Next project - ‘62 997 Austin Cooper

[Dearg1275]

Hi, The restoration bug has bitten again. This time a 997 found locally. It was offered to me out of the blue by someone who knew I had a keen interest in Minis. Wonderful things do sometimes happen.

3EE67BA2-80F0-49AD-97F7-8678BF999108.jpeg

It had been rallied at in the NW and stored since ‘70s. It came with a late 1275 S engine in bits. The shell is fairly solid but bashed about. It’s rough. Much of the trim had been lost to the needs of rallying but what remains is correct. It’s smoke grey under the gaudy blue and orange with the interior painted out black. “Interesting” dash.

8DB0CD93-93F7-4C8B-B907-14919C5CC840.jpeg

It’s been on its roof which is badly creased and dented. The current job is to strip everything off the shell and get it away for media blasting to discover the inevitable nasties.

D

[Andrew1967]

Fantastic project David ... just goes to show these cars are still out there waiting to be found by madmen like us

Looking forward to more pics of this car

[Lakeland997]

Superb. Another one to be saved.
Are you sticking with the rally build or going back to standard?

[billycooper]

David unearthed this car a while ago and has kept in contact with me ... beacuse it was my fathers car in the 60s !, this is the car that started it all for me

looking forward to progress on this restoration

[Dearg1275]

Superb. Another one to be saved.
Are you sticking with the rally build or going back to standard?

Well it’s not going to be blue and orange! It will go back to near standard but quite how far I’m not sure yet. I do like the idea of it being prepped as a privateers car might have been back in the seventies. We shall see. Just a couple more as found photos.

B5181FCC-3C54-442C-B0CA-6734F9FDAAEA.jpeg

193CF4D6-EB31-46C5-844E-5EEF072543C6.jpeg

D

[Polarsilver]

Keep the Harry Moss Air Horns .. extra noise just what a period Mini needs.

[Dearg1275]

The air horns are FIAMM and will make it back under the bonnet (if they work).

D

[billycooper]

So KEC414, the car that started my journey in the world of Minis !!, as I have already stated on this forum this car belonged to my father back in the 60s, i think he bought it in 1965, and owned it till the very early 70s, broke my heart the day he sold it, I just thought it would get handed down to me !, anyway he bought a Dolomite Sprint which again he kept for ages, he had links to the comps department through the Austin dealer he worked for in the Lake District, it soon had Cooper S running gear and loads of other Special Tuning bits and bobs, he did a few autotests, small night rallies in it, grass slaloms, quarry bashes etc, it was a quick and well known car in the "Lakes", and local people .. of a certain age still remember the car today , The engine / box and brakes came from a crashed Cooper S he bought, it went through the wall at Low wood Hotel on the outskirts of Ambleside, was recovered to the garage and he promptly bought it for all the S bits and pieces, I remember seeing the buff log book for the S he bought but its long gone.

Ive put pics up of the car from the 60s on the forum in the past, small link here to some of the pics in this album, as you will see in the album i was lucky enough to find KEC112 number plate 25 years ago which has been on a lot of my cars since and is now on my 1960 Hillclimb Mini as a homage to my fathers car.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16788879@ ... 4271043090


So obviously we tried to buy the car off David when he found it , but think its a keeper for David, we know little of the history of it since my father sold it, think it went through two of my cousins, one passed away recently and one was living in New Zealand last I heard, i did come across an owner of the car in the early 80s who said he owned the car and was in my area, he wouldnt part with it, and said he was going to do it up for car shows, not sure who rallied it, but I dont think it did much, otherwise I would have heard about it locally as my father and I were members of all the local motor clubs, and then it must have gone to Scotland and disappeared off my radar.

David contacted me in August 2017 to say he had bought the car, and have pretty much been in contact with him since, I havent seen the car yet, but look forward to seeing his progress, he's made such a cracking job of his other cars, whether he returns it to a standard 997, a homage to how my dad had it, or a 1970s competion car remains to be seen, but I will be an avid watcher on the forum to see how it goes !


me on the bonnet !

15737699895_60fa119cc0_b.jpg

[Pete]

it was my fathers car in the 60s !, this is the car that started it all for me

Holy cr*p! Its THIS car!

[coopertim]

What a fantastic car and story! Hopefully it will go back to Smoke Grey? Really looking forward to this thread take shape!

Tim

[Dearg1275]

Filling in the history where Steve left off. Steve’s dad sold it in November ‘73 to one cousin who had it for a year when it was registered by to other. Brothers it would seem from the surname. Then it moved from Ambleside to a chap Buneside, Kendal in March 75.

It seems that this was the guys first car. He worked in steel fabrication and made a few bits for the car, notably a more than strong sump guard.

882DA30C-E12F-40E5-82E3-EDA64F48D323.jpeg

7DD08337-9A8D-4AEA-940C-454949367C56.jpeg

And an Italian leg roll cage with the leg off set. From the gauge of the steel they must have been building cattle presses.

14D0996C-F6F4-4C98-B4EC-D341173222DF.jpeg

Not the most elegant of items but I’m sure they worked.

