An Apprentice Budget Turbo Build
Turbo Mini Forums

I’ve been a long time lurker around this forum, So thought it was about time to set up my own account and start build thread.
So, I brought this mini in February 2014 to use as a daily driver. However, it lasted 2 months before leaving me stranded on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour. It’s at this point which I was about to sell when I realised I could keep it to learn more about cars.
6 months pass without any progress. Sat outside gathering dust and rust. I then started on the bodywork. This is mostly done now, after having repairs in the boot, floor and the front scuttle.
Anyway, the final plan:
Shell: Re-painted in the original Henley blue, fibreglass front and boot, tubbed rear arches, deleted battery box
Suspension: Minispares Rear Beam, Protech rear coilovers, Front Hilos, rebuilt suspension arms
Interior: Bucket seats, 6 point Rollcage, custom dashboard, alloy fuel tank,
Engine: (yet to be decided fully) however, it’s going to have a turbo or supercharger at some point.

Anyway, pictures of when I brought her last year:



I'll upload some pictures of progress when I finally get my phone fixed.

Welcome to TM. looking forward to the build thread

Yes welcome indeed.. Loving the colour! 👍

Thanks, I've got a load more pictures on my phone of what I've done so far.. But it's broken at the moment so I cant upload them.

Welcome! Sounds a nice plan and spec.. keep it looking like that and sleeperish 👍

Welcome, looks like you've got a good basis to start from

Thanks, I'm going to keep the exterior pretty standard but I'm getting rid of the awful grey interior in favour of some buckets and a cage!
I've just put my rear beam and coilovers up for sale, I'm attempting to go back to the rear subframe setup!

Finnally, i have a new phone so can start uploading progress i have made. I'll write out a proper post on my laptop for that though.

In the meantime ive been makings lists onw hat i want and when to do it; as well as mucking up whilst trying to tub my arches

Get on it! Looking forward to pics

So, an update. Over the past 6 months I have managed to get inside and get bits and pieces done. Progress is slow due to being an apprentice; I can’t throw a huge amount of money at it. I was rushing to get her back on the road for this summer but because I want to do a proper job I’ve moved this to next summer instead
. The first thing I started on was holes I found in the boot. This is what I faced:


I cut out the rear part of the boot, only to find more rust in the corners and the rear subframe mounts at the rear of the boot. So out they came:

Then, after never welding before I went ahead and attached the repair panel across the boot. I didn’t do a particularly good job looking back, so may get this redone in the future by a proper welder.


Next on the agenda was a hole in the scuttle panel. This had gone through to the bulkhead and the upper dash rail so was a bigger repair than intended. I want the save the front end, so decided to try and do a repair in the scuttle instead of replacing the whole panel.
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I intended to build up the lip with filler, to me this was a temporary fix for the time being just to get her back on the road. However, since this repair I’ve decided to do the job properly and got rid of the crusty front and will replace the full scuttle. Then it was onto 2 holes that had formed around drain holes at the rear of the cabin floor.

These were fairly simple patches, although a pain to weld for a beginner! I have found a bit of rust behind the a panels when I cut the front off. This will be attacked at a later date.
That brings me up to where I am now, my daily died the other week so have had to splash out on a new car, which has subsequently stumped any progress for the next couple of months. I’ll try and do bits and pieces but for the mean time I can’t spend much on here to get closer to finishing. Also, I’m going for a fibreglass/carbon front end, however I’m unsure whether or not to get one with a panels fitted?

Fair play for having a go. Your welding will turn out a lot lot better if you spend a bit longer on the prep. Grind all the area where you will weld back to bright clean steel. Make your patches fit perfectly in the holes you have cut out. Try not to over run with the angle grinder, it just gives you more work. If you drill a hole in the corner of your patch you are chopping out it leaves a neat radiused corner and gives you something to aim for with the angle grinder.

what he said, practice off the car as well then take those skills to the car to reduce workload and grinding back all the time

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

Looks good!! Got a good shell there if that rust is the first time without previous patches before.. i have found shells of that era good'uns!! And is your registration really HELL FK! Lol

Edited by D4VE on 16th Apr, 2015.

Thanks for the advice, I've got an idea of the amount of welding that's left to do and I'm going to get quotes of local mini specialists. I may end up doing it myself, I just don't have a lot of time anymore.

And unfortunately the last part of the reg is fkl.. similar to what the top gear presenters got told off for.

Edited by Chuffed on 21st Apr, 2015.