I'm at it again. Sold the 997 Cooper rally replica and now I have a new project. Will be posting pictures of all the developments and hope it will make it to Mini Meet West 2017 in Santa Rosa, CA
Hi armycook, great to hear about you replica project. My dad is the owner of CRX 90B and would love to see the results of your work.
Oh wow... speechless! Well i'd love to maybe have a glimpse of the car now but here are some of the current photos. I've been busy...
I'm still waiting for this sign shop to produce me the front vinyl plate that will go on the bonnet. The font isn't available so I had to make one from Adobe Illustrator.
Found this photo and was very useful to lift the smallest details.
Installing the front bonnet vinyl plate
Quote from: Armycook on June 20, 2017, 04:43:21 AM
Hey thanks. The car is almost finished and i was able to complete the works dash, carpets and got my front signal glass color changed to clear.
Looking good! Can we get an update? I love that color btw.
Hey thanks. The car is almost finished and i was able to complete the works dash, carpets and got my front signal glass color changed to clear.
I'll post new pics today 😁
Had to make my own Wipac long stem flasher switch since these gets expensive every time they appear on ebay. somewhat close to what they look like
the decals are very tricky too. I noticed the fonts aren't available anywhere and i spoke to a few replica gurus and we all agreed that if it looks perfect then it's wrong. a lot of these works cars have a little imperfection somewhere and it should give you that kind of vibe that it's a little misaligned somewhere. I made the GB badge and #72 door numbers on adobe Illustrator then took it to a sign shop to get plotted. thanks to old 8mm and 16mm black and white films i was able to capture some good angles to replicate the fonts.
The carpets are Newton. I assumed they'd be very expensive but total came up to £167.74 and £78 for shipping (i ordered extra felt materials so it was slightly heavier) The trim was contoured nicely and its molded very easily. the cross member section had to be pre folded to make it easier to stick using a mallet and spray adhesive. The interior change was night and day with red carpets. The navigator door switch panel is installed too with the Avanti 18" lamp. Labels are on using an old vinyl stamp label maker. I'm only missing the 12V two pin lucas outlets and this should be complete.
how it sits today
That is a great-looking car! Very cool to see all the period stuff.
Two questions:
1) Why did you choose CRX 90B as the inspiration? Just curious. (My favorite rally Mini is AJB 44B)
2) Would that car originally have had amber rear turn lenses?
Thanks Bruce! I like the placement of the front lights and this car that i acquired is a Morris. It's very rare that you'd hear of this car and so i figured I'd put more attention on this specific vehicle. However the interior and some elements aren't dead on accurate but for the quick glimpse It was a very nice challenge. A friend of mine in NY owns a replica of the AJB #52 by the way.
Yes the car would have originally have the amber tail signal lights but since i decided to let it stay as a left hand drive mini i figured i'd leave the all red "export" feature. But i might get tired of it all and go all the way RHD someday.
Some more photos of the finished interior and the engine bay (non works of course but it's clean enough i think)
Mini Meet West 2017
Everything looks great especially the interior and engine bay.
Thank you!
Where do you find those big mud shields that go on the front?
Perspex headlight guards? There's a few that sells them. Minisport and Bryan Purves does from time to time but usually it's a long wait. Ebay would have them too sometimes.
No, on your last car you had these big black mudflaps on the front of the car, either side of the grill......
Quote from: MiniDave on July 05, 2017, 02:54:30 PM
No, on your last car you had these big black mudflaps on the front of the car, either side of the grill......
Like the Minis prepped for the East African Safari, such as the one below?
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ee/37/91/ee3791afebdc6a26bc66b7e4fb8ff596--mud-africans.jpg)
I remember reading how the Works mechanics would often switch out bodyshells if one was damaged on a rally so the 'same' car could continue in the next event, so I wonder if that bodyshell in the background is just such a thing.
Oh those! I don't know where you can get them now but i made those myself using sheet metal and thick rubber mat material that has diamond plate pattern in the back and they're held together with stainless steel nut and bolts with finishing washers used for leather bags.. They look the part. . I have the materials still. Every Works mini have different dimension of front mudguards. I think Minisport used to sell them.
That's what i heard too. I can ask two owners of Works minis i met. They're the owners of CRX90B and LBL666D
What a great car. Your attention to detail and ingenuity is impressive.
Thank you very much Ingman!
