Crispy

Ok so another few updates. Just trying to keep on keeping on while my bank account continues to recover from the engine and gearbox stuff. The good new is, is that that is done. Another poor photo, but here all is. Stroked to 1380, Keith Calver Head. It also turned out to be a Cooper S crank and Rods I had in the donor engine. Built for torque and acceleration. Should deliver the goods in a lightweight, low centre of gravity car. Plus all the gearbox goodies mentioned in the last post. I have late model Mini 8.4" Disc Brakes (Same as in my Rover mini) ready to go on, so it should pull up fine too. Speaking of brakes I grabbed some Brake rotors from Napa. $50 each, which is awesome. Now with that I have everything I need to get the car the car rolling, once the rust repair is done. On the rust repair side of things. We completed the rear tail light section On both sides Rear passengers side arch repairs And all the floor repairs (except for the front) are also complete Here you can see the bermuda triangle, which is basically the sill section that runs through both sides and where almost every moke I've seen rot out. All these rust repairs need to be left, so the repair inspector can approve them, when they're all done. I've just spat paint over them to protect them, as I don't know when that will be. So now we have the bottom of the passengers side outer, which we have cut off and prepped. Also The Rear of the front arches and the front of the floor where it meets the firewall and the front subframe attaches to. All these front bits are kind of intersected together for strength, so we are tackling them at once. One of the intimidating parts was going to be the pockets that the front subframe bolt up to. This patch panel wasn't available for ages, so we accepted we were going to have to make it, but weren't looking forward to it. A stroke of luck had me put in touch with a gentleman reasonably local to me, who has an early English Moke he is restoring. I managed to catch up with him yesterday and he is a little further along than we are. He's cut all his rust out and got a bunch of repair panels all clamped in place. After looking closely at his Moke he produced the exact panel we need. He had a play around and couldn't get it to work, so got another one but we reckon we can make it work. It will need a bit of trimming to suit, but its going to save us a heap of time and head scratching. Here you can see the panel upside down. So that was a really good score and we are super thankful for him to giving up his morning. As always, thanks for reading. There is still a lot of work to do, but we are slowly inching towards the finish line.

Wow. First update for the year. So things have been progressing slowly. First things first we have a rebuilt gearbox. It doesn't look like much, but this is featuring a Close ratio straight cut gear kit that I got from the deceased estate auction. Straight cut drop gears from MED, and a Minispares LSD. Plus centre oil pick up to avoid oil starvation and a extra drain plug on the back of the gearbox to try catch as much metal as possible, as most of you probably know. Classic Mini's share engine and gearbox oil. Decked out with new bearings and baulk rings etc. And a few other little tips and tricks. So I'm probably overbuilt in the drivetrain area. Short of going to a dog engagement gear kit. It's probably almost as strong as you can get a Mini gearbox using off the shelf parts. I'm excited to hear it run, as if you've ever heard a Mini with straight cut drop gears, they're something else. The gearbox is patiently waiting in the corner of the shed under a cover, as the flywheel is still being worked on by the Machinist at my Dad's work. So once that is done, we can get all the engine components balanced and get everything assembled for the last time. On the rust repair front, we are making good, albeit slow progress. We fully welded the side section off the car Then attached it to the car Repaired the top section, which is now fully welded (couldn't find a photo unfortunately). Then realised we have to repair a bit in the front of the rear wheel well, so cut some of it off again and made about 4 patches as there was a bunch of overlapping seams. We also sorted the last edge of the floor part. The triangle is now complete and will get a hearty dose of cavity wax so it will hopefully last another 58 years. That piece is now fully reinstated and I started on an arch repair. Not the best welding, but for someone who works a desk job and started to weld 4 months ago. I don't think its too bad. Has since been ground back and painted as there is a factory metal flare type deal that attaches over the top. The latest repair is in the rear taillight section as this was full of bog, braising and a crappy patch panel. This photo is it half done. But it is full done now. Just need to reinstate the hole for the rear tailight. So that about brings us up to date. Lots of tooing and froing. Hopefully around the easter period we can make some more progress on the body. My friend has given my carb a bit of a birthday with a rebuild kit I sourced a while back. He just did his, so wanted to do it while it was still fresh in his head. Once the final bills for my balancing and engine assembly have been paid. I will look at start gathering all the other stuff I need to make it a car again and bring it back from the dead. Slow and steady. We will get there. Thanks for reading.

This is what I was meaning. I assume it’s not a wof issue though….

Yea ofc. Later model falcon wheels may work. But. I was just wondering if there are any rules referring to vehicle weights and wheels. I know there is something in there for cert. But what about normal wof?

I’m thinking about making it a permanent change. And 2wd Hilux (mine is an n70) are 5 stud.

What are the rules around replacing wheels with another oem wheel from another car? Backstory is I have 20 inch wheels on my 2wd Hilux and they are probably over the 5% rule. My wof guy mentioned it last wof and I think he was hinting if I don’t get new wheels next time he will fail me. Seen heaps of oem new Rav 4 and Highlander wheels which should do the trick and look ok for a good price. And the weight of the vehicles should be around the same (but will double check). If I get the right sized tyres to be under the 5% threshold and wheels of a vehicle the same weight or heavier it all should be ok?

