Job Done (not Stag fully related)

[XFSTag]

Thought I would share a little milestone in my projects

Well after three years of bruised knuckles cold garages choking on dust occasionally and much cursing of the way they are out together my classic mini restoration made a major landmark yesterday with a totally clean MOT pass first time out. The first drive after a complete strip and rebuild was a very nervous one as you always have that did I tighten that up moment. But thankfully everything went according to plan and the crowd of mechanics around it in the garage and under it on the ramp was quite satisfying in its own little way. I have outsourced nothing and completed the whole job myself top to bottom and see looks a treat. I even had people asking me what I want to part with in before I left the MOT station.

with any luck now I can get stuck back into the stag properly, as I had planned before this little excursion into mini land. Still waiting for the insurance to pay up for the front damage three months on which will give me the cash it get the stainless bumpers I promised myself .....then onto the jobs I have planned.
So back to the cold garage and bruised knuckles and talking to myself
Nothing changes
cheers
Glyn
i will post a couple of pictures when I get to my laptop later but for now I have a big satisfied grin on

[m9fdb]

Looking forward to the pictures - i did a mini a few years ago as well.

[XFSTag]

Well here is my Mini adventure. Started off as a car for my son but ended up as a full restoration!

She has done 47,000 miles from new with two elderly lady owners from new who were actually sister originally purchased from a dealer on the South Coast then spent the rest of her life with the first owners sister on the East coast.
I have every MOT and service record invoice etc for history so I felt the restoration worthwhile. We haven't modified her too much and she could easily be returned to standard. I have tried to improve on things like the seats and dash door cards etc. which I have completely re done. The shell is now properly rust proofed, I took her back to a bare shell, stuck her on a jig replaced all the front end, sills, boot floor, wheel arches, steps, and various other bit so the welder got well used

The colour is a "brighter" shade of Henley Blue which my paint supplier mixed, this was the original colour and the roof is Old English White. The body is now fully seam sealed stone chip protected underneath and fully cavity waxed, probably weighs a fair bit more than when it was new Engine is the 998 which I stripped and re-built in an attempt to eradicate the standard oil leaks time will tell if I have managed to achieve that I guess.
here was the scene a few years ago I will try and shorten the last three years down to five or six pictures


Engine done




The underside and subframe going in so much easier whilst it's upside down!



I even painted the majority of the shell whilst it was on the jig which was the best bit of kit I have ever bought, sold it for nearly what I paid for it too so great value!



Then I refitted the inside with custom made dash etc.



Then after months of the final build up we get to this week when she flew through her MOT first time so chuffed.





I hope you like it
Just had some good new the "other parties" insurance have agreed to pay up on the damage to my Stag and accepted liability so when the cheque arrives I can order the bumpers and look forward to a winter sorting the Stag

Cheers Glyn

[new to this]

Glyn

looks good, was it a lot of work much rust

dave

[Dave M]

Very nice

[XFSTag]

Yes lots of the brown stuff, covered by filler, under seal, tacked on patches etc.! Mostly done by garages as I have the receipts for the work. Even charged for a new subframe which was just patched up! One of the panels a rear valance was "welded" to rust and they even left the sticker on it and welded through that! Appalling really just to grant it an mot I guess. I got through a load of cutting wheels
I replaced wings front panel, a panels, sills, doors, door steps boot floor inner arches. Mostly a new car now! I don't think they applied much in the way of protection to any of the joints welds on any of the panels when these were out together. Hopefully it will last a while longer now as I have sealed everything and covered in a layer of zinc primer, stonechip, paint and bilt hambers finest!
enjoyed a lot of it really and learned a few new skills and lessons along the way as always. Took me longer than anticipated but I had a few months off here and there or I fear I would have faced an expensive divorce

Thanks for the comments
cheers Glyn

[new to this]

Yes lots of the brown stuff, covered by filler, under seal, tacked on patches etc.! Mostly done by garages as I have the receipts for the work. Even charged for a new subframe which was just patched up! One of the panels a rear valance was "welded" to rust and they even left the sticker on it and welded through that! Appalling really just to grant it an mot I guess. I got through a load of cutting wheels
I replaced wings front panel, a panels, sills, doors, door steps boot floor inner arches. Mostly a new car now! I don't think they applied much in the way of protection to any of the joints welds on any of the panels when these were out together. Hopefully it will last a while longer now as I have sealed everything and covered in a layer of zinc primer, stonechip, paint and bilt hambers finest!
enjoyed a lot of it really and learned a few new skills and lessons along the way as always. Took me longer than anticipated but I had a few months off here and there or I fear I would have faced an expensive divorce

Thanks for the comments
cheers Glyn

Glyn

they always seem to take longer than you first thought the two tone dash makes a nice change,whats the next project

dave

[XFSTag]

Cheers Dave
to be honest I want to get stuck into the stag now, I did all the floors a few years ago but there are other sections I want to sort then maybe a complete repaint ?
having said that I would love to get my paws on a nice tr6 or something like that. Need the mini to be sold though before I get into anything else so I free up garage space!
thanks
Glyn

[Staghound]

Could easily be worth more the the Stag!!!

[andy p]

well I am doing my Cortina at the moment and have a mini coming as next mission

[andy p]

looking at yours will kick me to starting it quicker, very nice

[XFSTag]

The mini scene is similar to most classics re price. Fickle !
The problem as always is there are loads around which have been "restored", but this seems to mean the holes have been filled and painted over in many cases. I saw some right basket cases before buying this one as this was still rotten but more genuine which at least gives you a decent start point. I have also taken about two thousand photos of the rebuild so there's no doubt what is what under the shiny paint.
Lord knows I saw enough stags before buying mine. Even dealers describing then as mint when they were covering up severe rust.
having said that the prices for minis have shot up over the last few years.although stag prices have firmed up too IMO. Still nowhere near where I would like them though
Cheers Glyn

[XFSTag]

looking at yours will kick me to starting it quicker, very nice

Thanks Andy, they can be a challenge as some of the replacement parts might as well be made for something else when you come to fit them! Best thing I bought was a decent jig which made working on it so much easier.
Cheers glyn