664 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

grrrr, still no rear pockets but...

I think i have got a bit of a bargain here...



Set of brand new charcoal wood door furniture, for the princley sum of £15

Seperatley, they come to over £120!

Should go well with a charcoal dash and maybe door cappings.

More news on the car too... Rear arches are in, valance is going on and a small patch in the boot floor has been done. I need to buy some valance closing panels? aswell, so it gives me a good excuse to go up and see how the car is progressing, so some pics should be posted soon.

Also, Jimmy (the guy who's doing the car) said he hopes to have the car back to me before the end of the year!

I'm getting excited now

[Jordie]

tell him to stop making airplanes at the tynemouth mini club xmas dinner and start doing some work on your car!

[M44K TS]

i'll crack the whip when i drop off the closing plates

[M44K TS]

Wahey!

Progress!

Received the MPi rear pocket inserts today, just need a quick clean and should be ready to fit.




Also, went and bought a pair of rear valance finisher panels and fingers crossed, should be the last bits needed to finish the bodywork (apart from maybe a new bonnett and bootlid)




I'll be dropping the panels off in the morning and i'll also take a few pics of how the actuall bodywork is coming along.

[M44K TS]

Well, went to drop off the valance panels yesterday, that's all that's needed for the rear end.

Started on the front inner arches cleaning them up, there was quite a bit of surface rust which has cleaned up nice with a wire brush attatchment and grinder. (no pics of that as Jimmy was starting as i was leaving)

Doors are ready to go back on, then it'll be a case of fitting the a panels, then the front end.

Took some pics, but took them on my 400D and the lens kept fogging up because i had left the camera in the car overnight. Also, i accidentally hit manual focus on a couple of shots... Still trying to get to grips with the camera so appologies for the C**p pics!

http://public.fotki....esto/page8.html

There's still all the bare metal to clean up and then paint and also all the welds still need ground off.

The underside of the car will then be getting a couple of coats of a hard wearing chassis black paint, waxoiled then undersealed before going to the bodyshop next door to Jimmy's garage to have some small bits prepped ready for paint which should hopefully be getting done in Jan. I need to source a new bonnett and bootlid idealy as the original ones were showing a bit of surface rust and to be honest, i'd rather they were new and rust free.

Could be getting the car back by the end of next week with a bit of luck!

Also, received the bonnet gas strut kit from Simon at Minispares (Cheers Simon) They look very good quality and can't wait until they're fitted to the car.

[James182]

sorry i havent replied, its a clear one i think ill have a look and get back to you on that.

[M44K TS]

ahh the windscreen, forgot all about that lol

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Cracking Project mate.
Just read all 7 pages because i cant sleep, Sure is alot of money youve spent lol

[M44K TS]

cheers mate,, scary part is, i've got a whole load more to spend

Who's said Mini's were cheap!

[M44K TS]

woohoo, just won an mpi steering colum and indicator/wiper stalks on ebay, so it should mean i can fit my airbag steering wheel.

I'm going to have a look and see if i can use the mpi stalks if i can figure out the wiring or maybe stick with the standard ones with the original steering column shroud.

Incidently, is anyone breaking an mpi mini or does anyone have a spare mpi column surround?

Cash waiting

[NE-Matt]

This is gonna be a good un!!!

Interested in seeing how the column swap works out as it's a mod I fancy for mine. Think I'm gonna have to borrow a few ideas for mine like the a piller trims and the leather door pockets. Have you fitted the pockets yet?? I have the same door cards as you and fancied some of the pockets to cover up where I used to have some speaker pods screwed on, didn't fancy plastic ones as I allways kick em off and it wouldn't go with the vibe of the car!!

Look forward to the updates!!!

Matt

[M44K TS]

haven't fitted the pockets yet, i think i'll wait until i have the car back and then see what they're like when the door cards are on.

Thing i found with the plastic door pockets was that no matter how clean the car was, the pockts would always be dirty and they never had a good fix on the door either

Edited by M44K TS, 02 January 2008 - 12:18 PM.

[M44K TS]

Update, just had a frantic call from Jimmy asking if i had supplied a bonnet, becuase he didn't have one with all the bits, he wondered if he ha accidentay sold it!

But, i hadn't supplied a bonnet as i've still got to buy one.

Anyway, the underside of the car has been painted in the chassis black paint, as has the inner wings so he can now concentrate on fitting the front end, which is getting put on today.

Getting closer by the day now!

I might call in tomorrow, (work permitting) and see how things are going.

[axmini]

i just decided to spend a bit of time reading your project

and my i say its going to be one lush car when its done just a shame its taken so long for the work to be done but perfection cant be rushed and you'll be so much happier when it comes back done without being rushed

ill check back to see then finished results

[M44K TS]

cheers, i'm itching to get it back, beleive me!

As soon as i get it back, i'll get a load more pics of it. I'll also try and get it booked in for paint asap, then the rebuild can start properly, or maybe i should do the electrics and a few mechanincal jobs done before paint?

Hmm, i think i'll need the front and rear brakes sorting, i have new brake pads, the discs are fine as they were only on the car for a couple of thousand miles before it came off the road.

The back brakes will need a full going over though, as first, they were seized on, then after i got them free, they seized open.

Might give the rear subframe a good coat of some hardwearing rustproof paint aswell, that too was put on before the car came off the road and had only seen 200 miles, if that. Anyone got any reccomendations for a decent paint for the rear subframe, radius arms etc?

Would it be wise to have the brake lines renewed aswell? As far as i know, they are the originals, and the car only had 43k on when i bought it in 2001, and it only on 63k now, and i haven't had any renewed.

Other than that, it needs the diff, cv joints, etc etc checked over as the last time i took a sneaky drive to the top of the street and back, there was a strange whiping/snapping sound under acceleration.

Once that's sorted, then i can get the car serviced, then the 4pots fitted with the braided hoses, the hi-lo's fitted and a new set of cones all round, as the fronts have sagged a bit.

I should really make a big list so i know exactly what needs doing.