782 replies to this topic

[ed4ran]

got some more done today.

Started to strip the body,
finished stripping the boot lid
(those dam fibreglass cowboy body repair stupid people!!!)
Gave the roof one more coat (hopefully the last)

last night i stripped the center speedo that i got free
(and decided to put the clock back a few miles!!!) :fear:
It will go in when i rebuild the free engine i got with it!!
Ok Ok so it was only a 998cc but it turned out to have the same engine number as the one in Olive at the mo!!!! (strange that)





I think this could be a good excuse to get a CF smoothie bum plug :grin:
(but i think i should get some other stuff first :erm: )







The Bores on the free engine!!!! Dont look too bad i dont think!!!!

[supaflymini]

WOW!reading this has made me more optomistic for my rebuild. mines a mayfair '82 so it will bbe interesting to see how yours finishes up.also how the hell are you gettin free stuff!? :saywhat:

[ed4ran]

hehehehehe

Someone (on another forum) was having a big clearout and they got the front subframe assembly off of a 88 e reg City, and they got it just for the front disc brakes, so they had the rest sat in their back garden, and they just said it was free to who ever wanted it, so i got it, and while we where collecting it they showed us (me and my brother) their boxes of mini bits, and they said anything in these boxes you can have as its all just going in the bin!!!
If it was up to me i would have taken the lot (some of it was junk, but im a collector of useful items!!!! ), but due to parently intervention (the storage boss) i was only allowed the engine (and the clock was only small, so was the bag of electric bits, and my brother got some wheel spacers, o and dont forget the free fan!!!).

WOW!reading this has made me more optomistic for my rebuild. mines a mayfair '82

Earlier projects on here helped me keep going, and inspired me with ideas.
Any pics of your Mini? Will you be starting a thread?

[ed4ran]

Thought i might as well post some pics of some bits ive been collecting to put on the engine when the car is finished.











Can you guess what it is yet???

Yes, it is megasquirt n EDIS, (im just using it for spark until i decide if i want injection) :grin:
mmmmm electronics!!

[ed4ran]

Done a fair bit of sanding in preperation for paint!!
Nice and shiney!!!
Makes me just want to put a clear laquer on it so you can still see the metal (and tell when its rusting!!!)







Shouldnt be long till its painted!! :grin:

[minimatrix]

Excellent job, going to look stunning! the idea for your paint job.

Nice undercarriage :wink:

Wish I was more hands on, mine's with a restorer, just don't have the time or skill to do it myself. :erm:

[ed4ran]

Thanks,

just don't have the time or skill to do it myself.

When i started i didnt really know what i was doing.
I could just about weld, and i could cut stuff with a grinder!!

I just picked stuff up from watching lots of shows on TV (who says tv doesnt teach you anything!!)
and from reading on here of course.

I did have just about enough time (my summer holiday!!! middle of may, till last week)
to do the restoration, but then my brother crashed and i had to replace his front end which ate into my time on my car,
but at least i had something to practice on before i got too far into mine!! :grin:

Also one of the main reasons for doing it myself was cost, I dont know what it would be exactly for someone else to do it, but i saved alot just doing it myself.
and its really fun, although the neighbours (one over the road) dont like me anymore

[stormduck]

This is really sweet fella!! I'm loving the progress and excellent pictures you're giving! I take it you'd never sprayed anything before and am wondering how difficult you've found it? I'm in the process of rebuilding a min and have never done anything like it before, and seeing this i'm very intregued as to the possibility of painting it myself.

Also, how did you get it on it's side and what did you have it resting on? I've got to strip the bottom of the car and re-paint it and i'm realising that trying to do it lying on my back is going to be a mare!

dave.

[Pandora]

Hi dave well im ed4ran's bro and Olive has taken a while. We both hand sanded pretty much all of it just to keep the noise down for the neighbours, lol as for the painting it is quite difficult not to make it drip, the only advice i could give for it is to give light coats first and let it settle and spray some more. But we had practice on mine tho we used cans i found them easy to use. Have a look at www.minicooper.org.uk

CJ (Pandora)

[ed4ran]

Yeah ive found painting with the compressor not to dissimilar to paint cans,
only its easier to drip (probably due to the settings on the gun), but does give a much better finish. The first thing i painted with the compressor was the underneath, so it was a good place to start as no one is really going to see it.

As for rolling it on its side, we just got some carpet underlay from a carpet shop (rubbery and soft :cheese: ) free as it was in the skip and put that down and just rolled the shell onto its side onto that, its not that heavy and i even did roll by myself on a few occasions. I read somewhere that a stardard shell is about 130kg? Dont know if thats true, but 2 of us can lift it off the ground, just. The rear quarter does pop in a bit, but as you can see it doesnt damage the panel (pops out when you roll it back up). Some people put them on old mattresses which may be better, or sofa cushions.

Spent the last few days prep'ing the body, and if all goes well may start painting tonight.
Which will be great, because when its dry im onto rebuilding!!! so shouldnt be long till shes on the road. :grin:

[ed4ran]

just a little update.

Got some painting done, need a sand and another coat so shouldnt be long till its all painted, still need to paint the flip front and doors though.

t'other day had the nosey neighbours complain again.
boy do i hate them. :fear:




Yes i see the drip, there is a couple, they will be sanded before the next coat.

But overall it turned out excellent!!! am very happy (and will be even more if i sort the bad bits out) :grin:

[Jackman]

Thats looking really good.

[chocolate jazz]

love the progress to, cars lookin great :grin:

[supaflymini]

wow, again!theres no stoppin you is there.will post some pics up as soon as my camera stops throwin a hissy fit and works again.i havent been able to get really started on mine yet because the 'mate' of mine who said ''yeah you can use my garage and workshop'' has sold it.so afetr hunting around and finding another mates back yard is massive,we built a roof over it,boarded and boxed it in only for the furkin bad weather to come and blow 4 of the 10 roof sheets off overnite before we could felt it.(sigh...) :gasp: :saywhat:

[stormduck]

Coming along excellent fella! Cheers for the info! I take it it's going to be black?