Been awhile but a lot of changes on this Works rally replica car. I decided it's time to replace the Minilites with the proper LP883 Cooper S steels just like on the old black and white photos. Found a nice newly restored set from Minimania classifieds and jumped on it right away. I was going to buy the alloy replicas but it didn't look right without the hubcaps as the alloy replicas are reinforced around the lug holes.
The new wheels looked very nice but it looked so damn clean for this car so I decided to wet sand the high wear areas a little and gave it a little patina with lint free rag and brake fluid. The bare metal wouldn't look natural with the theme so i placed papertowels and poured vinegar on it. Let it sat for 3-4 hours and then gave it a few coats of glossy clearcoat. The finish looked great.
Another additions I acquired were the two 50 something year old Dunlop SP44 Weathermaster tires from Ex Works rally mini LBL666D owner, Mr. Mike Hyrons. He told me it's one of the spares at actual mid 60s Monte Carlo Rally race.
Wow Dennis,
That thing is awesome. Where did you find the Heuers?
If you get a wild hair to put twin SU H4's on it, I've got a pair calling your name:)
cw
Yes sir i'm interested!
They're not Heuers. A friend told me where to get it on Ebay. They're just regular pocket stopwatches but same size and dimension at least. It works for now until my budget allows me.
I have a blowby. The engine is 1275 austin america with a cooper S head and a single HIF6 carburetor. My next project is to remove the engine and replace some things as this engine was claimed newly restored but it didn't have not even a single breather. Let me know what you have and let's talk offline. I don't have much budget so i'm doing this little by little.
Ideally i want it to get it very close to a proper Works engine spec. It's ambitious but it's a nice goal especially when a lot of Ex Works owners and participants are watching. No pressure right? lol
Did I mention Les Leston steering wheel? I've added one too lol. I met a LL collector and bought one from him then found another proper flat 15" and won it in an Rbay auction too but it's gonna need a proper Morris bosskit and push horn.
Great progress. Just hope it does not get to the point where you quit driving it. 4.gif
It's actually getting to the point where few people are starting to make offers lol
Been in this stage before but i love driving this thing. Just the blowby that's annoying. Been trying to suppress it and getting around the oil leaks. But overall i'm having a lot of fun.
I forgot I was able to acquire the Works exhaust system by Somerford. I like how it sounded and how it pulls. Here is a short video comparison between the two.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qswgHZQc594
Here's another clip of the Somerford
https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=11s&v=GnlQRDDE5_8
Sounds good.
Lets us know how it is on the expressway for an extended time.
So I am back again. This time with a few additions. Finally got the dual H4 Carbs from Velopackrat and I also acquired a Smiths PCV valve to help minimize leaks. I still have the fuel mechanical pump breather vent with the baffle I got from Heritage garage. But I noticed that it is still spitting oil from back there. I also added another breather on the rocker cover. I would've gotten away with just hooking up both those vents to the PCV valve but with the oil still coming out I'm still dependent on that catch can baffle (but this time I removed the air filter from the Moroso catch can and found a hair spray cap and so it is sealed now eliminating vacuum leak w/ the pcv valve). I do plan on getting everything correct but i figured i'd make this work temporarily while i'm saving money for a full rebuild later when i'm ready. Might as well look at everything while the motor is out. I repositioned one of the heater hoses and installed this 1/2" copper tubing as a bypass just like how BMC Works minis does their engines.
Pardon the inconsistent parts. I'll make it look better after I find myself a time to permaswage some braided lines and make a proper catch can to be hidden underneath the wing.
What are you doing for air filters?
I have these 😉
Filters in
Links or part numbers to that filter setup?
Ask Velopackrat. He made those air horns on a lathe and mill to fit these K&N part number B035B4. That dude is cool in my book.
Great new year and i have acquired a few additions including a 6-hole pattern 15" Les Leston steering wheel. Also found a very nice gentleman from Japan that's helping me with a few bits like Lucas alternator light indicator, 700 and 587 vinyl Lucas lamp cover repros. His name is Akira Sagawa and he's shipped me the hard to find door pocket pads.
What are you guys using for insurance? How are you guys able to set a good valuation number? I have no idea what exact number Is out this car's worth except for a ballpark total dollar amount of whatever I have added on top of what I spent on the car when I purchased it.
