Back from the brink!

[nick@dunsdale]

Interesting that the deseamed seam is still visible as paint blisters in the first picture of Ant's post. How was the deseaming done? I read years ago that the factory experimented with seams folded inwards rather than externally and that was done on the early elfs and hornets, but it sounds unlikely.

Tim

I would imagine as per usual there would be very little underbody protection those seam welded panels were probably lucky if the were undersealed, i would expect there was no seam sealer applied.

I would have imagined at the factory they would have carried out a stepped joint, did this once years ago on a clubman, it works as the seam size on the mini is just about the right size to use those joddler stepping tool's that you can buy.

We cut the seam of the a panel flatted out the seam on the wing and stepped it.

[bill773mini]

I would have imagined at the factory they would have carried out a stepped joint

John's first quarter of 61 built Elf prototype/beach car has just this arrangement.



viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2504

[Tim]

Its a bit hard to see what's going on in Bill's photo, certainly not the seam folded in reverse, it looks like a butt joint? I can understand why they would have discontinued doing it, it would have been very time consuming.

Tim

[1071kev]

[quote="JC T ONE"]

Is that a copy, of a Radford paint job ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZiTe-a_VYc&mid=56 )

Don't think it was a copy but don't know what Tom Morris's influences were. The gold was a Rootes colour from 1967 but most manufacturers has a similar colour around this time.

[1071kev]

Fantastic looking car, but why the mk3 dash and courtesy light switches?

The center dash section is the original 1961 item. The prototypes only had this section. The nearside panel is the one fitted before the 1962 Autocar road test, the offside panel was fitted when the additional instruments went in, probably when the airball vents were fitted. They are in a different position from the Mk3's. I'm not sure when the 1100/1300 courtesy light switches were fitted but I've got the receipt somewhere.

[1071kev]

Interesting that the deseamed seam is still visible as paint blisters in the first picture of Ant's post. How was the deseaming done? I read years ago that the factory experimented with seams folded inwards rather than externally and that was done on the early elfs and hornets, but it sounds unlikely.

Tim

I would imagine as per usual there would be very little underbody protection those seam welded panels were probably lucky if the were undersealed, i would expect there was no seam sealer applied.

I would have imagined at the factory they would have carried out a stepped joint, did this once years ago on a clubman, it works as the seam size on the mini is just about the right size to use those joddler stepping tool's that you can buy.

We cut the seam of the a panel flatted out the seam on the wing and stepped it.

A lot of head scratching went on over the de-seaming. The original wings were replaced in 1969 at the factory and one of these replaced when the car was restored in 1989 so the original detail was partly lost. We ended up doing a stepped joint before seam welding. Hopefully it will be strong enough.

[1071kev]

Had the Elf out for a spin today. Still a few niggles to sort out but did about 40 miles without a hitch and turned a few heads. The biggest pain is trying to get the carbs (2 x 1 1/4") to idle correctly, too fast at present. Adjustments all backed off, throttle cable free and nothing obviously wrong. The carbs were overhauled a couple of years ago for my 1071 with new spindles and the butterflies appear to seat okay. There is no servo or clack valve to play up and the manifold is seating on the head okay and clearing the center pipe of the exhaust. The pistons are free anddropping fully in the dash pots. The 1071 suffered from the same problem so I changed them for H4's which are fine. I'm confused!

Kev

[JC T ONE]

Amazing car love the way they fitted the fuelpumps, and piping


But what about that cool 60ies sound deadning, for the bulk head ?

is that not going back in

That adjustable engine tiebar, above the transfer gears, is that a BMC product, you could buy ?
and was it fitted to any other type of Mini ?

Also noticed the one fitted to the head, by the thermostat, real good mods they did to it.

Is it running without airfilter ? = no space to fit one ?

[1071kev]

Cheers,

Pumps and piping all factory fitted stuff and all working well. Soundproofing now re-fitted. Working through all the other bits and pieces. Currently restoring the tow bracket as this will tie the bumper back to the floor which will dictate where the over-rider stays fix. Then I can get the reverse light mounted and finish off the towbar electrics. Then the electrics for the auxiliary switch panel for the reverse light and fog/spot light. Everything is so interrelated.

The tie bar above the transfer gears is a modified standard one. Set up to push the supercharger away from the bulkhead. The engine mounting holes in the subframe at the radiator end are elongated too to let the engine forward a bit at that side. The tie bar at the radiator end I think is part of the supercharger kit.

Now got the car sitting on correct 3.5" rims, Dunlop SP Sports and hub caps. Fitted the over-riders too. Looking much more correct.

[JC T ONE]

Good to hear about your progress on this interesting car .

That was a lot of mods, to fit a supercharger, I have never seen one.

You could not have one, in a LHD car (master cylenders pos) so the 10 kits that was imported to Denmark, was never fitted
I have heard the guy still has them

Dont forget some pictures, as you get more done to the car

[Old English White]

I bumped into a mate last night and we got onto the subject of this car. His boss at Cowley (Tom Morris?) owned it. He's the chap who offered it to me many years ago. His boss asked him to get it through an MOT at one stage after it had been out of use for some time. He got it running and checked through the brakes etc before taking it to the MOT station, only to be told that the underside was SO rotten that it had NO chance of passing the test...... It was taken away somewhere and a fairly major job carried out on the underside at that time.

It was considered a great joke that the Tom Morris had a supercharger fitted, as he never went far or fast in it, and just pottered about locally!

[1071kev]

Hi All,
Just letting you know the long awaited feature for Mini Magazine is almost complete and should be out in the next month or so. Have a look while the wife's doing the shopping! Car is now in Grampian Transport Museum if anyone is planning a visit there. Kev

[minitravellerman]

Looking forward to reading the article on this - will certainly try to get to the museum if I'm ever across the water and in the area.