4 replies to this topic

[onlymelloyd]

Finally I am getting around to letting you all know about my longest project and what got me into minis in the first place!
Welcome to project Mixi Clubesup.

This all started way back in June 2007 ish when I sold my first car which I had messed about with.

So with that out of the way and money in my pocket I (possibly stupidly) made an impulse buy on ebay and ended up with this





Its a mini clubman estate turned into a pick-up with a austin maxi 1750cc engine fitted. Hence project Mixi (MIni maXI) Clubesup (CLUBman EState/pickUP)
What a mistake that turned out to be. I knew absolutely nothing about minis at this point and was about to learn the hard way!
My dad and I picked it up, my dad drove it home and I followed in my car. One thing it did do was shift!
But my dad informed me it was a pup and set about proving it to me, so the next weekend we took it for an MOT (by the way it came with 11 months MOT) It was so bad that the MOT tester refused to test it, instead giving it a pre-check. Things that were wrong:-
no rear brakes, extensive rust on both inner and outer sills, rust on the floor, pretty much rust everywhere! and play in this that and the other etc etc.

at this point I got a wake up call! I had been ripped off and was now left with a piece of scrap, no money and no car
So what to do? Re-build it of course! I bought a cheap clio to run around in and started saving.
Soon the car turned into this


then this


then this


all the white/black is where I removed filler and put some paint on to protect what was left of the metal.
Then came the rust, and boy was there a lot of it!



I counted 3 lots of sills!
So I was eventually left with this


Oh dear So i set about making repairs. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from that point until now.

But i fitted new floor pans, new inner sills, new outer sills and did a couple of patches.

Then everything stopped due to this

I had managed to get a 1 owner mini in reasonable nick (by now the bug had caught me) for £100! So work stopped on the pickup to repair this one ready for the road. A bit of work later and I had a new daily driver (still being used to this day)


Then this arrived


which became this

we had fun at L2B

You can read about it under other projects section - mini trailer with a difference.

Then this arrived


which was fixed up and is now for sale.

All of this whilst completing a degree!
But I didn't forget about the pickup, although it was left on its side tucked away under a tarp I was getting on with other bits for it
For example I made a new rear subframe

new light weight doors

as well as countless parts, including another maxi engine.
That was until 2 weeks ago, then things changed....

Edited by onlymelloyd, 22 November 2009 - 07:05 PM.

[onlymelloyd]

So the car had been lying on its side for the best part of 2 years
first thing was to put it on its 2 remaining feet


and then remove the doors and front subframe before rolling it onto its roof and putting it in the garage


So now its in the garage, I have no other projects, Iv graduated uni and have a job, perhaps I might get it finished!
My aim is to have it ready for L2B 2010, so that gives me 6ish months. and I have a lot to do!
The good news is that the welding I did nearly two years ago is still solid. However some of it is a mess so im going to re-do some of it.
First thing was to remove all of the paint from the under side


and thats as far as I have got for the moment, next thing is to finish the welding I haven't done and repair the bits I have!

by the way heres the engine thats going in, its a bit of a squeeze but it fits


For those that don't know what a Austin Maxi is here's one: -

wish me luck!

Edited by onlymelloyd, 22 November 2009 - 07:21 PM.

[BadgerBaiter]

Should be a nice project for you
3 sets of sills... thats quite impressive Serious amount of rust there!
Anyway, hope the brace bars help and keep us updated!

[kalum]

nice project!
i like the idea of a clubman pickup. the longer clubman front fits in with the longer pick up back
good luck with the project and keep us posted!

kalum

[DugganC17]

Any progress on this