My original Mini - My Project Log

[joshwa]

Okay, I've got a Mini City 1000, I plan on "looking after it", and plan on sorting out the paintwork / rust / etc... so thought I'd post a log here, although please be aware that a) this is likely to take me a long time b) it's possible I may sell it one day (so please no-one complain if this happens), and c) I'm not a mechanic so most stuff I do may be fairly basic...

I bought it in September 08, it's done around 56000 miles, and had the MOT done, and some welding done, including A pillars, boot floor, rear valance plus a few other bits, accelerator cable replaced, heating fixed.


Cleaned and waxed.

It needs a respray, came with 2 spare doors as both on car are rusted, and could do with the water pipes replacing, and a few rusty bits patching up. I also plan on doing a few bits and bobs to the sound and interior (dash mainly)... and may change the stock wheels for alloys.


Fitted Sony GT420U Stereo (has AUX and USB in and support pen drives and my 250gb HD) - Plan to mount 4" FLI speakers where the airvents are (these are cold air vents). I've also wired in some cigerette lighter sockets in the boot, and fitted a Kenwood tube subwoofer (will have to take some more pics).

Most recently I've been having a look at the surface rust under the grill and bumper to find...





and after some sanding:


Bigger pics can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/joshwa/Red_mini#

It all looks to be surface rust and I've had most of the rest of the rust sorted on the car previously (I got new a panels, new boot floor, rear valance and a few other bits)...

If I was to spray would I spray - anti-rust primer, filler primer, then colour, then lacquer? Or is there something else I should put on the metal to prevent rust from re-appearing?

Oh, and I want to jack up the car to get under and look at the underseal, is there any recommended way of doing this? I have one (hydraulic) jack at the moment so can only jackup one side / corner of the car.

Cheers,

Josh

[jimbouk]

Oh, and I want to jack up the car to get under and look at the underseal, is there any recommended way of doing this? I have one jack at the moment so can only jackup one side / corner of the car.

No no no no no. Jacks are for lifting the car not holding it. Get some axle stands to hold the car. Safety first!

Good luck with everything. I'm making a big long list for my car to make it a bit more presentable/reliable.

[pumpman]

are you going to overclock it ?

[joshwa]

are you going to overclock it ?

I may tune it - to eek out as much performance as possible from the 42bhp engine - but generally no, apart from maintaining the engine to make sure it's running as well as possible, I don't plan on modifying it too much (engine wise).

It has a new looking exhaust, but could possibly do with a new manifold - if I have to replace the manifold then I may go for a "stage 1 kit" (new manifold and a few other bits).

jimbouk - what car you got?

[jimbouk]

jimbouk - what car you got?

Bought a 1981 Porsche 924 Turbo a couple of weeks before Christmas. I've mostly got the interior and a few electrical bits to sort out as well as a general service at some point. She runs really well just a bit tatty round the edges (understatement).

I'll hopefully keep her a long time eventually get round to some more serious work on her, it's going to be fun and educational to do the basics to start with though.

I think I'll grab my sig from the 924 owners club and stick it on hexus now, slightly more fun than the standard list of computers

[KidChameleon]

Oh, and I want to jack up the car to get under and look at the underseal, is there any recommended way of doing this? I have one (hydraulic) jack at the moment so can only jackup one side / corner of the car.

Cheers,

Josh

On the subframes there are some flat patches, about in line with the centre of the wheels from what I remember. Most people use those to lift the car. Don't jack it up at any point on the floor or else it will buckle.


Minis are never ending restorations. By the time you've fixed one thing it will decide to break something else just to keep you busy.

[joshwa]

Bought a 1981 Porsche 924 Turbo a couple of weeks before Christmas. I've mostly got the interior and a few electrical bits to sort out as well as a general service at some point. She runs really well just a bit tatty round the edges (understatement).

I'll hopefully keep her a long time eventually get round to some more serious work on her, it's going to be fun and educational to do the basics to start with though.

I think I'll grab my sig from the 924 owners club and stick it on hexus now, slightly more fun than the standard list of computers

Sounds like fun! I was tempted by one of them myself as they're really cheap these days!

