Ex Press Fleet Series 1 GTI LBD295V

Fingers crossed for a happy ending Graham  

So its up and running again. Just gone for the cheap option as a gamble this time round. New rings - re hone and the usual head  gasket expenses. Lets see what happens next!

So time for an update on this….

So after rehoning the engine and getting it skimmed I did a few more miles. However honing it as much as I had enduced some piston slap. Knowing how impossible it is to get pistons decided to pull the engine completely and get it relined and rebored in case I was causing further damage internally.

I took the block and pistons to my nearest engine machine shop who happens to be Robert Walker Engineering ( a legend in the Mini scene) and he did the necessary work. Another story has come from this visit to Rob Walkers but I'll leave that for another day!

Now the engine was out the car I started to poke around and decided to pull the rest and refurbish the body.

I've taken the decision not to make it a show winner but just a nice useble car that will look presentable and will last at least another 40 years.

I knew it had some body issues when I got it but they suddenly become a lot worse once I got into it.

I've ended up spending 150 hours welding it up and this includes both sills, rear axle mounts, rear lower valance, rear arches, spare wheel well, fuel filler neck, front a pillars, lower front panel, n/s floor pan and straightened the floor runners, repaired the original wings where someone had filled the aerial hole with fibre glass and sourced some rot free doors.

Some pictures…….

Having spent the beginning of my working career painting old Rolls Royces and keeping my hand in on a few jobs, I talked myself into painting it myself using a little shed I have available to me. In the past I've spent good money on so called "high quality" paint jobs only for them to become disappointing a couple of years down the road. So my thinking is if I paint it myself I can spend as much time as it needs, its not against a budget and if it goes wrong I'll know what went wrong and only have myself to blame! Its also a lot lot cheaper! Some pictures as it stands today while I let its first coat of primer settle……

 

Crikey, looks like you are doing a thorough job.

The old iceberg issue that 90% of the rust is hidden and only shows up when up you start to fix up the odd little bit that you can see.

Should be good for another 40 years use when you've done.

Looks good.
didnt seem that bad.

Great to see this car getting the love it deserves.

200 hours spent to get back in the red!…….



 

Wow

Shame it needed all that rust repair but it looks like an excellent job has been done  

Did then engine over haul go ok?

Ian

Fantastic work! Paint looks spot on!

stichill99 said

Fantastic work! Paint looks spot on!

Totally disagree



There is a spec of dust in the spare wheel well. Haha. Will be a lovely car for sure. I’m jealous and it’s just a shell.


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Given the paint a compounding for now.

Now to start the build. First job is to get the dreaded roof lining in. I'll leave it on the clips for now to let it settle. Need to get the looms in and the tailgate on before it becomes permanently fixed. I hate this bit of the job! Makes a change from seeing red though!  

Starting to look like a car again..


 

Looking nice!! 😎

well done having done one myself I know just how much work and effort it takes !!

Nice work! Are those the original arch trims?

chrisL said

Nice work! Are those the original arch trims?

No. The originals were tatty and I refuse to spend £500 on a set of original S1 trims even if I could find a set!

Been tackling the gearbox also. I want this box to be the best it can be but being an early 5 speed means some parts are difficult to find and when you do find them you have to pay a lot for them. I was hoping to have the car finished by Christmas but sourcing the remaining parts for this  may slow the progress.

Yomp said

chrisL said

Nice work! Are those the original arch trims?

No. The originals were tatty and I refuse to spend £500 on a set of original S1 trims even if I could find a set!

Where did you get these ones from please?