Time lapse of “Brittas Cooper” Restoration

[Lakeland997]

Great work Doc. Clear evidence that the best cars in the world are made in Germany.

[minitravellerman]

I'm loving this thread - some lovely subtle mods that actually look OEM - looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

[Dr.Mabo]

Great work Doc. Clear evidence that the best cars in the world are made in Germany.

wow, these is a real complement, thanks.

I'm loving this thread - some lovely subtle mods that actually look OEM - looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

I'm happy to inspire you.


Here we go.
Without the rear bins the B-post doesn’t look nicely in the lower section. I took a template and rebuild the profile of the B-post. Now the B-post goes the full way down to the inner sill and looks more complete.

so long
the Doc

[evonaut]

This is an amazing project. Makes me feel a bit guilty and very lazy having the work carried out by experts..... I guess it's important to know ones limitations. And I don't have a car workshop.....

Look forward to seeing your progress.....

[JohnA]

Great work Doc. Clear evidence that the best cars in the world are made in Germany.

Mercedes F1 World Champions 2014 engines built by Ilmor based in Brixworth Northamptonshire England, and the chassis is built in Brackley Northamptonshire England, driven by Louis Hamilton a Brit. German money British experience and know how. The mini restoration is brilliant well done Doc.

[Lakeland997]

Great work Doc. Clear evidence that the best cars in the world are made in Germany.

Mercedes F1 World Champions 2014 engines built by Ilmor based in Brixworth Northamptonshire England, and the chassis is built in Brackley Northamptonshire England, driven by Louis Hamilton a Brit. German money British experience and know how. The mini restoration is brilliant well done Doc.

Its a fair point John.
I was actually thinking of road cars but I could have mentioned the world rally champions for the last two years and the 1,2,3 winners of this years Monte Carlo (I seem to remember some little British car doing that in the past too).
German .

[Dr.Mabo]

There is another modification I didn’t mention before.

In never found a reason why the windscreen corner closing panels have to be welded to the scuttle panel. To fix them with screws is much more easy and you can check the area behind it every now and then. The removed closing panel gives better excess while welding the front wings to the scuttle panel. After painting they can be screwed in with sealant. Of course I will put some Anti Corrosion Grease on the backside before installing.

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

Fit check of external parts hopefully minimizes bad surprises after the paint job

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

While the bodyshell has moved to the paint shop for the next few month, there is still a lot of stuff to restore. Here are some impressions of the heater.

CIMG2610.jpg

CIMG6532.jpg

To paint the crackle just took about 3 hours until it was ready to fit. But it was basically a matter of good timing. Outside air temperature that hot summer day was 38°C and nobody wanted to leave the house. Usually in my garage its some degrees lower. So I decided to start the crackle paint experiment. It wasn’t that difficult because you don’t have to think about imperfections in the paint surface. I did two thick layers as called out by the instructions and that’s it. I painted in the glaring sun. In between I measured the surface temperature with a IR-Temperature Gun. The panels had 70°C on the surface. Excellent for that kind of work. Make up your mind.

so long
the Doc

[mk1]

That's some great crackling Doc.

[Dr.Mabo]

That's some great crackling Doc.

Thanks Mark

[rich@minispares.com]

That's some great crackling Doc.

Thanks Mark

high praise indeed from the 'crackle master' himself!

[Dr.Mabo]

Then it was time for the switch panel.

It was just slightly corroded from the rear and had some pitting on the front. But for a proper result the amount of work was the same. Removing old paint and flatten the surface.
As an old airbrush guy I mixed the correct colour myself.

Assembling was the fun part and of course tall drivers need new switch extensions

so long
the Doc

[minidean]

While the bodyshell has moved to the paint shop for the next few month, there is still a lot of stuff to restore. Here are some impressions of the heater.

CIMG2610.jpg

CIMG6532.jpg

To paint the crackle just took about 3 hours until it was ready to fit. But it was basically a matter of good timing. Outside air temperature that hot summer day was 38°C and nobody wanted to leave the house. Usually in my garage its some degrees lower. So I decided to start the crackle paint experiment. It wasn’t that difficult because you don’t have to think about imperfections in the paint surface. I did two thick layers as called out by the instructions and that’s it. I painted in the glaring sun. In between I measured the surface temperature with a IR-Temperature Gun. The panels had 70°C on the surface. Excellent for that kind of work. Make up your mind.

so long
the Doc

that heater looks bloody great! hope I can get mine like that!! Any tips???

[rolesyboy]

I have just finished a heater assembly but can't seem to lay hands on the correct font. Would you happen to remember where you purchased the transfers from? Cheers.
Mark

[STG95F]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Letraset-Rub- ... 461c6329e3


these are very close Mark .What i used on mine

Ian

[Dr.Mabo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Letraset-Rub- ... 461c6329e3


these are very close Mark .What i used on mine

Ian

Jepp, thats exactly what I used.

that heater looks bloody great! hope I can get mine like that!! Any tips???

Thanks a lot. The only tip I can give you, choose a very hot summer day. In my case I'm sure that was the key to success.

So long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

Continuing with some mechanical stuff.

I was very impressed by the information I picked up at this forum, that it’s possible to clean and derust metal parts with white vinegar. So I started my own trails with big success. Here you see the before and after pics.

It’s a fantastic DIY way to make scrappy parts shiny and reusable on an environmental friendly manner. You just need to be patient. After 3-4 day and cleaning once a day the parts are rust free and ready for painting. I’m very pleased with the result.

So long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

And some more pics.

[phil82]

@dr: where did you buy the vinegar? Did you mix it with water? If yes what was the ratio?

Thanks
Philipp