Ive been a member of the Mini forum for a while now and have been meaning to document what I'm working on
but never got around to it. Better late than never!
I got my first mini SSI 220, 15 years ago for my 18th. He was a navy Mini City back then. I learned how to drive in
this mini and planned on restoring him for me to drive. Years went by and that never happened until i was about 21
and the rebuild began. He had a lot of rot in him which we replaced and painted him Honda Melano Red with red roof.
My dad being a big mini enthusiast did all the mechanical work and our family friend worked on the body and paint.
I was big into the Irish Mini scene back then, meeting some great people and making some lifetime mates going to
shows, getting featured in MiniWorld magazine and a great road trip to Oxford for Mini in the Park 06 (i think). Then i moved
up north and so the Mini went into storage at my parents until i could get a place with a garage.
Cut to 2012! and the Mini was always in the back of my mind. I had spent thousands on it and it was just sitting there slowly
rotting away, and i considered selling it but to be honest i would never get the value back and it meant too much to me.
So we pulled him out of storage and had plans of getting him shipshape and back on the road. We thought the engine might of seized
but luckily that wasn't the case and he roared into life! 6 years back i had different tastes to what i have now. It was all about the
Leds, sound systems, Playstation in the dash, decal on roof and 13" alloys. Its not what I'm into these days and i couldn't see myself
enjoying the car the way i used to! I couldn't remember half the stuff that went into it!
I had plans to sell it and use the money to get something a bit more retro that i could build on. But on further inspection we discovered alot
of rot in the rear subframe and heel board. I mean we could of fixed this but i would still be left with a car that had the front arches cut for 13's
as i wanted 10's now plus i really wanted to keep his original Irish reg 'SSI 220'.
So my Dads mate who did all our bodywork previously had a Mk3 Shell for sale. All the body work done. No rot plus a metal flip front and we did a deal.
Reshell the original mini and transfer what i want over. This way i could build it how i wanted from scratch.
So the work began. I knew i would need lots of new gear up to what i could afford. I could take my time and get a bit here and there when funds allowed.
I want to build a Mk1 Morris Cooper S with all the retro gear it would of had back then. Red with a Black Roof.
7.5" Cooper S Calipers and Discs,
6 x 10 Mamba alloys with A008 Yokes
Group 5 arches in black
Mk1 Boot Lid
etc etc
All will need to go in favour of 3 clock centre and vinyl dash rail
Engine in!
New Alloys
Test Drive
Spic and Span!
Wiring Clocks
MK1 Boot
Decided not to go the flip front as imo they never sit right and they bug me so going
with a solid front. Here he is with new panels in place before tweaking bonnet to
sit lower etc.
