110 replies to this topic

[Damien]

Hello,

As you have probably seen in the topic where I’ve introduced myself, I’m restoring a Mini based kit-car called Mosquito (some of you probably know that car but with the name of Triad, but it’s the same car.)
I bought that car from my English friend Chris, about 3 years ago.
You’ll see here the different steps of the restoration …


Here is the Mosquito when my mate Chris bought it, back in 2002 I think. It wasn’t that bad after being stored for 11 year in that garage...




The Mosquito is complete, there’s nothing missing. Exhaust pipes are quite rusty and we can recognize the Mini MkI rear lights.



The interior is a bit small but the two small bucket seats give the game away. The interior is very simple.






The engine bay shows the little 850 A series.



Only the spare wheel has got space in the boot, near the petrol tank.



The frame is very rusty, like the wheel.





Here is the Mosquito, in front of Chris’ garage.



The bonnet took off when crossing a lorry on the road! As you can see, another lorry was following the Mosquito… The bonnet was completely broken, with no possibility to buy a new one at the local Mini shop! So, Chris made one by himself…



The back of a washing machine will do the job…




And a square of metal sheet found in a scrapyard will do the rest!!



With a little cutting…



And here is the brand new bonnet! As the bonnet need to be painted, Chris changes the colour of the Mosquito: red.




This picture shows how low is the Mosquito



To be continued...

Damien

[Bungle]

so how much work is needed ?

[miniman86]

i havent seen one of them before, nice to see something different!! good luck with it!

[Feeble]

It looks happy!

[Mini 360]

i havent seen one of them before, nice to see something different!! good luck with it!

Its different all right! Its kinda cool and Quirky nice one mate!

[Bobby9779]

Thats awsome, looking forward to some more pics.

Very different

Bob

[Retro_10s]

I've only seen one of these and it was at a mini show.... Lovely and quirky. I love the interior, the front is great... I think the front end would look even better with 2 wheels behind instead of one.

But crikey those are rare mate!!!.

Definatly a topic to watch.

[minivanman]

Very nice. I think smudger has one? What are the plans for it?

[Damien]

I've searched on the forum.

Smudger has a Chris Hollier Mosquito, which is the same than the green little buggy, it's completely different from what I have

My plans for my Mosquito: a complete restoration




The story continues....


Chris didn’t like the rear lights from the Mini MkI. They will be changed for simpler lights.








As the red colour wasn’t enough, some grey flames are painted on the front end of the car…









Here is the Mosquito, finished. Chris used it daily for 6 months even when the weather was bad, which does not happen often in Uk





It’s at this time that I arrive in the story of the Mosquito. At this moment, I was working in Uk since two months and Chris was my flat mate. During those two months, I asked for him to sell me the Mosquito. Chris didn‘t want to sell it, unfortunately.
One night, I was coming back from work, and I saw the Mosquito in the middle of the street, in a bad condition. Children had destroyed it, as you can see on the pictures bellow.
When Chris saw that, he told me: « You’ll probably be happy, I don’t want it anymore, if you want it, it’s yours for £400 » It didn’t take me that long to answer « YES! »




To be continued...

Damien

Edited by Damien, 08 December 2006 - 10:00 AM.

[Retro_10s]

interesting story!.... like the way it looks like it's painted with the original 1275 engine block 'matt primer red' finish lol

[Damien]

A few weeks later, I came back to England with my father to pick it up. I was as excited as a child in front of the Christmas tree…







Here it is! The Mosquito has arrived in France and I quickly started working on it.





I like the following pics. It looks like a giant Lego game…





As you can see, the chassis is very simple. I noticed some weak points that I’ll have to repair.





Long job: the floor is gonna be off soon!





Damien

[Damien]

Hello,

Chassis and front frame are split









Chassis is repaired and reinforced in some points.





Then, it’s sandblasted and painted in « primer » (is it the right word?)



It‘ll be the same for all the parts



By the time, I decided to make a kind of boot behind the seats.




A new battery box is built as the old one is too rusty.



To be continued...

Damien

[cowboy]

looking good

do you have any pictures of the whole exhaust system. i like the exhaust

[Damien]

And then, I started painted the chassis and the rest of the parts…



















When finished, the Mosquito will completely change. The exterior colour will be the « Opalescent Silver Grey » from the E-Type Jaguar, the interior will be in red leather. The dashboard will be covered in alloy (I don’t know the name in English but when you look at it, it makes circles).
The floor will be made with quality red carpet, and the steering wheel will be a woody one, Moto Lita.
For the exterior, the rear window behind the seats will be removed, like the windscreen,. This will be replaced by two Brooklands aero-screens. Very British! It won’t have anymore doors or hood, just a tonneau cover.
The wheels will be changed to Cooper S reverse rims in 4,5 », painted in Old English White with A032R Yokohamas…

Edited by Damien, 09 December 2006 - 10:05 AM.

[Damien]

Yes, on the first picture you can see the the front part and the junction with the manifold



On the second picture, you can see the complete exhaust



Damien