1982 Mini Scamp

[LowStandards]

I wanted a car for the Gathering

I bought a car 30 days before the Gathering

I altered pretty much everything

I made it to the Gathering!




I came across this Scamp on a random eBay browse, she ticked all my boxes, except the convertable one, no worries, I can sort that.


















Lets run through the spec

998cc A-Series, currently over heating
Roof - gopping
Colour - grim
Seats - Mx5 jobbies, alright actually, not particulary waterproof mind
Wheels - Slots, everyone loves slots. These have a comical offset though, so will have to go


30 days and counting

[LowStandards]

Now the Scamp was placed in my mates unit (he's a genuine hero, helped me with everything and gave up loads of his time)

This was both good and bad, the good part was we had the space and could make noise until late, the bad was the car being away from my home and family, which meant I could only go every few days.


Started on the tear down 3 days after collection

She was built very well, think I got rsi from drilling out an actual thousand rivets





Alloy roof sides were sacked off revealling the framework










Heavy steel roof removed

End of play
27 days and counting

[LowStandards]

It's now the 20th of July

The units a working Garage, so most of this evening was spent underneath a Transit or a Vivaro or other generic van

I did manage to get the recip saw out mind. The vision is starting to take shape









26 days and counting

[LowStandards]

Its July the 22nd now

Finished cutting the main hoops off the car, looking very bare now






Bent up the main hoop. Using a hydraulic Clarke bender. They do the job, just








24 days and counting

[LowStandards]

24th July

Get the rear arms in on the cage and chuck a cross bar in






22 days and counting

[LowStandards]

I rudely went on holiday for the weekend, so now it's the 29th July

Take the cage out and seam weld the lot




Then put it back in and weld it to the car






17 days and counting

[LowStandards]

31st July

It's August tomorrow, we're entering proper deadline territory now

Another evening of fixing vans, fitting clutches, turbos and welding the awful things.


Only got a little done, but it was done well


Used the MX5 seat base as the car already had the holes in the right place to fit them.

Made up some thick plates to line up with the mounts on the new plastic, waterproof seat.






All mounted up




15 days and counting

[LowStandards]

2nd of August!

Made some cover plates for the old roll bars, easier to leave the bottom part of them in.




Had to add a bar to the cage for the harness to attach to






13 days and counting

[LowStandards]

It's the 9th now


Cleaned the cage up, the tube had been outside for months and I added a little filler to the welds to smooth them out




Started making the new dash, the old one was a mess of random pods





8 days and counting

[LowStandards]

10 Aug

This is a big day, put in a 12 hour shift to get her painted


Scroll up, look at the rear end, marvel in the fact she had more lights than a fairground ride.

Best remake the bodywork then, can't be having it full of holes

Out it comes



New centre section, american sized plate lined up using light bolts for an even cleaner look





Lots of time passes whilst dull things like rubbing down and cleaning up happens


Throw on some high build






First time seeing her in all one colour






Decided on painting the cage and dash next, Ford ST Orange




Sit down for the first time in ages and have a brew, eat some snap and let it dry and mask it up




Lay down some Ford Diamond White (Standard Transit colour)






Wait; un mask; REVEAL!










Push her gently back inside and leave for a few days to dry


5 days and counting

[LowStandards]

It's the 13th now, that's 2 days of work left!


A trip to Halfords saw me with 2 cans of their truck bed liner, this is brilliant stuff, masked up, throw it on, done.
You can see the rear lights. Amazingly I bought some led clusters a good 2 years ago to fit to a trailer tent I had. It never happened and it transpired they were the perfect width to fit the Scamp, winna!




Dash was rewired, the only switches I have are for the side and dipped lights




This must have been another fix stuffs in the unit day as that's all that got done to the Scamp


2 days and counting

[LowStandards]

14th Aug

This was a daunting day, the screen was going in.

£35 for a small strip of orange translucent acrylic that we needed to bend, cut and stick in place.

At that price I only had the one chance.


We did a lot of measurements and then clamped it betwix 2 pieces of wood in the vice.

My mate was armed with the heat gun and I was in charge of bending. Heat was slowly applied, then it suddenly gets to a point it just bends.

Once both ends were bent, we had to cut it. I was dreading this as I had fears of it shattering, but it turns out a cut off disc in a grinder works a charm.

It was held in place with copious amounts of PU sealant and the original strip of alloy that held the glass screen


Anyways, enough chat, marvel at it!








1 day and counting

[vanpeebles]

Those big flat side panels could do with some kind of detailing. Such as pressed triangles etc.

[LowStandards]

15th now, that's the day before the Gathering.

Remember I said when I bought her she was overheating. We'd changed the thermostat and it's housing as it was cracked and losing water. We'd hoped that was that!


I got to the unit late evening, best take her for a test drive as i'd never driven her.

Couldn't rev past 2K rpm, lots of stuttering. Adjusted timing a little, just winging it, no time for lights etc.

That's better, stutters a bit higher now, adjust again.

Fueling is to c0ck, play with that a bit, runs alright ish now, though i can only get about 3-4krpm before she's stuttering around. It's late late now, it will have to do!


0 days and counting

[LowStandards]

16th August - RRG day!

Well, today's the day, a 75 mile trip to RRG


Woke up, opened the curtains, it's hammering it down - ideal


Either way, jump in her and go.




Temperature is off the chart, clearly not just the thermostat and housing. I'll order a high capacity waterpump and a HG whilst i'm at it.




She made it!




A great time was had as always, just he journey home now.

It's not raining, this should be a much nicer drive. And it was. For 10 miles.

I was driving along a tight lane as pace (probably 30mph, but everything feels fast) when there was an almighty bang and the rear end of the car launched itself skyward, follwed by screeches from behind.

I pulled over and the engine was still running, so it's not that. Turned her off, got out to find my mate behind me ferreting through the hedgeline.

Turns out the whole exhaust has snapped at the manifold, bent under the car which launched it, then my mate drove over it.


Well, that's not going back on is it. Jump back in, start to drive. MY GOD THE NOISE!!!

Another 65 miles we drove, Ear splitting sounds and now she was really down on power. As a bonus Shelsley isn't in a hilly part of the UK... no, wait! Up hills were a struggle, having to thrash he in low gears didn't help the noise issue.


We got home though, slower than expected



RRG was awesome and the Scamp did me proud

[m30rmf]

Awesome work in timescale and a brave man in tht weather driving 70 miles...

[johnthesparky]

Saw it over the weekend and it did look good, wondered how the drive over had been, you don’t really appreciate completely open motoring until you’ve done it, did the flyscreen do anything?

[LowStandards]

Aug 20, 2019 9:44:51 GMT johnthesparky said:

did the flyscreen do anything?

It looked pretty

[johnthesparky]

Aug 20, 2019 9:51:20 GMT LowStandards said:

Aug 20, 2019 9:44:51 GMT johnthesparky said:

did the flyscreen do anything?

It looked pretty

It did look very pretty
Made us want coloured for the Fug too

[LowStandards]

Aug 20, 2019 9:56:29 GMT johnthesparky said:

Made us want coloured for the Fug too

Sheet Plastics

Cheapest I could find, they do lots of colours and you just put in the size you require and it gives you a price.

Arrived within a day or so as well

Can't fault them