Yea my rover mini had a head shield on the factory exhaust manifold. will try make one similar out of the material referenced above and look to put a heat shield on the bottom of the carb too. I might start another thread to talk about coatings to stop headers from rusting, as to not derail this one too much

Yea the super high temp stuff from hpc is probably the go (although also super high $$$$ I’m sure). Like I said it won’t be Rotary or turbo levels of heat. And heat isn’t actually the main concern here. I’m buying the headers off the shelf from England. Way cheaper than getting anything made and I’m no where near skilled enough to fab my own. The concern was more around rust protection and getting something that wouldn’t burn off eventually and have to be re done. I might check out pro coat and I think there is a place down Palmerston North way that does something similar too. For a price comparison. I know cheap ain’t good/good ain’t cheap etc. but would be interested to know the difference.

Keen to know people’s thoughts. When I rebuilt my Mini engine 4 or 5 years ago I got extractors for it and got them hpc coated. To Protect them from rust and for a bit of heat management. They were brand new, so no carbon build up or anything and Stainless (although not a great grade because a magnet weakly stuck to it). I did notice a bit of heat reduction in the engine bay. And before I started the rebuild. If I drove for much longer than 20 minutes on a hot day the footwell would start to get a little hot. Not burning level. But warm. When it was on the hoist for a wof last week I noticed it starting they’re starting to go all rusty. Not as bad as the exhaust clamp next to it. But still not great considering how much it costs. From memory I only got the basic coating as I figured I’m not putting out Turbo or Rotary levels of heat. I was going to get extractors for the Moke and do the same thing. But not if it is going to turn to shite in 5 years time. Am I expecting too much? Do I need to try a different product or a different company? While I try not to drive it in the rain. It has seen rain a few times in those 5 years or so.

Big ups to young Zach for giving it a red hot go. Even though I grew up around cars, I didn’t give anything past basic servicing a go until I was well into my 20s. I wish I’d learnt more earlier on. Only thing is. If you are modifying (your suspension especially). Make sure you are doing it safely. I understand you’re a young guy, with not a lot of cash. But would hate for the next post to be that tidy Commodore of yours written off and yourself (and potentially others) injured because of some dodgy suspension mod you’ve done to get it 5mm lower. Not saying you aren’t. But if there is one lesson I’ve had drummed into me by my Dad, my grandfathers when they were still around and lots of people around me. It was to do stuff on your car properly

Stoked how it turned out for my first time

Ok, so we've had a few wins and a few L's over the last few months. As far as the metalwork side of things go. The drivers/right side part of the main floor is full welded. To make life easier, and not get too overwhelmed. We split the floor repairs into a few different section, right main floor, left main floor, right and left pod floor, and then the front. The idea being we build everything back up to the front section, then put in the trans tunnel that GP made in the previous post. Heres what the drivers side main floor looks like from underneath. Coated with some primer to stop it from rusting. Its not perfect. But we are going for rust free and strong, not show car finish. I'm pretty sure they weren't even square from the factory. I'll grind back the welds once the repair certifier has seen them. And even though its only tacked in, in this photo. Here what it looks like from the top. We then started tackling the right side pod and floor. I decided to send it myself. So after watching a few videos from notevn on Instagram and Youtube (with the rusty Cosmo) and a couple of pointers from Dad. I had a crack at making the side pod panel that had rotted away. Here I cut the plywood buck out and the steel panel ready to hammer the edge over. And here it is finished. It still needs a small bit of tidying up and trimming to size to fit. But for a complete novice with a Hammer and Dolly. I reckon it ain't half bad. It will be covered with a panel anyway, so you won't see it. Unless you take the panel off to access the battery. While I did this, Dad started getting the rest of the bits and pieces ready to build up what was missing from the drivers side pod and floor. Here you can see it all clamped in (with my paper template). As there are a bunch of different overlapping panels. The idea is to get everything fitting good. Tack it, then take it off the car to get decent access for full welding and offer it up as one piece to minimise heat distortion and overall faff on the car itself. So the bodywork is progressing. I think I was dreaming hoping to have the bodywork done by Christmas. But it is what it is and it takes as long as it takes. I was starting to get a little burnt out, so took last weekend off. As I'd spent one weekend day on it, almost every weekend since May along with balancing other hobbies, that part time study and general life stuff. I think it would be a better balance if I was closer than a 40 minute each way trip to the car, and I could do some work after work during the week. But weekday Auckland traffic doubles that drive which eats up any worthwhile time. Parts have also been showing up (and my bank account has been not loving life). I've almost got everything I need to finish the long block and gearbox/diff. And that's only the half of it. My cylinder head showed from England too after a few month wait. Which I'm stoked about. So with armed with box fulls of parts, the guy who built the engine and gearbox in my Mini started prepping for the build. He's an older guy, a retired Engine Reconditioner, ocd af and knows Mini engines and gearboxes inside and out. He has probably forgotten how many he's built. He looked at the crank I got from the Auction in Fielding and said it was cross drilled. I was like yea all good. It did come out of an engine that I think was used for racing, no worries. He then measured it up, and was wondering why the specs didn't line up with what he has in his manuals. He went away and thought about it and it dawned on him. It was a Cooper S crank (apparently). They have differed sized Journals to a standard 1275. So that was a lucky score! I did toy with the idea of selling it. Or building an engine with a different stroke as you can mix and match rods and cranks to achieve this. But figured it was best to keep it simple. We then sent the block, crank, rods and pistons, along with a wrecked gudgen, we pulled out of the donor motor and turned down, back to the engine machinist. They had a measure up and said things weren't good. Someone had been had a bit of a tutu in a previous life and now we need to line bore the block to get the crank side of things all good again. Since I'd already had this block tidied up and bored out I've got no choice but to continue. It was just an expense I could've done without. Since we are only a couple of weeks before Christmas, we might see it done this year. But I doubt it, given how busy those sorts of places are. I also got the subframes sandblasted. The front one turned out great, the back one however Was rusty as in the front part of it. Where there is a massive cavity. I got offered another one locally. But it was crusty as, looked like it had gone in the same place, and when I picked it up water started running out of it even though it hadn't rained in like two weeks. The guy insisted it was rust free and was about to get his wire wheel and show us (I also didn't like how pushy he was being). But we agreed to disagree. On the trip home I remembered I had saved the number of the guy I met at a swap meet our local Mini group had put on last year. He was a local farmer and retired Mini 7 racer who had a bunch of stuff still lying around. I rang him and he was like sure, come round. Turns out he actually knew a lot of people I know, both through Minis and some family members too. Came away with a mint subframe that had already been sandblasted, but just sat around, so it looks far worse than it actually is. Not deep rot. Just surface rust that will come up good with another sandblast and the same truck chassis epoxy the sandblasters put on the Mini ones. One of my mates was after some parts for his Mini and got onto a guy who had a warehouse full of various projects and parts. I originally hit him up for a subframe too. But he didn't respond for a week or so, but asked if he had the steering column surround and indicator stalk. as mine were rooted/non existent. He did and for a good price too. So that's one less thing to get, and to have to get new. Lastly, my friend Brook, who tidies up and sells a lot of old Smiths gauges cleaned up my water/oil gauge that came with the car. If anyone is interested in any old gauges or random mini bits and pieces. Hit him up. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070698375843 So things are moving along I guess. Plan is to go hard and hopefully have a lot more of the bodywork done over the Christmas break. Thanks for reading

