Restoration Day Two - Spark it Up

Well, I think most of my involvement with this restoration project will be in the documentation department. I had hoped to be able to be more hands-on, but lack of experience (and really, basic knowledge) would make the process drag on far longer than needed. Instead, I'm going to pay very close attention to the work that gets done by my father, ask loads and loads of questions, take pictures and then research as much as possible in the weeks between visits to the Mini.

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.

Vintage Ice Racing

I spent many winters on the ice as a kid in Thunder Bay, watching my parents and their friends racing around in small cars. My brother and I would strap on our skates and try to get close to the action without getting in trouble. Or we'd whine about the cold, it was pretty much a toss up.

My dad started racing in Windsor in the late 60s and continued racing in Thunder Bay until the early 80s. Originally he raced a black Mini Cooper but went on to develop a racing team with his cousin and focused on engine design/tuning. The team won several races, including the championship in 1982/1983.

Truck and trailer loaded with the racing team.


The detachable fibreglass bonnet makes for quicker pit stops.


My dad adjusts something while my uncle, John sits in the driver's seat. I remember borrowing John's helmet as a teenager (to ride on the back of my boyfriend's Vespa!) and noticing a blood type etched on the back - each driver marked his or her blood type on the back of their helmet, in case of emergency.


At the start line.


And they're off!

Full set of pics here: Ice racing in Thunder Bay

Additional information:
Ice Race Ontario - http://www.casc.on.ca/iceRacing.php
Thunder Bay Autosports Club - http://www.iceracingthunderbay.com/

Restoration Day One - Stab Action

This day is also known as "Stab-my-Mini-repeatedly-with-a-screwdriver" Day.

Full stab-action viewable at the slideshow link provided below...

Slideshow here!

Hogmanay Moving Day!

Since I bought my Mini in October it has been resting peacefully in my garage (we only had to move the recycling bins to fit it in!) where I've been able to spend a few moments with it every day while smoking a cigarette or drinking my tea. But with the new year comes new digs - my father's garage/machine shop where we'll be doing all the work on the car.

My father returned to Canada in November after working in Darfur (I bought the Mini while he was gone and was excited to have him back so he could inspect it - it passed with flying colours) and built a suitable trailer so we could haul the car back to his place.

On Wednesday my brother and dad came by with the shiny new trailer (notice the mini-matching, 10 inch tires and the wheel guards that allow the car doors to open fully.) Unfortunately the Mini didn't start (it's been very cold lately) so my brother and I pushed while our dad steered; and the angle was a bit off so there was a considerable amount of winching - but we managed to get the car on and strapped down. Aside from a little rust removal underneath, all went well and the first step towards restoration was a success!

Photographic evidence submitted below:






(click on pics for larger size)

mini magazine article - pg 3

Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

Mini Machine managed to straighten out the burnt area and treat it so it wouldn't rust, without having to replace the entire side of the car as Trevor had first feared. He has tried to keep as much of the original car as possible, so although the floorpans have been replaced, the transmission tunnel has not.

The Mini Cooper did need new front wings, sills, A-panels, and a new roofskin to get rid of the large sunroof fitted at some point by Mr Hunt. The plate containing the body number was spot-welded to the original slam panel, so the slam panel itself was cut out and stitched in to the new front end. Mini Machine also put in a MkIII S boot floor. "The metal is thicker than the later Rover floors, so that was better," Trevor explains. "Then all the correct holes were put into it."

Although Trevor originally wanted an Almond Green Cooper with a white roof, having traced so much of the car's history he decided to stick to the Old English White with a black roof paint scheme. Mini Machine used two-pack paint, which should help the car last for years.

All the exterior trim was missing when he bought the Cooper, so Trevor scoured autojumbles and car shows. "The particular bits you can't find are the chrome trim round the door and under the window, and the early headlight rims with the brass rivet on top," he remarks. "I ended up drilling out some later ones, sending them away for re-chroming and making up a brass rivet to put back in. Bit sad that, isn't it?" The front grille is a reproduction chrome piece, but the bumpers are stainless steel, after Trevor was unable to find chrome ones.

Since the Mini Cooper was finished in November 1999 it's covered only a few hundred miles, but soon it will be travelling several thousand in one hit. Trevor's work is taking him back to Canada with his wife, Mary, and the car is going with him.

"I'm going to get an enclosed trailer for it and a motorhome so we can travel down to shows in the States," he reveals. "I might even do a few autotests, but I want to go and have some fun with it."

