mk1-forum.net

Hello!
I've posted a couple of times on here, but nothing major. I've been restoring my mk1 1960 Austin Mini over the past month and a half. I have a build thread on another website, but it was pointed out to me that I should do one here. So here it is.
I'm a 20 year old college student in upstate NY, I'm in OK at a shop who has kindly taken me in as I restore my car. I've never worked on a car before, and I've learned more in this month and bit, than two years in college.
I bought my car in NY under a '63 registration but later learnt it was a genuine '60. It was in good shape for its age, had a rotten floor but brand new floorboards.
Nothing like joining a build half way through, no waiting (or so you think!)
To this date, the car has been stripped, engine pulled, new boot floor welded in, new a panels welded in, new front panel welded in, new lower rear valence welded in,subframes cleaned and rebuilt with hi los and 7.5 Cooper S brakes, sandblasted, touched up with filler, primed, filler primed, sanded, primed, filler primed and sanded again. Phew! I'm typing this as I take a breather from sanding. I've had help along the way, the shop owner is an expert and been a great help with the welding and painting.
The paint scheme is going to be tartan red with a black roof.
What are you on about with this whole rally-ish business you might be asking. Well it's definitely going to be more race car oriented rather than a period perfect restoration, sorry! However om following a strict rule that dictates that all modifications I do must be subtle and done in such a way that the car can be returned to 100% stock if required.
The mods:
When I bought the car , she came with a 1098 with iffy synchros. Since the engine wasn't original anyway, I decided to swap it, so a rod change 1275 spi will be going in, however I will be converting it back to 1 1/4 twin su carbs.
LCB exhaust manifold paired to an rc40 1.75" side exit
Cobra Monaco Pro racing seats with harness.
Rally dash, or atleast my interpretation of one.
She came with a roll cage, so I'll be refitting that.
I was really hoping to do a twin fuel tank setup, however I can't find any used sellers, currently the minispares tank is my cheapest option.
I have a set of 10x5 Cosmic mk3s I believe. However they are in need of a refurb, and that combined with new tyres equals the set of a brand new set of wheels and tyres from the UK. So I'll be getting a new set, and keeping the cosmics to work on later. They will be replaced by a set of 10" wellers.
Lucas dx160s that I bought right front his website, cheers James!
Thanks for the read, and I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Lastly if anyone has a r/h tank for sale, please let me know!
Cheers,
Vik

Really struggling to add more pictures for some reason

Imgur album!
https://imgur.com/a/8ZIH2

Glad you got a build thread going here. Look forward to seeing it progress!

Hello,

It has been a long time since I have posted in this thread, and I am sorry for that. I have come out of hiding for a few reasons. Firstly, I moved back to the UK a month ago, and I started a thread on this forum asking how to ship my Mk1 back.

The paperwork for this car was all over the place and even had a 62-63 cooper VIN instead of it's correct VIN. Since then, I corrected the NY DMV paperwork as best as possible to feature the full CA2S7L VIN, along with the corrected year of 1960. The car was successfully imported into the UK and cleared customs using Phoenix Cargo under "1960 Mini Cooper, CA2S7L 273858". It is now at Somerford Mini where it is having some work done to it.

There has been a major development recently. Simon, a member of this forum, has painstakingly traced the history of my car using the body number. He has provided me with the true VIN, original body colour, and engine number. Armed with this information, I have just placed an order for a Heritage Certificate. The next step will be to get the correct VIN plate and then finally register it with the DVLA with its true identity. However, since all my import paperwork bears the CA2S7L VIN I suspect I will have to get it inspected by the Mini Owner's Club in order for it to be authenticated.

There is still work to do, but I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Simon for all the help that he has provided. I have emailed you, but please let me know how I can compensate you for your efforts!

What are those wheels? They look great.

They are Weller 8 spokes 10x6. I had them powder coated in a dirty bronze. I don't know if I should change to slightly narrower flares and keep these wheels, or go flare-less and use my original Mk3 cosmics (shown above) and paint them black.

Are you local to somerford minis?

I'm only a couple of miles down the road.

No, I am actually in London but I will be moving to Bridgnorth very soon for work.

I am looking for some advice. As I said, the car is at somerford mini. They have done a ramp inspection and have given me a detailed list of all the issues. The car has undergone a restoration, however the floors were not touched during this time. In fact, I have a receipt for the purchase of floor panels from 1988 which was probably when they were done. Somerford Mini are not happy with the way they have been welded in, and even though the car does not need an MOT it needs to be fixed.

Unfortunately they are not willing to only to the floors, and they want to do a full body restoration. I know that the car does not need a full restoration, as it was recently stripped to its bare shell in 2016, and had numerous panels changed.

As somerford are not offering to do anything less than a complete restoration, I find myself wanting to look elsewhere. My questions is, can someone recommend another garage which would be willing to redo my floor and tidy up some mechanical and electrical work? Preferably close to Wolverhampton, but I am pretty much open to anything!

Maybe speak to Fred at NippyCars? He is excellent in every aspect.

Tim

Thanks for that, where is he based? Any contact info/website?

No worries, Fred ( Richard ) is based in Highbridge Somerset and he is a member on here as NippyCars.

Tim

Thank you!

Has anyone heard of Premier Mini Company in Bridgnorth? I've seen some testimonials on TMF that say Lee is very good. It also happens to be very close to where I will be working and therefore very convenient. I would like to be able to pop in regularly to see how the car is progressing.

Just another shout out for Fred, met him and saw his work a couple of months back - outstanding stuff.

Picked up some wheels that I've always wanted. 10x6 Weller motorsports. Going to refinish them before they go on the car.