Project Mini
Restoring cars isnt just for guys either!
1978 Leyland
Mini Van
1275cc bored out to a 1300cc
(originally a 998cc), 7/8 race cam, Weber
rebuilt ready to fit after licensing, Extractors.
Now has 12" Performance Superlights
with 165 Yokohamas (previously 10"
mags, as shown on this page)
Chapter 1 :: Initial cleanout ::
"The Mini" was my little hooner
when I was 18. I bought it as a 6 month
old, 998cc completely stock '78 van. I replaced
the head and then the engine with a 1275,
bored out to a 1300, 7/8 race cam, extractors,
twin SUs, and later a weber through the
dash. It went great for many years until
I 'fixed' the brakes (thats a long story).
Thats when it became garaged and I purchased
an LS1275 to replace it. The theory was,
take the disk brakes off the LS and get
this one back on the road. But the LS was
too nice to attack, and eventually it was
sold, leaving this one still garaged.
After competing in hillclimbs
and sprints in the Nissan, and experiencing
quite an expensive 'off' during a hillclimb
in the that car, I decided to rebuild the
Mini and make it my hillclimber and hopefully
a second street car.
Thus, Project Mini.
Project started back in
May '04. Delivered, back from being garaged
for around 10 years.
The engine
bay. One word - disgusting.
The initial
cleanout - a wheely bin and a half of rubbish,
rat poop, chook droppings and carpet later.
Seats removed.
The old
carpet on its way out.
13.6.04
The real work begins, drivers side flairs
removed, sand ready for rust converter and
primer.
Front
guard after flair removal and sanding
14.6.04
Rear guard after sanding and rust converter.
21.6.04
Its been a busy couple of weeks, but got
back into it today. Passengers side flairs
removed, sanded, roof and bonnet sanded
and rust converter applied to sills and
any surface rust spots.
Front
guard as delivered, broken flair and old
primer, used as a paint colour tester at
some stage, adorned with splashes of lime
green and purple paint.
After
flair removal, sanding and rust converter.
There's still a small dent in this guard
which will be removed next.
4.07.04
Frontend before primer/surfacer
4.07.04
Frontend after primer/surfacer
Front
right dent before repair
Ta da!
:) After repair and primer surfacer
4.07.04
The backend after small dent removal from
rear door, and primer/surfacer.
You'll have to excuse the spots in the picture,
some of the spots and splashes from the
wet and dry bucket :)
AND, I didnt mask off the rear window as
it was getting late and I needed to get
the primer on before it got too cool.. and
I intend to remove the rear windows and
have the panels filled. Anyone want to lend
me a mig? :)
8.8.04
With other projects on the go, the Mini
is making slow but sure progress. After
stripping down the Metro brakes (before
and after twin pot caliper shot above) and
having the rotors skimmed, it was decided
that new rotors were in order, so a brand
new set of rotors are ready and waiting
for installation. Finding a set of pads
to fit was the next hurdle, but I managed
to track down a set from a Mercedes that
needed minor modification to fit into the
calipers. Some road testing will see if
we need to trim any more of these pads but
they will have more pad/rotor contact than
the previous Metro setup, so its looking
good at this stage. .
Cutting out the rear
window fill-ins (Signwhite colourbond
sheet).
Turns out I didn't need a mig, the jigsaw
with a metal cutting blade did the job of
cutting out easy, and SikaFlex252 will make
sure they stay exactly where I put them.
After
rear window removal the entire rear panel
was quite weak, so I bought some aluminium
40mm T section which I secured with SikaFlex252
and clamped in place for 24 hours each side.
That sucker's not going anywhere!
Inside
rear, passengers side, showing close-up
of the aluminium T section SikaFlexed into
place and after sheet steel is fitted to
outside. I wasnt fussy over neatness inside
as I'll be padding the interior up to the
brace height with foam (to stop flying objects
in the rear denting the rear panels). The
T sections were exactly 125cm long and fitted
flush to the body for that entire length,
sitting just under the existing sill.
After
SikaFlexing the signwhite sheet steel into
place I secured with tape and chunks of
foam to get the snuggest fit I could. I
didnt have G clamps large enough to do the
job but managed to hold one section that
wasnt behaving in place with the help of
a few bits of timber, a body board, junk
lining the garage.. and the side of the
garage... hey it worked :)
Passengers
side done, driver's side was still curing.
On the
"Mini" trailer heading for Perth.
Engine rebuild and brakes coming up! I'll
finish the body and paint when it gets back.
I hadn't started on the doors as I want
to remove the handles and mirrors, which
means pulling off the interior door trim.
I only want to do that once, so project
paint will be the priority when the mechanicals
are sorted.
