288 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Good evening all.

 

I have just collected the latest project here at Mill road garage.

 

This time it is a Russet brown 1275GT.

It is highly original, 99.99% rust free and will be stripped, repainted and rebuilt into a South African Mini GTS Replica.

 

I'm a tad premature with starting the build thread as it's not due to start until the beginning of March but I had an hour this afternoon to start prodding and poking so to me, that constitutes an update!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a quick look in the usual places and was pleasantly surprised

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boot was lined out with a boot liner and had lots of wiring for a hi-fi system and amplifier so I removed that to get a better look

 

 

As you can see, it has been lined in Dynamat and flashing tape so that will need to come off to inspect further.

 

The engine bay, rear valance and underside have been painted over with some kind of matt black paint presumably to cover and protect the paintwork beneath as it scratches off farily easily leaving behind shiny brown paint

 

 

 

 

 

 

I removed the rear seat to enable me to start pulling through the birds nest of wiring.

 

 

All good here apart from some questionable holes made to pass the wires through.

 

This on the other hand will need some attention

 

 

Here is some of the wiring

 

 

So the plan so far is to replace the roof skin as the owner doesn't want a sunroof, strip the shell to bare metal and start again dealing with any small repairs that may or may not need doing along the way.

 

Colour has been decided and will be Bronze yellow.

 

Ill update once work begins.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Jase]

Could be a fantastic original GT based on what you have to work with. I'm sure it will look fantastic in its new guise.

 

Will be following this.

[panky]

Looks in brilliant condition

[MacGyver]

Nice! 😁
Can't wait to see you at work on this one!

[JXC Mini GT]

Hi Ben

 

What a lovely GT project, the owner has made a good choice in using Mill Road Garage.

 

It will be interesting to see what lies beneath the black undercoat and what suprises you uncover.

 

John

[Ben_O]

It looks as though it's all original and likely immaculate beneath the black paint.

 

First thing once it's stripped is to have the shell blasted back to the bare steel. I wouldn't be surprised if it's perfect judging by the rest of the car.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Jase]

Is the car low mileage Ben? Bizarre that the front bumper is so rusty yet the rest of the car looks immaculate? That's Minis for you :)

[Ben_O]

Is the car low mileage Ben? Bizarre that the front bumper is so rusty yet the rest of the car looks immaculate? That's Minis for you :)

I believe the car is on approx 38,000.

 

I met up with the owner this morning and he explained that the car had been towed to where it was stored last year over salty gritted roads and then a cover was fitted.

It looks as though this has caused the rusting but what is even more bizarre is the fact that the rust on the bumper polishes off leaving shiny chrome.

I had a quick go this afternoon and i was surprised at how well it came up

[Jase]

Nice, have a look at my thread below and tell me if you could save my donor car :) Its on the last page.

[Ben_O]

Nice, have a look at my thread below and tell me if you could save my donor car :) Its on the last page.

I certainly could repair that but it would needs lots of time and money spent. Certainly not an economical repair but would be an interesting one.

 

Cheers

Ben

[Jase]

Unbelievably it has only done 45,000 miles, what a contrast to the one you have. As it's a donor car I will be cutting up and scrapping at the end of the process which is why I wanted something that was more or less a lost cause.

 

Some very useable bits on it though for my build.

[timmy850]

We're all waiting for the re-enactment of the brochure!

 

Attached Files

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Edited by timmy850, 22 February 2018 - 11:47 PM.

[minimissions]

I am signed up for this one, I am sure it will be another great build! Love the brown

[jamesquintin]

What differneces will make it into a SA GT..? Didn't the SA engines have a oil filter position similar to the MPI..?

[Ben_O]

What differneces will make it into a SA GT..? Didn't the SA engines have a oil filter position similar to the MPI..?

As far as I know body wise, they had special arches and the stripes.

The interior was different but the GT interior is staying for now as the owner would like to tackle that bit himself.

 

Wheel wise, I believe they had 10" rostyles but this will be having a set of GKN silverstone wheels.

 

You are right about the engine but this one is staying stock I believe.

 

Cheers

 

Ben