hullo all, so after spending a few hours on ebay and crawling the web, I have come to the conclusion that a mini would be an ideal summer project, and an opportunity to learn more about car repairs in general...as there are quite a few people on here who own minis and even some who have fixed them or had them as project cars (slater comes to my mind...) I was hoping that I would be able to get some more info on this, if it is specific information or more general!! the kind of questions that are going through my head are along these lines: - how much ought I spend on a first mini (if I am looking at getting a pre rover mini, that I could slowly get back on the road) - what should I look out for? ie. is it better to invest in a mechanical or chassis sound mini?? if the mechanics (enginge, clutch, gearbox, etx.) are sound, but the chasis needs work on it, would 2 years of welding experience be enough to have a go at doing this work myself? - has anyone had their mini resprayed, and if so roughly how much money am I looking at (iirc. Alex has had this done?!?) - should I look at other places then Autotrader, fleabay and local ads? - will I need many specialists tools, or would investing in an arc welder, and possibly a compressor be enough to get me started?? (my dad already has a fairly nice tool collection, and whilste he mainly works with wood, having angle grinders, sanders, bench press drill, plus all the standard basics such as spanners, screwdrivers?!?!) - is there anything else I should take into consideration seeing as I am completly new to this game?? cheers for any helpful info, links, advice or even Dont do it, as I will never get it done!!
I rebuilt a Mini during the summer break between high school and college (although it went on a bit longer than that ). I sold it 4 years ago and haven't had need of a car since, anyhow Ill have a crack at answering your q's Not really sure on this. I spent £75 on mine but it didn't run Sold it for £400 (roadworthy, bit rough around the edges, sound bodywork) but as I say that was 4 years ago. Prices do seem to have gone up since they stopped making them. Id say get one with a decent body, but thats just me as I prefer the mechanical side of things. Not sure as I resprayed mine myself. Its not exactly huge though The prep work is a fair slice of the cost so if you do most of that yourself beforehand it'll work out cheaper. The specialist Mini mags (MiniWorld, MiniMag, assuming they're still going) are a good source. Theres not many speacialist tools you need on a Mini. A MIG welder would be better for thin sheet metal work. Air tools are fun but not essential. Have fun! Thats what Mini's are all about
I'd love to do something like this but have no drive or garage so it's not really possible at the moment Can't answer any of your questions I'm afraid but thought I'd offer some encouragement, so here goes: DO IT (then post pics)
Look for the best body that you can find for a mini - I think that it is post 83 that has 12" wheels and disk brakes on the front as standard - look into what model you fancy, beleive me 4 off drum brakes do not work well, but looked sweet under period 10" dunlop alloys! Local Ads are generally cheaper than the Mini mags as enthusiasts know what hings are worth potentially...
I thought the main difference was that with a MIG welder you have the bonus of the wire being fed through the nozzle (or is that TIG) and the fact that as it uses gas the welds tend to come out very clean, and allow it to be used with aluminium as well as steel...then again I have not welded in yonks, so I am a bit rusty...just saw a basic arc welder for 50odd pounds on a tool website, stating up to 0.8mm mild steel, which I would have thought to be enough for basic welding of the floor, or other rusty parts!! ta very much for the info so far!
would that make it a Rover or an Austin? also anyone know what year the Austin's go up to?? for some reason I prefer the look of the old ones, but I guess the newer ones are easier to service?!?!
Ive just always thought of arc being better for thick stuff, and MIG for sheet metal. Its just the way I've worked in the past. It may just be because our arc welder was too high power for thin stuff
nice...hopefully I will shed some light on it, once I get a library card and can borrow a book I saw in there today on welding!! ...cheers once more...
I have a sneaking suspicion you're going to want to use MIG welding more than TIG, at least early on. MIG welding can be used on a variety of metals (as long as it's not aluminum) and can be used on pretty thin metals. MIG welding, you set the wire feed and penetration before you even start welding. The product will leave you with a slag-covered bead. You just have to take a wire prush to it and dress it up with a grinder if it's going to be visible. TIG welding, on the other hand, is done with metal rods and a "gun", for lack of a better term. The penetration is controlled via a foot pedal and the feed is controlled by how precisely you can move your hands. The product of your welds will look like a roll of overlapping dimes and requires no user intervantion beyond that point. In my experience, TIG weld is mainly used for thicker metals, but you can use it on thinner metals, but you have to be careful not to burn right through. Then again, the same thing can happen with MIG welding. Good luck on your project.
12" wheeled minis are bith austin and rover - the look that you are referring to is prolly more related to the mark... For the money that you are looking to spend, you will be in a Mk 3 upwards but you can make these look a lot older with a mk1 grill and lights etc - if you fancy some ghetto modding as well, fiesta mk2 disks and calipers can be made to fit under 10" wheels for the period look and is cheaper that £250 on specialist disks and calipers... I dropped a 1275 turbo from an MG turbo in and dear god - the disks went on after one drive as 100 bhp on drums is not to be recommended! Get Vizards bible and this will tell you how to tune the engine!
cheers for the info on welding, and the mini wheels!! is there a website, which will tell me the different mk's of a mini?? what about something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4643957052&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1 cheers once more...
Thats a mk 3 - you can tell by the shape of the grill, the shape of the rear lights, the internal door hinges and the wind up windows - it looks good, the 10" minilights are sweet! Do a google image search for mark 1 and mark 2 minis to see the differences - the problem with mk1 and 2 is that they have a huge price as they are very sought after. It looks like that one will need new sills, A panels, wings and a rear valance, not too sure about the colour either... Have a look into flip fronts - nice fibre glass ones that don't rot and make access to the engine much easier. There are thousands of arches available and my two penneth worth is group 2 arches are the best on an old 10" beastie like that! My first mini was a similar age (78 R). www.minispares.com is a good source of bits and the mags (miniworld and minimag ared all good)
Don't wanna nit-pick but that mini is a Mk4, Mk3's didn't have reversing lamps Wikipedia has a bit on the differences between the marks and when they were introduced. Didn't know Fiesta discs would fit though, have to remember that for the next one...
...bit of a thread revival going on here... well with xmas coming up, and me hopefully not being so poor anymore (pretty please santa !!!) I was hoping to have a serious look into this mini project once more, as I should have enough funds to get a mini and some tools to start some work on it... just had a look on fleabay and various mini forums, and on fleabay we seem to be starting at about 300 or so pounds, with the ones on the forums being even more then that...apart from local ads, is there anywhere else I should look? cheers f.
Try a local mini club but they can be more there... Local ads are prob the best, have you got a free - ads paper as these are great sources...
