67 Austin Cooper S 1275

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ChrisM
998 Cooper
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67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

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Purchased by me in the early 90s. To my great shame I have never driven it and only fired it up once before stripping it. I seem to remember the exhaust fell off. A large broom was needed whenever it was moved to clear up the rust it would deposit on the floor.
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I am the second owner although it passed through the hands of a couple of dealers before it came to me. Built on the 6th April '67 and delivered with 4 1/2" rims, twin tanks and recliners. Despatch date on the Heritage cert is September '67.
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Last tax disc showed it coming off the road in 1984. It has done a few miles on the back of trailers moving from garage to garage here and there. I nearly gave in and cut it up on a few occasions. As you can see it has a very gaudy gold seal engine which was fitted at 53000 miles in 1969. It has 113000 on the clock, the bulk of which was racked up in the first few years of its life. I have some letters from the original owner and records of the mileage year on year. It was a very well used little car. Time and 10 years in a damp garage took its toll and by the time I bought it the body needed extensive restoration. In its original ownership it had already been fitted with new wings, front panel, sills and lower rear 1/4 repairs. Plenty of MOT quality plating and underseal on everything. I have replaced both floor halves to the tunnel, the front end, rear 1/4 repairs, seat base and boot floor repairs pillar repairs, you name it, I had to weld it. It was supposed to be fun but I let it drag on far to long until it just became soul destroying. Finally a couple of years back I had a big push on it and got it into epoxy primer. Underneath is stone chipped and in body colour. I hope to get it off to the painters in the next week or so.
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Cheers - Chris.
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gpmini
998 Cooper
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by gpmini »

Gorgeous little car, that's going to be a stunner.

Some inspiration for you below :)
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JC T ONE
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by JC T ONE »

Recliner Brocade porn 8-)


Love it :mrgreen:
Old English White
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by Old English White »

That's going to be a great car to own - very good specification.
53,000miles in the 1st 2 years - that was a LOT of driving!
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it would be worth sorting out that wrong front panel before it gets painted ;)
ChrisM
998 Cooper
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Sort out the front panel... Can you point out the wrong bits for me? I did look at the number plate brackets and thought they should be narrow but then looked at the one on the car when I bought it and they are also wide. I realise the front panel was replaced at some point.
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Hopefully I didn't fill the wrong holes in the top!
No problem at all with pointing out my errors - that is why I put this build thread up. Just please don't make me do any more welding, I have had enough! :D
Cheers - Chris.

Edit: Oh no - not that hole on the right hand side of the opening?
JC T ONE
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by JC T ONE »

ChrisM wrote:

Sort out the front panel... Can you point out the wrong bits for me?

Oh no - not that hole on the right hand side of the opening?


I would say yes, this is for the passenger side face level airvent.

These didnt appear untill the MK III.


Jens Christian
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Pete
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by Pete »

Without taking that front panel off all you'd have to do to make it look a lot better is plate the N/S hole as suggested, fit a diagonal stiffener as per late 'S', remove those number plate brackets and fit the early narrow ones. No biggy really and the bits are available from M Machine. Your car would have had a double skin bootlid also (still got one ?) if you want it spot on before paint.

Panel gaps look good . 8-) Great project !!
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Dr.Mabo
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by Dr.Mabo »

You just need to buy the diagonal stiffener. The rest is just DIY.

The blanking plate for the air intake, you can make just by a flat panel.
When you remove the wide number plate brackets, take on of them, cut it closely left and right of the hole, so you have two narrow brackets ready to weld on for the front panel.

so long
the doc
so long
the Doc

My previous project:
http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28477
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Pete
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by Pete »

ChrisM wrote: I nearly gave in and cut it up on a few occasions.
Noooo ! :o Sadly I have to admit I did just that :oops: to an identical car to this many years ago. The shell was VERY VERY bad though ! You'd never scrap an original shell now !
ChrisM
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Thanks for all the advice. I will blank that opening off and do the brackets. I probably looked at the old photo and copied that. It still has a double skin boot lid. I have the diagonal stiffener which was riveted on. Should it be spot welded? I will try and find some photos of the work in progress but a lot of it was prior to me having a digital camera. When we moved house once, I threw out the wrong rear subframe. It was rotten but the hydro units were still in it when I went down the tip. Expensive mistake that one.
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miniminor
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by miniminor »

The shell is looking great, once it's painted the enthusiasm will return in bucket loads. :)
"Get the wheels in line, Get the wheels in line with it! ..... and then slam your brakes on or we'll be in the cabin ! "

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atlanticdave
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by atlanticdave »

Looking good and as already mentioned going to be superb once completed. Your front panel bar should be riveted on from recollection for that age of car, 3 rivets at top I think?
abri
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by abri »

atlanticdave wrote:Looking good and as already mentioned going to be superb once completed. Your front panel bar should be riveted on from recollection for that age of car, 3 rivets at top I think?
2 rivets :ugeek:

And I've seen cars as early as Oct '66 with either spot welded or riveted diagonal bars (but both were CKD cars), so not quite sure when the changeover date is.
ChrisM
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. Cut a plate last night and welded it in. I seem to have forgotten how to weld so a couple of holes to fill this evening - oops. Quick clean up and I need to get a can of something to protect it. Will get the brackets removed this weekend.
ChrisM
998 Cooper
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Was it really November 2013 when I last wrote something here?

Last week, for the first time since 1984, I went for a drive....
Obviously, I’ve driven other cars since 1984, just not my Mini.
jay weinstein
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by jay weinstein »

Congratulations !!!!!
Any pictures ?
ChrisM
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Here you go Jay.
Before I put the number plates on.
Oh - and yes, It was recently pointed out to me that my number plate brackets are not in the ‘correct’ position.
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Old English White
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by Old English White »

I wouldn't worry about it now. We can all obsess about these things a bit too much at times. They won't show once the registration plates are fitted. Well done! The car looks lovely 8-) .
Just get out there and enjoy it :D
AndyPen
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by AndyPen »

Well that was a surprise to see that one again - how brilliant to see it is done ;-)
ChrisM
998 Cooper
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Re: 67 Austin Cooper S 1275

Post by ChrisM »

Thank you.
Quite a bit to do yet, but it’s on the road and good fun to drive. Which after all, is what it’s all about.
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