Restoration Day Three - Front Subframe

The weather has finally turned its face towards spring here - the lack of freezing rain, high winds and frozen fog (cold fog, btw, much harder to drive in than freezing rain), makes for a much less stressful drive to my father's place (2+hrs) to work on my Mini. Hopefully over the summer I'll be able to make more frequent trips, but it looks like it's going to be about a year before "Nacho" is on the road.

Yeah, I named my Mini "Nacho". Once the restoration is complete I have another name picked out, but for now this is Nacho Mini. As in, it's "not-your" Mini, it's mine. The final name won't be so cheesy.

This trip up I got my hands dirty. My father's machine shop business is now in full force and keeps him pretty busy, so while he works, I get my own "kid table" within yelling distance of him in the workshop. This also means I get to do all the grunt work needed before my dad helps again with the major work next winter.

I'm finding it amazing how quickly the hours go by while I'm trying to get 30 yr old rusted bolts out of their holes. And I'm learning at every step - leverage, torque, resistance...physics is phun!

Here are some exciting (and over-exposed, still working on taking decent pictures) shots of my work on the front subframe:

The front subframe - before:

And from the other side:

My tools of destruction:

Mid-destruction:

All apart:

And from the other side:

Mini Money

Back in October, when I saw the ad for my Mini, I didn't actually have any money to buy it (I'm pretty much perpetually broke - a situation that probably wouldn't change even if I had millions). A couple weeks before, my dad had come with me to look at another Mini that was twice the price and although we lost that one to someone quicker, my dad had agreed to help me secure a loan.

The day we looked at the first Mini, my dad was actually on the way to the airport to start work in Darfur for a few months so we couldn't work out any finances - I thought it could wait until he came back to look for another car. But, only a couple of weeks later I spotted my Mini and the price was just too good to pass up.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get in touch with my dad - his only contact was through e-mail and his satellite connection wasn't always reliable. I needed to know if he thought it was a "good buy" and I needed to sort out how to pay the seller, but the longer I had to wait, the more chance there was that someone would get the car before me.

Once I went to look at the Mini, I immediately fell in love and did not want to miss out on a second chance at owning one. I figured, even if I managed to buy it without my father's approval and it turned out to be horrible, I would still have the chance to work on the car and learn - and most importantly, I would be a MINI OWNER.

I waited as long as I could (three days, thankfully the seller was as interested in selling to someone who could appreciate the car as I was in owning it) to hear back from my dad but it was looking like I might lose it to someone with cash on hand.

Bemoaning my predicament over coffee with my friends, Andrew and Emilie, Andrew suddenly offered to loan me the money until I could work out the finances with my dad. I don't normally like to borrow large amounts, especially from friends, but goddamn, IT WAS FOR A MINI. I had the cash in my hand the next day, got it out to the seller and my Mini was delivered a few days later!

As if this wasn't enough AWESOME - they also gifted me with a digital camera so I could document the whole restoration process. They are the meat beneath my wings and I am forever in their debt. (But not literally, once my dad returned I was able to get a bank loan and pay them back.)

Here they are in all their zombie glory:

The Mighty Canadian Mini

Big thanks to Miguel P. for these scans - this is a late 70s brochure for the Canadian Mini:


Check out Miguel's website - www.minipassionmini.50megs.com/gb/

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)