1979 Mini - Now painted!

[dggp]

I bought this around 2 years ago and its sat rather unloved and untouched in a corner of the workshop...






Decided to drag it out today and decide what I want to do with it. It was last on the road in 1990 and is actually pretty solid although I'm sure those will be famous last words! Not exactly sure what to do with it at the moment.

It's either:

A) sell it and buy something a bit more modern to go and play on a track with

B) Put a really clean and shiny 1275 in it, make it go as quick as i can but leave it as a sleeper... looking exactly as it is and then play on a track with it

C) Full resto and make it look like a mk1, again with a 1275 in (if i can find one) but caged and a fairly minimal interior.. then go and play in it


turning 30 this year so hoping to go on a few track days and have a bit of fun, last did it when i was 21 and it's been way too long!

[Ryannn]

That looks great! I'd leave it as it is and just drop a 1275 in. Cars like this are only going to go up in value over a MK1 replica!

[goingfinn]

/\ as above.

It makes a nice change to see something else other than a mk1 rep.

Personally, I'd tidy it a touch and put in that 1275

[philsford]

I need a set of those seats for my resto. Let me know if you decide your not using them.

[dggp]

I think there's every chance i won't use them, i think whatever i do it will end up with buckets in it instead. If i get it out the car I'll see how good it is.

I'm leaning towards swapping the engine, upgrading brakes ans suspension and leaving it as it is, although there are quite a few patches of bare metal where the previous owner has had a bit of a mess with it so i need to tidy those up. Although I've always wanted to practice vinyl wrapping so that could be an experiment to try.

The only thing i really dislike is those rear lights! Massive fan of the mk1 back lights. Oh and if anyone know's of a 1275 going for sale let me know. I've watched plenty on ebay and they seem to sell before the auction ends. guessing people make a living buying and refurbing them which seems to push the cost up like crazy

[dggp]

Haven't done any work yet but i have put the car up on the ramp as I hadn't seen underneath it until today. I took some pictures but after seeing the underneath of this car I'm tempted yo go and buy myself a lottery ticket!

First pics are of the outside of the car. It could do with a new front end as it looks like it's been in a slight bump at some point, potentially why it was taken off the road
















I need to investigate this a bit further as its the only place on the car with a bit of fibreglass filler








I didn't fancy the dash at first but the 70's coolness of it is starting to get to me! so I'm going to have to keep it!




Although maybe not the bear skin seat covers!!!




Inside the boot is pristine and came with a few new parts






Finally I'll let the photo's of the underneath impress you with their beauty!!!















fibre glass needs investigating but there is an industrial looking welded panel inside the car so i think that was done aesthetically rather than structurally















Finally i think i know what I'm doing with it, I know most people won't agree but I'm going mk1 rear lights, mk1 boot panel and mk1 front grill and bonnet. Purely because i think it looks awesome and i really hate the square back lights.

Other than that i'm watching every 1275 engine on ebay at the moment, I'm also looking for a front disc conversion and a short shift kit plus a roll cage and that'll do for a while! Going to attempt to vinyl wrap the car as well so when i do I'll stick up the photo's.

[dggp]

It has been a while since I've uploaded anything about this project but its got to a point where I can share it. Only started working on it a couple of months ago and haven't taken as many pics as I should but I'll upload a few. Decided to restore it and just try and make it look pretty. not gone for a mark one conversion although it will have a mark one grill as I just prefer that front end...

and the smugness I felt before at how clean it was.... yeah... there was a bit of welding to do...














then it jumps a bit, I didn't bother taking any pictures of the front end going on or the prep work. just got stuck into it and never really thought about it. then after primer I took a few more.

[andy-v]

nice, will be be watching with interest

[BT]

Cool mini. I do like a mini.

There is a really inspirational car on turbo minis, very minimal but certainly aimed towards one style of driving. I will try and find it and ok you some pictures. Might give you some ideas.

[dggp]

Didn't get time to finish my update earlier but it is now in paint. Paint looks different in different light but it's supposed to be smoke grey. Really pleased with how it has come out. I need to order some better polishing compound when I'm back of my holiday but until then here are the pics. Only regret is painting it in cellulose and not 2 pack as trying to stop it reacting with the paint underneath has been a nightmare. even though I put two coats of bar coat on before I painted it. Some parts I took back to bare metal to stop anything happening and the bonnet I think I'll paint again as I'm not too happy with it but other than that its all good. Thoroughly recommend investing in some spray filler before the primer coats as you can get everything really straight then. If any one has any questions on painting I'll happily tryand help!































I'd be further along but decided to try and put the engine from a 1.7 puma in my old 1.3 fiesta this week. First car when I was 17 and as I'm turning 30 tomorrow I got nostalgic and decided now was the time to make it more fun.

[dggp]

Cheers Andy on the mini shout. would be happy to see some pics.

At the moment the plan is to fit new carpets and chrome work. Clean up and refit the seats and such and stick with the standard 998 engine. Ill put a few pics u when I take the engine out. The only part of the car not painted so far is the engine bay and it would be silly not to now!

[baggabones]

Love the colour choice

[andy-v]

wish i had the space and capabilitie to do some thing like this, love ya build

[samgreen91]

Awesome choice of colour, now you have the exterior to match that beautiful subframe!

[dggp]

Cheers chaos! One good thing about a mini is you don't need too much space. I only really needed the space to paint the bonnet and doors etc desperately otherwise I've worked pretty much just around the mini.

I'm looking forward to getting the car in the sunlight as hopefully the paint will look brilliant then!

On the talent it's just practice and a lot of 1200 wet and dry paper! Watched a fair few YouTube videos on anything I weren't too sure of.

Only thing I don't know about is the roof. I haven't painted it, just polished it up but there are a few little scratches and dents in it. Not sure whether a white roof would look better?

[dggp]

quick update, bought some of this




so that I could polish the car. Went over it with 1200, then 2000, then 2500, then a trizact disc on da which was excellent and finally I got the polisher out. In future I'd cut out the 1200 as I thought the scratches from that would come out quite easy but they have been a nightmare.

Overall I'm really pleased with the finish although a couple of faults have popped up. I tried to take a photo but it doesn't show up very well. Something keeps coming through the paint that looks like sanding scratches. guess its some sort of reaction but its only on the door and bonnet, feel as though I may have to take them both to bare metal but really don't want to! weirdly I can sand them out with 2000 and polish it perfect but after a few days they come back again. Can't keep polishing them out as eventually I'll run out of paint to sand!!! that being said though surely the reaction will stop eventually? If it does I wonder if I can sand it out one final time and it'll stop. really don't want to do all that work again. especially now that Winter is coming!

[philsford]

Any more progress? Looking good so far.