My second visit to the workshop revealed that my dad had removed the engine and front subframe and started on the panels that need repair or replacement. The engine is still a mystery to me (even with all my reading, things don't tend to come together for me until I can get my hands on them) but I'm looking forward to taking it all apart, cleaning it and putting it back together. This day however, I witnessed the first deep cuts into the front end to remove a rusted panel - much more impressive than the previous stabbing.
Slideshow here!
After discussing our options for replacing the panels - should we order new ones? maybe get an entire new body shell? - we decided to go on a field trip; a local guy had two rusted-out Mini shells for $100/ea and there might be some salvageable front panels.
It was only a 20 minute drive and "Fred" was home when we arrived. He let us know one of the shells had been sold and unfortunately, after looking at the one that was left it had a front end we couldn't use. Fred mentioned that the person who bought the other shell was also local and he only needed it for the struts as he's reinforcing a custom Mini pick-up. He gave us instructions on where to find it (under the railway bridge, around the corner and look down the driveways on the right - the Mini shell is in the back of the guy's Ford pick-up and you should be able to see the back end above the cab where it's parked in the backyard) and we dropped by on our way back to my dad's to leave our contact info. If the guy only needs the struts, we could split the cost and grab the front-end panels we need.
Before we left Fred though, we were invited in to his workshop to check out his recently restored Mini:
Along with the Mini, Fred's outbuildings are also sheltering several vintage motorcycles, a few more Austins (Americas?), an old pick-up truck and a wide selection of meticulously organized and catalogued parts, trim, upholstery, tools and other various wonders.
