Hello from SoCal

[Benny]

Hello,

My name is Ben, I'm a 34 year old Mechanical Engineer, and I live in San Diego, CA. I was born in Manchester, but my family emigrated to the States when I was 2, and I've lived here ever since. I got my first Mini (a rotten 998 Cooper) in 1996, when I was 17. I later found a zero-rust, 1961 850 bodyshell, and began building one good car (a Cooper S replica) out of the two. I made some good progress on that project in those early years, but was never completely happy with a few things about the car (paint job, etc), and my focus wandered to other cars (Cortinas, MGBs, E-types, Land Rovers) before ever finishing the project .

About 4-5 years ago, I stumbled into a zero-rust, genuine 1966 1275 'S' that hadn't seen the light of day since 1978. The car was totally complete, and largely unmolested, apart from the steel flares that someone had added in the 70's. So, now it's 2013, and I've got two unfinished Minis, and I haven't turned a wrench on a Mini in at least 6-8 years. In the last couple of months, I've decided to "sh*t or get off the pot" with my '61, and I've promised my wife I'll have it running by this summer. If I love driving the '61, the hope is that will give me the motivation to start on the restoration of the 'S'. If I don't love it, I'll likely be selling them both by year-end.

In addition to the Minis, I've got a 1964 Cortina GT that is painted as a Lotus, and is powered by a 350+ hp Ford V8. I've also got a 1965 Cortina GT that is powered by a Nissan L18 SSS engine (currently undergoing a repaint). I've got a 1965 pull-handle MGB (undergoing restoration), and a beautiful 1967 MGB GT that still proudly wears its original paint.....thankfully, I also have a very understanding wife.

Before you ask, the E-type is now gone....bit of a sore subject.

[JC T ONE]

Hello & welcome inhere


some nice cars there I grew up on the back seat of a MG.
my Father had 13 of them (from the 50ies & upto 1969) and was the co founder of MG club Denmark.

That Black Mini looks awesome are those JA Pearce wheels ?

I would leave that, if it had been mine, looks just right, and VERY cool like that.




Jens Christian

[foxy52]

Hello & welcome inhere


some nice cars there I grew up on the back seat of a MG.
my Father had 13 of them (from the 50ies & upto 1969) and was the co founder of MG club Denmark.

That Black Mini looks awesome are those JA Pearce wheels ?

I would leave that, if it had been mine, looks just right, and VERY cool like that.....i like the 64 gt cortina lotus lookalikee !!!... must be fun with a big v8 lump in it !!.. looks the part...cool foxy52




Jens Christian

[guru_1071]

that tatty black mk1 looks great!

[Benny]

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, those are JA Pierce wheels in the pic. When I found the car....or perhaps, when it found me...it had been up on jack-stands for 30 years, as the previous owner had thrown away the wheels it came with. A friend of mine who helped retrieve the car had the JA Pierce wheels in his rafters, and loaned them to me to ge the car mobile again. They were pretty badly damaged around the lug holes, and the wheels were fairly badly corroded. The lug holes could have been salvaged with some stainless sleeves, but i would have never felt comfortable with the wheels due to the corrosion.



The car currently sits on custom, steel wheels. I cut the centers out of a set of Dunlop reversed-rim wheels, and had them welded into a set of new, 10x6" "hoops". Not sure if I'll ultimately use these, but they look kind of neat.

[jay weinstein]

hello from la. great cooper s. your car is exactly what was done to socal minis in the late 60's.jap wheels were sold by a san diego business in the day. as long as you shit can the trailer tires the jap wheel are perfect for your car if you leave the flares on.if you want another set of japs i have a couple of friends that i'm sure would sell theirs at a reasonable price.6x10 in real nice condition. have fun and use the way it was modified in the " early days". the other restored car looks great ...nice work and have fun.every body needs at least 2 minis or more!!! jw

[JC T ONE]

Those wheel arches look even better up close nicely done.

polish it, and use it as is

[miniminor]

What a nice toy cupboard and understanding wife

[ronie]

That is a great collection.

[Benny]

Those wheel arches look even better up close nicely done.

polish it, and use it as is

HA.....the typical feedback I get over here is "strip it to bare metal, cut off the flares, and return it to standard at any cost".....sort of refreshing to get such different feedback on this board. Leaving it somewhat scruffy would certainly save me a lot of time.

