Long term Mini project on hold - scrap, sell or store?

[metroman]

I have had my 1983 Mini since I was 13, so over half my life! I repainted it before I could drive and learned a lot working on it with my dad. At uni I decided that a full restoration with a student budget was definitely a great idea(!). Several years, 3 house moves and a couple of projects later it's still at my dad's as an unfinished shell with a lot of parts good parts. The shell is solid and hasn't got any rot but the work I did is not to the standard I now aim for myself and it will need redoing. Sensibly for me, this is new floors, front end and rear quarters.

My dad is now selling his house and unfortunately the combination of only having a single garage at my place and an extremely difficult neighbour means that finishing the shell at my current house isn't going to happen. I can store all of the parts and still have space to get around in the garage and shed to work on other projects but I would have to store the shell elsewhere.

I am dead keen on building the car when the opportunity is right and am looking at building up the engine, gearbox and subframes etc here and storing them until I live somewhere I can weld, grind and hammer. That would very much keep the project alive for me.

I have looked into storage and the best rate I can find is container storage (far from ideal) at £50/month. Sensibly I am looking at storing the shell for a good 2-3 years. £1500 goes a long way on a project and that doesn't cover transport costs or any value that could potentially be recovered selling the shell on now.

The numberplate does have some sentimental value so I'd want to keep that but otherwise is there anything I am not considering in thinking of selling the shell, and if I did, would there be any argument for selling it without the V5?

Talk about first world problems!!!

Any advise or alternative suggestions welcome!

Thanks,

James

Cool Mini because Minis are cool

[retroray]

I would keep it .... i wished i hadn't sold my clubman which was in a similar state and now I've more or less lost interest in minis now.

Could you not cut the front end off if it needs replacing? might make storing it a lot easier?

[Spudgun]

Surely the V5 and reg would be useless without the car?
Best option is to keep the whole car.

[skkylinedave]

Could you cocoon it up and store it in the garden ? Sideways in the garage ? You will regret selling it .

Any funds to pay the for the shell to be fixed elsewhere and then allowing you to complete the non noisy work at home [ assuming thats the problem with neighbour ? ]

[metroman]

Thanks for the feedback guys. On consideration I think you are right, it needs to be kept because I will just lose interest if it goes. Some lateral thinking and creative storage is going to be in order.

James

[skkylinedave]

When you think about it they do not weigh to much and are very small so can be shoved anywhere , even up in garage roof spaces , on top of stuff etc .

[jonsey]

As you have difficult neighbour the best plan of action is to get the shell in your garage and start grinding immediately. What ever you've done in the past to upset this person will be nothing in comparison. They'll be so happy once you've finished it. But seriously, if you sell you will regret it. I was really pleased when I sold my Clubman for £350 in 1996. I'm not so please now. You could put the shell in the garage and hang everything else from the garage roof. There's always a way

[metroman]

I do like the idea of just showing what real noise is after being yelled at for making too much noise while wiring in a plug...

The Monkspath Special is currently locked away safely in a very patient family members single garage. I think that if the nice GRP bodywork was liberated from the chassis which can be easily stored on its side in the garden it could probably be convinced to sit on / around the Mini shell without causing anyone any more inconvenience. It's not a small undertaking but I think it's the way to go.

Thanks for all the advice

James

[slater]

Sell it. It's not a hard car to get again should you feel the need. You will probably realise how much of a ball and chain these things are once it's gone.

[Ryannn]

They’re so expensive now that your only option is keep or sell, don’t scrap it.

I’ve got my old cooper in boxes, I broke it up when it was too rusty and I’m glad I did, it meant it could store it easier and I certainly can’t afford to replace it nowadays!

[bmcnut]

I agree with Slater as far as it being a ball and chain. When i had my dads cars in the garage they were the first thing i thought of every time i walked in the garage, once they were gone it was a relief and i didnt have the emotional attachment I thought I should have had. Memories is all I need.
However, This is YOUR car, your first car, and id do anything to have my first mini back, it would easily be worth whatever storage youd have to pay over buying a replacement mini in the future, which would never really replace the car you wish you still had.

[slater]

It's not a Cooper tho.

[Darkspeed]

Move on - no good getting hamstrung by nostalgia - if you were going to ever finish it you would have started by now - That amount of time just indicates a "one day" project - it's a millstone.

[nomad]

^ +1 for Darkspeed .
I had a rather special convertable when I was a teenager.
It was lots of fun for 10 years - then got put in the garage "to go back on the road next year".
After many years arranging storage and moving it around the country with me, I sold it on.
I regret selling it but I'm still not in a place where it would be back on the road so it was the right choice 

[GJUK]

Chuck £1500 at a good garage for them to get it running (less paint). Then park it up in your garage for 3 years until you have time to look at it.

It gets it out of your dads for 6 months - free storage.
No welding or grinding for your next door friend
still got the car

win win win.

[hkr91]

In my opinion, needing floors and both rear quarter, you'll more than likely need more. The effort and money you could spend, I'd be inclined to cut your losses and sell the shell, with or without ID. That's based on your current situation.

The last shell (with no ID) I sold went onto be built up for racing so they didn't need the ID (it had been mashed previously, had mounts for a Vauxhall engine and was missing everything bar the rear subframe).

I would keep all the bits you've got and restore it whilst looking for another shell/car which requires less work when the time is right. Unless someone offers you a price you can't refuse but parts are getting harder to find and the prices are rising when you need something.

There's a few minis popping up at the 2-3k mark, for the £1500 you would spend on storage it could be saved and spent towards another mini.

[hkr91]

Unless there is ex council garages local to you up for sale? Prices of them have shot up local to me in the last 5 year's but it might also be worth looking into renting out a space in a barn (they might allow you to store your mini there) locally to you.