Motors (Possibly a project log...)My '89 mini

This may be better suited in the project log section xD but i'll post it here first!

I thought i may aswell add my car to this forum (a la GOO style ) as it is always having work done and i try to take pictures of everything that goes on.
Before i start with its next stage of 'evolution' thought i would add what has been done to this car so far!

Its a 1989 Mini City thats had a hell of a lot of work and money spent on him, but only just starting to get to where i want him to be! ( Just keep changing my mind! )

It started off being plucked from a scrapheap...requiring major welding and an engine rebuild, luckily this was all done by a friend until he had to go to uni to which he sold it on to me....but thats another story...heres travis rolling!



When i got a hold of it, the welding had been tidied, the paintjob and seats added, and also most of the interior also. To which it was then sold to me for £800 with some 13x7wellers without tyres thrown in ( more on them later)
This is its first night at home in my garage, notice how over arched it looks! Running 5.5" wide wheels when it should be on 7's!



So the first bits i had to tackle were the wheels as i can't be seen rolling on these steelies! ( They were balding / illegal ^_^ )
I got them in a nice rusty looking state, and so took a wire brush attachment for a drill to em! Took me about a day to clean them all up.
Then a spray of primer and then white, a bit of laquer and bam, sexy wellers baby! Wrap up on yoko' a539's and we've got grip too!









Next to tackle was the...shocking interior, note my 'security lock', a 6ft long motorbike link chain



The interior was dirty grubby and grey, the best bits about it was the 12" Moutney Steering wheel, the metro recliner seats and the door handle set.





I bought some MDF and some black leather made a dashboard and covered the doorcards and gave the carpets a good clean!




This is where all my pics are a bit...in short supply, but in the mean time, i managed to get the rear metro seat covers, that match the front, sown onto the back seat covers
I fitted a decent stereo, 2x amps, 6x9 Infinitys under seats, 12" infinity sub in the rear. Also a car computer and a 7" touchscreen in the front. A centre console with security light ( turns on when cars locked and off when not ) and added a 3 clock dial set.
Enough talk, here are the pictures!










Since this time...(march last year) i stripped the car after my windscreen smashed on the motorway as it got everywhere, and have changed my plans once again! First start was bucket seats!






So this is the progress i have made so far on the dashboard front started life plain and simple, and i am trying to keep it that way!





Made a bit of progress on the flip front today, especially as it was raining!

 

How does it smell?

 

Currrently?

Of burnt fibreglass from cutting the dashboard. Also smells of petrol, but thats normal, honest!

 

What's up with those other minis?

 

Erm the black one, a mini 30 (30th anniversary mini ) is rotten to hell, theres holes as big as my head all over the front, while fixable will probably be scrapped, well the shell will be the car is being re-shelled into a newer (read: later) shell as the 30's are quite rare and wanted !

The blue one was from a couple who had given up their project as the company restoring it went bust, so picked up cheap, very very straight shell soon to be finished and sold on no doubt.

Behind that is a mayfair, painted shocking pink with white roof, has sportspack arches fillered to the body( seamless no actually being held on with filler) Is a runner and has been on ebay but not yet sold.

Best bit, and take in mind this is at my mates house, there are 14 minis there, and only 3 of which dont belong to my mate, he's got far too many and really needs to sell up!

 

I want a mini when I get my licence this month

 

PM me, that blue one is gonna be finished soon, the shell is super straight and its gonna be so cheap! ( Esp seeing as the body work carried out so far totals over 2k! and the car will be sold for probably 1.5k, i think its a bargain! and i'm not just trying to sell this for a mate, i was half ready to hand over my money for that shell it is so damn good looking and straight! Puts mine to shame.

I give my car another 2 years tops, so next 12months im saving and looking to builld either a mint shell, or buy a fully fibreglass one! No more rust = YAY

 

Whoooaa dude, brilliant stuff. I've always loved the idea of doing up a Mini. It really is just a chic little canvas asking for some maaajor moddage. The new dash is awesome, and that system is looking pretty immense. The only thing I might try differently is custom upholstery and interior trim. Pulled off well, it looks ace.

