My 1963 Austin 997 Cooper

[mnicoop63]

I bought my Mini 27 years ago when I was 18 and drove it daily for several years and then on and off eventually parking it for the last ten years. Just over a year and a half ago I decided it was time to drive it again. What started out as simply fix a few things and get it drivable has turned into me taking the entire car apart and building a rotisserie. I found myself in way over my head in just a month or two but continued work on it every chance i had which was basically every night after work and on the weekends. I was motivated I tell ya. I took every piece of the car apart and stripped the shell down to bare metal along with the doors, boot and bonnet. The shell is original and had a couple minor spots of rust that needed to be cut out and patches welded back in. I practiced welding repaired the spots myself; one small spot in the boot and another low in the rear quarter panel just in front of the wheel. I had a few very small pin holes in the floor I was able to weld close and then sprayed everything with 2k epoxy primer. I stripped all the suspension and subframes and painted them as well. I replaced all the brake components and rebuilt the front S calipers I installed years ago. The original 997 engine was long gone before I ever bought the mini and a factory rebuilt 850 had been installed. I did several upgrades to it and that little 850 is surprisingly strong running. I have decided to run it when I get the mini back together so I can tune the suspension and brakes. I am currently building a 1275 that will eventually find its way into the mini. I have a couple 997 engines but have decided not to run any of them, yet.

I had Raptor tinted and sprayed the bottom of the mini and have installed the rear subframe and suspension. Over the last year and a half I have ordered just about everything needed to complete my build and have recovered one front seat so far with Newton Tartan Red/Brocade covers. The only thing I have decided to have done by somebody else (other than machine work for my 1275) is paint. I took the mini in and had the boot, under the bonnet and the inside sprayed. I brought the mini home about 5 weeks ago and wanted to let the paint fully cure before I began putting it all back together. Well like I said that was 5 weeks ago and I can't seem to find the motivation to put the damn thing together. I have busted my ass for just over 18 months and now that there is light at the end of the tunnel I haven't done anything. I am an amateur and this is my first mini build and I am not sure if maybe I am scared that I might screw something up or do it in the wrong order? I am hoping that posting this will light a fire under my ass and that I will get back to work on it. I have taken some pictures along the way and will see if I can't post a bunch of them in this post or if maybe I will have to post them separate as a comment.

Brian

so much for pictures right now. I tried attaching a file that is 1.6mb and it says it's too large. how small do they have to be?

[mnicoop63]

Well, here is my mini before I started taking it apart. I had to crop this picture to resize it in order to post it. I hope I don't have to do this to every picture I want to post.

[Polarsilver]

Suggest your way forward is to isolate your rebuild to just " one task per day" however small that may be .. focus on a specific job that needs to be done & just get that completed .. it is surprising then how your re-build will then all come together .. good to get another 997 back up & running

[mnicoop63]

Here it is on the rotisserie and after stripping the bottom..

[mnicoop63]

both before and after of the boot and the inside..

[mnicoop63]

.....

[mnicoop63]

Here is what it looks like now. I will try and post a few more pictures tomorrow. It's late here in the States.

[mnicoop63]

and the bottom..

[Fanfaniracing]

very nice! congratulations!

[EAVB]

She's going to be a good one, you don't find many shells like that over here! Make yourself a checklist and cross the jobs off as you do them, I find I'm always more motivated if I can see how much I have already done. Good luck!

[mk1]

Looks lika great project & a lovely little car.

I look forward to updates.

[mnicoop63]

Thank you for the kind and positive replies. I am definitely going to take the advice of completing small tasks one at a time. The first thing I wanted to do was glue the vinyl on the dash rails and A-pillars and I think that is what took the wind out of my sails. It just seems like it would be easy to mess up and my mini has the metal covers on the A-pillars that the vinyl glues on to. I've seen a couple posts here on the forum and it still scares me. I have decided not to do it first and instead will install the engine and box into the front subframe and then put the mini on it. I figure seeing it on four wheels again should get me excited. It's been almost two years. I am hoping that the LCB I have will clear the original rubber yoke type joints I have. My fear is that it is for the pot-joint type. If it is, is it possible to heat and bend them to clear our should I clean up and use an original 3 to1 pipe I have? i'm not sure of my work load this week yet but am hoping to make progress and get it down on wheels again. Here are a couple pictures of my subframe and the little 850 I love. It has a VP7 cam with Isky lifters, old aldon yellow dizzy, 1 1/2" SU with Howley intake and a pipe. I keep telling myself to put one of the bigger valve heads I have on it and probably will later after it's driving.

[MiNiKiN]

i love the "subframe for the subframe" idea - I might copy that once I am at this stage (many moons in the future )

[mnicoop63]

Well I have finally found the motivation to assemble my Mini over that past 5 or 6 weeks. Granted I still have a long ways to go but at least it is starting to look like a car again. Putting it back on the ground with wheels and tires was a pretty rewarding moment for me. It had been almost two years. I still have a couple wiring issues I need to figure out and at some point here soon I am going to have to tackle the vinyl on the dash and A-pillars. Something I am really dreading. I dropped the engine and box in from the top for the first time (I usually do it and the subframe from below) and found it to be pretty easy. Well except for the motor mounts. One side would just not line up in the subframe. The holes on the mount were higher than those in the subframe. It turned out I had one mount that was thicker and the two plates that are fused to the rubber were not lined up correctly. There are a couple things that I don't think are like what they are supposed to be; for example my hydraulic lines coming out of the master cylinders have the wrong bend in them. I am not sure that I will remove and fix them. I plan to drive my mini and don't mind if there are a few things that aren't correct. It certainly isn't a show car. Well there is a quick update and here are a couple pictures of it. Cheers.

[mnicoop63]

Does anybody know what lights would go in the grille cutouts? It has always had Hella Comet 500 lights with a custom bracket but I have never liked the look of them that much because they are pretty big and stick out a bit. What options are there to have something flush?

[Philsa]

Sorry I cannot answer your light question.

But I sure like that air filter housing for the carb. Car is looking excellent.

[MiNiKiN]

But I sure like that air filter housing for the carb. Car is looking excellent.

That airfilter housing is an old K&N filter and airbox kit available in the 90ies - I liked it very much - the roar of it in particular, sadly discontinued me thinks.

[Dearg1275]

It is so good to see another 997 returned to the world. It is all coming together beautifully. Like you, I have a choice of engines, a modified 997 and a 1275 S. Don't dismiss your 997 engine. They are very good for torque and respond nicely to a better flowing head. I have decided to fit the 997, to start with at least.

Keep pegging away.

D

[miniminor]

Assume its still in primer and that isn't the finished colour? Unusual way to do a build im thinking

[mnicoop63]

But I sure like that air filter housing for the carb. Car is looking excellent.

That airfilter housing is an old K&N filter and airbox kit available in the 90ies - I liked it very much - the roar of it in particular, sadly discontinued me thinks.

I have always liked the K&N filter box. It is definitely late 80's early 90's. It has a stub stack inside and has always worked great. Have to admit I've never used a different one so maybe there is something better but like I said I've always liked it and it definitely produces a throaty sound.