196 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Hi all.

 

The next restoration is underway here at Mill Road and this time, it's a 1995 Rover Mini Mayfair Automatic.

 

This one is in great shape accept for some small areas and there is very little evidence of previous repairs which is always nice.

 

The plan is to strip it down to a bare shell, replace the front end, door skins, outer sills, lower quarter panels, rear valance, one step and then some smaller rust repairs to the flitches and inner sills and the gutters.

Then a fresh coat of BRG, sandblast and paint the subframes and then reassemble with some new parts where required.

 

Enough waffle, here are some photos taken yesterday of how it came to me

 

 

 

 

 

Although it came to me as a running driving car, the owner has removed some parts, particually from the interior which he has held onto and will be fitting himself when it goes back to him.

 

I made a start stripping it down yesterday afternoon and should have it down to a shell by the end of Monday.

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sam76]

Another quality job I’m looking forward to watching!
I find myself watching with great interest and picking up tips for my little one!


Sam

[floormanager]

Saw that one a few weeks ago patiently waiting its turn at Mill Road. 

[JXC Mini GT]

Saw that one a few weeks ago patiently waiting its turn at Mill Road.

Ditto, other than the obvious bits in primer it looks in good unmolested condition, just needs Bens magical touch to get it back to A1 condition

[Ben_O]

Today, I completed the strip down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All ready to start the panel work now.

 

Cheers.

 

Ben

[Viktor]

It is quite interesting to see how much work you manage to do in a day! That same thing took me months! 

[colinf1]

It is quite interesting to see how much work you manage to do in a day! That same thing took me months!

The difference is, Ben knows what he's doing, where we are just winging it!

[Magneto]

If it's in "great shape", why does it need so much new metal?

 

Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by great shape?

 

A car needing that much new sheetmetal to me is a rustbucket!  

[Ben_O]

If it's in "great shape", why does it need so much new metal?

 

Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by great shape?

 

A car needing that much new sheetmetal to me is a rustbucket!  

Thats the thing with minis.

Because they rust in the seams, and spread, you can have an example with what seems minor surface rust around those seams but the only way to repair it properly is to cut it all out.

That then ends up being the same repairs and panels you would need on an example with big crusty holes ultimately.

 

Unless of course you decide to just keep on top of the minor rust on a clean one and use it as it is.

 

This one could quite easily be made nice with some minor paintwork and a pair of sills but you would be chasing the rust forever trying to keep it looking nice.

 

Cheers

Ben

[MikeRotherham]

I completely agree with Ben's response.

 

I assumed that when he said the car was in great shape he meant in comparison to some of the others he'd worked on previously.

 

The car is mine.

 

It has done less than 20,000 miles

 

The car is structurally sound, the box sections i.e. the internal bits that support the external panels are in very good condition, with a few small exceptions Ben won't have to set to and repair those before working on the exterior panels.

 

I did debate whether just to have the front repaired and patched up which was doable but for the cost of labour and the future effort of keeping the rust at bay I thought replacement was the best option in the long run.

 

There is also quite a bit of filler on the offside panels as Ben will find when he sets about them. The car was in a crash before my ownership. Not repaired to the best standard and I used to moan to myself about it. My feelings now though are different, poor repair or not, at least it was repaired and not written off so I could eventually get my grubby hands on it!

Edited by MikeRotherham, 06 July 2021 - 04:06 PM.

[Ben_O]

I removed the engine from the subframe this morning

 

 

And also stripped off the components from it ready to go off for sandblasting tomorrow.

 

The rear subframe is beyond economical repair so will be scrapped and replaced.

 

The last part to come off the shell was the headliner.

Fortunately, this one came out nicely, something I've not had too much success with in the past

 

 

And now it's on stands ready to begin the worst of of repairs required which isnt actually bad at all. 

As the owner mentioned, this side has quite a bit of filler on it so that will be removed.

 

 

 

Speaking of headlining, I'll be stepping away from this one for a few days so I'll can trim the advantage over on the other thread as the headliner has turned up after a wait.

I'll be back to this one later on the week.

 

Cheers.

 

Ben

Edited by Ben_O, 06 July 2021 - 02:30 PM.

[pete l]

Why does this car have 2 radiator fans ?

[sonscar]

Normal on Spi/Mpi as far as I know.Steve..

[MikeRotherham]

It's actually got a carburettor. I think there was a period when they were swapping between the two but same body used for both.

Edited by MikeRotherham, 06 July 2021 - 07:43 PM.

[floormanager]

Why does this car have 2 radiator fans ?

Good spot, I'd not seen that - Doh!