20 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

It seems like a long time since I have posted a rebuild thread on here. Well in fact, it has been a long time but plenty has been happening at Mill Road Garage and today I have a free day so have decided I'd share the refresh of a Downton sport 40 I have been doing for a customer over the past few months.

 

This car was purchased brand new by my customer in Geneva in I believe 2000 and started life as a Sportspack Cooper.

It was sent early on in its life to Downton for a limited numbers conversion which they called the Downton Sport 40 however the limited run of 5 cars was already complete so a one off conversion was done by them to this car.

 

It has that early Mini look inside with the centrally mounted oval speedo and a pair of low slung bucket seats, A look that I am very much in favour of.

A half cage and twin tank conversion was also fitted.

 

Further engine modifications were performed elsewhere after the conversion but the name of whom fails me at the moment. Ill check with the customer and edit later

It has a 5 speed gearbox also

 

It then spent some time with Lumenition as a test and development mule for a new engine management system they were planning to produce. I believe that this didn't reach production so this may be the only car that its fitted to.

 

During this time, the car was UK registered so that the modifications could be legal as ive been told that the European MOT in Brussels where this car lives does not allow for modifications.

 

In more recent years, the owner had decided he no longer liked the Downton styling so started to go his own route by removing the Group5 arches, 12" Minilight wheels in favour of 10" rose petals and no arches and fitting a pair of clubman rear bumpers.

 

This however left the issue of the front arches having been factory cut for the sportspack arches and of course the mounting holes as well as uneven paint matching following the earlier conversion work.

 

Here is the car as it arrived to me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, it is a very low mileage, pretty much rust free example but is in need of a refresh as its looking tired.

 

The brief was a simple one.... sort out the arches so that it can run chrome de-luxe side trims, fix the paintwork, and convert it to right hand drive.

Edited by Ben_O, 16 January 2025 - 01:07 PM.

[cooperd70]

Ben

Great write up...I remember you posting about this car over the past few months as the ignition system stands out in my memory.

It sounds like a very special car with all the trick bits of work it's had done to it over the years. The owner will need to write all of this up and pop it in it's history file {if he hasn't done so already}.

Looking forward to any updates on this one {as and when you have time of course} 😊

[Ben_O]

Before I could start the repairs, I needed to strip the car out.

The underside is very good except for jacking damage on the floor pans but the factory sealer is messy and we need to preserve this car so the uneven and for the most part, missing factory coatings which are responsible for these usually dissolving will not do going forward so it was decided a bare shell strip would be the best way.

 

So engine out

 

 

Interior out

 

 

During the stripdown, I found the interior wiring to be quite a mess.

Usually this wiring on the late cars is hidden behind a full dashboard and includes relays and control modules and these do not lend very well to retrofitting an earlier dash layout without moving it all.

This is something that unfortunately hasn't been done well on this car

 

 

 

 

I have a plan for this later on though

 

Once the car was stripped down, I cut off the front end

 

 

 

It is rust free so this was a shame to have to do but was essential to reinstate the full arches that have been cut for the sportspack conversion

 

I cleaned back the minimal surface rust and factory coatings from the inner wings

 

 

And removed the factory anti drum

 

 

 

You can see that I have straightened out the front floor pans too

 

Here was the jacking damage prior to that

 

 

Next, I started to mock up the wiring reroute using a centre speedo conversion from nippycars so that it could house the rev counter in a neater way than before 

 

 

 

 

The moves the bulk away from above to below which should make for a better finish of the trim

 

 

[Ben_O]

A strange shaped hole had been cut during its previous conversion to allow for the speedo cable

 

 

As I have a bare shell and can clearly see where the cable needs to sit, I can take this chance to tidy this up

 

 

 

And ill relocate one of the heater hoses so it doesn't interfere with the dash trimming later

 

 

 

It'll now come up through the pedal box blanking plate

 

Time for the new front end

 

 

 

 

 

I also fixed the door fit and a few dents to those

 

 

 

 

And welded up the surplus arch mounting holes in the quarter panels

 

 

 

 

 

