1972 Morris Mini Van

[mini_surfari]

Morning Guys,

Been looking for a van for a while since finishing 'My 66ish' project, and finally managed to pick this up.

Overall, pretty solid car, will try and get it started this afternoon and go from there.

I wonder if any of you could tell me any history about it, or where to look. The old boy i bought it off believed it was possibly an ex police van, being black, having an aerial hole above the rear light, and a little box of electrics just behind the headlining, so maybe hints?

Its a London registration, with Stewart & Ardern stickers on the plates?

I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Cheers,

[mini_surfari]

pics.

[mini_surfari]

no idea why they all flipped etc...

[Andrew1967]

Can't help on details of the van but looks a great project

To think, it wasn't that long ago that you couldn't give a Mini van away, but now, like pick ups, they are a quite sought after.

[Van13]

Nice find early vans are hard to come by,vans are my thing,currently restoring a72 myself good luck with it

[mini_surfari]

Slight update,

Van is now stripped other than the front subframe which is staying in until the floors are sorted.

As can be imagined far more rust has been round, and more parts only fit for the bin.

Pictures too follow later!

Can anybody tell me if there is a way to find the commission number? As i assume it should of had one on the slam panel but it is missing?

[mini_surfari]

A few pictures as promised.

[mini_surfari]

Not sure why the pictures keep flipping 90 degrees

[mini_surfari]

Thought I should update this, if anyone is interested.

The engine has been stripped and refurbed, only mods are magic wand replaced with a remote, twin su's, and little head work, will be getting a cooper free flow manifold too.

Engines been painted green, rather than black just because we prefer it and will suit the them of the rest of the build.







Managed to find a NOS fuel pump too.



And some panel work has been done, but the weathers been against us on this. Hopefully there should be some pictures of the rear back together in the next couple of weeks.

















Think thats about it for now, until the rear is all welded up, then on to the quarter and floors.

[Pandora]

Excellent, this will be very handy to see as I scratch my head with mine. The engine is certainly transformed.

Where are you getting your panels, Mini Machine?

Al

[mini_surfari]

Excellent, this will be very handy to see as I scratch my head with mine. The engine is certainly transformed.

Where are you getting your panels, Mini Machine?

Al

Hopefully it does help, there's lots of head scratching going on with this one, as Me and My dad have only restored saloons before, and the clubman estate I did have never needed any welding at the back.

Panels I get from somerford mini, as they are just down the road from me, most of the non gen panels are from mini machine though... just through them.

annoyingly the only panel i cannot get is the the c pillar down to the floor, as its been hit in the back and its quite out of shape, and i dont want to have loads of filler in it.

[Leadfoot1]

Just to reassure you, yes we are all interested in your van project.

[smithyrc30]

Excellent, this will be very handy to see as I scratch my head with mine. The engine is certainly transformed.

Where are you getting your panels, Mini Machine?

Al

Hopefully it does help, there's lots of head scratching going on with this one, as Me and My dad have only restored saloons before, and the clubman estate I did have never needed any welding at the back.

Panels I get from somerford mini, as they are just down the road from me, most of the non gen panels are from mini machine though... just through them.

annoyingly the only panel i cannot get is the the c pillar down to the floor, as its been hit in the back and its quite out of shape, and i dont want to have loads of filler in it.

I have the rear end of a Mini Clubman van which I am about to throw away. The bottom of each is a bit rusty but the majority is still ok.
I guess the issue is I am in Australia so shipping may be a problem.

[swindrum]

I have the rear end of a Mini Clubman van which I am about to throw away. The bottom of each is a bit rusty but the majority is still ok.
I guess the issue is I am in Australia so shipping may be a problem.

I did an estate last year and had the same problem, I ended up finding the same panel used, offered by a forum member. My advice is to pay the freight! Once I had the replacement c-panel, everything fell into place much easier Without it, I could not get the rear doors to fit. Great Project! I also have a Van in the queue and am watching with interest!

[Peter Laidler]

If it's an ex cop van, why not build into it all the features you need to make it back into a cop van. BUT without making the features prominent such as drilling holes for lights etc etc. Magnetic round thinggy on the roof to fix the light, hidden bolts under parcel shelf for radio. These ex cop cars and vans do attract a lot of attention and while getting the bits is a bit of a challenge there's plenty of people who'll help.

And as I never stop telling them........... ex cop cars are rarer than ex works cars too!

[mini_surfari]

I have the rear end of a Mini Clubman van which I am about to throw away. The bottom of each is a bit rusty but the majority is still ok.
I guess the issue is I am in Australia so shipping may be a problem.

I did an estate last year and had the same problem, I ended up finding the same panel used, offered by a forum member. My advice is to pay the freight! Once I had the replacement c-panel, everything fell into place much easier Without it, I could not get the rear doors to fit. Great Project! I also have a Van in the queue and am watching with interest!

Originally I was hoping for a whole bmc/bl quarter panel roof to sill, but I’ll keep my eye out for a c pillar, I don’t want loads of filler in the back of it! Hopefully more progress soon!

[mini_surfari]

If it's an ex cop van, why not build into it all the features you need to make it back into a cop van. BUT without making the features prominent such as drilling holes for lights etc etc. Magnetic round thinggy on the roof to fix the light, hidden bolts under parcel shelf for radio. These ex cop cars and vans do attract a lot of attention and while getting the bits is a bit of a challenge there's plenty of people who'll help.

And as I never stop telling them........... ex cop cars are rarer than ex works cars too!

Peter that was the original plan, however we couldn’t find enough proof to say that it definitely was a cop van. Although even if it was I can’t imagine it looked very different to standard... no holes in the roof etc?

[coop12g295]

I have a complete o/s van side panel inc a panel nos I may sell

[mini_surfari]

Well... 2021

I'm going to try and catch this thread back up, and then do my best to keep it more up to date. I am guilty of infrequently taking photos, so there will be lots of gaps.

Bare with me

Now originally the idea with this van was to save us much original metal as possible, but as always seems to be the way, these projects get more and more involved. As you may have seen by some of the 'help me' threads, there have been a few learning curves along the way. But anyway

First of all, some rusty pictures.







Now lets build a Spit.





And start hacking away looking for more rust.













More to come....

[mini_surfari]

Time to add some metal back in.

First the floors, in hindsight it would have been easier to put a whole floor in, especially with how little is left of the original shell. But live and learn.





Although not in chronological order, I shall mention the rear floor. We did start letting in sections, but if I'm honest, it looked crap. So we quit while we were ahead. The front of the load bay had been cut out terribly in the past, I assume for a rear seat, a square had also been but in the centre of the load bay. The rear had taken a knock in the back, and the under floor bracing was flakey in places.







Quick test of the new subframe in with the new floor.



New floor arrived





The only thing I might do yet, is seam weld the rear step, and grind in to shape... undecided yet.




Out came the angle grinder.



With the floor gone (and both rear arches in the end). The OS heel board was repaired.

A spare wheel bracket was fabricated and welded in, as this was missing too. (I have a template for this incase anyone in the future needs one)





A complete M Machine load floor, with valance/ closing panel attached then slid in, the fit was very good over all, the arches took some manipulation though to get a tight fit. After reading multiple opinions on the forum, I non gen rear subframe purchased. This was trial fitted before the floor was removed. And then used to help line up the new floor. Was very happy with the fit over all. Took a little wiggling, but no more than you'd expect.





Followed by the centre support, battery brackets. wheel arches, valance ends and closing panels. The arches were plug welded all around, and then little slugs for extra strength.









Next we shall head to the front....