1985 Mini: rebuild ongoing (as always), 6yr update

We have considered it (it's from a mk2, i think a mk1 would need to be narrowed less). I think though it will be a later project, once it is on the road.


We tried in it the widend front end of my mates semi spaceframed mini(the green and blue one in the background having a VVC lump fitted), and in that it needed to be stretched!

Great work, this thread is a pleasure to read as a whole. Have to confess that I always favour a round-nose over a clubman but needs must and the world NEEDS more crazy-engined Minis!

Can't help but notice the enormous supply of Minis knocking about your lock-up - what's the deal? I'm suddenly hankering after a ruined old Mini to play with...

Bit of a mixed day today. Decided to do a bit on the cosmetics side.

So, the boot was stripped and given a coat of satin black



But i broke one of the wires for the numberplate lights inside it so i'll have to order another set :doh

Then on with the front end. Spent a while trimming the remaining bits of the original mini it came off of and it now sits much better


Then needed to trim the front arches to clear the tyres. Came up with a cunning plan as well which worked out really well



Then time to attack the bonnet. 1st thing was to remove the inner skin as it was rusty and flapping about. With that gone it was then time to sort out a few dents and scratches. This turned into a mamoth filling and sanding session and this was where i left tonight.

Hopefully no more to go on, just needs the final rubdown before the paint goes on

Big progress this evening thanks to Gaz, Owen and James (Tinxy).

The repaired caliper is on, the 1st attempt at bleeding the brakes (not very sucessfull sadly Keith is going to crack this on Monday with some new cooper S rear cylinders to replace the 8.4's). The front end has been bolt checked, the low pressure pump is now bolted in place, and the overflow from the swirl pot was re-routed to the tank breather.

So it was time for the 1st drive :-D backing out of the lock-up, hmmm, what that smell................petrol! :shock: was leaking from the tank overflow. with the aid of a better hose clip and some gaffer round the outlet, it was fixed well enough for the test run.

So fired back up, still running lumpy, after much head scratching Owen remebers when it did something similar when he had it "bet the plugs have fouled from when running without the airflow meter". Sure enough the plugs where black. New set in and purring nicely (well, once the leads where back on the right plugs :lol:)

The 1st drive was pretty sort, party due to the lack of brakes, but also it was grounding out all over the place But a couple of squirts on the loud pedal and boy does it go

And to celebrate when we put him away after wards, he dumped 1/2 ltr of coolant on the floor (new thermostat gasket needed)

only one pic at the mo, but gaz got a couple of vids which should be up soon

Ya bonnet's open!

a productive few days up at the lock-up

Keith has sorted the brakes so i now have a pedal (and not a bad one at that) and i have made some progress on the cosmetics too

On Tuesday i cracked on with prepping the front end for paint , stone chipped the lower valance and got the red (with flake) on the tops of the wings




A few bugs decided that they wanted to be apart of the paint job, but due to how hot is was and the speed at which the paint dried it was pretty hard when the landed and i was able to just brush them off ;D

Then today it was time for the black




went on well and i am pretty chuffed with it. then on with it and the grill and side light/indicators



and on with the bonnet




Then it was time to sort the water leak. Armed with a new seal, Owen set too it and it was soon leak proof again

With it all warmed up, it was time for the road test

Didn't go as planned the cam timing was out by 3 teeth so it died on any more than about 1/4 throttle.

back to the lock up, cam re-timed and ready for test drive mk2. This time it went very well :-D The only torque steer was pulling off in 1st when the wheel span up, but as soon as it had traction, it pulled dead straight And it does go rather well ;D

So now it is back in side and crack on with all the remaining job before it can hit the road properly.

Gaz should have the vids loaded soon as well

Well, a bit of progress over the last few days

Managed to get my head round most of the Vaux dials wiring loom, no where near as easy to follow as a mini diagram. so I now have a set of tigra dials with working rev counter, fuel gauge (albeit backwards so need to reverse the plugs at the sender), temp gauge (but that did seem to warm up quick, will have to investigate further when on the road and a bit more clearance around the sender), main beam tell tail and no charge tell-tail (alternator). Just can't find the oil pressure wire from the engine loom and get the indicators or dash ilumination to work. but I have ways around those so that isn't a big prob.

Also made up the mounts for the dash pod and drilled the hole for the speedo cable and drilled and screwed on the bonnet pins

So a few more jobs ticked off the list hope to have the wiring finished soon and crack on with the jobs needed to get it finished for the road and track ;D

all on private property of course, just a very busy bit of private property

But in all seriousness it does still have an MOT from when I took it off the road, but there isn't that long to run on it and before I start using it I like the reassurance that it has been checked over by some one else and they are happy that the work I have done is to a safe standard.

That must have taken a bit, but thanks

They are quite addictive little things minis