The whole point was to raise money for the RNLI, so I decided not to spend money on making the mini a show case but to make it clean and tidy. First thing was to take off all chrome strip, arches etc. to get to the bad bits and as usual there were a few. Rub the rusty bits with 80g sand paper some rust killer and paint with red oxide.
		I found that it needed a new O/S "A" panel, O/S door step, O/S sill. Filled two holes in the roof one at each front corner, hole by the O/S rear by wheel and a hole just above the N/S door at the front. Repair dent in rear and in the boot lid. The rear bumper had a dent in it so that was no good, front bumper nuts broken off so again no good. Who needs them anyway a mini looks good no matter what.
		As this was not a show finish (unlike Scott's in the next bay) I took the headlight out to clean up some rust, left indicators in and rubbed the front down with 80g paper. It does look sad but not for long.
		Next I decided to undercoat the roof gutter and the front. I used an anti rust primer from International available from Focus D.I.Y. Since the run is some 16 months away It will need doing again next year along with a new rear subframe, rear valance and closing panels. I wanted some photos for the Mini World mag so I started the painting now. Those nice people are going to get me some publicity and I do buy the mag. I also buy the MINI MAG.
6th June 2008
		Next was to undercoat the back, I did take the boot off to do this but not the lights or petrol tank. I was in a rush as the weather in Cornwall is sort of, well, not very good at the moment. As said earlier I only need the mini to look good in its RNLI colours.
		Next was a second coat of undercoat then I started to paint the blue. I got as far as you can see and guess what? it started to rain. There was nothing I could do but to hope it would not spoil the paint, but it did. So that was it for the rest of the day rained off.
		I went to Woolworths and bought a gazebo just in case it rained again or should I say WHEN it rains again. It was a nice morning so out came the blue paint. I managed to paint the front and the back just before the clouds came. So out came the gazebo, it was a bit smaller than I thought and would only cover either the front or the back.
		And since it was going to rain I had to think of something quick.
		My trusted old Volvo, why not use that I thought. So I parked the Volvo across the back of the mini and got out my motorbike cover put it across the roofs of the two cars. I used the bottom parts of the gazebo legs to hold the cover off the paint. all I could do was wait on the rain coming, as it was not windy I was hoping this would work.
		It did not rain much and when it had passed the 3 hour "touch dry" time off came the covers. When it stopped raining I was amazed to find the paint was OK (unlike the first time).
		I had put the wheels that were shot blasted and powder coated by Truegrit in Liskard and the new tires by Chris Venning Gunnislake garage and they looked great. It is nice to get support from people remember it is for charity.
		Hopefully you will agree it does look neat and tidy. Things still to do include: paint boot and bonnet, paint an orange roof (RNLI colours) after welding is done paint both sides. I have a meeting with a RNLI representative on 7th June at the Royal Cornwall show and that only leaves the RNLI logo's to go on along with the sponsors. I will keep this updated till the new web site is ready, witch is getting done by a very good friend of mine Paul again he is doing it F.O.C. thanks Paul.
9th June 2008
		It was a great day out at the Royal Cornwall Show, had a meeting with Dave from the RNLI and things are now moving forward. This is NOT Dave in the picture opposite but I thought he looked cool LoL. OK back to the mini. I next rubbed the roof down ready for the Orange. Started putting the orange on and it would not cover over the red oxide. After it had dried it was sanded off again.
		A coat of undercoat was put on the roof, while it was drying I started to change the front cones. I had not done this before and the book of words made it seam quite easy, I had the tool to do the compressing but then I found out I had to take the top arm off. I did not have a small socket set so had to stop there. Put the first coat of orange on and while it is drying I will go get a small socket set and continue with the cones.
10th June 2008
		Got the o/s/f cone in and it striped the thread of the tool as it came out so the other side will have to wait. Roof had its second coat of orange, problem was the flies they seamed to be attracted to the orange. Took the mini to join the South Devon Mini Club Tuesday night and glad I did they are really nice people and they liked my idea of going round the UK The Long Way.
11th June 2008
		Next I decided to do the bonnet, someone had painted the white stripes on and not used stickers so out came the 80g sandpaper (again). I took most of it of with the 80g and then used 320g ready for undercoat.
		The first and second coat of undercoat on the bonnet. I also decided to rub the roof down with 320g sandpaper to get the flies off. I think I will finish the whole car in the blue then rub it down with 320g and then before the next coats of paint I will have to borrow a garage as I do not think it will look good with a lot of fly's legs sticking up out of the paint.
		Finally got the bonnet blue and so far no rain.
		Time for the boot. It had been hit up the back at some point. I decided to fill the dents rather than replace the boot.
12th June 2008
		Today I undercoate'd and painted the boot, it is not perfect but good enough for what I want. While the paint was drying I decided to fit the new Tie bars and track rod ends. I also fitted the o/s/f bump stop and rebound rubber.
		While doing the n/s I found a CV boot split, do one thing find another well that's a mini for you more up-keep than the wife. I also changed back to the original air filter after drilling holes round the out side as I was not keen on the carb sucking sound.
