Mmmini's new Mini Project 64 Morris Mini Minor

[mmmini]

Discussion thread can be found here:

So I sold the last of my Minis back in 2016 thinking that I would be better off selling it (and all my remaining sweet cooper bits) as I wasn't using it, then after about 3 months of contemplation, I pretty much regretted it and couldn't understand what I'd done.  Only took 3 years or so to save the money back up and justify splashing out instead of buying the kids some new school shoes (priorities right?) and now I'm back on the mini band wagon.

She's a 1964 Morris Mini Minor with a pretty good history, and around 105k miles on the clock. This is my 15th Mini so I think I've gotten pretty familiar with them and think I know what I'm looking for. I had been looking for a project - a rolling body and engine in bits, however this complete wof'd and rego'd wee beastie came up in my price bracket and I couldn't pass it up  as it meant I could drive her straight away and add my finishing touches as I found the time/budget.

This bad boy is about as original as you'd get with a car that's 55 years old, and was rebuilt/reregistered in 1994, with a new goldseal engine and rebuilt mechanicals.  I think it was the original owner that did the 1994 rebuild/re rego and I've been provided a note of all the work done then.  She appears to have original floor pans, original sills and jacking points and even has one of the plugs that goes into the jacking point (if you know what I'm talking about). All the panels seem to be as per factory, no funky bog filled panels or ill fitting panels and the doors are rust free. That was at 91600k miles and she's now sitting on around 106k miles so has only done 14,000miles since having a new engine and gearbox 25 years ago! 

The bugbears are that it has a goldseal 998cc engine instead of its matching number 848cc, and the paint job is a bit funky -   the A panels that are a little thicker down the bottom by the chrome trim  so I'm thinking there is some bog hiding there, and the overall paint job lets it down. I guess it's maybe british racing green and I'm thinking was done in 1994. Then at some stage it for some reason from the coach line down in a slightly different variation of BRG. To "disguise" the difference someone ran some late model bronze pinstripes down the side. I've pulled those off now as they looked terrible on a mk1 but removing them has left a bit of a crater as whoever did it actually did a pretty good job of painting right up to them so now theres a ridge in the paintwork with out them, excellent stuff! The paint quality isn't the best and seems to have faded/aged alot in some place.

The original paint was a kind of turquoise blue, it's still visible in the wheel arches where some of the green has peeled off, and is also under the headlining so at least it's an easy way of telling what original panels are on it. Personally I don't think the BRG or whatever it is suits a standard mk1, and to carry it off she needs some flares and or decent 165 tyres and wide wheels so I may have to do something there to rectify her stance. The white roof is also a bit shite and has oxidised really badly (and they've painted the gutters instead of just the roof which is just stupid!). I've cut and polished it but it's still shite so will just have to put up with it until i respray it.

Interestingly it had a quick release grille fitted so I've replaced the original pressed metal grille (which looks like poo) with an morris cooper 7 slat grille which I had lying around (as you do). I've got a few period mods I want to do so will post pics as I do that.

[mmmini]

Failed my wof due to a dodgy steering rack so ordered a new one from the UK, added a few wee shiny bits onto the order to make the shipping charge worthwhil, a bullet wing mirror to replace the horrible plastic mirror a previous owner had fitted, and a 13inch Motolita steering wheel which I’d been lusting after for a long time. Had to sell off a few parts that I had sitting around (1275 Cooper s head, and twin carbs) to raise the dough for it all. 

[mmmini]

The motolita is a fair bit smaller than the original bus wheel. 

[mmmini]

It’s been a while since my last update and have made a few period style mods.  

Have cut the trumpets down and rebuilt the front suspension with new rubber donuts, 1.5degree negative camber arms, and heavy duty adjustable tie bars. I wanted some fatter feet but didn’t want to fit flares, so running 4.5j Dunlop LP918 reverse rims with 165’s - as I’m still on drums all round the offset keeps them just within the arch. 
I wanted to make a few performance mods so have upgraded the single leading shoe front brakes to the later model twin leading shoe. They’re still a bit iffy and don’t give you much confidence when pushing it so may look to upgrade to 7.5inch discs. 

[mmmini]

I ditched the Honda seats so needed a decent drivers seat. I came upon an oldschool NZ made Autosport bucket set. I’m guessing it’s 80’s or 80’s vintage as it was a hideous brown vinyl, so I recoloured it Black with grey center. I managed to fit it onto a Cobra sliding subframe which fits the original mounts so technically it shouldn’t need certifying. 
I’ve ditched the original peashooter exhaust and cast iron manifold. I’ve now fitted a Maniflow stainless Cooper style 3into1 manifold and big bore 2 box center exit exhaust. It had a tiny 1.25inch SU carb on it so I’ve upgraded that to a massive 1.5” SU , also fitted a Minispares Torquemaster inlet manifold, upgraded needle, and modified late model air box. She now breathes a whole lot better and sounds pretty sweet. Not quite as ear bleeding as an LCB but still pretty loud. 

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

So been a wee while since my last post. In that time I’ve built myself a pretty sweet man cave to house my toys- a 7x6m garage with a 5x6m carport on the front of it. With all that nice clean space to work in I’ve spent the last 6 months trying to get back to the OG Surf Blue.  
Under the guards and floorpan are proving pretty easy to strip back as they were just painted without sanding and priming. the inside of the boot lid was pretty easy to strip back too. Unfortunately the rest of the body has two to three different British Racing greens to get through, plus a few coats of primer including some pretty thick dark blue/grey stuff which must be some sort of filler primer. Plus she’s also been resprayed in.a slightly darker surf blue. She’s still got all of her original panels however turns out she has had a fair bit of plastic surgery over the past 59 years. Have found quite a few repair patches so am ending up with a fair few bare patches. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and the purists are going to hate it, but I’m going to go with the patina/rat look.  I’ve still got a. It if work to do to strip off a few more layers in places however here’s a few areas where I’m just about finished. 

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

Here’s a few early shots showing the several layers of paint. 

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

Started come off quite easily then proved pretty stubborn 

 

[mmmini]

Have got 95% of the paint back to the OG surf blue.  Had a local car show last weekend so fast tracked things a bit and put her bs k together. Managed to get a WOF two days before the show. It had been 18months since her last warrant so I was a bit concerned something would fail but she passed - with a clean sheet which was a bit of a surprise. 

[mmmini]

[mmmini]

I’ve bought a few things that have been on my wish list for a while so have started fitting those. Bought a new cooper style grille and Moustache as the chrome work was looking a bit shabby (yes I understand the paint is shite but bling is still important), and fitted some Downton style wing mirrors on polished aluminium mounts from Swiftune.   I also picked up a couple of Mini “souvenirs” when I was in Japan recently from a classic Mini specialist called Mini Maruyama - retro style flip petrol cap and fuel bib, as well as some cool stickers and a Speedwell engine plate - just need a speedwell tuned engine to go with it now. 

[mmmini]

She still had her original radiator from 1964 which had developed a bit of a leak around the neck so I’ve fitted a new 3 core radiator and water pump. I’m going to keep the old radiator as the original radiators are a little bit rare now so best to keep it in case a future owner wants to take her back to original. 

[mmmini]