robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

The following thread is about my brothers progress on his Rover Mini restoration in preperation for his 17th Birthday

Please bear in mind he is only 16 and he started work on the first Mini when he was 14



So lets get started - at 14 my Brother bought this British Open Classic 1275 Mini (these pics show it after it was took off the road for a complete restoration);






This turned out to be a complete rotter of a car and had all the rust covered in fibreglass and painted over so looked alot better than it was

Ths car was not destined to see the tarmac again so;





And off it went to the scrapyard in pieces

So with all the good parts we could salvage from this car a new shell was needed;

To be precise a Cooper shell which should be a cracking first car;






And cleaned up with no snow;



So it was then trailored home and put on a trolley;




Quick mockup with the new panels;





Subframes mockup up and tested on car;




Still lots of work to be completed - new bootfloor/valances, new outer sills, full new front end then paint

And some of the goodies to be installed;


Oil cooler


Kad quickshift


SPi wiring loom


Metro turbo 4 pot brake conversion



Genuine sportspack arches


13x7" Superlights but unsure on colout (roughly mocked in paint before decision is made)


Ultra rear lights


Exhaust with choice of decat or sportscat


Lots of new panels;









Progress will be steady but not massive updates everyday

Rob

Carlos-Titx

Credit to the lad! A fair sized project for anyone let alone at 16! Fair play, hope it goes well.

Less.

best of luck he will certainly learn some welding skills with that project

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for the comments - I know my brother is young but he has a hell of a talent with these old mini's

The welding aspect is being covered by my Dad - he is a cracking welder and is teaching my brother on the car

Rob

jonny s2

iTrader: (12)

i love mini's to bits but they dont half rot

had one when i was 17, 1.3 MG turbo was quick,handled and fun

wouldnt mind getting another tbh, but would go extreme

good luck wi the build

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

looks like it should be a nice car.

erm one flaw in the plan.... insurance?? unless classic mini insurance is spectacularly cheap for 17 year olds, wont he be fucked with all the modifications???

Mister G

Great project, fair play, I wouldn't attempt it at 24! Good luck

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Insurance has already been quoted at Ł3400 so thats what he is going for. In comparison a 1.2 Clio is Ł6000 fully comp

Still dont understand how insurance works these days - ridiculous prices

Rob

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Cool first project, top lad

Minirotty

He couldn't have chosen a better first car!!! will follow this.

parkus

Fair play to the lad. It'll keep him busy like

Twins

iTrader: (18)

Nice project going there

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

fuck sake thats a joke.


are young drivers proportionalitly that much more of a risk now than say 10-15 years ago??
I thought a grand was expensive when i was 18 in 1998.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Nice project.Minis are cool.

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for all the comments

Well heres another update;

The engine is here but has not been rebuilt as planned just yet;




Also a good pair of doors were bought up (hard to come by these days), armed with these and all the other new panels the car was pulled out and the panels all mocked up in place;







The wheels are just what we have lying around with tyres on but planned wheels are 13x7" Mini/Superlights

Rob

Shilly

Is that a custom dash I see in the making ?

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Yeah it is a custom dash currently been designed and built up as well - we had a full one mocked up using a focus binnacle surround

Rob

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Well little update for today - rocker cover all painted up and smoothed, got some imperfections but looks ok for a quick job;




Also started cleaning the gearbox and few other bits and pieces ready for painting;




Rob

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Well more parts collected;

SPi fuel tank in order to run the fuel injected cooper engine

Metro finned rocker cover:



13x7" Superlites which need refurbing but came with decent tyres:



And some pics from the day the original Mini was bought:










And when we got it home and tidied it up thinking it wouldnt be a complete rotter:





Rob

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Well my dad and brother have been cracking on with sorting the boot floor - the whole centre section needed replacing so these are the inprocess shots;




Rob

Dejavoo

Great build looking forward to watchin this, love your car rob followed on the ffoc mate, top work all round

robbie1988

iTrader: (1)

Well another small update - the boot floor is nearly finished. Needs a small section on the LHS then is finished topside;





Rob