Project Trig - After 18 Months Away, Is Back In Town! by Mini 360

10 minute(s) of a 461 minute read

Just won a genuine Sportspack steering rack on eBay for £26.99. Worth about £100 more so thats handy! Its got slightly more limited lock than a standard Mini which stps the 13s hitting the arches on full whack. Turning circle increases but hey ho!

10-18-2011

Well Im sitting full of the cold freezing but still wrapped in many many blankets. Nae fine! So no progress on the car but my new sportspack steering rack arrived. So that cheered me up a bit.

Pretty much brand new condition. Just needs a bit of a clean and a touch up of paint to make it perfect. Not bad for an eBay bargain! £100 saved!

10-24-2011

Well no progress to report but will keep the thread alive......something Ive been working on in the late evenings after work/uni work......

Before we moved the car my friend Tom Joy Photography and I took some footage of the car and parts both in my garage and over at Banchory. The idea? To make a final rebuild video once the car is done. So here is a little teaser. To watch in HD go through to the Vimeo page. So far its just working on a few parts and general pan shots but sets the scene to the 'scene' video.....

http://www.vimeo.com/31048921

(How do you embed a Vimeo video on here!?)

11-8-2011

Thanks Andrew!


And an update from me too! (Shock horror!)

Had a day off for once from uni and work so what better way to spend a day off than go work on the car?

So I got the inside scotch brited ready for paint along with the inside of the bootlid. Far too many nooks and crannies for my liking but anyway its done now......

Main thing we got done was the fuel tank modification which is brilliant.

Ive never liked the way the fuel neck physically sticks out of the cars rear as it looks like an afterthought and to old fashioned. So Ive always hankered after an internal fill one. I know it means its got less capacity but its still got more than a 5.5 gallon tank some folk fit. So having left the tank outside upside down and open for months it was safe to work on with no risk of explosions! So I soon I set about cutting off the neck.....




grinding the opening smooth for the plate to go on......




plate welded on......




hole bored for new location.......love the stepper drill bit!



and then welded the shortened neck into place after careful testing in the car. Its quite tight in there but it works well and will make refueling more interesting at the pumps! Im ready for the bizarre looks.....




Welds look pretty hefty and thats because they are. Metal of the neck was so thin we kept blowing through it so took some time to get it all ok.

Also I do believe a man has welded himself to the inside of the neck Prize if you spot him!




and here it is seam sealered up. More to come on this later but the plans for it will be kept up my sleeve until rebuild time




Also I managed to get the boot all tidied up and then etch primed and seam sealered. No water is getting into my boot!!!




So it doesn't look like much progress but these things take time. Should be done and back to me by the end of the month/early december all going well. Hope it doesn't snow and I can actually get it home though........

Next stop is the internal hinged bootlid!

11-17-2011

So a wee tiny tiny update. Nipped out to Banchory with parts today. Arch templates for cutting and fitting the sportspack arches, boot hinges and bonnet hinges to finally create the internal hinges I so desire and the arches themselves.  

Took a couple pics of progress. Not much just the wing and A panel but they are far too busy at the mo. Not taking on any more work until the new year so they can get everything out the door before xmas. Suppose thats a good sign though!





Boring update but if your into smoothed filler pictures, fill yer boots

11-22-2011

Small update. Needed to get a boot seal so bought a few things at the same time (you know....to save on postage costs...? :whistle: )

So I got the boot seal, carpets, discs and pads, throttle cable and stainless steel link pipe for linking my stainless manifold to my stainless exhaust




Look at the shiny shiny!




So thats all. I'll let you get on with your day now

12-2-2011

Another day another parcel

Today it was a harness bar from Jon Betts. Custom made for me to fit 4 point bolt in harnesses and to be mounted between the rear arches, not on top.

Well made and strong its got 4 bolts along the tube for the harnesses and then three bolts through either end plate for fixing. HUGE bolts but they need to be to keep me in ma seat!

Heres some pics. Plan is to try and polish this up to mirror finish but if that doesn't work out paint it either body colour (cranberry red) or roof colour (Rover Quicksilver) Just need to get the harness eye bolts for it and Im done Thankfully they don't cost the earth....at only £1.30 per bolt








IMG_0820 by Andrew Forbes Photography, on Flickr

Chuffed!

12-6-2011

Still nothing major happening here.....

Uni finished early so I popped by Kirkton to see progress. Unfortunately not much! Been too busy with repairs and haven't had time to look at the Mini. Shame really as I was initially told I would have it back before christmas but theres no way thats happening now! Nevermind these things take time....

Few pics I took anyhow....

One wing cut, reinforcing strip welded in and arch kinda fitted correctly. Its off in the middle where the light will go. Needs adjusting.







Bulkhead holes welded and filled. These holes were for LHD cars only so just had a blanking plate over them. No need for it as its yet another rust trap so this is much better!




Getting ready to cut passenger side. Inch above existing lip for clearance for the 13s.




And a pal for the car to have! A MK1 Morris Cooper S Rally car in for some crash damage repair. Ive been told its 'just an ornament' until mine is done out of the way......







The damage....







Very nice but hopefully I will get some more progress with it soon.....had really bargained on it being back by xmas so i could get the majority of the rebuild done in january when I'm off uni but hey ho.....