1975 Mini Clubman

Over the past few months we've been slowly getting parts together for the mini ready to get it rolling. It now has a front subframe fitted with spacer type drums, a rear subframe with hi-los, + the hi-los to go in the front, steering rack and steering column.



With the new garage completed, it was finally time to get the mini under cover, so on new years eve, we put the wheels on, picked it up and put it on the ground:









Then rolled the mini into the garage:



Now we can get on with the real work!

We have a selection of engines to play with. First is the 998 A-plus engine and gearbox, then the 1275 engine and finally a 998 engine and gearbox. The A-plus has a terminally worn crank, and the mainshaft bearings have gone, literrally gone so thats only good for plates and brackets. The 1275 is in top condition, honing marks still visible in the standard size bores, rings all clean and free, crank journals all spot on standard, and even the bearings had few marks on them. The 998 had been sitting in a shed, but had the correct remote type gearbox for the shell we have, just that the previous owner had cut that off and welded the diff up to make into a rotavator

In short, we are using the 998 gearbox, and have been lucky enough to source a replacement remote extension and diff housing for the box. The diff in the A-plus gearbox was salvageable, so I stripped down both diffs, and built one good one with the later pot type joints and fitted that to the earlier box. The 1275 will have the crank and flywheel balanced and will be refitted with all new bearings, followed by a flowed and skimmed head, with twin 1.5" su's off a mgb, and lcb exhaust ;D

Here's the A-plus engine sat on the remote gearbox with lcb manifold and modified mgb inlet manifold:





Close up of the modified manifold:









We took it all apart and set about stripping down the gearbox and rebuilding it, and here it is going back together:





Being tested on the floor:



Then to the engine. The 1275 block was cleaned and given a coat of bright yellow paint:



and the pistons and camshaft sitting inside it ready for the crank to get back from being balanced:



The head hasn't escaped either. The ports are slowly being opened up, with possibly larger valves to be fitted? so that it matches the twin 1.5" su's

Yeah it was more rust than expected, but at least it is localised grot rather than full on rampant rust , the most annoying part is that someone previously siliconed on plates of metal over rust holes, and filled one with a tesco carrier bag in a structural part of the body .

The good part is more welding practice for me without the hard graft prep work for once ;D. Anyway, I've seen worse mini's with tax and mot

Yeah this ones sporting a new passenger wing, shame they haven't welded it on properly , but on the bright side that makes it easier to replace ;D. I had a look at it last night, and the drivers side has very little rust damage compared to the passenger side, so I can at least copy that to get the correct number and spacing of welds .

Now for a little thread revival on this one

My brother's now finished his gcse's, so had a few weeks free in the summer holidays before he started college back in september.

We decided that the next sensible approach would be to tip the shell over onto it's side on a mattress and scrape all the old underseal off the floors to see the extent of the rust.







A close up ofthe rust on the passenger rear wheel arch and floor:





After a lot of hard graft, almost all the underseal removed:









Suprisingly, the floor is overall in good condition, which make repairs much easier for us

While taking the underseal off, we removed some of the patches and the worst of the rotten metal:







Hmmm, got a bit carried away there ^

Blimey looks like a fair bit of work that. Love the fact that you can just tip it on it's side to work on the floor Brilliant. Proper weldathon!

i like the bonnet something different a smart looking project! if your after some parts i have been stripping down my ini, its not a clubman but still i might have some spares you need!

Yeah i agree is so easy to follow trends, its where sooo many parts are available from manufacturers these days many people find it hard to think for themselves in a way.

i admit i have also followed trend but am trying to do some things different as i go, e.g. polycarb windows, i went for alleycats instead of superlights. its just trying to change it that little bit.

The bonnet will probably allow you to get a better air flow to the carbs to be honest!

Looks like you're doing a top job of it. My clubman was sold to me as a solid rolling shell, that just needed a couple of small patches.... Next job is the roof skin!