And then stripped the areas that had been previously repainted back to bare metal as well as the new front end

 

 

 

 

 

That's the basics done

 

The car was originally fitted with a modified late boot lid using an early hinged number plate and number plate lamp

 

I got a new early bootlid and modified that to incorporate a new number plate light that has an inbuilt fog and reverse lamp. The owner did not want a hinged number plate anymore so that was discarded at this point too

 

 

 

 

Then into the booth for epoxy primer

 

 

 

 

Next job was to prep the panels for primer

 

The bonnet had an awful lot of paint on it so i stripped that back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shell then had a few small imerfections ironed out before being sprayed in high build primer

 

 

 

[Ben_O]

Next was the horrible job of stripping the underside

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New floor bungs were put in

 

 

And then I primed, sealed and recoated the underside

 

 

 

 

 

So nice to not have to do any welding on the floors for once

 

Next job, paint the bare bits inside the shell.

Most of it was in fine fettle and it did not fit the brief to paint it all so i just did the floor pans, one companion bin and the front builkhead

 

 

 

 

And then the engine bay had the same treatment

 

 

 

And that just leaves the exterior paintwork to do

 

 

[colinf1]

Great to see a new thread from you Ben_O!

 

Looks like your as indepth as ever with your repairs!

[bpirie1000]

Lovely work for a lovely car. Well done the owner getting it at this stage and doing the work required.

So many look and see from the outside that it looks o.k. and put up with that.. this owner is doing the right thing... in my humble opinion.........

Nice to see a retro edition - very jealous of the seats.

[Ben_O]

The next stage was to mask the shell ready for its final top coat

 

 

 

 

And then time for paint

 

 

 

I adore this colour, it looks both retro and modern at the same time to my eyes

 

Next up, onto stands for the rebuild

 

 

 

 

 

First job is always to run the brake and fuel lines so they were cleaned, checked and fitted

 

 

 

Mk2 rear lights

 

 

Then subframes.

They are both in great condition, however are dirty so I removed the radius arms to make cleaning easier and also so I can fit new doughnuts and go through everything

 

 

All clean

 

 

I then cleaned the front frame and fitted new doughnuts, adjustable lower arms and checked through everything

 

 

 

 

 

And then fitted the frames to the car

 

 

 

 

I also obviously fitted a new RHD steering rack.

As part of the RHD conversion, I needed to replace the pedal box as these are different entirely.

I was unable to find all of the parts new or second hand so I ended up purchasing a NOS MPI pedal box, a used complete late carb pedal box and then made up what I needed from the parts after they were cleaned and painted

 

 

 

 

 

It also needed a replacement throttle pedal as the LHD one is different

 

The brake light switch bracket is different too so I made a new one using one from another Mini as a pattern

 

[Ben_O]

Now onto the wiring and interior fit out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its so nice to have those correct liner cards in and all the wiring hidden away

 

 

 

And some nice new anti drum

 

 

 

Then the engine goes back in

 

 

more on the back end

 

 

RHD headlamps fitted

 

 

 

Doors on and wheels on

 

 

 

Then back in the booth for a roof repaint

 

 

Not strictly needed but looks better for the freshen up as it had some marks

 

 

Bonnet on

 

 

Rear seats, trim, new headlining and roll cage in

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that brings us up to date

 

Not a huge amount left to do really

 

Thanks for looking

Ben

Edited by Ben_O, 16 January 2025 - 07:36 PM.

[MatthewsDad]

That's amazing work! Really impressed.

[petey81]

Amazing work!!!!

[Chris1275gt]

Great to see you back again Ben. I can see that absolute top quality work is still your foundation. Really appreciate viewing these masterpieces. Keep it coming!

[JXC Mini GT]

Great work Ben, I remember seeing this on one of my visits, beautiful colour scheme.

[cooperd70]

Fantastic! I miss these through posts with pics. Amazing work as always 😊

[Blumeanie]

Amazing work!

Thank you for taking the time to post all these beautiful pictures! (I learn a lot from seeing minis torn apart as I do not have any minis anywhere near me!)