I think mine is American National, there was an insurance discussion thread on here some where. It's very non restrictive. Just don't drive it everyday as a commuter and keep mileage under 5K, but they never took an additional mileage. I also believe they will do an agreed value up to 50K without an actual appraisal. They do request pictures and I'm sure there is some limit. The previous owner of mine had the same insurance and had his value at like 35K. Told me he had it that high so if it got wrecked he could buy a vtec mini. So I guess it's a cost of insurance for how much you need if you lose the car.
I'm insured with Grundy on a stated value policy, IOW we agree the car is worth X if totaled and the premium is based on that - it's very reasonable actually.
Converting my non daily drivers to Grundy also. Basically no restrictions aside from have a garage and daily driver. Stated value and cost virtually nothing.
Thanks! i'll contact them as soon as I get this Les Leston wheel from Michael Lempert. Oh by the way the way, I finally got the second Everoak corker rally helmet! So the rear parcel display is complete!
The last photo displays the two white helmets I've been using for weekend cars coffee meets.I think I'll save the Everoaks for bigger car shows so they won't rot too much.
So i'd like to let you guys know I have a facebook group page "Classic Works Rally Minis" I thought I'd unite all rally enthusiasts in one group so I can have an easier way of finding period bits and make my knowledge better about this specific type of mini. So this weekend I met two very nice folks that used to work for BMC competition and MG. They were sharing about their experiences on working on a few Works cars pertaining to the interior. I knew they got rid of all the chrome on the dash but did not know the details and extent of it.
Didn't know those were hand painted. One of the dudes' first jobs in Comps dept, was to remove headlining and (two halve <— not sure what he meant by this) and sprayed it matte black by fogging it on so not to soak into the lining, (in the early days theyd mixed grey primer with cellulose black) this is also what they used to brush all the chrome, he used a small lining in brush and didn't key the chrome before painting.
Only concern I have is that they did everything just to survive that once race and I'd like to keep my car for years and years to come. So I started to remove my rally dash panels and went to the store to get some matt black and satin black paint (was doing some tests which would look better), small brushes, masking tape, 400 and 600 grit sand papers.
I had to one by one scuffed the chrome and started masking them. I really wanted it all to come out nice. I sprayed two thin coats and touched up tiny areas using the brush and cotton swabs. The center binnacle housing, i was going to totally remove the silver trim by unlocking the wires behind but i noticed mine have a little bit of corrosion so instead I tried to unbend them a little as to not break them and used a flat screw driver to pop the trim by a few mm just for the news paper to barely go through in between so I don't have to risk breaking the trim's wire locks behind it.
I'm still thinking if i'm going to paint the headliner or just buying something in black but i haven't checked any stores that sells them. My interior panels are just repro vinyl so I'm not really too concerned about them. But i've gone this far so why not right?
You could buy a black headliner, or just do what they did.....you can buy vinyl "paint" and takes yours out and just fog on light coats till it's dark enough. In the early cars, the headliner is composed of two halves (front and rear) on their own separate frames.
I assume all this black work is to minimize reflections at night during the rally? How cool that you found these two guys who could relate their story, you should document all this somewhere for the future, this is the kind of stuff that gets lost with time.
Yeah I was surprised they popped up and started talking about their stories. One guy telling me his story about this QA guy named "Bert" he's the one rejecting all the bad crackle finish on any parts and panels. So it was a collaboration between MG and BMC Comps department.
Do you have a copy of The Works Minis by Peter Browning? Not sure if it is still available - I've had my copy for 45 years. The book contains a lot of build details on how the works cars were prepared and - but nothing beats the first hand info you are receiving!
Hi Bruce! Yes I do! I even have that BMC secrets which even have accounting paperworks of how much BMC paid the crew, what they served the staff and Paddy Hopkirk's pay stubs lol
There have been a lot of new things going on and new friends I met the past few weeks. One of them is Guy Smith. Not sure if you guys heard of him but this is the dude who restored EBL56C in the mid 1980s. He told me he likes what I've been doing with the car BUT gave me a rude awakening hat I should convert my car to right hand drive. He told me that the toughest part of restoring a Works car is it's electrical wiring and having to start it with a left hand drive would pretty much be pointless as why accurately do everything and leave the important part....