Thanks for the suggestions and tips Anyone know a better way to sand the rust / paint off other than using sandpaper - for example is there a drill attachment I could use or something specifically designed to quickly / easily take off the rust / paint off a car? Thanks again, Josh

[Moby-Dick]

~I used to have a mini a long long time ago

get a nice LCB manifold on it , pair of twin SU's and some K&N's

as far as the speakers go , pods on the kick panels work well.

[joshwa]

I've bought myself a Black and Decker "Mouse" sander - that should hopefully come this weekend so I can continue with the sanding / preparation.

Engine:



right: where the magic happens - mmm enginey

I've also taken off the rocker cover - as it was a bit flakey and rusty in parts. Now the only question is whether to keep it the same colour (black), or to spray it a different colour? Red like the car's body? or perhaps Silver? or maybe even Gold? any suggestions?

[MadduckUK]

not gold, i dont see you as the bling type. red like the car or black or gunmetal

[joshwa]

Well, I've done as much sanding (by hand) as I can stand to do today and I've made the rocker cover all shiny



Tomorrow, hopefully the mouse sander will come and I'll be able to spray up the rocker cover... I'm leaning towards red at the moment. Unless it's possible to leave it looking shiny and metally like it is now?

[Zak33]

if I may ad dmy own personal idea, as I was maintaining one for my ex long ago for 2 years, and while she loved it, and it was ok to work upon, one thing made life easier.

A removeable bonnet.

You see, its easier to SIT ON THE FLOOR with your legs crossed or even under the car, to work on it, that it is to bend down, and the bonnet is SO TINY that you cant get to the back of the bay easily....which you will be doing, a lot.

So look into rally bonnets and quick removal pins. Then that bonnet is off in 15 seconds and you just lob it into the hedge whie you're drying out the distributor

[joshwa]

if I may ad dmy own personal idea, as I was maintaining one for my ex long ago for 2 years, and while she loved it, and it was ok to work upon, one thing made life easier.

A removeable bonnet.

You see, its easier to SIT ON THE FLOOR with your legs crossed or even under the car, to work on it, that it is to bend down, and the bonnet is SO TINY that you cant get to the back of the bay easily....which you will be doing, a lot.

So look into rally bonnets and quick removal pins. Then that bonnet is off in 15 seconds and you just lob it into the hedge whie you're drying out the distributor

Ah, so that's what the plastic cover's for - to protect all the electrical things at the front from the wet weather?

At the moment the bonnets held on by two bolts/nuts at each side - can these be replaced by quick release things?

Unfortunately the sander didn't arrive today, so I'll just continue with the rocker cover tonight.

[joshwa]

Well, the sander arrived... but was broken so had to be sent back

Made some good progress on the rocker cover though:



Left, Sanded - Right, Primed with anti-rust primer.



Left, Sprayed Red - Right, Fitted back into the car

Once the sander arrives I can make a start on sorting all the rust. I've also bought some Hammerite Kurust to put on the rust: http://www.hammerite.com/uk/products/ps_kurust.html

And it looks like I'll need to replace the water pipes and replace the seals as it looks like they have a bit of a leak (hence the rusty coloured stuff on the engine!)

[joshwa]

Just a quick update - I've sanded the rusty bits with a B+Q Mouse Sander, and covered the rusty bits with Hammerite Kurust from Halfords. Next I should be able to fill any dents, and smooth ready for the primer.


Kurust liberally applied!


Kurust dried...

So far I've only been concentrated on the front of the car - I will need to sort out the rear of the car as well eventually. Every time I look over the car I see another tiny bit of rust It's like a never ending project - however I'm going to try and focus on just the front of the car (everything in front of the A pillars) as I'd quite like to be able to drive it!

[joshwa]

Started filling any dents and small dips in the body work. This is one of the bigger dents being filled (work in progress, will still need sanding and possibly a little bit more filling)



Spotted some more rust under the plastic wheel arches these are riveted on so it could be a bit tricky to remove without them breaking - anyone have any tips on how to remove them?