Restoration Day Four - WD-420

Continued deconstruction - this week I tackled stripping the engine bay.

I started with the wiring on the passenger side and removed anything bolted down along its path. This included the windshield fluid reservoir and tubes, parts of the steering mechanism, the clutch and gas lines (the previous owner must have filled the gas tank before he delivered the car - I had to wait about 20 minutes for it to drain into the large white cannister in the photo below), the passenger-side headlamp and casing and, finally, the plastic air intake tube.

I'm slowly developing my skills; getting better at remembering and judging the imperial sized tools, learning to "tap-and-turn" when removing stubborn or stripped screws and generally making some connections bewteen the work I'm doing and the functionality of the car.







Also, some good news - my dad has caught the Mini-bug again and may be acquiring his own classic Mini in the next few weeks! This means we may have a presentable car for the 50th Anniversary this year at Mini Meet North.

If all goes as planned, this also means the 1275 engine my dad picked up at Mr. Mini in March will be free to go into my Mini's engine bay. Vroom vroom! And of course, with more speed I'll need some serious stopping power so we're on the lookout for disc brakes for the front end.

There was also mention of some 7x13 rims


which would require the Sportspack wide wheel arches


This pleases me greatly as I love the chunky look and the wider arches will be perfect for the custom design I'm planning...

Bits!

I work overnights and have been trying to convince my employer (since they changed our schedule around eight months ago) that they need to give me my 4-day week back. I put through a proposal this week outlining all the benefits of not making me work 5 nights a week - added coverage for vacations and emergencies etc - unfortunately, the quick and polite reply was, "No."

This seriously screws with my plans for working on the Mini this summer; with only 2 days off a week, it makes it difficult to adjust my sleeping patterns to not only accomodate getting stuff done during daylight hours (appts, socializing), but also to allow enough time for me to drive the 5 hours (there and back) it takes to get to my dad's workshop.

So, while I try and figure out another way to convince the soulless capitalists it's worth their while to appease my 4-day work-week needs - here are some (blurry) pictures of the parts, panels and bits that my dad picked up last month at Mr Mini:

Driver's side front panel


Right floor panel


Gas A Just


Less blur, more bits!


Rad, totally.


Canuck bumper holder things


The support braces for the Canadian front bumper were an amazing find - these are original late 70s parts, still in the packaging. Although they didn't have a price marked on them, my father tossed them in with all the other stuff he was purchasing knowing that I'm dead set on keeping the car as Canadian as possible (even though he thinks the original bumpers are ugly and very un-mini).

When he took everything up to the counter to pay, the owner saw the bumper supports and told my dad he was one of only two people that had ever bothered to look at them. Apparently, over the last few years a man has come into the shop several times; every time he picks up the two supports and debates out loud whether they're worth the price, trying to elicit a discount. The owner has never waivered and the man always puts them back on the shelf and leaves without making a purchase.

Now that the store is going out of business, the man-who-wants-a-discount is sure to be back to finally buy the supports at the price he wants. So, just to have the pleasure of telling the man that they're gone - the owner gave them to my dad for free.