34 replies to this topic

[Magneto]

My partner found this in a garage less than 5 miles from his house and we bought it on the spot, it's been off the road for at least 11 years. Prior t that it was imported to England in 1980, and that's when the steering and controls were moved over. Today it was delivered to my house and we put it up on the lift to see what we have gotten into.....so far I'm a very happy camper. The car is as straight as I've ever seen any Mini, and appears to be completely original, no panels replaced, original paint and a few period accessories like the Abarth steering wheel and Cromodora wheels - the car even came with the wheel lock key!

 

Once we got it on the lift first thing we did was put a battery in it to see if the engine was stuck, it cranked over so we took the plugs out and cranked it - oil pressure came up quickly and it held 50lbs on the starter motor - a really good sign. I removed the awful driving/fog lights, incorrect grill and skid plate so I could check it over further. 

 

Tomorrow I'll clean the carbs up and hook up a small gas can and see if it will start. More as it happens......  WP_20181030_13_21_53_Rich_LIR.jpg   184.5K   80 downloads

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[timmy850]

It's a great looking base to go from!

[Vinay-RS]

Good luck on the resto, looks like a lovely example. 

[Magneto]

The Innocenti arrived and it's even better than I thought.....straight as can be, original paint and panels - no oversills! It has a few period accessories like the Abarth steering wheel and Cromodora wheels.
First thing we did once we got it on the lift was put a battery in it to see if the engine was stuck. It cranked, so I pulled the plugs and cranked it over - oil pressure came up quickly and it carried 50lbs just on the starter! Tomorrow I'll clean out the carbs and see if I can make it run!

[1293gt]

Beautiful looking car.

In my opinion the Innocenti is the best looking roundnose Mini ever made!

[Magneto]

I needed to pull the fuel tanks but there were locking gascaps, and even tho I had the keys I could not make them unlock, so I went medieval on their ass and took the Dremel to them. I cut off the outer chrome, prised off the center cap and with a screwdriver I was able to tturn the right one and it came off. The left side wasn't having any of that and I wound up getting my big drill out and drilling the center - in the end I won over that one too! With the caps off I removed both tanks and sent them off to the radiator shop to be cleaned and coated inside.

 

The fuel sender is a Jaeger unit and it was toast too and I have little to no hope of finding a new one, but I found a place here in the states that claims to be able to rebuild it like new so I sent it off to them.

 

I also pulled the fog lights off as they were mounted on some pitiful steel strapping, and I removed the incorrect grill. by the way, I'm looking for a proper Innocenti grill if anyone has one or knows of one. I removed the sumpgaurd, and I found a correct Innocenti one to replace it.

 

Next up, I'll drop the front subframe and separate the engine from it. I'll mount the engine in my engine stand and see if I can make it run. I'll strip the front and rear subframes and send them out to be blasted and powdercoated.

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Edited by Magneto, 02 November 2018 - 07:27 PM.

[Magneto]

I pulled the engine and got it mounted into my engine stand, I'm going to see if I can get it to start and run on the test stand before I tear it down, if it sounds good enough and has good compression I'll just pull the head and have unleaded seats installed and a good valve job and put it back together. If it makes noises it shouldn't I'll know I'm in for a bigger job.....

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[yeti21586]

I Iove innos, this looks awesome

YetI

[InnoCooperExport]

Late to the party but always great to see an Inno project. I am sorry to say I am slightly suspect of the shell being an original Inno shell though, mostly by the bonnet hinges. 

 

It looks like your shell has the hinges towards the inner wings like most Mk3 onward British built shells, Innocenti however kept the inboard hinge location as used on the Mk1 and Mk2 Minis. Here's a picture of my 1300 Export showing the bonnet hinges sticking up more toward the middle of the firewall. 

 

 

That being said it's a cracking little project and only the real anoraks (such as myself) will be able to tell it from a factory Inno. Everything else looks like it's proper Inno gear, even the seats which are incredibly hard to find (I've been on the hunt for at leat 3 years now). Sourcing the correct grille can be challenging but they do pop up every now and then, though they will often need repairing. 

 

I really like your engine test rig, wish I had one to test and run-in my engine after rebuilding...

 

Looks like it will be a cracker when it's done, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. If I don't know the answer I'm sure I know someone who will!

[Cooperman]

I loved the Inno 1300 Cooper Export which I restored a few years ago. I wish I still had it!

Like yours, mine had been converted to right-hand-drive and there never was a RHD Innocenti as it was not allowed under the licence agreement with BMC. The good news is that it is very simple to convert it back to LHD as the wiring loom just switches over without modification. 

You can find the correct wheels if you look hard enough. 

If you would like some detailed photos of mine PM me your personal email address and I'll send some.

Good luck with your lovely project.

[Magneto]

Thanks to all who have commented, all comments/thoughts/ideas are appreciated. We build our cars to use, not as museum peices so while we're trying to make it as nice and accurate as possible, our focus is on making it fun to drive again.....I put about 5,000 miles a year on my classic Racing Green Mini so we like to drive them!

 

I'm OK with the Cromodora wheels and Abarth steering wheel, I look at them as period accessories, so I don't feel the need to change them.

 

We talked about getting some Dunlop Aquajet tires for the period look, but we decided just to go with A008's....we're spending a ton on the refurbishment anyway, have to be mindful of the budget.

Edited by Magneto, 06 November 2018 - 04:50 PM.

[Magneto]

Made some more slow progress today......got the intake and exhaust mounted. I had to rethread the holes in the head and the studs. I had to convert it back to the original oil pressure pipe as there was no place to mount the oil cooler in my engine stand. I dug around in my old parts and found a working starter, I don't know at this point if it's any better than the one on the car, but that one was toast, hopefully this one will work better.

I also had to install my spare alternator as the Inno is wired differently. I had to make some mods to the dist drive, it was buggered up , now it fits just fine. Tommorow I'll get it all wired up and plumbed, run compression and see if it will start.

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[Magneto]

I placed a BIG order with MiniSpares tonight, tires, exhaust, steering rack, lots of suspension bits, seat belts, Monza gas caps, new cones and on and on. I stripped the front subframe and I'll do the rear tomorrow, then both are going to be blasted and powdercoated.

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[Magneto]

A bit of luck, my partner found a mint Innocenti grill. There's a guy in Croatia that seems to have stocks of Inno parts he's selling if anyone needs something send me a PM and I'll share his contact info.

 

 

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[Magneto]

Got a little more work done on the Innocenti, got the rear subframe out and mostly stripped and tomorrow I'll get it cleaned up and off to the blaster/powder coater. Like the front subframe, it looks in great shape, no rust or damage anywhere that I can find.

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