If you get stuck, give me a message. While I haven’t been through the whole process (rust repairs seem to be taking forever and we are planning some stonking running gear. So that’s taking more time and $$$). I’m happy to share what I’ve learnt

Yep. I want to put disc brakes from a later generation mini onto the Moke. Along with other things that will require cert. The VCC guy said don’t tell me that. It’s not going to help your case. He was hesitant about the mags I had the car sitting on. But it was because the stock steelies had been widened and were farked. I could be wrong (as I said I’m only halfway through this journey). But once a car has a 17 digit NZTA number, you can start the cert process, even if it’s out of the system as far as reg/wof goes. And once it gets the ok from compliance (save for mods needing a cert). Then it’s just a case of making the cert live on the car? Cletus might be able to confirm?

Just been through some of this..... If it has black plates and you want to keep them with the car come re registration time email: reuseofplates@nzta.govt.nz All I did was supply a picture of the car with the plates on front and back and they were happy. Get some sort of signed document from the previous owner (or their son) that you legally own the car. Chat GPT Could probably draft you up one. Screenshot off the NZ Police stolen vehicles website to show its not stolen or whatever. Stat declaration from Justice of da peace to say you legally own the car. Fill out a CA03 Alternative Docs form If you want to front foot it (If I was to do another I probably would) is go see the gc Brad at VTNZ Pukekohe and get him to fill out a form that basically verifies any tags, oem labels or otherwise already on the car (Mine had a build plate). I think its called a ca12 form? Doesn't matter if its painted over or whatever. Then send all of this (screenshots, scanned copies, and your old photos etc) to exemptions@nzta.govt.nz and wait about a month. They came back and said I had to get an inspection from the VCC. A DOMAS report I think is what it was called. So organised for one of the local VCC Barry's to come round and verify it hasn't been plate and tag swapped or put together out of two cars or anything like that. It was about $100 from memory. He put together a big report to say its all legit, sent to VCC offices in CHC and then got that approval mailed back to me. I also had to get the tags verified by a testing station official. NZTA came back and were sweet and said I could now get a 17 digit VIN Number. So another trip to see Brad and he whacked one on. It was at that stage I got the repair certifier out to check out the rust and did an initial report (obviously skip this step if its not rusty). We are halfway through rust repair, so I can't tell you how the rest goes. But AFIAK. It's another repair cert report to say he's happy with rust repair and then another visit to Brad for compliance inspection, LVV Cert for mods (if any) wof/reg and then skids. Only thing I'd say is if you have the stuff to return the car back to factory and its in ok condition, then do it before anyone lays eyes on it. Will make your life easier in the long run.