I've always loved the idea of owning a Mini. I'm sort of caught between one of these babies and a MK3 Renault Clio... whats it like to service? Is it expensive? Or are there a lot of after-market producers?

 

Its simple and the parts are cheap, its just damned hard to get your hands into tight spaces! This is why my fronts coming off, this way engine work is 10x easier, everything becomes so much more accessible and i highly recommend it.

If you can do basic things such as checking oil, and water weekly, greasing the joints ( rear radius arms, ball joints etc ) monthly, checking the points or rotar arm bi monthly etc, they can run forever! Mines taken me and the girlfriend to disneyland paris to newquay etc and not had a problem!

All the mechanical work attemptable by yourself covered in a haynes its easy.

Best thing is as you say its an easy blank canvas, there is 100 and 1 parts out for customisation a big scene and a great community.

Also its great getting waved at by other mini drivers

 

Sweet. I think I'll leave all major mechanical work to the pros (don't trust my skills ) though I'll quite happily do the small things, like changing oil, spark plugs and greasing up...

I can imagine the Mini to have a strong online community... are there a lot of puritans or are they all fibreglass happy?

 

I was referring to the fact it has no nose.

 

That's some major Mini choppage going on there, Stickeh. I like it!

 

Sirocco - remember do not mod the Mini until the warranty is up! Warranty voided on $500 computer is different on major vehicle purchase. Just a hint from a retired (mostly just tired) motorhead.
John

 

Well with the mini it makes you wonder sometimes, when a headgasket costs £10 for a set including all the other gaskets you need to change over ( and a lot you dont! ) and around 4 hours of your spare time, you cringe when it would cost you £160 at the garage for such a simple job.
Similarly with wheel bearings, its all really really easy. honest

 

i like the new dash, did you make it from scratch or buy it?

any plans for the engine? new carbs?

 

You're paying for the time, not the parts. It's not a matter of difficulty, but rather a matter of (not) wasting four hours of your weekend.

 

Though I do suppose, I struggle to find better ways to spend four hours...

 

Sure i know this, an hourly rate of £40ish is standard, and i understand they could probably complete it better than me, but when you work part time earning £250 a month, £120 on a headgasket is very expensive...

Plus you get so much pride out of it, you know everything has been done right and tightened up correctly, sense of acheivement, and you get to scoff at friends who pay for theirs to be replaced at over £300, or as i have known, to scrap for a blown headgasket.

A friend of mine builds them, he also does doors arches and full shells in fibreglass, he works for z-cars now who build space frame hiyabusa powered RWD fibreglass shelled minis capable of 0-60 in 2.8seconds....(and also vtec engined minis etc etc)

How gorgeous is this?:





Engine, well the gearbox will be rebuilt as standard ( helix ) with a nice strong diff, and maybe a longer final drive but we'll see.
The block hopefully bored to 1380 ( currently 1275 ) with a nice lairy cam in there, coupled with my stage 4(iirc) cyl head which has 36/29mm valves (again iirc)

It allready has a HIF44 carb and BDL needle so should be plenty for the 1380, might need an electric fuel pump tho...

Probably upgrade the timing chain to duplex or possible belt driven to cut out some noise and a lightened fly wheel would help too! think thats all bases covered and should get plenty out of it! ( hopefully arond 100bph)

Exactly the way i see it, i have spare time, i want to learn, what harm can i do trying it myself?

 

Oh good lord... that's what I refer to as a "rubber underwear vehicle." In other words, you had better be wearing them in that thing! And um guys... don't start with the kinky references as to latex or other undergarments!

 

The head of department at my uni, use to help his mates race coopers back in the 1970's, being a craft engineer he soon realised if you vent the bonnet better to increase engine cooling, he could then remove the fan belt, which drives the water pump. doing this gave the engine an extra 6-10hp but was only suitable for 3 lap sprints before blowing steam, he also made a pressure sensitive tank cap on the the water tank, this ment the the steam would blow there way before the steam pressure could damage the engine gaskets.

he also stripped out 4th gear to save that extra little weight on those tight short tracks, where acceleration counted. oh and higher tyre pressure in the back to make them twitchy in the bends.