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Not made like they used to be!
After deciding that the half Mini shell I posted about previously was going to be too much work without dedicated facilities, Clare and myself went on a hunt to find another donor car for our project.

We found one on ebay.. so I took a trip to Croydon to hire a trailer and then we both, along with lil Charlie (our 3 year old lad) took a trip to Warwickshire to have a look with the prospect of returning home with it.

It didn't disappoint.. we got a few hundred quid off and paid £1,450 for it, loaded it up on the trailer and away we went. What was it? A 1983 Austin Mini Mayfair 998cc Automatic!



After getting it home, I parked it in the driveway at my ol' man's with the other 2 (well, 1 and a half) Minis:



With the London to Brighton run looming in may, we decided we'd better do something. The plan at this stage is get it roadworthy, MOT'd and do the run.. simple as that for now. We're the 3rd owners, with 55018 genuine miles on the clock and it's been off the road doing nothing for the past 12 or more months.. so decided the best bet would be to put it in for an MOT to get a list of the problems that needed addressing... and being a 32 year old Austin Mini, I expected there to be a fair few of them, especially as there's multiple patches of surface rust in various places.

We get a call from the MOT garage saying the car's ready for collection... we get there and joked that "it passed!?", to which we got the expected answer of "hahah no"... but there was a grin and a "but!".... uhoh!

It did fail, it failed 3 minor things!! These were:
  • Rear tyre below legal limit
  • Front number plate had peeled apart
  • Unsecured CV gaiter
WTF!? Was that really it!? Bingo! (Not sure many cars these days would stand up to that after being 32 years old).

Back to my ol' man's and quickly swap the 10" steel wheels over for the 12" Supalite alloys sitting on the white one... tyres.. job done!

Down to the local car shop with the logbook... £12.50 for a new front plate.
While I'm there, grab a stainless steel cable tie long enough for the CV boot.

From my ol' man's back to mine (4 miles away.. phew!).. parked up ready for the morning.

Next morning.. thought the CV boot would be simple just like most others... alas, the CV is pushed deep into the hub, so top & bottom suspension joints disconnected along with trackrod end... thankfully, none of the nuts nor the joints themselves gave me any problems. Stainless cable tie strapped up and (good job I bought 2).. broke the first one.. they're a royal PITFA without the proper tensioning tool.. but managed it with the second one using some long-nosed pliers and some patience. Push the hub back on, reconnect the joints.. ready for the drum (yes, it's got drum brakes front and rear, and no brake servo... makes for an interesting drive being an automatic, especially when the choke's on!).



Drum back on, wheel on... job done, ready for MOT re-test on Monday.



Clare bolted the number plate on later that day.. so now truly ready!

Sunday... Alfie, my step-lad, who's desperate to learn about cars and has already been helping me strip some bits off the white Mini.. wanted to give it a clean out.. so worked his magic with the hoover and some Aerospace 303 Protectant on the plastics





Monday comes.. back to the MOT station.. leave it with them and off home to do some actual work(!). Call from the garage an hour later, car's ready... result: it passed! Big grin

Car brought back home.. and Clare takes it around the block for a quick test with Charlie as he seems to love it too



Happy Days!! Big grin




Next stage of the plan... a service and a temp repair on the sump / sump plug as there's a nasty oil leak from there. I suspect someone's overtightened the plug previously.. so as the engine's going in favour of the 1293cc tuned engine currently sitting in the white one, not wasting time / money on the auto.. so hopefully some PTFE tape will hold out better than the silicon(!) that someone has applied before.

Once we're back from the London to Brighton run, it'll be off the road again over the summer and stripped completely for a bare metal respray, engine rebuild and then fully rebuilt as a show car.. as clean underneath as on top.



Cheers..

