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Being honest I reckon it won't be too bad, I've got the block and tackle which makes short work of it, a couple of bolts to just hold it in place plus the engine steady should be fine..

A dolly would be no good because it has to be rolled down an alley which is gravel and grass so would be painful.. At the other end I can borrow a pals crane to whip it out.

Ah cool. Just be careful not to scratch the engine doing it. :) looks lovely, it's going to be a fair old build.

www.apsbikes.co.uk

Yup it's going to take a while, still so much to do! At the moment it looks like nowt has been done to it, but it's taken a lot of work to get where I am now...

Not much of an update but some more goodies arriving! Had another knock at the door today, a delivery man bearing more gifts.





Had all the parts sourced and the loom made by David Wilson... here are his details should anyone require his services..



I found him very helpful, prices reasonable and generally kept me in the loop at all times. I discovered him from speaking to Nick Warwick on here who recommended him... as do I.

So soon I'll be cracking on with the build, the house move has slowed me down somewhat and that is pretty much behind me. More time will be spent on the mini from now on.. more updates to follow soon.

Good stuff

So the mini left the old folks garage yesterday bound for its new resting place... Quite a few photos below of its journey...

Engine temporarily dropped in for the move...











Enroute to pastures new...



And its arrived, welcome home!








So thats it now, let the real work begin... updates will follow more often I hope as I'll have much more time to spend with her!



I think she looks happy! (yes, its a she)

Must be giving you the enthusiasm to get on with it now!

Yup, need to shift a lot of other stuff out of the old mans garage but itching to get on with it now. Must crack on with the body work... looking forward to hearing that engine fire up for the first time also...

Edited by evad1980 on 9th Feb, 2014.

Got a bit angle grinder happy today... been 'umming and erring' about chopping the front off for a while and finally manned up to it...




Glad I did really cos both wings & slam panel were botched on before, new panels will make a nice job of it. Decided I'm going to make a flip front out of steel panels, won't go for carbon fibre...

Here is some of the grot I discovered... (I say discovered but kinda knew it was there already)...





Proper fooked....

Wasn't going to chop the windscreen corner panels but on closer inspection it was evident that I had to. The corner gusset panels underneath were shot, in fact the drivers side was non existent! Had to chop them to get access... Checked minispares beforehand and can get either side repair panel for around 10 quid each...






Better get my welding gloves on!!

Typical mini rot. Just as well you cut it off

I'll also be replacing the 'A' panels, can anyone tell me how are they attached in the first place... are they welded at the top and bottom somehow? Then blended in with a bit of filler to the A post? I tried to investigate but there is a huge amount of under seal and crap covering the join of flitch to A panel and wasn't sure if it was welded all the way down?

Just from looking at it, I would imagine an 'L' bracket of some sort would be the most effective way of securing it to the flitch?

They are folder round the mounting lip and spot welded. If they have been replaced before, they may just be tack welded top and bottom and folded over

Hmmm ok Rob... not sure where the mounting lip is though?

The fold over into the door aperture.

Ah got ya.... thanks guys!

How much was the jolt loom? If you don't mind me asking.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

I bought it all as a package, let me dig it out and see if it was broken down... Just out at the mo so may be tomo!

Did some more digging... found more rust of course. Just made my way through a packet of 5 cutting discs. Garage now stinks!

From this...




To this...

Got the A panels off easily enough, they were just tacked top and bottom, rotten inside also. It was defiantly a job that needed doing, had to strip the inner A post, the amount of hidden rust is criminal! Albeit mostly surface rust but hardly worth spending a few quid getting it painted if its not sorted. I Only meant to repair a bit of the inner flitch but pulled most of it out!




Pulled of the right hand side window frame as this had also succumbed to the elements over the years. I have big plans for this, Im going to modify this quite radically (if it works out), some of you may not like it but it looks good in my head! So until then I'll say no more...





The left side waits anxiously...

Looks like she is a perfect fit in the garage :)

www.shag.no

Edited by evad1980 on 8th Mar, 2014.

Spoke to a local company who will media blast the shell and then primer it completely for a very reasonable price. Once I have all the new panels in and she's solid I'll have it blasted by them. Surface rust seems to be the biggest problem on the shell, too many areas to treat individually... also found lots of filler in places, roof gutter is packed full of the stuff... not looking forward to seeing what lies in treat underneath!

For the moment my nice shiny new garage is becoming a scrap yard...

Might be worth blasting now so you find all the grot

Well Rob, I'm pretty sure I'm on the last of the main grot now... I want to fix both flitch panels and associated areas before any blasting gets done as I'm pretty certain the rest will be cosmetic. This will be the last of the major butchering..