Yes, while the flares are not to everyone's taste, the workmanship in them is actually quite good. My guess is that they were purchased flares that were grafted on by a bodyman, rather than being fabbed from scratch......there was very little filler used.

[steve1071]

Lovely cars Benny. Leave the 'S' as is and run it. It can always be restored later.

[guru_1071]

HA.....the typical feedback I get over here is "strip it to bare metal, cut off the flares, and return it to standard at any cost".....sort of refreshing to get such different feedback on this board. Leaving it somewhat scruffy would certainly save me a lot of time.

its just that its nice to see a period mini still wearing its period mods nowadays, so many cooper s's are now restored factory mint, but with a very narrow band of 'acceptable' mods, i.e recliners, wood steering wheel, etc etc, people nowadays seem to have forgotton the period that minis went through where more 'forgotton' mods where done!

in my eyes its refreshing to see a car thats still going 'loud and proud'

to me a bit of patina and history trumps a super smooth 2k paint job anyday

[JC T ONE]

Leave the 'S' as is and run it. It can always be restored later.

its just that its nice to see a period mini still wearing its period mods nowadays, so many cooper s's are now restored factory mint, but with a very narrow band of 'acceptable' mods, i.e recliners, wood steering wheel, etc etc, people nowadays seem to have forgotton the period that minis went through where more 'forgotton' mods where done!

in my eyes its refreshing to see a car thats still going 'loud and proud'

to me a bit of patina and history trumps a super smooth 2k paint job anyday

Can only agree to the above comments .

The way most people are going, a lot (most) of the Mini,s history will be erased .

I have a 8mm clip showing a brand new S recorded in the mid 60ies, it had already got new alloy wheels / sport exhaust / etc

During the 70 / 80 & 90ies, it was VERY rare to see a std Mini or Cooper, they all had modefications.

as already mentioned you can always restore it later, but once restored you can never go back.

It looks awesome like it is now wish I had found one like that.

[Benny]

in my eyes its refreshing to see a car thats still going 'loud and proud'
.

Did I mention it's still got wood grain wallpaper covering the rear storage bins?

[guru_1071]

in my eyes its refreshing to see a car thats still going 'loud and proud'
.

Did I mention it's still got wood grain wallpaper covering the rear storage bins?

now that is 'hot to trot'!!!

[66S]

Hi Benny,
Welcome, you have some lovely cars there and thanks for sharing your pics with us.

Al

[Pete]

I had one once with a home made 'entertainment unit' over the front screen all made of ply and fur covered, fur lined rear bins, totally deseamed, big arches 'blended in', vinyl roof down to the waist, sign written paint, tinted perspex all round , Huggy Bear would have been proud.

Underneath was a pukka Mk1 1275 S still with it's original shell and engine.

[Benny]

I forgot to mention one other car in my stable....last one, I promise.

My dad and I are also half-owners in a 1964 Land Rover IIA. This truck is a zero-rust (notice a theme here?) desert refugee that was parked out in the Arizona sunshine in 1977, until we brought it home to California. It had been sitting so long, a tree branch had grown in the passenger side window, and out the driver's side window!! My dad and I currently spend Tuesday and Thursday nights on it, and plan to have it back on the road in the next 6-8 months. I have repainted the interior, and the engine bay, and will be repainting the inside of the bed to make it as clean and sanitary as possible to live with....however, we will be leaving the exterior original, and just giving it a good polish, as that is the original paint from the factory.

Our Landie was never fitted with a hardtop...just a soft top, and no heater. We have a beautiful dark green soft top for it, and I'm thinking I might have the wheel powder-coated in a matching green to make it stand out a bit.

[guru_1071]

hell, i dont think ive ever seen a series landrover with a original chassis as mint as that!

over here there are all rotten as a pear!

[Benny]

hell, i dont think ive ever seen a series landrover with a original chassis as mint as that!

over here there are all rotten as a pear!

That's what low humidity, little rain fall, and blistering heat gives you. All the "soft" items turn to dust, but the body/chassis are preserved.

There is one school of thought that the cars from the inland northwest US are the best to buy, because it's dry there, but nowhere near as hot. Unfortunately, 60's Cars from England didn't sell there in large numbers.