 

Ben

[CharlieNZ]

Wow, quite a find. Really looking forward to seeing progress. Nice interior!

[jamesquintin]

£10 says this will be on the front cover of Miniworld...

[spraybeater]

Thanks for the comments folks! got to say I am bit overwhelmed by the interest in this,

As said before it was built in Halifax so at least its being restored locally , on the Miniworld

idea did email Karen Drury about it just after I got it, also got in touch with Steve Burkenshaw

the coach built register MCR both showed some interest 

Anyway on with the story,

 

 

these came with all the other bits and pieces all stamped Unipart (remember them)

 

Started striping down, the bumpers ect came of quite easily as they had been removed by previous owner 

when he painted it, was amazed how easily the side flasher lamps came of 1/4 turn with a 1/4 drive socket

and the nuts came of with my fingers!! all due to the generous application of Cadulac rust proofing treatment

that according to the Build sheet was done when built

 

 front panel after removal of said Cadulac just a bit of slight rust in the seams and in the corner above headlamp

hole, for a 40yr old car amazing  back in the day used to repair this sort of when they were just a couple of years old

 

Once again thanks for the views and comments makes it all worthwhile posting on here

[Magneto]

Great project and based on your last one it's in the right hands now!

 

What color was it originally? Will you go back that same color?

 

Those seats look saveable, I had a friend with an old Jag Series III, the leather was stiff and cracked all over, after 6 weeks of repeated applications of Connolly Hide Food, I couldn't believe it was the same interior, the cracks had closed up and the leather was glove soft again! That is some great stuff!

[spraybeater]

Thanks for that, the original colour was Damask Red  with Glacier White round waist line with the

tan vinyl  roof ( which will probably be the hard part to source) it will be refinished as original.

will take a look at the Connolly hide food for seats.

I did restore a  1972 Series 111 Jag about 18yrs ago interestingly for an old employer whom always 

claimed to be the first person to put a spray gun in my hand when I was A15yrs old first year apprentice.

[CharlieNZ]

You're not wrong about the vinyl roof being a problem. But you strike me as being pretty resourceful, I'm not doubting you'll get it done.

 

Some lovely touches with this car, particularly the documentation. Hope you'll be able to keep the Denton Motors sticker in the rear screen! And is the rear wiper original spec?

[GraemeC]

Is the grille original - the one on the brochure shot doesn't have one?

I think that is the only bit I don't really like about the car - the rest of it is fantastic,

[Rocket.]

Might be worth having a word with Optimise Automotive about the roof 

 

http://optauto.easys...rior-Vinyl-Roof

 

Wish all Mini's front panels looked like that after 40 years!