Austin Mini restoration

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Donor car a 1976 Austin mini saloon
Work started the 27th of march 2008
Partially repaired
1st Day of restoration
The car arrived in my garage and I started stripping it down. Firstly by removing the engine, labeling all the electrical connections before removing them.
With the engine and sub frame removed it was time to start on the rest of the engine bay and the other components such as brake lines and wiper motor.
I thought I would try to list what I want to do to the car and maybe a list of parts to get.
Plans for the car
Some of the pictures that I have found on the internet that I am using for inspiration..
Flip front Tahiti blue Bling Bling chequer roof pattern
Starmags
UPDATE 16/08/08
Today I have been to work and done some work to the body including sand blasting the parts of the car that I haven't been able to get to with the grinder e.g. roof guttering, A,B,C pillars, boot floor and bulkhead.
Whilst I had the sandblaster out I decided that I had some suspension parts and brake parts that could also do with a once over to get rid of any rust.
BIG UPDATE
It has been decided to change the planned colour of the car from Tahiti blue to a deep metallic red/black flip paint. As (at the moment) the plan is that I will be doing the re-spray myself it has been decided that it doesn't matter what the paint costs (within reason).
ORIGINAL



chrome Starmags Ally cats white Starmags
These are some pictures that I had made from a member of www.theminiforum.com
I found the original picture on the internet and I asked someone on the forum to change the colour from the silver and added a black base with a candy red on top then I asked him to add a chequered roof and some starmags in both white and chrome.... as a bonus he added some ally cats wheels
This week I have been able to be do some more work on the car whilst at work. including painting parts blasted at the weekend and the two petrol tanks now both finished. Also this week I have repair the door and boot lid where the rust fairy's had been (sorry forgot to take pictures of these ). I have added to the list of things needed to source after looking at the parts after they had been blasted.
NON MINI-ish?????
Winter is just around the corner so I have been busy getting somewhere for the mini to live over the cold winter months as our everyday car needs to be in the warm garage. So as we no longer have a dog and have no use for an exercise area I am turning it in to a mini garage.
The original door was only big enough for a person to go through so I have taken away the door and fence to the left of it and made and fitted two doors so that the car will go in.
And of course my trusty helper was with me.....
Giant Update 19/10/08
After a few days in the garage screwing parts together I have finally finished assembling the front suspension and fitted it to the car. Next on went the rear suspension , wheel bearings and wheels, I had to adjust the rear suspension in order to make the body sit level on the suspension and then finally I was able to roll it out on to the grass. I had to steer it by pushing on the wheels as, at the moment, I do not have both of the steering rack clamps fitted. (please note the angels looking down on the car in the top right corner of the picture)
So now the car is stood in "the mini garage" and i will take more pictures of it stood there. CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES
A few hours later and the garage was clean and our everyday car stood in there.....
New update 30/11/08
I have bought some new-ish steel 5 X 10" wheels that I am now waiting to have the tyres removed and then they can be can ship them over to Sweden....
Before
I have looked on the internet to find out what they are, I think that they are a copy of Weller wheels called Jolly's
The plan with these is to sand blast them and re-spray them white and finish with a nice shiny clear coat. pictures of that to follow...
Today i have received my wheels back i decided to send them away for power coating as this lasts longer than ordinary painting especially on wheels so here they are in nice shiny white
After
UPDATE
I have added 2 new pages Wiring Page and Mechanical page (see links)
The wiring page is all about the wiring loom, from strip down and total rebuild including new parts and (hopefully) useful info to anyone else that is thinking of doing the same thing.
The mechanical page shows some of the new parts that I have created on the computer using CAD ( computer added design) and how they looked in "real life" .
Finally the long awaited chrome has arrived
Decision change again!!!
After countless hours of work on the glass fibre front i have decided to sell it and make one out of metal (see link)
Parts to source
.
| Rear sub frame |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Boot lid |
Supplied by member of
www.hundkoja.com |
|
Left door |
Supplied by member of
www.hundkoja.com |
|
Bushes all round |
Supplied by
plminis
|
|
Hinges to flip front |
Made See link here |
|
New shocks all round |
Supplied by
plminis
|
|
Rear wheel cylinders |
Supplied by
plminis
|
|
New brake lines all round |
|
|
New fuel lines |
|
|
Wheel arches |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Gaskets to engine |
Supplied by
plminis
|
|
Ignition lock |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Make new wiring loom |
Supplied by
Auto sparks |
|
Wheel Bearings both front and rear |
Supplied by Minispares |
|
Knuckle joints |
Supplied by Minispares |
| Hilo’s (adjustable suspension) | Supplied by Minispares |
|
Rubber cones front |
Supplied by Minispares |
|
Ball joints |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Suspension arm repair kit front |
Supplied by Minispares |
| Suspension arm repair kit back | Supplied by Minispares |
|
Wheels |
Found on
Ebay |
|
A panels |
Supplied by
Nottingham mini bits
|
|
Clutch |
Supplied by Minispares |
|
Valve Guides |
Supplied by Minispares |
|
Scuttle panel corners |
Supplied by Minispares |
|
Front wings |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Front panel |
Found on
Ebay |
| Bonnet |
Found on
Ebay |
| Alloy rocker cover |
Found on
Ebay |
| Clear rear light lens's |
Found on
Ebay |
|
Extra fuel tank to be adapted to right hand tank |
Found on
Ebay |
| Cylinder head |
Found on
Ebay |
| Front clear indicators | Found on Ebay |
| New seals to clutch master cylinder |
Found on
Ebay |
| New starter solenoid |
Found on
Ebay |