Ian
Nice, I had a '72 Clubman years ago with a few Cooper S parts bolted on, was a lot of fun to drive. Over here in NZ that Mini wouldn't pass our WOF test (warrant of fitness) as the tyres protrude past the arches.
Quote from Ian.H :


Looks like a fun little car Ian.. but looking at the rear axle, is that a rediculous amount of toe-in or is it just me ?
MrBean car Big grin
It looks like it in that pic Mike, but it's hust the angle it creating an illusion, the wheels are definitely straight Smile


cuprum, yup, same as... actually, just after we picked up the half shell earlier this year, Mr Bean's mini was parked outside our house:




Currently sitting outside my house is something a bit different:




The Flintstones car is off for a wedding tomorrow for a TV show over here (Marrying Mum and Dad or something I think the fella said).



Cheers..

Ian
What's inside that Flintstones vehicle? Is it electronic or internal combustion? Any photos?
Quote from Keling :What's inside that Flintstones vehicle? Is it electronic or internal combustion? Any photos?

There's an electric motor under the rear, albeit not very powerful apparently, but although the axle drives actual real wheels, what you actually see and what it rolls on is just fibreglass, so as you can imagine, quite easily damaged.

I don't have any pics of the inside as such or underneath, but if it's still here in the morning when I get up (can't remember what time my next door neighbour said he was on the road with it), I'll try and get some "interior" and underneath shots.

Should have batmobiles (new one and the classic from the 80s) here around Easter Sunday and a bit later in the year, James Bond's DB5 Smile



Cheers..

Ian
That's quite interesting to live next :-D

Fabrication is finally finished on my car, going to the UK on friday to pickup the car.
ECU and wiring loom are also done.

My clutch is being shipped today. Tilton twin plate clutch, will hold up to 900nm/tq, so enough for now Big grin
Only thing I need to order is headgasket, but we need to measure first what size I need. This weekend we're also beginning on the engine build.

Tried a car with a Tilton twin plate clutch before... It'll give your left leg a good workout! Tongue








I thought this is a thread on car #2 or 2nd. Cool

So here is my 1st (which could go off-road just as much as on the pic) and 2nd (bit farer)


Just got some new wheels for my car. Rear needs some wheel spacers still.




^ Sir, you won this thread. 6-speed manual or SMG?
One of the best street legal tires money can buyThumbs up
Not a fan of the wheel design, but love the size, R18 is a perfect fit for the e46m3
Awesome, gotta love BMW, the only non Japanese car brand I would ever buy.
The GTV behind the BMW is 1.8 twin spark, i'm right?
Picked up a mk1 1.6 turbo mx5 couple of weeks ago, won it on ebay for £1200 and was running a flyin miata voodoo box and msd sebring ignition controller but have now got it running on a Reverant MSlabs Megasquirt2, just awaiting on some injectors and intercooler before i turn the boost up and aim for 250whp currently it's running about 8 psi and is roughly 160bhp




Nice, good price for that! Building a turbo mk1 with a friend atm, also using Reverant ms2... when it eventually arrives.. been waiting about 2 months! What turbo is on yours?
Quote from _Rob_ :Nice, good price for that! Building a turbo mk1 with a friend atm, also using Reverant ms2... when it eventually arrives.. been waiting about 2 months! What turbo is on yours?

i found an ecu second hand that was unused for £500 including a bmw vtps that i've yet to install, it's running a t28
received this today which should stop it from smoking so much
Not everyone's cuppa tea, but I do like my drive way these days.

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In Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Love these motors... so we bought yet another one Thumbs up



1992 Rover Mini Sprite 1275cc.. grp6 arches (soon to be replaced with grp7s), 8Jx13" AlleyCat alloys with 195/45/13 Dunlop tyres.. some sports twin pipe centre exit backbox (about to be replaced this week with a 3-branch manifold and full RC40 exhaust (single box, no cat Smile ).

Needs some TLC.. but not bad for £2.5k. Engine will soon come out for a rebuild and bored to 1380cc set up with a high-lift cam kit, roller-tip rockers and a twin webber 40 carb setup.



Cheers..

Ian
sooo my ban was lifted,so time to present my new motor i bought a month ago.
2004 september 330 i Sport with 53K miles, half leather/half alcantara interior Thumbs up
dont have good pics yet tho Frown
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