The car was used in local events until the then owner moved to the far north of Scotland just 20 miles from me. He brought the car with him but did nothing with it up here. It languished beneath mattresses and other junk in a dry garage until he was forced to move it owing to divorce. It was actually his ex-wife that suggested to him that I might be interested. She worked in the local garage where I usually had my minis MOTed. Strange how these things happen.

D

[Dearg1275]

How lucky can you get? I’ve just stripped the car back to its shell and found I had very nice surprise.

BA13DC7E-14E1-4C02-B0B7-8E91C01624A3.jpeg

Not only that but the radius arm shafts were pristine, not a mark on them. The car hasn’t moved since the late 70s so these should be genuine parts:)

D

[AndyPen]

Love this kind of history

[Dearg1275]

The roof on this 997 was dented and creased all over and has bad corrosion in the rear corners. I had thought about fitting a new lid but they are not cheap, they have to be collected and 1,000 mile round trip to fetch one didn’t thrill me. I decided I had nothing to loose by trying my hand at panel beating.

I haven’t power in this shed so it was sweaty work with a body file, hammers, dollies and spoon.

2F422212-3728-47FB-8F60-90D34989A4E5.jpeg

There’s still a bit to do at the front but I’m content it will turn out fine.

82953EB4-67C9-4CCB-A06A-472C455E4232.jpeg

To make life easier I could do with some roof and gutter bits. If you think you can help take a look at the wanted section.

D

[Costafortune]

A mate of mine has owned this the last 35 years, a 1071S. It was used and rallied in the Kendal area in the 60's and 70's, maybe someone up there remembers it.

[billycooper]

Its defo a Westmorland number "JM" , i don't recall the car, ill do some digging !

[Dearg1275]

Roof update. I spent two days bashing away and got to point where I was making it worse or going round in circles. So I have accepted I’m not of professional standard and that a thin skim of filler with be needed. I found that it had more dings I didn’t know about all filled with copious filler. I don’t doubt that once the rest of the roof is stripped of paint more damage will appear.

D0F58518-64C7-4D34-A972-40F5FB8678D4.jpeg

I was dreading to find what horrors lurked beneath the masses of filler on the scuttle to wing joins but found a nice bonus. Yes there is some accident damage but it should beat out.

1A54CE64-8AB8-41F1-A1E6-1F2A5331F0BE.jpeg

19FE05AD-D670-4CF9-BBB8-C5C8E69A71A5.jpeg

D

[Dearg1275]

Having cheered myself up about the roof I thought while I was in a good frame of mind I would give the shell a good looking at. Always depressing. First was the usual panels list. The wheel arch extensions had not helped.

997 panel list.

Front panel
L&R wings
Inner wing grill
L&R inner A
L&R outer A
R door step
R quarter panel
R inner sill
R quadrant
R wheel arch closing panel
R jacking point
R outer sill
R wheel arch
Rear lower panel repair
Rear boot floor repair
Rear valance
L rear quarter panel repair
L wheel arch
L inner sill
L jacking point
L outer sill
L sill closing panel
L quadrant
L wheel arch closing panel
L&R drip rails

So it’s a good shell isn’t it?

Then to the detail. The right hand wing had been replaced and there was damage to the scuttle on that side. The question was how far the damage reached. Steve was able to confirm the accident damage and how it happened. It was run into the back of a car at traffic lights. So, the damage could have travelled a fair way. Looking carefully there was damage to the upper dash rail, the seam on the door aperture had opened up, the parcel shelf was bucked ,the inner skin of the A pillar is slightly twisted and the front bottom corner, by the wheel arch, of the quarter panel is just not quite right.

AF75372F-904C-453A-9E57-5A29A5DC744B.jpeg

AB15118B-231E-4AB4-B071-0DA99F290FE6.jpeg

ECE77F58-A75C-4F3E-9E89-D53EEA7426B8.jpeg

4CCC258A-4013-416E-B1B6-CC4725C5C87E.jpeg

The damage to the parcel shelf indicates that the bulkhead cross member has moved back somewhat. That is more concerning as it will throw out the alignment.

The question now is whether I can correct this by releasing the damaged panels on this side so allowing the bulkhead to be moved forwards again or would it be better to have the body shell pulled back to shape first. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

D

[Dearg1275]

Now that I know the front crossmember has moved back slightly it made sense to check the subframe.
I screwed a pair of studs into the top of the towers and this was the result.

E03CD770-46B7-4D08-A5C9-7B7E4F9CC3B2.jpeg

The studs are not parallel as they should be. It is not a big discrepancy but if I correct the shell it is probably going to be difficult to impossible to fit the tower bolts to the subframe when it comes to rebuilding. Now it’s head scratching time as to how I straighten the subframe. Always something!

D

[Dearg1275]

Subframe problem solved using gate post and a length of timber. It really was very easy and the subframe nowhere near as stiff as I expected.

7BFDB125-5FFB-419A-9A44-045F4CD406C0.jpeg

D