380 replies to this topic

[olds_kool_lews]

everyone.... meet valerie! shes a 1979 mini clubman estate in baked bean orange lol although she has 8 months mot, and a months tax, there is lots to be done, including a new engine (the 1 fitted back pressurises through the rocker cover and pours more smoke out of there than the exhaust!, something ive never come across before! might be bent or mangled exhaust valves?) she will need a couple of patches of welding to, mainly the front inner sills, and the scuttle closing panels are non exsistant! but in no way is she a rot box! shes very solid and original, still has its original carpets and steering wheel! i wont be starting this one until i finished my moms mini project, but i should be finished with that soon!! my plans are to change the engine, fit 7.5 disc brakes up front, spacered drums on the rear, maybe some 6x10 wellers with group 6 arches, and thats it! dont want to modify it to much away from standard, incase i want to convert it back to original spec one day.

anyway, here are a couple of pictures! hope you like!

[Pitcrew6464]

looks ace good luck

[olds_kool_lews]

cheers! cant wait to get cracking! need to source a good running engine though! the manifold on this 1 has been "fixed" with filler.. it runs like a bag of spanners in a washing machine! i was gonna attempt to drive it home, but not with the enginw how it is!

[josh.evans]

another one lewis looks good one though mate

good luck with it

josh

[miniallsort]

looks good mate

[DaveVader]

6*10 Wellers and grp6 arches... where have I seen that before?

Looks ace mate, we'll be filling it up for shows then?

[olds_kool_lews]

definalty fill the boot with cans of beer n bbqs on weekend shows like l2b! lol that way we'll have to drink n eat some space into it to be able to load it up with parts on the way home! lol hopefully get a new engine sometime this week, tried starting the old one again for a laugh, n my god does it sound awful! its got barely any compression, probably no oil pressure, and generally destroyed! but the blocks been skimmed for some reason, will pull the engine apart when its out, see whats been done to it!

[DaveVader]

Having to eat some space in a boot, ahh man, life's tough eh! I'm up to the challenge!
You going for a 1275 again? Do something different, turbo? Supercharge? Run it on hamsters!

[olds_kool_lews]

ive seen an 1100 engine on the classifieds that fits the bill perfectly, just tryin to agree on a price for it, n hopeflly get it before the weekend, then can fit it, n drive it to work monday! dont want to go to big just yet, but in a few years when i got the body work up to scratch like my white one, ill look into a bigger engine (i have a couple of dismantled 1275s in my shed.... ) gonna try keep it lookin stock to, but lower n wider!

[DaveVader]

Niiiice!
We'll have to have another night at Matt's so we can meet the beast!

[olds_kool_lews]

defo! hopefully it'll be lookin alot lower, wider, n actually drive under its own steam! the manifold on it has 3 holes in it, 1 is the vacuum pipe for a servo? n the other 2 look like they been drilled into the exhaust parts? very strange! cant wait to pull the engine out n apart, interested to see whats been done to it!

[johnbest981]

Nice car!
also just brought a Clubman Estate. Not quite as tidy as yours, but it'll do for me.
also hoping to drive it to work next Monday!

Shall be keeping an eye on this thread!

[olds_kool_lews]

u gonna sign up the clubman estate register? im gonna look into it in a sec, see what its like n if its worth joinin! u got any pictures of urs? would be good to see another one!

[johnbest981]

I tried to join a couple of times. But the 'yuko' page it takes you to doesn't seem to work for me

I don't actually have it yet, going back to pick it up at the weekend. So i'm lacking in the photo department.
But i'll post a project page when I get it.

The person that sold me the car said it's a pretty handy site/community.
Apparently every now and then someone gets a batch of those rear window catch thingys (that stop the windows sliding open from the outside) made up, and bits like that.

[olds_kool_lews]

mine still has all its original fixtures n fittings! its only done 45k but mechanically its been abused, the body work is pretty solid, with a few bubbles here n there, n needing a couple of patches to get it rust free! n with 8 months mot n a months tax, its a good base for a retro build with some real character n patina