And so he gave me some questions to think about and man that really knocked my socks off the whole day. I have a few big mini events and after Mini Meet west in Oregon I will convert my car to right hand drive
Few additions on the car by the way. I drilled and installed the second Austin "S" on the boot.. Don't laugh. So there was a time before CRX90B competed and they badged it as Austin then last minute decided it will compete as a Morris so since those two badges didn't have the same mounting, they decide to leave the Austin S on to keep no holes on the boot. I also was able to acquire a 6 bolt pattern Les Leston wheel but unfortunately i only have an austin badge on. But a friend of mine in japan have sourced me a mk1 Morris push horn and accurate pea lights for the dash. And repainted my wheels to silver which CRX90B originally had at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally which I recently found out. I also found a new old stock Desmo demister for the back window but this seems to be small. But I heard it's ok according to a few ex works people i've been talking to lately.
One thing I found out is that I picked the toughest car to replicate that doesn't have much photo and video evidence.. But i'm beginning to feel more accomplished and happy for myself as I go through it all.
Funny I kept getting bashed by some mean purists about my replica car on facebook. I just laugh at them now because the very few special people who worked on, eat and breathe and currently owns the Ex Works cars are giving me thumbs up. And the opinions from those specific people are what matters to me. It's never perfect I know and I already made a few mistakes but at least these people are offering constructive corrections.
Here are a few photos:
My car will be at the LA Auto show at the Los angeles convention center from March 2-4 c/o Minis of America Los Angeles (MOALA) Thanks to Michael Hammonds, Graham Reid of Heritage Garage in Costa Mesa, CA for inviting me. I just found this enclosed trailer 7'x14' and will be picking it up on a monday or Tuesday.
My homework is to make a street sign for my props. We're gonna have a muddy car so I'm praying for a little rain so I can drive it and have muddy mist on the sides. I also am expecting two new Dunlop SP44 Weathermaster tires and I'm using the two NOS Weathermasters that originally was with the Ex Works LBL666D which Paddy Hopkirk drove at the Monte. But it's just for show and I will not be driving it on the road because if it's 53 year old age. I also couldn't find an affordable Irvin racing's harness so i went and bought these cheap Tanaka harnesses because they do have similar characteristics to the Irvin (showed on pic from a friend's seat). I grabbed my exacto knife and carefully peeled off the Tanaka labels and I'm talking to someone local to produce me some Irvin labels 😁😁😁
Dennis, you're doing a fantastic job, do it the way YOU want it, don't worry about the naysayers......
So I was invited this last weekend to have the rally replica to be displayed as a feature car on the vintage rally theme display for MOALA at The Classic Auto Show 2018 held this March 2-4, 2018 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We had a good amount of mk1s, a Moke and a clean Woody. My car was next to Graham Reid's Panel van. I met a lot of cool peeps like Chip Foose, Dave Kindig, All Girls Garage girls Rachel de Barros and Bogi, Mike Brewer, Wayne Carini, Steve Moal and a few more. I had these 20"x30" photos of CRX90B in action at the 1965 Monte and they all signed it. Planning on sending these to the owners of Works rally minis as my token of appreciation for helping me build my car.
Mike Brewer wanted to buy my car and unfortunately i'm not selling my car. So in case you guys know a nice Cooper S please let me know so I can tell him 👍👍
I am Almond Green with jealousy.
Very very cool.
Super cool 4.gif. Car looks awesome.
I couldn't look when Joanie was splashing mud all over it. That a wheeler dealer guy wants to buy my car.
It's a great event. Didn't expect to meet a lot of people like Carrol Shelby's wife and Peter Moss former owner of a real Works rally mini DJB92B. He happens to be in town that weekend because he was attending some Porsche event in anaheim. I thought that was the biggest highlight and closest encounter I have with anything genuine Works mini. He said he's good friends with the owner of the genuine CRX90B Mr. John littman and Mike Hyrons owner of LBL666D.
Man, that is cool! Good thing you didn't sell your mini to Mike Brewer, he would have low-balled ya-hahaha.
So after that Los Angeles event I thought that was it but then I got another invite and this time it's the first La Carretera Show in downtown Los Angeles. Sounds like a good event as they have a good selections of cars that will be shown plus the benefit is awesome. So I am now fine tuning whatever needs attention on the car before Mini Meet West in Oregon and this Sunday's La Carretera. I really don't wanna add anything major yet like RHD conversion and tinkering with anythjng electrical. At first I thought I'd make this project really fast but now O feel like taking my foot off the gas and just take my time.