13th June 2008
		Since I fitted new track rod ends and tie bars and the new tyre I took the mini to Tavistock Tyre and Exhaust to have the wheels aligned. What a piece of kit that is, it gives a computer read out of Toe-in, camber and caster for front and back wheels. I know where I am going when I get the adjustable parts. I fitted replacement Tie bars and now wish I got the adjustable ones as the caster and camber where not bang on, but it is a mini so will do.
Tavistock Tyre and Exhaust will give 10% discount if you show your South Devon Mini Club membership card.
Sun 15th June 2008
		South Devon Mini Club's 1st show. It was a good turn out and a chance for me to get the mini known.
		We spent a lot of time looking for a lost set of keys that belonged to James's mum. After a lot of searching James had them in his pocket so they tied him up and that was the end of that.
16th June 2008
Stripped down and cleaned the carb as it had a bad flat spot and was lumpy, fitted the CD player I got at the auction yesterday at the SDMC show. Also fitted a 4 x cigarette lighter socket box for the sat-nav, speed camera detector and phone charger.
17th June 2008
		Fitted the CV boot and found the ball joints need doing, "C" clip needed for CV joint as there was not one in it and not a lot of grease in the wheel bearing. Kind Chris at Gunnislake garage helped me again this time with the ball joints he took a shim out of the n/s bottom but the o/s top needed replacing.
22nd June 2008
Engine was not happy so took the head off and low and behold the gasket was gone between ALL cylinders. Only slightly but still gone. New one tomorrow along with a timing light and hopefully the discs will turn up.
23rd June 2008
Fitted the new head gasket, I also fitted another head I had ready along with other rockers as the ones I took off were pitted. Don't know how as they were OK when I put them on only a few weeks ago. Done the points and timing, still have a problem getting the mixture right as the plugs are sooting up. Booked in to the rolling road on Sunday (a club thing) Mini World will be attending so how knows.
24th June 2008
		Today the weather looked OK so I decided to do the left side of the mini. A rub down with 340g paper and the first undercoat. Looking good.
		After a short spell of rain I got the second undercoat on.
25th June 2008
		It was a good day weather wise and I got the left side painted blue.
		Made a new grill for the mini, it is made from 3mm ply and cut out using a jig saw so not very good. I will test it for a few weeks to see how the temp goes and if OK I will try and get a proper one made. I have pictured it with paper behind the cut out so it can be seen. The proper one will have stainless steal mesh behind it and possibly a light.
26th June 2008
		Today I decided to clean up inside the boot, found the battery box had a nice e few holes in it so will have to be replaced. First coat of undercoat on (new tin of undercoat).
28th June 2008
		Took the wooden grill off and put some mesh behind it so far temp seems OK. Think the writing needs to be bigger.
		After fitting the grill I went for a run to Brixham to visit the Torbay lifeboat station and on the way a slight accident, stopped at the junction and bang! still these things happen. Caught the mini on the boot hinges and dented the boot on both sides, worse than that the hinges also went in at the bottom creasing the back panel.
		You can't really see by the pics on the web site. Got the boot open and you can see the indent by the hinges also warped boot floor, was not as easy closing the boot.
29th June 2008
		South Devon Mini Club had a rolling road day today, my mini was 45.8 at the flywheel and 32.5 at the wheels. The graph showed it was rich in the mid to top end and a different needle was needed. So I had a look on the Internet and got a comparison chart of different needles I am now going to try AAW, AAH, and ADM. I have put a link to the site under the links page.
3rd July 2008
Good news today they are NOT going to write-off the mini they will give me some money so I can fix it..
7th July
		With the bad weather all I got done was a second coat of undercoat.
8th July 2008
		Today the mini had some of it's graphics put on. This was kindly done by Ben & Dan at TAVY SIGNS in Tavistock, this is where you notice how much the mini front and back windows curve. Not an easy job with writing this good.
		After the front was done it was on to the back window.
		Front and back window graphics on thanks to TAVY SIGNS. Notice the black duck tape, this was because after the bump the other week the boot does not shut properly and lets rain in.
		I also managed to paint inside the boot blue, I left the boot lid as it will have to be replaced.
9th July 2008
		After the rain yesterday the wipers took some of the lettering off the screen as it was small and thin writing. So Tavy Signs put on a new one this time in a bolder font.
12th July 2008
		Today it was on to doing the floor. After removing the carpets it was on to the sound proofing stuff. A good thumping with a hammer loosened most of the stuff then dig it out with a screw driver. The front has been scraped ready for undercoat and painting.
15th July 2008
		Today I removed the dash and sound proofing along with the little bits of carpet. So far this makes 44.3Kg removed, I could not believe it 44.3Kg. I also got the interior light working and fitted a K&N cone air filter.
16th July 2008
It was on the rolling road today at Alan Jeffery's in Plymouth for a tune up. Last time it was 45.8 bhp and 50 lb torque. After Alan had finished it was 51.9bhp and 67lb of torque and it goes really good now especially being 44.3Kg lighter. Well worth the rolling road price.
21st July 2008
Today I replaced the n/s/f rubber cone, knuckle, bump stop and rebound rubber, in doing so I found the upper arm bearings were rusty and seized so I ordered two repair kits another thing done and more to go.
