37 replies to this topic

[Sunshine]

Well, I should have started this ages ago, but been busy working on her.

first battle is the rust. I have spent countless warm sunny days sanding it down, treating it, filling where needed and finally repainting. The paint looks patchy where we have had to do it, but at least it is starting to look better. The worst places are apron under/behind front bumper, passenger side door, above the sills and inside left hand front wing. The absolute worst spot was windscreen panel r/h side. It was full of the kitchen roll and kitchen foil. Not very pretty at all.

I have also scrubbed and stripped down the hubcaps. They are now all re-done in silver leaf paint.

We installed a new wiper motor including all the nice chrome bits.
Yesterday I replaced the tie rod end bushes with the help of cowboy.


there is still quite a bit to do, but at least the interior is great and not much engine works needs to be done. will start posting pics soon.

[Brawlyrox]

rusty like mine, u know barry will suss it soon for ya, u stayin the same colour?

[cowboy]

with the MOT due i thaught i'd have a quick look over the girl (post edited by sunshine i had old girl)... meaning the mini..Not Sunshine ( even though she does look good!)the mini that is.

i have changed both front knuckles, what a job that was, and i have to patch under the drivers floor plate, but only a small bit, and some of the other susspesion bushes look dodgy. that was untiil i started doing the nearside knuckle, then i found out that the nearside engine mounting was f**ked , so she is now safely locked away in my workshop, until i get one..

looks like i can change it in situe, through the inner wing, i hope

[Sunshine]

big thank you to cowboy for finally having enough of me nagging him about the MOT due next week. even though it means i wont be able to drive her for a few days

we still need to replace the front panel and the panel inside the left wing, but we have the spares for that now. will need to be repainted along with the new bonnet and the passenger door ( thank you bluemini) and then it's on with the new bumpers that are sitting in the house waiting to go on. i've also noticed that the heater does not work and i think there is something wrong with the thermostat too which might be why i cant get any heat inside the car.

i really haven't done any work on her at all lately except for keeping it nice and clean and shiny.once the kids go back to school i will have more time.

[cowboy]

it's been a busy day for me working on mitzy, i've changed both pot joint seals, and the left hand engine mount, still need to change the right hand engine mount as i found out today that that one has gone aswell, and i will have to change the front lower arn inner bushes soon, they look bad, then it will be a case of doing the body work, but for now she looks a lot better, not leaking oil, and teh front end is sitting as high as it should be.

mitzy out :wales:

[Sunshine]

i don't think i will ever let him take my car away again. he fixed quite a few things on it and i went to go back to work tonight and heard and awful rattling noise from under the car right in the middle :sad:. i don't know what it is, but seems to stop once the engine warms up. cowboy also discovered my heater isn't working because one part of it has seized and the one on his car is leaky.


hopefully it will all bo sorted out soon, passes the MOT and we can start again on the bodywork

[Dom]

i dont spose you have any pics of the replacement of panels?

[Sunshine]

we haven't started doing the replacement of any of the panels yet. still working on the little things to get it ready for the MOT

[Sunshine]

Well, she had her check-up today and failed

the rear fog light doesn't work... i didnt know that because i have never used it

Steering rack gaiter.... one is split


and the front end is too rusted out which i knew about since i have been nagging cowboy to fix it for ages. i just never knew it was that bad to fail it

so, cowboy has taken the car back into work to do the work on it. should be interesting having a front end that is british racing green on it and the rest silk green.

[cowboy]

mitzy looks a sorry state today without part of her front end, was hopeing to get the new front end fitted, but spent hours trying to get teh rear right hand engine mount bolt in the hole, but that is both engine mounts changed now.

weld front end onto her tomorrow, and change the steering rack gaiter, fix the fog light and then take her back down for a retest

[Miniman]

kool tell us hows shes done

[cowboy]

all the work has been done now on mitzy, and she passed her MOT, Sunshine is so happy, changing the front end was a challenge, as it was only the bottom part of the front section that was rusted away, that was all i changed.

to do this i cut away the bottom section, just behind where the bumper sat on the lip and a section of the passenger side inner wing, along with the panel on the drivers inner wing.

i cut the same out of the donnar car i had, plus a litte extra for over lap. then welded it all together, i small bit of body filler over the welds, after they were ground down flat, then primmered.

the final coats of paint will be done when the door is ready for spraying. should be done for MITP

here are some pics

Attached Files

•  100_0715.JPG   61.77K   12 downloads

[cowboy]

the front end ready

Attached Files

•  100_0716.JPG   67.42K   7 downloads

[cowboy]

fitted ready for welding

Attached Files

•  100_0718.JPG   66.04K   3 downloads

[cowboy]

welded into place

Attached Files

•  100_0720.JPG   60.63K   4 downloads