Few additions I have now are the painted back shells of my bonnet Lucas 576 lamps and that bracket I'm building that's supposed to hold them to the hood.
So this just happened. Went to Mini Meet West and was able to acquire a proper
Works driver bucket seat with the right grey black fabric pattern made for me by a friend in Japan. Then I signed up to be in that private luncheon to be with a small group of people with the legend, PADDY HOPKIRK!!! Special thanks to Oregon mini society, MMW2018 organizers, Jeremy Thorpe and Eric Newland for making this happen. I also won the Themed and Race Category. It helped that Paddy H was there to cheer me on. What a special week!!
Yesterday I also received my July Issue of Cooper World magazine and Robert Young was able to write a short article about my car there. There was a few miscommunication about some small details like me working in Coronado (in San Diego, CA) and not Colorado, that I was able to buy and sell cheaper Japanese old mini trucks and not classic minis. Lol but overall it was a nice little article. Thanks to social media. If not for the internet, I wouldn't have made this project possible.
Excellent - partial justification for all your hard work! Well done! 77.gif
Quote from: Armycook on July 06, 2018, 05:47:39 AM
So this just happened. Went to Mini Meet West and was able to acquire a proper
Works driver bucket seat with the right grey black fabric pattern made for me by a friend in Japan. Then I signed up to be in that private luncheon to be with a small group of people with the legend, PADDY HOPKIRK!!! Special thanks to Oregon mini society, MMW2018 organizers, Jeremy Thorpe and Eric Newland for making this happen. I also won the Themed and Race Category. It helped that Paddy H was there to cheer me on. What a special week!!
Wow. That is very special. What a great honor.
Very cool, for sure!!!!
Dennis, please tell me more about those rivets used on your bonnet lamps. I need to repair one of my PIAA lamps, or if I can't, I'm more or less compelled to mount a pair of Cibie Oscars.
What are they called, where to get 'em; are special tools or techniques required?
Hi John. Happy to see you here and long time no talk! So the plate I fabricated with rivets is only for display to make it looking complete just like how the Works cars were in the 60s. It would make sense for the comps department to use extra plate riveted to secure it well on the bonnet because the original bonnet lamp mounts were just a piece of pipe cut slanted maybe 30-45 degrees just so the end of it will be perfectly flushed 90 degrees against the Lucas 576 lamp. I'm confused how those are held tight back in the day but they're only supposed to last a race only anyway.
Mine is a solid aluminum cylinder block that was cut the same way the pipe was in the 60s but mine has two 1/4" long bolts that secures it sandwiching the bonnet with spacers on the other side of the bonnet just like how bumper over riders are. I'll post a photo of how the Works did their and how mine is.
Howdy - yeah, I don't speak very much anymore. I've become a recluse - some might say arsehole, but I've lost more than just a little faith in 'people'. My mini's also dead for now, drove it twice this year - broke the ignition's optical switch and waiting for a new coil also. Can't afford the switch, so I'll be using points for a while once the coil arrives.
Right - How did you attach it - I'm interested in that type of rivet. What and how -
Somebody backed into one of my PIAA lamps and one of the rivets became a bit loose. So, I'm thinking of drilling it out and replacing it with a similar type rivet but before I started 'Googling' around looking for something, I figured I'd just ask 'what and how'.
Or, I've got a couple of sets of old, rust-free Cibie Oscars sitting in a box somewhere from decades ago, with both driving beams and long (pencil) beams which I could theoretically fit to the car, but I'd need to extend the lamp bar - the Cibie's are rather deep (and 180mm dia ('YUGE)).
Catmint actually sells these bonnet spacers as a kit now. Go to Catmint.biz the owner is Gordon Furness and you can email him in case the shopping cart doesn't work.
Ohh! These are solid rivets and came in different variety of lengths. You'll need a solid rivet gun.
mine are Aircraft solid rivets. I suggest using aluminum instead of stainless steel because it's easier to use and remove in case you want to replace it. Stainless steel is very hard.
Ok, cool - aircraft solid rivets and a special solid rivet gun.
I'll try to see what I can find - THANKS -
If you can't find these rivets I can send you some. Be careful with the rivet gun. They can jump all over the place
Like I said, mine is just for decoration. The rivets I used are flushed underneath the vent sheet metal aluminum and mounted using 3M extreme all weather double sided tape. It's the same solid rivets I used for the Union Jack on the side fender. I didn't wanna drill any more holes so those are short solid rivets and flushed underneath the flag too. I figure it's just another reason to start rust.
