Lowly Gentlemen : '74 Mini Build

[AndrewR]

I figured it was about time for me to join in and share here. I've been friends with MtyMous for a few years now and when I started looking around for repair panels, he sent me Dan's way. Dan's service has been fantastic and it has made the slow restoration project that much easier.

A little over a year ago, I purchased a 1974 Mini. Minis have been my dream car since I was a child, so this is my first real jump into the world of Classic Minis. I'm not quite patient enough to do a complete restoration and the body is in decent shape for the car its age, so I'll really just be replacing the real rust problem areas which seem to be relegated to the front corners of the floor, the sills, and the rear valence....all the places you'd expect. The end goal is a nice, fun, little driver.

For now, I'll let the photos tell the story.





Purchased a spare 1275 for the impending engine build that will replace the current 998







The other portion of the impending engine build...a BMW K1100 engine to lend its head to the cause.





I'm not sure these will actually end up seeing use, but I scored a deal on a set of 10x4 SSR Impuls in Japan that I couldn't pass up.





Mock up for fun

[AndrewR]

So, then it was time to dive into the rust repair. I stripped out the interior and started poking away to see what I had in front of me.







The previous owner decided to simply hack away at the rear parcel shelf while installing a pair of 6x9 speakers back there. I'm not quite sure how one can manage an install so poorly.



1275 disassembly





998 removal





Organizing and labeling the wiring rats nest





The results of a poorly executed sill patch that was simply welded on top of the already rotting sill...which led to even more rotting.



Attending to the rear valence and mocking up the replacement panel.







Fabbing up some plugs for the head conversion





A very dirty rear suspension disassembled and sorted

[Merlin]

WOW, I will be looking forward to your posts. Your pictures are like automotive porn. Its good to have a fellow K-head swapper.

[94touring]

Andrew, thanks for sharing!

[sparetimetoys]

Please share more info on the BMW head swap.  Other than blocking off those couple of places what else do you have to do to put that head on?

[MtyMous]

Great to see you posting over here. The pictures are ridiculously good and I'm still jealous.

Larry, if you want to know more about the conversion, I recommend looking as this site and following links there/checking out their builders guide.

http://www.twinkam.co.uk/shop/page/9?shop_param=

[wevebeenhad]

I would hang these photos in my house, this is indeed like mini porn. You should frame these at least in your garage when done. love it. Keep at it, should be solid.  77.gif

[Merlin]

Larry,

I bought the book from SC and I was unimpressed with the lack of great information from it. If you want a copy...I bet it can be arranged.

[sparetimetoys]

Larry,

I bought the book from SC and I was unimpressed with the lack of great information from it. If you want a copy...I bet it can be arranged.

I just am a nut about seeing how things that were never intended to go to gether are made to work.

[Mudhen]

I have an old rusted hacked apart subframe...wondering if you can take some pictures of it so I can sell it for a million dollars... :-\

Welcome aboard!  Can't wait to see how that cylinder head goes...  4.gif

Pat

[94touring]

It's your lucky day, I broke all the welds for you! 

[AndrewR]

It's your lucky day, I broke all the welds for you!

You're my hero! Thank you  4.gif

[Mudhen]

It's your lucky day, I broke all the welds for you!

If you have a sec can you measure across the front of that thing?  Mine apparently shrunk in the wash...guessing my Mk1 roof doesn't quite match the MkV shell.

Thx

[94touring]

Well it's been shipped but it's roughly 44x14 inches if I remember.

[AndrewR]

I'll give it a measure once it arrives.

[AndrewR]

It's your lucky day, I broke all the welds for you!

If you have a sec can you measure across the front of that thing?  Mine apparently shrunk in the wash...guessing my Mk1 roof doesn't quite match the MkV shell.

Thx

Corner to corner it's about 44 3/8"...just shy of 44.5"

[Mudhen]

I guess I'm just not sure how that fits in - mine measures about that, but body to body is 46" so there's a 1" gap all the way around it.   8.gif

[94touring]

Correct, there is a gap on the ends. 

[sparetimetoys]

Correct, there is a gap on the ends.

The gap on the ends is where the wiring harness came up out of the boot and around the left hand glass on mine

[AndrewR]

Yup, exactly what those guys said....it LOOKS like it's supposed to go right to the c-pillar, but there's actually a gap on either side and it's only attached at the front and along the back. The brake light wires and such run up the left side and mine has the foam that seems to fill many of the gaps in the car.

You can see the gap of my original panel on the right here:

[Mudhen]

Ha...never knew that - cool, thx!!!  Boy does it look hoaky...if that's a word...   ::)

[sparetimetoys]

Ha...never knew that - cool, thx!!!  Boy does it look hoaky...if that's a word...   ::)

Here is mine you can see the foam they stuffed in to seal it off.

[AndrewR]

So on the more recent panels, there are two holes that are obviously for speakers on later model cars....but does anyone know what the holes are for on the early model panels? They have two holes on each side that suggest something would bolt to them?

[AndrewR]

This is a rather minor update, but as this is my first foray into restoration work and this panel stands as my first (of many) panels in the project, it felt pretty great sliding it into place and seeing that it fit like a glove. I cut out the old haggard panel that had been butchered for speakers and replaced it with the early model panel. I need to go back and prep for welding and then it'll be ready to really go in. Everything lines up nicely and should be a rather simple job.

Before:



After:

[94touring]

Nicely done.  Did you have much trouble breaking the welds off your panel?