380 replies to this topic

[olds_kool_lews]

cheers mate! really enjoying this build so far! my estate is now officially a van just finished seam welding in the side, ground flush (has very little heat distortion!) so will only require a skim of filler to get everything nice and straight, time to move onto the turret! will upload more pics later, as batteries died on my camera

[SkyRoseMini93]

WOW, cracking project. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[olds_kool_lews]

right, work stops for tonight as its getting cold and dark outside, but as promised some pics of todays progress..


van side fully welded in and ground back ready for the skim of filler

passengerside turret made a start on

all seam welded in, quick example of my seam welding

passengerside turret all finished!


shame i didnt get chance to do the other bits id planned for today, but theres always tomorrow

[ajperry]

LEWIS!

its changed a fair bit since i last looked on here! looking awesome! and now a van?!! love it man... and your mock up of the finished result paintjob! very american muscle! haha

keep it up!

ps sorry i didn't find you at mitp... i wasn't there unfortunately so that didn't help! gonna try and get there this year!

[olds_kool_lews]

LEWIS!

its changed a fair bit since i last looked on here! looking awesome! and now a van?!! love it man... and your mock up of the finished result paintjob! very american muscle! haha

keep it up!

ps sorry i didn't find you at mitp... i wasn't there unfortunately so that didn't help! gonna try and get there this year!

I'm thinking outside the box, going completely different to the usual mk1 look-e-like 80's/90's mini saloon, which has been done to the death, so trying to change whats cool on the mini scene in my own little way! and taking inspiration from japanese and american styling so hopefully nothing out there will look anything like it!

I'm hoping to have it all finished and mot'd by mid april at the latest, so i got some time to run it in and findd any problems that might arise before this years L2B!

Gonna try and get on the TMF stand again at MITP this year, so will be easy to find me!

[olds_kool_lews]

done more work on valerie today, took the engine out, stripped all the wiring, dash, all electrics, pretty much got her down to a rolling shell with only subframes and steering connected so i can flip it on its side to do the heal board and sills and tidy the underneath up, stone chip and paint it before it goes off to the body shop for a respray...

few piccies...






theres still a few small areas that need attention, but these will be done once the major surgery is complete, which i hope to have finished by tomorrow, fingers crossed i can get her to the body shop maybe monday to begin prep work

[miniallsort]

GETTING THERE MATE

[olds_kool_lews]

my hands hurt from it all though lol but shows im workin hard, not hardly workin if i had a garage, id of been finished months ago, but only having a gravel drive to work on is making it that bit more challenging! but if i can do this work on a gravel drive, when i get a nice warm garage to work in, ill be knockin minis out one ofter the other lol

[olds_kool_lews]

oh and the windscreen got broke, i took it out no problem, leaned it against the wall and the wind caught it and it fell in slow motion, but not slow enough for me to catch it...

[minidream94]

excellent lewis looks amazing,

whats that red mini i spot behind it? that your other one? or has a neighbour caught the bug aswell

[DaveVader]

Haha, you can just see mine behind aswell!
God there's so many.

[olds_kool_lews]

thats my moms mini nick lol nearly finished it, but needs a brake master cylinder and some electrics sorting out!

been pretty productive again today, got the subframe off so i can assess the heal board and also make it easier to do the sills with it on its side...

here are some pics

front subframe off first... just picked the shell up and over it, and swung the shell out the way...



then the rear came off (only sheered one bolt.. considering what i found!)



i then cut the oversill off to find the original sill underneath, glad i bit the bullet and did it now, it would only of reared its ugly head sooner or later!



cut out most of the rot on the heal board and cleaned up the inner sill with a wire brush on the grinder!




made a start on repairing the inner sill, got most of the holes welded up, just the heal board end and 1 or 2 small patches and thats the passengerside all finished!




dont worry, the shell is supported both ends by scaffold poles to keep it from tipping back onto me lol

[minidream94]

Are you not putting your sills in that u made? but looks good man

OO and i like the RAC VAN on the side in primer, the fine work of my cousain

[bcjames]

Just a bit more welding then!

[olds_kool_lews]

yeah just a little more! gettin tedious but i know its gonna be worth it at the end of the build think its gonna turn into a real head turner! heal board and my homemade sills on tomorrow!

Edited by olds_kool_lews, 04 March 2011 - 08:47 PM.