1983 Austin Minivan Resto begins.

[Pixel-Snapper]

There she rolls....

[Pixel-Snapper]

Bit of a picture dump to get to where I am now.

Getting ever closer....

Filling the load floor


Floors solid


Painted door skin


Sorted out the scuttle ends.






Fitted handbrake mount


Put the door skin on and the swedge line does meet!!!! F**KER...


Then started on the frontend... which has taken about 4 weekends to get to fit so far!!!

Initial test fitting






I then got a bonnet which helped lining things up massively


















And that folks is where I am at the moment.

The nearside wings tacked on and the drivers side is getting there but still a bit out.

Hopefully by the end of this weekend I should have it all tacked up ready to be seam welded from behind. (ew er misses)

I've got some new clips to weld onto the A panel and wing to hold the front on also.

Until next time....

[Pixel-Snapper]

Cheers benters.

Took a few more week but the front finally on.


And comes off again


Then started chopping out the near side step and rear quarter.










Had to drill the hinge out as there was no way it was coming off.










Off work on Friday to have a weld-a-thon and get the near side complete.

Getting closer to the end of welding it seems now!!!!!

[Pixel-Snapper]

Cheers chaps.

[Pixel-Snapper]

One 'step' closer to paint.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Fabricated the latch on to the inside of the wing. To my amazement it actually works really well. I'll put a padlock on when its on the road for safety in case it open and also for security so no one can knick the front end.







Just the other side to do now. Which might be more difficult as the wing still needs pulling some more.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Another full day will the misses is at work today.

On the to do list are:

Driver side front latch

Finish off some little bits of welding

Sort the bonnet alignment out

Sand the rear quarter

Should do for today.

[Pixel-Snapper]

That was one of the little bits of welding to finish off Guru as i need to do the other side too.

Didn't go to plan though as it took me most of the day and 2 attempts to get the drivers latch to work.

But the wings are now solid. The gap between bonnet and wing is quite wide though :0( going to have to slot the bonnet either side and add metal to widen it at the back.

[Pixel-Snapper]

High time for an update I think as I've now hit a monetary brick wall waiting to get the cash to paint SAL.

Things I've been up to over the last few weeks.





































That takes us up to the present day.

New things I've found out are that the rear left hand door is twisted so looks like I'll need a new one unless I can muscle it into place.

And I'm crap at doing filler work! haha.

I've had a few quotes come in for prep and paint ranging from £800-1500 quid so lots of pennies to start saving. Hopefully I can get the cash together between now and Christmas and make a decision on who I get to paint it.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Cheers GW slowly but surely she will be finished.

Mini mag have said they might do a full feature if I get it finished with another 10 years! Haha :0)

[Pixel-Snapper]

Cheers Russell just not quite sure how to at the moment.

See below pictures for reference.

Top left corner.


Bottom right corner.


Is it possible that the hinges could be on wrong?

[Pixel-Snapper]

RussellG said:

Do you still have the original hinges to try. I had new door hinges which were a terrible fit compared to the originals !

The hinges are original, its the door itself that is different, I also had to re skin the bottom section of the door so perhaps that's what twisted it. The right hand door is original and fits fine.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Altrezia said:

This is coming along well. Not sure how to fix the door fit (as I've never tried!) but the rest of the stuff looks great - especially the engine bits!

Thanks Pal.

It's awwwww so close now as well which is depressing. I've either got to try and find the money to get it painted or wait till February when my painter get back from his year around the world. Inconsiderate bugger pissing off round the world when I need the van painting...! haha

[Pixel-Snapper]

Not yet Russell, I'll have another go at it this weekend. I spent last weekend cutting the nearside scuttle end off which unearthed some interesting patches of rust on the bulkhead. So spent most of the day rebuilding that and the scuttle end.

I might leave the door at the moment until I can get the seals. Perhaps that might make a difference.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Another couple of hours on Saturday battling with doors.... this time the near side front door.

The door fits nicely without the seal.


With the seal... not a bloody sausage!


I sat on the inside of the car and felt around the door. I noticed that at the bottom of the door there is hardly any gap between the door skin and door step flange. So I bent the flange on the door step towards the inside of the van.

I refitted the seal and the door now sits further in but still a half to 1cm proud.

Which is making me wonder???

I'm also wondering if the door skin might need shaping near the pillar.


I HATE mini restoration right about now!!!!

[Pixel-Snapper]

Cheers Benters.

I was talking to someone in the pub yesterday about it and they mentioned trying a trick whereby you put the seal in hot water to release the memory in the rubber or something.

Then fit the seal and close the door.

When it cools it should form to the door.

Although they had a couple of pints by then so probably horseste.

Might be worth a try though.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Beautiful I'll try that then.

Cheers bud.

Matt

[Pixel-Snapper]

Wow ok so it's been nearly 4 months since updating this thread and I can honestly say I'm not much closer!!!! haha.

I'm still working on getting the doors to line up as I want them...

I'm also now on a bit of a deadline as I'm planning on getting it painted at the end of March with luck.

Couple of pictures over the last few months.

Engines 90% complete just to line to plumb in, alternator and oil cooler.


Near side doors getting better.




still a bit out though.


New electronic dizzy


That's about it so far.

Roll on the end of March as I'm hopeful that I can have it painted and back by my birthday on April 11th.

We will see.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Made some sort of progress on the old girl today.

Rolled her out the garage for a clean up and then shifted over to the other side of the garage so that I can take a look at the drivers door.

Here's SAL soaking up some morning rays...











So then I got the door bolted up..... Wait for it...... you guessed it! It doesn't line up either.


The window frame is fine all the way round but the crease link in the skin doesn't line up with the crease in the rear quarter. It's fine at the front but too high at the rear as you can see.

After much head scratching... pondering... frustration... and coffee.

I drew a line in blue where the crease should be.


That's about as far as I got. I wonder if I can slot the skin then try and lower the top section of the skin down and weld it back up.... Feel free to add any ideas or tell me it isn't going to happen.

My only other option is just getting a heritage skin and be done with it. Although I would rather not have to folk out another 80 notes if I can help it.

This that I gave up on doors for another day and fitted the bonnet struts instead.





I cannot decide whether or not to put the other side on at the moment.

Spent a bit of time cleaning up the bright work on the handles. There a bit pitted so not sure to use them or not, I then thought about painting them gloss black...


That's it for today.

[Pixel-Snapper]

benters said:

I would live with the door issue in an effort to get the project completed and to start enjoying the great efforts you have gone too already.
Mini's are hardly the last word in coach building, so whilst I understand why you want it perfect, you can go back to this when time, and energy allow.
I reached stalling pint on the MG I was doing, and whilst I feel you pain to some degree I do recommend you try to move on.

I know what you mean benters... I never nearly undertook the project knowing that I wanted a garage queen that got trailered everywhere, this will be a car to enjoy in all weathers.

Therefore, I'm hoping to get it over to the painters next weekend!!!! He then thinks it'll be 2 - 3 weeks after that and it'll be painted.

Woohoo....