3 replies to this topic

[RupertW]

Here we have my old mini, bought off the next door farm for £40 and given to me for christmas when I was 11. Here's a picture of it in happier days, rustier than it looks, but still more intact than it is now.

I drove it around on our farm for ages, great fun, but unfortunately crashed into one of our workers in his week old Ford Focus. To be fair it wasn't really my fault, but it bashed the mini a fair bit, although it stood up very well to the impact considering how rusty it was.

I continued charging around the farm, and the mini kept getting more and more knackered. Up until I started on the engine it still started on the key and drove (just) and sort of stopped. Everything is knackered, the brakes don't really work, the engine barely works, the suspension has collapsed, no electrics work and the bodywork is knackered.
Anyway, I thought it was about time I got round to restoring it. The plan is to keep it as a driving restoration as much as possible. I thought I would start with the engine as our welder is currently broken, so I have set about taking the engine out for a rebuild. Here are some pre-resto pics of it with the Fiat and the Reliant:



And one with my hopefully soon to go Austin A35 which makes my mini seem very solid.

I'm currently stuck with getting the engine out as I can't split the front hub ball joints even with a proper ball joint splitter, so I'm not really too sure what to do.

Edited by RupertW, 15 March 2011 - 06:07 PM.

[Artful Dodger]

you have got more classic cars than you can shake a stick at:) are they all of your familys? and spray lotsa wd40 on it and try hitting it with a hammer, its probably the nut corroded on..

good luck with this mate, and i hope your mates car wasnt to badly damaged:)

[RupertW]

The cars all belong to the family, we have a few other things as well, but we are now trying to cut down on stuff a bit, which is why I've put the Austin A35 up for sale and the Reliant is going on Friday. I've tried WD40 with the ball joint, and the nut came off fine, I might try using a puller instead of the fork type tool.

[RupertW]

This is the bit I can't get separated, I've tried a fork type splitter with it and it is doing nothing. The steering arm ones came apart absolutely fine with no problems. I might try and find a puller to do it, but all of the ones I can find are more designed for tractors than minis!