764 replies to this topic

[Anthony30]

Any updates?

[stretch tech]

Any updates?

 

yeah about that, ermm well i missed my deadline of September 

 

not a great deal has been done unfortunately other than i few more bits hoarded.

this is mainly because I've had to have the car touched up at the paint shop and it's got to go back again soon... petrol tank leaked and stripped the paint down the rear quarter and now my arch/body joins have peeled a bit 

 

fear not, the project is still alive and well. i went to Mini fair 2 today and bought a centre arm rest (FINALLY) and seeing all the other cars has given me a kick up the rear to get going again.

 

I've booked a week off work soon to get the block/head machining done and I've got a few bits and bobs up by sleeve 

 

Bear with me guys and gals..

 

Rhys

[Chance]

I was following this when you started restoring...turned out fantastic

What kind of insurance will the turbo lump set you back?

I struggle to get a decent price for my 1.4 metro at 20years old with 2years NCD...I'd love to 1.8 it but I dread to think what that would do to my insurance

I blame my D rated postcode..

I wouldn't mind a nice engine in my mini if I ever get round to starting it that is

[stretch tech]

Thanking you chance 

 

I'm looking at £1300 for the year with everything declared, paid £850 this year for 1000cc mods declared 1 years NCB.

 

not sure what my postcode is, how do you check 

 

Rhys

[Anthony30]

http://www.motorcari...ode-ratings.php

[Anthony30]

My postcode area ,L35, is E*.  

[stretch tech]

C 

[Badboytunes]

A.... that will do

[stretch tech]

Wow 11 months have passed on no more progress on the 1100 turbo project... it's still sat in the garage in the exact same place 

 

there is a reason though, i may have cheated in getting my hands on a boosted mini....

 

 

 

Post LCI facelift 184 bhp Cooper S clubman with a long list of options and low millage (the 1st and only other owner lived and worked local to the garage it was first sold at). iIve actually owned this since January but have been to afraid to anounce it on here 

 

Fear not ! Cliff still takes pride of place and i use him for work on dry days.

 

 

 

I have plans for the Clubby (air ride, JCW upgrade, wheels, de chrome etc) but i don't think this is the place to log it all...

In my defence, I never planned to buy anything like this, i actually wanted a cheap banger for the winter but internet browsing got out of hand okay...

 

Any who, back to the proper mini.

the paint round the standard rover plastic arches has been peeling and lifting for a while now but it was never bad enough to justify a respray. 

however, now the daily commute duties have been somewhat eased, i can now take the time to sort it properly.

 

this is the worst arch, it is annoying because if we had had the arches sprayed off the car originally then i wouldn't be in this mess.

 

 

 

So, i bit the bullet, run a stanley blade around all the seems (to stop peeling up the panels) and pulled them off.

 

 

 

I got to the bottom of the peeling though, it seems the paint we used to brush paint under the arches before fitting them never really bonded properly.

A quick pressure wash later shows the full extent of the problem - it was only supposed to be a quick flick over with a spray gun 

 

 

 

You can see how the black paint simply fell off but the red body paint stayed strong (mostly)

 

 

 

 

 

So that's pretty much where i got to today other than pulling of the sill trims and cleaning that up.

On the bright side, it's re-assuring to see that there is no signs of rust anywhere on the car, after 2 winters daily use that's not bad going !

 

Now comes the potentially controversial part - i'm not putting standard arches back on - i'm going with wood & pickett 2.25" arches and 93 on rubber sill trim.

 

i'd debated this myself for a good two weeks but i hate the standard rover special arches: brittle plastic that had starting cracking around the mounting screws; sharp edges and poor arch-body fitting, there was 10mm gaps on the front wings in places !! 

 

I offered up the W&P's as i was going today (no pics yet - sorry) and the smooth look as a result of fixing from underneath the arch rather than the side of the body is very nice when combined with the lush arch-body rubber seal trim things.

 

I'll post up some pics as i go.

 

One last thing, before tearing him apart, Me & dad went up to Stanford Hall in Cliff - got to be my favourite show of the year next to MITP at Santa Pod.

It's nice to look at the ever changing displays but i always carry some cash in case i spy a bargain, which i did...

 

 

Set of 5 Exacton 5x10 alloys as fitted to the 1979 20th anniversary 1100 special.

They look to have been previously refurbished in white but they are in pretty good nic and came up fairly good after a pressure wash and a bit of elbow grease.

 

 

 

 

 

Dryed them off and stacked 'em right next the 1098 lump, gathering dust until they are called upon for a future project (just like the 5x12 KN Jupiters i bought, they won't ever actually go on Cliff)

 

 

That's all for now folks, nice to be back.

