B18 1987 Mini

[Dopeshow]

So I purchased my shell off ebay back in Novemeber last year, work commitments have meant that I have only just managed to get round to making a start over the last week or, so I thought I will start off my build diary as a record.

I brought it as an unfinished project of a guy that was going to do a Rover conversion but ran out of steam. Shell is 1987 and the guy I brought it from had replaced the front floors, sills and built up the back end. I was a bit dubious at first as I was not sure what was covered up by the respray, but as it was a good price I took the plunge as most of the car seemed solid.

[Dopeshow]

So with the shell now in my garage I got it up in the air and had a good look at the underside. Everything seemed good and all the welding seemed to be a decent standard, however I had always wanted to do a naked restoration so I have found a local guy that does "Dustless blasting" so its booked in at the end of June to get it back down to bare metal.



I started stripping of what was left on the car and removed all the bitumin sound proofing off the floor. This was a real pain, I believe dry ice is the easiest way to remove, however I wanted to crack on so a heat gun, wood chisel and trusty hammer did the trick. Stil got a little cleaning up to do, but I am more than happy with the condition of the floor.



I also removed the door skins the hard way. I was not sure of the condition of the frames so I only used the grinder to remove the welds. Again really pleased with the condition of the frames.




I have a friend that is a hoarder so after a quick search of his workshop I managed to come across some seats. They are in mint condition just need a really good clean!

Just located them temporary to see if they fit!



Engine Arrived today. Again an ebay bargain, inlet manifold and throttle body missing but already ordered Skunk 2 replacements. Its out of a 1998 JDM DC2 with 105,000km's on the clock.

[ardonfast]

Looks a clean tub !

[Dopeshow]

Fingers crossed. We will see what all that paints hiding once she's been blasted

[ardonfast]

Lol , that's what I'm frightend of ,
Your eather mad, or daft, or a combo of all , lol
Looks so nice already and nice coulor too!!
Are you shure you want to do it all again?

[Dopeshow]

LOL.

Definitely a combo of both!!

The back quarters have a few ripples in so want to do it from scratch, make sure its 100% rust free and slap loads of jotamastic on it.

My brother inlaw runs a paint shop so he wants it perfect before he does his thing on it.

[ardonfast]

It gets even funnier lol
So your going to take advice from A in-law,
He must hate you! He is going to laugh his socks off
Knowing your struggling , he will even shout YE,,HAA
While smacking your sisters BuM,
Lol, in law joke !!

[Dopeshow]

LOL.

My Brother in law and sister have 2 kids together so i think the bum smacking days are over.......but thanks for putting the image in my mind.....

I fitted a kitchen for them over christmas so the paint job is free.

[ardonfast]

At least you had a Laff , ".maybe" lol,
I have 2 kids and I was shouting YE,,HAA! while riding bairback,
Any way I hope you do good,
How did your name come about ?

[Dopeshow]

"How did your name come about ?"

Hi Ardon, It used to be my online gaming name years and years ago and it just stuck with me.

The story of a mis-spent youth...

[ardonfast]

My name, when I joined I had no clue about internet communications lol ,
So being a (A) mini man thought ,fook it ,I will either be killed or cured lol,
As 8 port mini is still the qwickest thing when corners involved , just no 5th gear,
And yes I did pick up on the dope ,lol
Your brave and it's all a purple haze,

[Dopeshow]

Yes those were the days...

[monkey]

Looks like a good project, I all forward to seeing it come together. I get well jealous seeing the new type Allspeed front subframes. I ordered mine just before they changed over to the curved type rails/bars.

You did really well on the price for the engine. Fingers crossed its okay. Are you going to do anything to it before sticking it in? I'd suggest the usual timing belt/water pump. I'd also whip the head off and do the valve stems.

[Dopeshow]

Hi Monkey, already got the head off the engine and it looks good. I and just going to leave it standard for now and as you suggest just replace timing belt/water pump and stem seals, although I will be putting Skunk 2 TB & Inlet manifold on. I really just want to get the car built and running.

Long term plan will be to build an engine I would like to keep it NA however my friend builds EVO race cars so he wants me to stick a turbo on as he has most of the bits lieing around, so we could turbo it for next to nothing.

[monkey]

Sweet I look forward to seeing more updates