19th Aug 2008
Because of the nice summer weather I have not been able to do much. I managed to get the drivers front wheel bearing and both front discs and pads fitted today.
8th Sept 2008
		Could not wait for good weather any longer to get the welding done. There was a small break in the weather so I rubbed down the right side and started to paint it then ran out of undercoat. Can I have a few dry days PLEASE! to finish the mini.
16th Sept 2008
		At last some good weather, painted the right side blue today even over the duck tape as I have not had chance to fit the sill and door step. As the mini is to be at Castle Combe in a few weeks I thought it better to just paint it now and re-paint it when the welding has been done.
15th Jan 2009
		I had not done anything to the car since September (last year) and its M.O.T is due Feb this year so I thought I had better get started again. I got the use of a garage from Dave at The Rising Sun Inn as it would take a few days to complete.
		We started (or should I say my son Scott did) by cutting the old door step, sill and "A" panel of. I must say this was all covered by chrome door step and sill edging when I bought the car less that a year ago and it had just passed an M.O.T. it was only after removing the chrome bits we found this.
		I must also say it looked a mess. Scott told me it was not that bad and it would be OK when it was finished.
		After all the old panels were off Scott started to clean what was left up. At this point we had found three parts that would need plating. One in site at the front on the floor and two underneath that were covered by the old over sill. Everything was painted with some kind of paint Scott got to help keep the runt away.
		The door step was the first on, this was a non genuine repair panel (Scott was not impressed) and did not fit very good but Scott did eventually get it not bad. The patch inside was next, we had run out of gas for the welder so it was a bit splodgy nothing the angle grinder will not fix.
		Next was the fitting of the sill. Before the sill could be fitted Scott had to plate the two rusty bits, these were cut out first and then plated over and the sill welded on. This being a Heritage panel it was a good fit. Next the "A" panel again a Heritage panel and a good fit.
		After all the panels were fitted and ground down it was time for me to do some work, so I painted the panels with undercoat and then we went home.
17th Jan
		10am and the blue paint was on and the inner-wing, inside the "A" panel and sill were painted with underseal and left to dry, supposedly touch dry in three hours so back home we went.
		Back at 1pm and the paint was still very very tacky so another coat of underseal and back home again.
		Back at 4pm and the paint still very tacky but we had no option (as we had to give Dave his garage back) to put the door on and get the mini out and back home. At least it was not raining. So we got the mini out, cleaned the garage and home we went.
		Back at home the mini looked as was intended clean and tidy. As I have said before this was not intended to be a restore or show job just to look good.
		5th Feb took the mini for it's MOT and it failed (no surprise there), it failed on headlight aim to high (must have been the new front cones) fog light not working, no rubber bits on the brake pedal, rear exhaust mounting loose, near side hand brake cable snapped (I knew that one), emissions 8.4 (should be 3.5) and the best for last the rear subframe rotten.
MOT by Colin Hill Motors Callington who are one of the sponsors
I have decided to fit a rear beam axle instead of a new subframe. The reasons are as follows. 1) Cheaper than fitting a genuine subframe, new cones, shocks and camber kit. 2) Less weight and easier to keep the underside of the mini clean. 3) Easier to fit and the rear valance will not come into the MOT which I plan on removing and fitting mud flaps.		After removing 44Kg earlier the difference was amazing, so the more weight I can remove the better the mini will go up hills and on this trip there will be a few. With the adjustable shocks I can alter the spring when I have all the bits in the car I need to take with me.
I will put up the fitting of the beam axle you can follow the progress by clicking here.
		We had some welding to do when the old subframe came off.
		2nd March, time to start the inside. I thought best to start with the floor and work up. This was the floor after the carpets and sound proofing was removed. A few little holes needed to be patched but it was not as bad as it looked.
		After the wire brush on the grinder was finished and the welding done the floor was hovered and painted with a zinc paint. Looks good now. Notice they are no brackets to hold the seats and new ones fitted for the Metro seats.
After the engine blowing another exhuast valve I have decided to replace it. I also desided to remove the front subframe and do the whole lot in one go. That is the mini off the road for a while. I will also start re-painting the mini ready for the run.
		This is the mini engine bay before I start.
		And with the engine out. Note the N/S engine mount.
		I took a few picture for the re-build just in case I forgot something.
		Next was to clean the engine bay.
		Start of the undercoating.
		Suby out, to be striped down and painted along with new bushes ect.
		Inside the engine bay was undercoated the painted blue.
		The underneath of the mini was painted in light blue up to just behind the gear stick.
		When I was given the engine by Alex it was red and it looked like poster paint. Most of it came off with the jet wash and left a yellow engine. This was then cleaned off ready for painting.
		Engine bay nearly ready for engine.
		Engine bay now ready for the engine to be fitted.
		And in she goes.
		And here we have the before and after pics.
		Start of the inside before the heater goes back in.
		I still have the welding to do (battery box). Rub down and paint the whole car again this time under cover I hope. Fit new boot etc. Other things to get include: Spot lights Towing eye fitted Mud flaps