Rhys

[minimissions]

Hiya I understand the New clubby estate I have been and test driven a couple over the years then walked away purely before I need something bigger at the minute but my reasoning is that I would love to have old and new estates.... so I see the Cooper S attraction :) looks like a awesome car :)

 

And on to cliff I was at Stanford yesterday my first time to that show and loved it defo will be going back. Cliff is looking great and am with you on the Plastic arch rant I had to fit arches to my clubby and hate the bloody things dont fit all be it that arent meant for estates but they are just rubbish lol when the time comes to redo the estate they are going thats for sure...

 

Keep the pics coming :)

[alex-95]

Nice clubman, good colour choice to, I wouldn't mind one myself. Start a project thread for it, Theres not much hate anymore

 

Wont the w&p arches be too wide for your wheels?

[stretch tech]

Thanks for the positive MINI vibes guys 

 

I'll be honest, even though i'm not a massive lover of new cars, i've had a soft spot for the R55 clubbies since they were launched back in 07.

i wanted a post 11 plate model as these have the revised engine (184bhp rather than 171bhp previously) and they have black trim as standard rather than silver which can look cheap imo.

 

Talking about BINI hate, i was surprised (and secretly pleased) to see so many MINIs at Stanford - i suppose the early first gen's (R52/3) are coming up to 15 years old now so are technically a classic in their own right.

 

As for the colour, i like most of the MINI palette but ice blue has always been a favourite as i love grey-ish colours  

 

As for the arches, yes they are wider and my wheels will be too narrow but i am going to makes some spacers up - i'll know exactly what i need when i fit the arches this weekend but i'm guestimating 3/8" front and 1/2" at the back (to bring the front and rear track width together as the fronts are a little wider atm). 

 

I am now preparing for a lecture on the extra stress on the wheel bearings blah blah blah but the increase in wear will be negligible for the mileage he'll do.

 

Rhys

[minimissions]

Yeah I have to admit I saw a lot of new MINI's at Stanford as well, I used to own a 03 cooper years back and couldn't fault the car really other than it was great on juice but a lot of people seem to say that, what's Clubman S like? I was going to buy a cooper clubman D about a year ago as wanted the mpg... but the petrol S's sound so much better :) Whats yours like on fuel if you don't mind me asking?

[psmini]

2 very nice cars!  I love the Clubman and Ice blue too.  I've had a couple of clubmans and loved them.  Now have an F55 5 door Cooper in Moonwalk grey with a black roof - great car and compliments my classic on the driveway.

[stretch tech]

Yeah I have to admit I saw a lot of new MINI's at Stanford as well, I used to own a 03 cooper years back and couldn't fault the car really other than it was great on juice but a lot of people seem to say that, what's Clubman S like? I was going to buy a cooper clubman D about a year ago as wanted the mpg... but the petrol S's sound so much better :) Whats yours like on fuel if you don't mind me asking?

 

No problem, I live local to work so I mainly do urban driving 30-40 mph and lots of lights, junctions and roundabouts and around 10 mile a day - I get 34 mpg if I don't drive silly but I could probably squeeze more out of it if I drove like a nun. That said I do drop it into sport mode most days when the engines up to temperature and average 31 mpg if I'm fairly easy on the throttle.

 

I recently went up to Lincoln (150 ish mile round trip) and averaged 39 mpg mostly sat at 70-75 mph (around 3200 rpm in 6th if I remember right) and that was carrying 2 mates and a boot full of booze

 

It really isn't that bad a fuel if you use the 6 speed gearbox properly but that said, last time I went out for a blast I got just over 17 mpg .

 

I wasn't really fused on fuel economy as I only do around 50-60 mile a week but £10 of super unleaded (£1.19 here) does it comfortably - compared to £5 in Clff !

 

I know it isn't quite the same but my mother has a cooper D countryman and only averages 40 ish mpg (35 mile a day)

 

hope that helps

 

2 very nice cars!  I love the Clubman and Ice blue too.  I've had a couple of clubmans and loved them.  Now have an F55 5 door Cooper in Moonwalk grey with a black roof - great car and compliments my classic on the driveway.

 

Thanks muchly ! hoping to make it 3 soon but that's not materialised as yet

 

I wasn't really taken by the new F body MINI's but I had a cooper 3 door hatch as a courtesy car and I must admit it was a nice car even though it was only mildly spec'd (unlike the Clubby which has pretty much everything ticked) - I really liked the little 1.5 3 pot turbo thrum.

 

I was going to enquire about the new 2016 clubman (F56 ??) but they are mahoosive cars

 

Cheers

Rhys