We started off looking for a replacement race Mini after Andy's #921 suffered a shunt at Mosport in 2011. Rebuild had started, but part way through the process we decided that we would like to have a car with a bit more provenance. We didn't get very active in searching for another car, figuring the right car would "find us". It was over a year later that our good friend Charlie Pollet from Ohio sent me an email: Attached are photos of the Mini that Paddy Hopkirk raced at the 1966 Sebring 4 hour race, which was also a Trans Am race. There is no written verification to back this up, just that Bob Kimes told me and others this when he brought home with him from the race. The car has some surface rust but is very straight. One of the rear quarters has been repaired, but I forget which one. Also it has a fiberglass front end. All of the engines that he has are pretty much used-up. It's been sitting since the late '80s.
A few weeks later, the car was sitting in our garage.........
The Sebring connection was intriguing, albeit unproven (and may never be!), and the fact that the car has SCCA race history was exactly what we were looking for in a project car. Over the next few months, we started looking for more information on Sebring races from that time, as well as other race results and photos of the car. The mid-1960's were a time when the large and powerful US manufactured cars were dominating the racing scene, and reports and photos of the lesser classes like C-sedan were rare. At this time we don't have any US race results for the car prior to the first log book being issued when they became mandatory in the early 1970's, other than one event at the Nassau Speed Week from December of 1966, and several photos from Charlie and Randy McConnell which we did not connect as being the car until we figured out the "129 LNP" registration.
There were many details about the car that simply did not jive with a SCCA car, pointing to possible race/rally history before the car came to the US. Things like the rear view mirror, rally hole in the roof, switches on the door, being right hand drive, Sprinzel race seat, and other little things that deviated from the usual set up for SCCA cars of the day. We sent away for the Heritage Certificate, and discovered that the shell was not original and was sent to Appleyards. Finally in July of 2012, I got up the courage to post on this site in the hope that someone had more information about this unusual car. And of course that lead to several more interesting facts and educated guesses about the car's interesting history!
Original SCCA log book photo:
Fuzzy photo of 129 LNP at Mid Ohio, with Bob Kimes other Mini in front:
From Terry O'Neil, Chuck Dietrich racing 129 LNP at Nassau 1966. This is the only colour photo of the car to date in the Arden paint scheme:
Randy McConnell photo of 129 LNP again at Mid-Ohio. Randy is certain this is from a August of 1966 race. Was Chuck Dietrich racing it?:
But back to the restoration process!
By May of 2012, and before we knew more about the car's UK history, we had developed a plan and started the restoration process. Andy wanted to improve on the deficiencies that #921 had (we purchased that car fully built), upgrading this car with a modern and safe cage, racing seat, fuel cell, better setup for the driver ergonomics, and of course the mechanicals. We invited Nick Swift to drive the car in the Can-Am Mini Challenge, thereby giving ourselves a firm deadline for getting the work done! Nick has also agreed to build a complete power unit for us, which is underway now.
First thing was to weld up the wheel arches, clean up the front end for the new metal flip front (fiberglass one piece front ends are not permitted). The wheel arches had been unevenly cut, and we did not want to replace the rear quarters, wheel wells, or the A-panels as they were in rust free condition. The opening was not ideal but with the fender flares we are planning to run it will work out well. Because the car had been a race car all it's life, there was virtually no rust. Here are a few photos of the metal work stage:
Repairing the rear wheel arches:
Grinding off the welds for the repair to holes in the body:
Welding up the many holes in the body, a result of 50 years of racing!
Boot floor with fuel cell modifications:
Test fitting the roll cage:
Cage in final stages of welding:
Once all the welding was done, it was on to media blasting of the shell and assorted parts. We had previously invested in an industrial quality air compressor, which ran at full tilt to keep up to the CFM needed to run the media blast. We used walnut shell and sand media to remove the old paint. Here are a few pics of the process:
It's a messy job that takes a lot of time. You get about 8 minutes of blast per tank, then you have to recover the media and refill. Not a fast process!
Body shell starting to look great with most areas complete:
Blasted shell now primed with Epoxy primer:
Then it was on to fitting for all the custom stuff: lines, hoses, dash, seat mounting, steering column bracket, window net, gauges, carb box, etc. etc.
Carb box:
Seat fitting. Note this seat is designed to protect the driver from side impact as well as being HANS approved. Not at all original but MUCH safer!
OBP Pedal Box:
More interior fitting:
Once all this was complete, it was on to body work! Everyone knows what that is like, so just one or two pics:
Exterior of the shell now in hi-build awaiting block sanding and fixing of any imperfections:
Doors and front end:
Then on to final prep and paint - getting close to the messy stage being over! After much consideration, we opted to paint the car in the colours of Wedgwood Blue with the stripes for the exterior, Tweed grey for the engine bay and underside, and Arden blue for the interior. This was exactly what the car would have been since the late 1960's. The roll cage was painted a matt black. This involved 6 separate colours, and many hours of masking!
Here we are almost ready to paint the Tweed grey:
Car masked off to paint the cage:
Interior now painted:
Engine bay and underside now Tweed grey:
Starting the masking process for the white and dark blue stripes:
Ready to spray the white strips:
Stripes done, getting ready to mask up for the Wedgwood Blue:
Shell fully painted - at last!
At the moment we have the car in back in the main garage, and will shortly start the more enjoyable process of assembly!
If you have a lot of time on your hands, the complete and ongoing restoration process can be viewed here: http://www.toyboxracing.com/kimesarchive.html I will add more posts as things progress with the car assembly.
Cheers,
Rachel
