32 replies to this topic

[Rasmus Holst]

Hi 

 

This will be a project thread about the complete restauration of a pickup. I call her Penny. 

 

The restauration is at this moment more than a year into the build phase, and a timelapse has been recorded for most of the work. I will upload the first part of it once the thread gets going.

 

The pickup was bought in 2010 from another Mini enthusiast in Denmark. By the time the pickup was put up for sale the car had already been taken apart, media blasted and primed on the exposed surfaces. 

It was only the body shell, a few non-original bodypanels, tailgate and a steering column in the sale. Everything else had to be sourced elsewhere. 

 

The pictures from the add are here: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The project was, as can be seen, very rusten. When the car was bought in 2010 it was placed in a closed garage at a neighbour. At summer 2016 is was pulled out of the garage. By the time I had luckily forgotten all about just how bad the rust was. I had rented a new garage close to my apartment with the intention to work on the pickup while I hadn't looked at the car for 5 years. I'm not sure I would have done it if I had a fresh image of the work needed in this one. I will upload some more detailed pictures of the rust soon. 

 

This was the car after additional 5+ years in storage

 

 

 

The intention of the project is to have the car all original, or fitted with aftermarket part available in the early 70's. All panels are replaced with Heritage panels or M-Machine. I don't like the quality of the cheaper ones (which is why the body panels following the car was donated to another build). 

 

During the build all panels except the main part of the roof and the rear window surroundings have been replaced. More to come. 

 

 

 

##### 

Edit: 

 

First part of the timelaps on page 2

Edited by Rasmus Holst, 25 April 2018 - 07:22 PM.

[g111mds]

Look forward to seeing the pics! Do you still have the extra B post sections?

[Rasmus Holst]

Look forward to seeing the pics! Do you still have the extra B post sections?

 

 

I used parts of them for the rear window surrounding, the rest was given to another build. What part of the B posts are you looking for? 

[Rasmus Holst]

While the car was tugged away I sourced some doors needing a complete rebuild as well. I wanted to have the doors ready for replacing the A- and B-posts and doorstep. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rasmus Holst]

New parts made on the CNC. Didn't know M Machine made these before spending weeks getting these right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Van13]

Nice bit of machine work going on enjoy

[clarkey31]

will be good to see this i have just about finished one pretty much the same and got another one waiting to be started

[Rasmus Holst]

Started fixing the rust in the frame. It took quite a lot of work reproducing the panels by hand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slidehammer]

Great quality work going on there, keep the updates coming and good luck with the build.

[johnR]

nice work - you'll certainly have the satisfaction of having made those parts yourself!

[domdee]

great work! but look at that for a workshop! WOW

[Rasmus Holst]

great work! but look at that for a workshop! WOW

 

 

Yeah. That's my parents garage where I did the doors during a summer holiday. The body shell was restored in a shed. For some reason no one wants to rent out their good garages in the bigger cities for almost no money for someone wanting to use a grinder every weekend :) 

 

Time to skin the door frames. 

 

 

 

Bend the edge

 

 

Using a hammer as support to avoid warping the panels 

 

 

 

Doors primed and ready. The thing that looks like distortions in the panel is due to a too dry primer coat, not because the thing is bended. 

 

 

 

Doors done. Ready to start on the body shell 

Edited by Rasmus Holst, 02 January 2018 - 08:54 PM.

[Rasmus Holst]

Picture-heavy post with close ups of the shell as promised :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also had quite a significant bend in the loading bed: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely outer sills :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That'll take some hours to get into shape again.. 

[minimissions]

wow this is some project! nice work on those doors, i have the same work to do on my doors for my van.

 

Keep the pics coming

[Rasmus Holst]

Let the repair begin! 

 

Being outside UK means that it is close to impossible to get hold of a complete floor for a mini. It would cost a fortune to get it shipped. 

Since most of the tunnel down the floor is in an okay condition, this can be used to fix everything else. The strategy in replacing the panels is: 

 

Replacing the heelboard

Replacing A post and doorsteps, B post and quarter panels will be done later on

Fixing tunnel

Replacing floorpans in full length

Fix bulkhead and scuttle

Replace innerwings 

Replace inner A post 

Join outer wings and front, fit to car

Once that is done the back of the car can start being cut off. 

 

The heelboard is an important part to get placed correctly when refitting. I use it to align the innerwings later on and of course the rear suspension will be attached to it. Getting everything cut clean and aligned perfectly is important, especially with this panel.

If you've seen Project Binky you know what to do. MAKE THE NOISE! 

 

Getting the panel cut away

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adding some very temporary supports for the heelboard outer ends to make sure it doesn't get misaligned. The real support brackets meeting the load bay will be added later when the rear is cut away anyways.

 

 

Ready to have the first of many new panels put in 

 

 

I knew the load bay had to come out, so I used it to fix the heelboad 

 

 

 

 

First of 50-ish panels to go in..