Project Cliff - The Cherry Red Thirty by stretch tech

10 minute(s) of a 220 minute read

hi all, today we fitted my new boot lid and number plate light



and cut out my new boot board and fixed legs to the bottom of it to level and stabilise the floor



note: we have removed the arches and painted behind them and along the sills in chassis black so i can now refit them properly

tomorrow we are going to see a bloke for a quote for the paint job so it should be painted soon

5-22-2012

hi all, just been up to the paint shop to get a quote for the re spray...cliff is booked in for next Thursday

tomorrow we will adjust the exhaust clamps and fit a repair sleeve as we just couldn't fix the blow in the joint between the y piece and one manifold down pipe , fit the boot light bracket and switch, refit the arches+sill trims and then drop cliff down onto all four wheels

i have got some more contact adhesive so i will also put some more sound deadening down in the cabin

5-23-2012

hi all, small update today as it was too warm this afternoon so i will put the rest of the sound deadening in tomorrow

we finally sorted the blow in the exhaust but during the testing phase, the new choke cable frayed inside the sleeve that is now fixed and we then fitted the interior light switch for the boot light

tomorrow we will drop cliff down, finish a few tidying up jobs in the engine bay and adjust the boot lock catch as the boot lid is fairly tight now that the new seal has been fitted

5-24-2012

hi all, today i finished putting the rest of the sound deadening in the cabin





then we finished wiring up my boot light, adjusted the lock and dropped cliff down and rolled him out into the sun

then, when i first got him last august...





...and now, 9 months, 300+ man hours and a lot of blood, sweat and tears later











then we cleaned the garage and pushed him back in, i forgot just how small the mini is



tomorrow we will fit the doors and the arches + sill trim, then on the week end we will give the car another flat down and prime before he goes of to paint Thursday

comments welcome as always

5-26-2012

hi all, today we fitted the doors, refitted the arches and sill trims and nearly finished preparing cliff for paint, all that is left to do is give it a final flat down, fill and prime, i will upload some pics later

5-27-2012

hi all, update from yesterday

we refitted the doors and the fit is pretty good





we also fitted the arches and sill trims









we also ran the engine up to temperature and ran it for half an hour to seal the exhaust repair tape and to melt the bar seal into the heater system, we only put a very small amount in and it sealed the leaky heater perfectly

we also drilled holes in the boot floor and valance for my new fog light

we then removed the boot and door seals and locks ready for paint. all that is left to do now is give the car a final flat down, fill and prime before it goes of for it's shiny new paint job

hi all, got some great news

i have recently tried to contact the previous owner and today she replied to an email, here is a summary of the main points:

- Cliff is actually called Nigel but i have always known him as cliff so his double barrel name is now Cliff-Nigel
- the previous owner was ripped off big time by a proper dodgy garage and had to let him go
- we think that Cliff-Nigel was purchased and used by the military for the first 9 years of his life
- the previous owner also put a lot of effort into collecting all the original parts of the thirty that came with the car, including the radio

i will keep you all update as things unfold

5-28-2012

hi joe, yeah it came as quite a surprise to hear back from the previous owner, i found her address on an envelope in the rear bin of Cliff-Nigel and i decided to write her a letter but the date was 2010 so after a week of waiting, i began to loose hope but then i received an email to find that she was actually just as big a mini enthusiast as i am...well almost i only have the service history from the previous owner (of three years) and it is a shame there isn't anything from the military ownership as it would be interesting. i can't understand why the army would by a saloon mini let alone a limited edition

i don't think i ever saw cherry round town mate but there is a mini thirty on a drive opposite my collage that has never moved for as long as i can remember, it is just left there to rust into pieces

hi all, today i spent 6 hours doing the final body prep work, all the panels are now silky smooth and ready for paint. hopefully this final push will save me a bit of money on the paint job and will make all my cuts, bruises and sun burn worth while i haven't taken any photos as the car looks pretty much the same as from yesterdays updates. i can't wait for Thursday, Cliff-Nigel goes of for paint and it's my 17th birthday...so lots of nice new shiny mini parts will be coming my way

5-29-2012

hi joe, yeah it's a real shame that people let this happen but i suppose they don't see a mini as a more 'vulnerable' vehicle to rotting i don't think i shall be buying another car for a while yet...not whilst i have one money pit that would be great if CN was a previous james bond gizmo lol have you tried to contact the new owners ?

andrew, i'm not sure exactly on the price as the bloke hasn't physically seen the car, he has only seen pictures but it has definitely saved me some money doing the majority of the prep work ourselves

sonikk4 and jordie, i know that a bar seal is a bit of a cheat and i would have preferred to have fitted a nice new heater matrix but at the end of the day, i am still a student with a small budget and i need to save money some where we refurbished the heater system in the same way as all my other parts. we dismantled, cleaned, repainted and rebuilt it. we didn't know that the matrix had a small leak in it until we run the engine with antifreeze in the system as the heater didn't leak until we filled it with antifreeze. at first i wanted to replace the matrix but my dad has been using bar seal to fix leaks for years and it has never been a problem so i trusted his experienced guidance. thanks for your concerns though

5-31-2012

hi all, today was the day of the big move, we decided to drive cn onto the back of the truck and he managed it fine



strapped him down so he doesn't fall off



i took this photo through the rear window of the truck cab...we were doing 60mph at this point



and here he is sat in the paint shop waiting his turn (sorry for the dull picture, my iPhone doesn't have a flash )



today was also my 17th birthday and my mom made me the best cake ever it even has the the correct registration



i also got a few parts for cn too:

- a pair of stainless steel bumpers
- a pair of rear bin chrome trims
- new light seals
- a pair of check arm seals
- a new deluxe red carpet set
- new front and rear window seals + chrome locking strips
- a satnav
- and driving lessons

all in all a good day

comments welcome