I don't watch this show, but I noticed a blurb that next Wed's build is a B series Honda being swapped into a Mini - might be interesting to watch?
9 eastern, 8 central
Thanks,
Got it set to record.
I've seen a couple of episodes, but they weren't compelling enough for me to want to follow the show. But I'll record this one.
I have Direct TV and it was showing coming on at 10:00 or 11:00 (central time) I can't remember right now. It could just be a repeat showing.
Some of their builds are interesting. They did a pretty cool street legal track toy out of a 70's ford pickup. Of course it's like most of these shops. Must be nice to have customers who want to drop 6 figure plus sums of money on cars. So all new parts and usually very little fab work or reconditioning. Just buy new, it's on the customers dime.
That's the huge appeal of Wheeler Dealers, they are on a budget and they actually do work. Not just assembly. Heck, most of these shows hardly show the work actually being done. That's another draw back to most of them.
Maybe instead of a car a show, why not show the actual process. Maybe one car should take a whole season, or that might be too strung out. Whatever. Yay Mini!!
Quote from: gr8kornholio on August 08, 2018, 10:43:51 AM
Maybe instead of a car a show, why not show the actual process. Maybe one car should take a whole season, or that might be too strung out. Whatever. Yay Mini!!
Seems like that might turn out like the "Project Binky" effort.
My bet is that they bought a MiniTec kit, engine and all and they think it's a bolt in swap - which it is.......kinda. As long as they don't find rust everywhere......
John McGee has been doing these right and left lately.......although his have all been D series.
I'm only 15 minutes into the show. Here are the facts I've learned so far:
Every single Mini was RHD.
Since the engine compartment is so small the engine drops out the bottom instead of coming out through the top.
The Mini engine would be good to modify a Segway.
WOW if only I knew this I could have switched my north American export LHD mini back to RHD and let the British motor heritage know that my certificate is all wrong. I saw it on TV they were all RHD. ::) That and by some magical force, I got my engine out the top.
They also stated they were all from the UK, my Aussie version begs to differ. And like most not in the know, they are all coopers too. Had a good laugh though and it did come out pretty nice. Don't even want to know what she paid $$$$$. Hope she loves it cause it's only worth 25-30K on good days.
The MTB2 package with the motor, suspension etc is $11,200 plus shipping (BTW, I'm surprised MiniTec didn't even get a mention), the rear suspension kit is $1400, I'm guessing paint at $8K, new dash and instruments, new tires and wheels another $3K so at least $26K in parts and paint, plus the assembly labor at least another $5K my guess, seats and interior (Recarros!) another $5K so I expect at least a $36-38K bill plus what she paid for the car.
And I doubt it's worth even $20K if she wanted to sell it today. I thought a lot of the work was hacked - you know they didn't even look under the oversills or under the car, and the patch repair they did on the A panel didn't address the rust behind the A panel, this car will have all kinds of rust bubbles popping up in less than a year IMHO.
And that dash? please..................
Since it's in St. Louis I wonder if I'll see the car (or if she even still has it) as we do a few joint events with the St. Louis Mini group......
Dave, if that was a $8K paint job I'd like to invest in a Maaco franchise and become a millionaire. It was crap from what I could see, including the big gap where the scuttle met the right front wing.
I wonder if any of the cost of the customization the vehicle is funded from the show's production budget?
Based of the stuff this shop usually works on and what I was quoted for paint by a similar shop y'all need to double that paint cost.
So like $16K for paint.
Also you know they added at least 15% to the cost of any and all parts. Would also assume they are charging between $150-$200 a shop hour per person. My bet is she has closer to $50K in the refurbishment.
I've watched a lot of these type shows and been to the shops, so I've seen the base price lists for work. It's ridiculous. 3 yrs ago in Vegas we visited Kounts Kustoms, they were $250 a shop hour.
I hear you on the paint - it was colorful, that's about all I can say. And the "sparkles" in the black were just awful.......Ford has such a beautiful sparkly metallic black paint, they should have used that if they wanted a custom black finish.
No comments on that horrible cheezy cheap looking dash panel? A high school kid could have done a better dash.....
Agreed on the "sparkles" it looked more like baked on dust. Just no. With that extreme of a green just a simple black would have sufficed.
It was so bad it wasn't worth mentioning. Lol. Yea, way to ruin the essence of the mini by eliminating the center speedo.
The bad body work and the didn't fix what they should haves are all the reasons I was glad to find a guy like Dan to do mine. Someone who knows these cars and where to look and how/what to fix.
Plus I'm affordable 77.gif. Granted I'm busy and it takes awhile.
Did not watch the program - did not think to even try to locate what channel it was on for the service I get.
Does the program have a website to give feedback? That would be the ideal place to slam them for their errors and misrepresentations.
Didn anyone else notice the complete lack of wiper system?
Or, did you see the new door cards have absolutely no way to grasp the door to pull it closed – no door pulls at all and no door pocket to grab onto either.
Weight savings.
The interior lock latch is also missing from (covered over by) the door cards.
I think they mentioned they used poppers on the doors, cause they also shaved the outside door handles. Wonder what happens when you have a dead battery? I guess the boot still opens normally?
Way back when the old Boyd Coddington show was on what struck me the most about their builds wasn't the looks of the cars, they were always beautifully finished, but under the skin they were very crudely made. I think all of these car show cars are like that - all show.
Just finished watching this Episode. I had to really motivate to continue on past the annoying chatter between owner of the car and crew and hope the episode got better.
It didn't. I've tried to watch this show before but it's just blah in general. A Mini was the only draw it had to me for this episode.
That poor Mini. The only thing I found sort of cool was watching them make the dash.
The body work and paint were awful. They didn't address the rust on the boot lid which you can clearly see in the beginning so I'm assuming they did a lot of grinding, bondo, and sanding and they had the entire thing stripped and yet didn't paint the inside.
The original yellow color was actually quite nice and original and they definitely could have had it replicated.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 10, 2018, 06:31:20 AM
they were always beautifully finished, but under the skin they were very crudely made. I think all of these car show cars are like that - all show.
In the beginning of the show they open with "If you want a show car thats not us, if you want a fast car to show off we're your guys." or something similar to that. So I guess they are open about not having the most visually appealing cars!
The only good thing was I taped the episode so I was able to fast forward annoying banter and commercials!
Yeah, I mentioned in my 1st post that this was NOT a show that I ever watched, and the only reason I tuned in was to see what they did with the Mini.
The only show of this type that I do watch is JDM Legends, it's not bad...no artificial drama, nobody throwing tools across the shop, no fake deadlines that can't be met and they only focus on one type of car..... JDM, usually Nissans.
I like that show, JDM legends. They've been a shop for a long time importing those cars. Hope if they do another season they do an older celica. But do love those skylines.
Ooh I really like JDM Legends as well.