Having gone to so much time and trouble to create such a nice S in the first place, Trevor's not planning on parting with for some time. "My daughter used to watch me ice race Minis years ago," he adds, "and I want to leave it to her when I'm gone." So perhaps this very nice little Cooper will continue with a largely unblemished record of ownership?

Thanks to: SW Crompton, blacksmith, for use of The Smithy at Thornton Hough, Wirral for our location.

mini magazine article - pg 2

Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

Trevor himself has owned all manner of Minis in the past, both here in the UK, and over in Canada where he has lived for many years. "I used to race Minis on the ice over there," he reveals. "My first car was a Mini, and to me it's the only fun car you can have."

Getting this Mini Cooper into its present immaculate condition took 18 months of hard work. To begin with, although he'd been assured by the dealer that the car was complete, it was actually without an engine and gearbox.

"When I got there it was a case of well, there's an engine block over there, and choose one of those cranks from over there," he recalls. "What you don't get is all those little nuts and bolts."

Nevertheless, after numerous trips backwards and forwards, Trevor managed to obtain a reasonable 1275cc cylinder block, which he's bored out by .060 inches and fitted new pistons to suit. "Finding a standard block is very rare and expensive," he adds. The block also had to be drilled to take a modern four-bolt oil pump.

To this set-up, Trevor has fitted a Piper cam, which turned out to be a cheaper option than re-grinding the original. "I put a Duplex vernier timing chain on, because I wanted to dial the cam in properly, and roller rockers, because 1.3 roller rockers are exactly 1.3, where old S rockers are only approximate," he comments.

Trevor had the twin SU carbs restored by Burlen Fuel Systems, who also tracked down a fuel pump for him, and he's very impressed with the service. He's equally pleased with the new cylinder head from Racespec Engineering.

"What I was aiming for was to get the horsepower a little better than the original S," he declares. "The S was only 58-59 bhp at the wheels, and this was dyno'd at 64 bhp, so I did exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to use the original 1.25 in carbs and if you go much over 65 bhp you're wasting your time because the engine can't breathe that fast with those carbs. I developed the engine to be compatible with that horsepower."

The gearbox and diff has all been rebuilt as well, although the first 'box Trevor had for the Mini went back because of a repair to the casing. He had initial teething trouble with the diff too, which had a slight oil leak. Trevor stripped the unit down again, and re-shimmed and re-sealed it to cure the problem.

Apart from this, the Mini Cooper was in very good condition mechanically. "When I took the subframe apart it even still had MOWOG stencilled onto it," he recalls. "Even the hydrolastic units were in pristine condition, still with the blue band on." Many of the bits such as the subframes and the twin fuel tanks were powdercoated to preserve them.

The body itself needed a lot of work to bring it up to scratch, much of which was carried out by Mini Machine in Darlington. Trevor was anxious that MkI Cooper details were retained. "On the 1967 S all the boot board brackets and the cross brace on the front were pop-riveted in rather than spot-welded, because the Mini was still being developed," he reports. "I've had it seam-sealed properly, which wasn't done when it was made, and Waxoyled it heavily in all the cavities you can't see."

By The Book

Only one previous on your logbook? Then researching your Mini's history should be a doddle.
Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

These days people tend to change their cars on a regular basis, so finding a classic without a ream of names on the logbook is a pretty rare occurence. This was especially true for Trevor Vickery when he bought his Mk1 Mini Cooper S.

Despite the fact that the car was over 30 years old and had changed hands many times, the only officially recorded previous keeper was the first owner. When Trevor tried to track him down, he discovered to his amazement that the man still lived at the same address.

Trevor bought his car in a very rough state in 1998 after viewing various ready-restored examples. He had help choosing the right vehicle from a friend and fellow Mini enthusiast, Barry Long. "Barry said he knew of a genuine car in Sheffield, but it was in need of restoration," Trevor recalls. "I thought OK, sounds good, if I want it done properly, I'll do it myself."

The car in question turned out to be a 1967 Austin Mini Cooper, which had been taken off the road some time in the mid-'70s and not driven since. After contacting the first owner, Arthur Hunt, Trevor discovered more of the car's history.

It had been delivered to Mr Hunt by dealers Carey & Lambert of Southampton in March 1967, and their medallion still decorates the dashboard. Mr Hunt ran the Mini Cooper until he started having gearbox problems, then passed it onto his wife for shopping duty until it was finally laid up in the garage. Eventually, rather worse for wear by this time, the car was traded in against a replacement.

