mk1-forum.net

As there has been some progress recently I thought I'd start a thread off again on my project Innocenti Mini. I bought this 1968 MK1 10 years ago from a garage in Brighton, it had been imported into the country in the mid 80s by an Italian lady who lives in Lewes and drove the car locally until trading it in against a newer car. The car is a 1968 Innocenti Mini Minor, a crossover model between the MK1 and MK2, orginally fitted with a factory 'modified' 850 engine (skimmed head and 1 1/2 inch SU), the later 850 Innos had an uprated cam and 295 head as standard.

Since buying the car I've contacted the previous owner who still lives at the same address. She seem to think she still has the original italian number plates which are very rare.

The plan is to restore it back to near original condition but with an 1100 engine and 998 Cooper discs, which should help keep the original look but be much more practical.

Here are some photos of the car when I original bought it, went I blasted the shell a few years ago and when it returned for the garage last week having had the boot floor, sills, front floors, a-panels, wings, front panel and several other panels replaced...

Some more pics from way back when...

Hi Andy,

thats a nice Inno you have there love the door mirror will you put this back, once the resto is done??

good luck with the project

Jens Christian

What a nice little example of italian charme......
In my opinion they always had that extra bit of detail
like the nice steering colum, the front door openers,
the bigger chrome surround for the tail lights, etc. etc...

Ye I've had the mirror fully rechromed, I've also picked up a new version from Italy.

95% of the parts for the car have been reconditioned or renewed with new/NOS parts, I just need to complete the body and sort the wiring. Plus the engine needs rebuilt, although all the machining has been done and parts purchased. Looking to take it steady and have it ready for Stanford Hall.

What a great little project, as above the detail on it is great. Always nice to have a little story too

it will be good to see this car finished andy, ive always liked the details that the innos had

Nice project, even with the steering wheel on the right side

AndyB72 wrote:Ye I've had the mirror fully rechromed, I've also picked up a new version from Italy.

nice will look good once back on, what make are they?

Andy,

here a all the tools you will need to finish the car........
think it would be a nice christmas present for someone....

http://cgi.ebay.it/ATTREZZATURA-COMPLET ... 1c17e2ab61

Sorry JC I can't remember the name but if you search Italian Ebay for specchio (mirror in Italian) a few interesting versions pop up...

http://cgi.ebay.it/SPECCHIO-RETROVISORE ... 1754wt_764

http://ricambi-auto.shop.ebay.it/Ricamb ... 86.c0.m282

Well spotted 'Wolseley' a nice trip to Italy over the Christmas holidays to collect them would be nice too

Andy,

But the burning question is have you managed to get into that garage of yours with grinder in hand yet?

Like, Rich I have been looking forward to seeing this one finished for a very long time & can't wait to go out for a spin in it with you next summer.

Its always crap working on cars when its as cols as it is at the moment, but I know that once the temp creeps up above zero you will be there grinding & filling like a good one, and we all know that once the shell is painted its all down hill from there.

Stick with it mate, & thanks for the reminder of what an excellent basis you started off with, it really was a cracker wasn't it!

Nope, not done anything on it since Paul dropped it off, I very much doubt I'll get any serious time on it until the weather picks up, it's just too damp in there to do any form of spraying. I've had a good nosey at Pauls work though and am dead happy, he's certainly done a much better job than I could have done.

Come on Andy, Get the heater on and get it finished

If you don't get a move on it won't be finished this summer. You started yours the same time I did the green mk1 !

Once you get in there and start, it will get easier.

Well it has been quite a while. Here's a quick rundown of what I've been up to since I last posted...

A few months ago I decided to drag the shell over to my mates work to do the grinding and making a load of noise, basicly getting it ready to drop off for painting...





While the sell was out of the garage I started moving all the restored and new parts from the loft into the garage, powdercoated the subframes and sorted the engine ready for the return of the shell. I'll have to spray the engine again as it was just so cold in the garage I couldn't get a decent finish, but at least it's protected.





That was if for a month or two until last weekend when the shell was strapped to a truck and driven down the M1 for a light blasting again and painting at this place... http://www.whights.co.uk/



Got the bonnet/doors blasted and undercoated the other weekend. Decided to strip and de-rust the boot by hand as it wasn't in too bad condition and I wanted to make sure it didn't get damaged...






...blasting the boors and bonnet revealed more holes than I expected so there's still a bit of welding to do before heading back down the M1 to the Whights.

I'll try and post more updates over the coming month.

Which type of blasting was carried out? It looks incredibly smooth.

The shell was blasted with sand. I didn't blast the boot, just used paint stripper and acid rust remover sold by MachineMart.

nice project! Love the door mirror and the steering lock!!

are you swapping it to right hand drive too?

Ed

Thanks Ed. I'm gunna stick to left hand drive, should be interesting!

Not only is driving a LHD car strange but being a passenger in one is even stranger, blasting along with no steering wheel or pedals infront of you on that side of the car is very odd.

AndyB72 wrote:Thanks Ed. I'm gunna stick to left hand drive, should be interesting!

Not only is driving a LHD car strange but being a passenger in one is even stranger, blasting along with no steering wheel or pedals infront of you on that side of the car is very odd.

you could put the pedals on the right hand side and give mel something to do!