764 replies to this topic

[stretch tech]

I have to say personally I really like the de bumpered minis, but not fully de seamed. This is looking great Rhys.

Graham

hi Graham, i do like some de seamed minis but it is difficult to get them to look right, but when they do, they look really good

[stretch tech]

hi all, update from yesterday

we refitted the doors and the fit is pretty good





we also fitted the arches and sill trims









we also ran the engine up to temperature and ran it for half an hour to seal the exhaust repair tape and to melt the bar seal into the heater system, we only put a very small amount in and it sealed the leaky heater perfectly

we also drilled holes in the boot floor and valance for my new fog light

we then removed the boot and door seals and locks ready for paint. all that is left to do now is give the car a final flat down, fill and prime before it goes of for it's shiny new paint job

Rhys

Edited by TH3aRchit3ct95, 27 May 2012 - 09:27 AM.

[stretch tech]

hi all, got some great news

i have recently tried to contact the previous owner and today she replied to an email, here is a summary of the main points:

- Cliff is actually called Nigel but i have always known him as cliff so his double barrel name is now Cliff-Nigel
- the previous owner was ripped off big time by a proper dodgy garage and had to let him go
- we think that Cliff-Nigel was purchased and used by the military for the first 9 years of his life
- the previous owner also put a lot of effort into collecting all the original parts of the thirty that came with the car, including the radio

i will keep you all update as things unfold

Rhys

[joezone2001]

hi all, got some great news

i have recently tried to contact the previous owner and today she replied to an email, here is a summary of the main points:

- Cliff is actually called Nigel but i have always known him as cliff so his double barrel name is now Cliff-Nigel
- the previous owner was ripped off big time by a proper dodgy garage and had to let him go
- we think that Cliff-Nigel was purchased and used by the military for the first 9 years of his life
- the previous owner also put a lot of effort into collecting all the original parts of the thirty that came with the car, including the radio

i will keep you all update as things unfold

Rhys

Aww that's brilliant for you to know to know some history about the car. Interesting to know about the military history too. You've done such a good job on the car mate. I bet you're so proud! I can wait to see the pics of him in his new paint.
I have considered trying to contact the first owner of Cherry. I have her address etc but she sold her in 2002 I think so might not still live there. I have full garage history from when she was new up until about 2006. After that her owners didn't really care about her I don't think. She lived in and around Tamworth all her life so you may have seen her bombing about! Haha.
Keep up the good work mate.
Joe

[stretch tech]

hi joe, yeah it came as quite a surprise to hear back from the previous owner, i found her address on an envelope in the rear bin of Cliff-Nigel and i decided to write her a letter but the date was 2010 so after a week of waiting, i began to loose hope but then i received an email to find that she was actually just as big a mini enthusiast as i am...well almost i only have the service history from the previous owner (of three years) and it is a shame there isn't anything from the military ownership as it would be interesting. i can't understand why the army would by a saloon mini let alone a limited edition

i don't think i ever saw cherry round town mate but there is a mini thirty on a drive opposite my collage that has never moved for as long as i can remember, it is just left there to rust into pieces

Rhys

[stretch tech]

hi all, today i spent 6 hours doing the final body prep work, all the panels are now silky smooth and ready for paint. hopefully this final push will save me a bit of money on the paint job and will make all my cuts, bruises and sun burn worth while i haven't taken any photos as the car looks pretty much the same as from yesterdays updates. i can't wait for Thursday, Cliff-Nigel goes of for paint and it's my 17th birthday...so lots of nice new shiny mini parts will be coming my way

Rhys

[joezone2001]

hi joe, yeah it came as quite a surprise to hear back from the previous owner, i found her address on an envelope in the rear bin of Cliff-Nigel and i decided to write her a letter but the date was 2010 so after a week of waiting, i began to loose hope but then i received an email to find that she was actually just as big a mini enthusiast as i am...well almost i only have the service history from the previous owner (of three years) and it is a shame there isn't anything from the military ownership as it would be interesting. i can't understand why the army would by a saloon mini let alone a limited edition

i don't think i ever saw cherry round town mate but there is a mini thirty on a drive opposite my collage that has never moved for as long as i can remember, it is just left there to rust into pieces

Rhys

It's criminal when there is a piece of history left to rot like that. There should be a law against it! Lol. When you have cliff-nigel on the road maybe you'll fancy another project and they'll sell it to you! Haha.
Maybe cliff-nigel belonged to a spy? Haha, that maybe why there's no record because its 'top secret'. Who knows?
I'd love to know how my old minis are doing H306TWP(PICNIC) is declared off road and r129xoa (jack) is taxed until the end of this month. I found out via the dvla website.
Keep it up bud
Joe

[Andrew O]

Do you mind me asking how much your being charged for the paint if your doing all the prep work ?

Andrew.

[sonikk4]

Cracking along nicely. One question though, you are going to all of this effort with the car why add bar seal to stop the matrix leak. Would it not be better to have fitted a new matrix rather than the "repaired one" springing a leak later on and possibly ruining your carpets etc.

[Jordie]

would also have been perfect time to refurb the heater housing, lick of paint etc.

[stretch tech]

hi joe, yeah it's a real shame that people let this happen but i suppose they don't see a mini as a more 'vulnerable' vehicle to rotting i don't think i shall be buying another car for a while yet...not whilst i have one money pit that would be great if CN was a previous james bond gizmo lol have you tried to contact the new owners ?

andrew, i'm not sure exactly on the price as the bloke hasn't physically seen the car, he has only seen pictures but it has definitely saved me some money doing the majority of the prep work ourselves

sonikk4 and jordie, i know that a bar seal is a bit of a cheat and i would have preferred to have fitted a nice new heater matrix but at the end of the day, i am still a student with a small budget and i need to save money some where we refurbished the heater system in the same way as all my other parts. we dismantled, cleaned, repainted and rebuilt it. we didn't know that the matrix had a small leak in it until we run the engine with antifreeze in the system as the heater didn't leak until we filled it with antifreeze. at first i wanted to replace the matrix but my dad has been using bar seal to fix leaks for years and it has never been a problem so i trusted his experienced guidance. thanks for your concerns though

Rhys

Edited by TH3aRchit3ct95, 29 May 2012 - 09:29 PM.

[charie t]

in this heat and coming into summer you could have bypassed the heater for now

[joezone2001]

Hi Rhys. No I haven't but I might do. I've got a pile of paperwork about 2 inches thick about the car. I've even got recipts for tyres etc.. I think I have addresses of about 3 previous owners so maybe I'll send them all a letter lol. Would be interesting to hear what they called the car. I think cherry suits her though although I know its not very imaginitive. Haha.
Joe

[stretch tech]

Hi Rhys. No I haven't but I might do. I've got a pile of paperwork about 2 inches thick about the car. I've even got recipts for tyres etc.. I think I have addresses of about 3 previous owners so maybe I'll send them all a letter lol. Would be interesting to hear what they called the car. I think cherry suits her though although I know its not very imaginitive. Haha.
Joe

hi joe, yeah you should, you could also fill out a v888 form for a fiver and it will give you a greater insight into the history of the car, i keep meaning to fill out the form but i keep forgetting i think cherry is a good name, at first i wasn't to keen on the name cliff but it soon grew on me but now i know his name was nigel, i just abbreviate cliff-nigel to CN

Rhys

[stretch tech]

hi all, we have just borrowed my dads mate's flat bed truck again to move cn to the paint shop so it's all go for tomorrow

Rhys