From there it passed through numerous sets of hands without being driven again. In the end, the Mini Cooper was involved in a workshop fire, allegedly part of an insurance scam. "The firemen came along and pushed the Mini outside, put the fire out, and the two guys who owned it went to prison for attempting to defraud the insurance company," Trevor explains. Fortunately, the Mini was rescued with just burn damage to the driver's side and went to the dealer, then on to Trevor.

Mini History - Pt. 3

British Leyland training video introducing the 1978 Mini Range. Presented by Raymond Baxter, for British Leyland car sales.



Part Two:


Highlighted "improvements" to the 1978 Mini line were: brown coach lines under the windows, a better grip-form on the emergency brake handle, a door-pocket with a snap, a pocket on the driver's side visor (for papers!) and a vanity mirror on the passenger's side visor.

Will the technological wonders of the Mini never cease?!

Mini History - Pt. 2

Before buying this car, I didn't realize there was such a thing as a Canadian Mini. Outside of the UK, Minis were produced in several countries (Spain, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, Portugal and New Zealand) but none in North America.

Minis were exported for sale in the US until 1967, when the safety regulations changed (thanks Ralph Nader) and there weren't enough US sales to justify the modifications necessary to comply with the new standards. However, the Canadian regulations were less strict which allowed British Leyland to continue exporting Minis, with minor alterations, to Canada until 1980.

There are several cosmetic differences in the Canadian Mini:

reflective side markers at the front and the back,

rubber bumpers mounted higher than the traditional chrome bumpers
(must withstand an 8km/hr hit with no damage to body),

and larger front indicator lights in the grille (instead of under it) to accomodate the higher bumper,
.
Apparently the Canadian Mini is considered pretty ugly (I disagree, personally I think the Clubman Minis are the ugliest) and most have been converted to more standard specs by replacing the rubber bumpers with chrome or stainless steel ones.

This makes my awesome Canadian Mini a bit of a rarity - which pleases me.

Mini History - Pt. 1

One of the things I really enjoy about Minis (and Mini owners) is the practise of getting to know the history of the car. Most sale ads will mention how many owners a Mini has had (one-owner cars are increasingly rare, especially in North America) and often where the car was originally sold.

My car was sold off the lot of Manotick Motors to a Colonel in the Canadian Forces from the village of Kars. He bought it for his daughter who drove it for a few years until she almost got t-boned. She didn't want to drive it anymore and gave it back to her father who stored it in his barn (apparently along with several other 60s/70s vehicles including a Land Rover) for the next 20 years.

He did drive it for a summer or two - but after that, most of the miles put on it were from the annual Kars Parade. He had an oversized wind-up key that he would attach to the roof and it was a big hit with the crowd. But it sat for a few years in the barn, at least, before the next owner offered to buy it in 2004. I don't know how he found it in the barn, but Mark (2nd owner) told me the sale was a little bizarre.

The Colonel and his wife had become very reclusive as they grew older and were not comfortable with anyone visiting their farmhouse. When Mark arrived to view the Mini he was asked to avert his eyes away from the house and keep them pointed in the direction of the barn as they crossed the yard - the Colonel and his wife followed behind. It wasn't until the Colonel's wife retreated back to the house that the Colonel allowed Mark to relax, explaining his wife was very nervous about strangers.

Thankfully, all went fine after this and Mark bought the car without further overtones of axe-murder horror movies:
thanks to Mark for the photo

De Rigourd

Parked the Mini in the carhole today. I love having it sit in the driveway so I can see it on my way out and when I get home - but Hallowe'en is approaching and I don't want to risk it getting tipped on its lid. (It is, kind of, pumpkin-ish coloured/shaped, after all.)



I spent a few hours on the weekend cleaning the inside and the trim/lights on the outside. I'm really digging the original crappy vinyl interior. Aside from some black markings and one long-ish tear in the driver's seat cushion, it's in great shape. It even smells right - smells just like the Mini we used to have as one of our family cars when I was a kid (the other car was a HUGE Ford LTD.)

I daydream now when I go out to the garage for a smoke - thinking about the finished car; the paint job, the addition of a decent stereo, a dash and maybe a centre console? So many details to consider! So many wonderful possible outcomes!

I can't wait to get this car on the road. I want to drive it forever.

Mini/Me

1980

Me beside my dad's ice-racing Mini on a frozen lake in Thunder Bay.
2008

Me sitting in my new Mini in my driveway in Ottawa.

Arrival

My new Mini was delivered on Friday - I'm still in disbelief over actually owning one. I'm going to take some pictures of my own on my days off this week, but for now here are a few more from the previous owner:







I'm going to spend some time in the next couple days vacuuming and cleaning the interior and maybe give the outside a good wash/polish...