You can set those rivets by hand with a hammer and dolly, then grind the bottom side flush again
I noticed that - just did a search and think these folks might have something small enough, punch included. I'll keep looking though, might find something cheaper.
https://www.bits4landys.co.uk/rivets/solid-round-head.htm (https://www.bits4landys.co.uk/rivets/solid-round-head.htm)
Hey Dennis,
I wonder if your wife ever thought her husband would become famous for hot-rodding a small, old British car? Great pics, stories and a phenomenal Mini. Not many of us will ever have the opportunity to be low-balled by Mike from Wheeler Dealer:)
Keep 'em coming,
Chris
Hi Chris,
She has a clue about who Paddy Hopkirk but thinks it's blah lol
I'm already happy enough that she goes with to mini meet west every year. Next year she might not go to Colorado with me so I think I will drive the car there. But not sure yet.
John,
Email me at santarinala@gmail.com
I can make you one if you wasn't and just paint it to whatever color you want.
Here is the July 2018 Issue if Cooper World. Flip to page 38 for the story
http://www.minicooper.org/cw/8YJR/mobile/html5forwebkit.html
The worse just happened Saturday morning. I was preparing the car for an early morning Cars and Coffee event up in South Orange County and had an accident in my driveway. Me and James Tran were planning to meet up at that new outlet so we can roll in the event together. It is supposed to be the first time I'm going to see the second Works rally mini replica of AJB44B. It was still a little dark and very early. Took the car out to have a quick wipe down of the glass especially the leaks underneath when suddenly the chock popped out after I dropped the jack. I forgot to pull the handbrake before hand and the car took off flying towards my neighbor's house across the street. I tried chasing it and I was able to open the door but failed to pull the hand brake. I managed to pull the steering wheel instead hoping it would turn and just hit my side wall and not make it over the street but it scraped the side and hit a parked car. The driver side door was wide open and I was behind it so it dragged me with it. I have little scratches here and there but my right inner thigh have this bad bruise. I was so devastated and wanted to throw up. So now I'm waiting what the adjuster will have to say. I'm undecided if I'll take it to a shop right away or take a check and decide later.. not really sure. The car suffered a left and right rear corner panel dent damage, both doors needed fixed and right passenger side has a nasty dent. Boot lid is bent a little too. Man oh man
More photos. Boot floor seems intact and not damaged.
Uuuuuggghh, Dennis,
Boy, Howdy, what a downer. I'm so sorry to see your pics. I feel for you, man. The silver lining is, you're physically going to be ok. And your car can be repaired too, just not overnight or through normal channels. Ugh.
Once you dust yourself off and start planning what to do, just make the list and order the panels. You can do it.
Chris
Ouchy. Last mk1 genuine boot lid I did was $1200 after parts and labor. Does that right quarter have a buckle? Should all be easy enough to fix, but hurts the soul.
Not fun! sorry to hear + See..
I can too say 'I've had that happen"
What i thought i had was a 'flat garage floor" but then one day = i heard a swooshing sound of my Moke rolling out + down the driveway and Plop right into the wife's car. LF Corner
Lucky for me = it did break off the end of the Moke bumper= and folded under the corner rear lamp panel . some scratches + chipped paint for sure. (now considered battle scars)
Wife's car had a pretty ugly mark on the fender and alum wheel took some damage...
It happens when we least expect it... I know how it feels! youll get it patched up better than first time.!
So far I have one restoration shop send me an estimate. I'm still looking for a few more. That way I have an idea if I'm short or over what the adjuster will have for me. If I have a shop in mind I'd just let them take care of it all but all shops I know around here are too busy and couldn't take any more projects. How much do you guys think this will cost to fix based on the pictures.
Paint/blend half the car, boot lid, fix rear quarter, door repairs unknown, California surcharge...6k?
Is there a way to guarantee paint match? I'd hate to discover after a year that one half of the car doesn't match the other half. I've heard a few that it is necessary to just respray the whole car. I'm totally clueless and I'm just caught off guard. Guess next time I just need to be more careful.
Blending takes care of any matching. Technically it should match after a paint scan, but blending "blends" and the eye will never know even if it was off. You're getting new clearcoat from the doors back (minus roof) and red from the rear blended towards the a-panels. I may have a rear end section I can sell for replacing the taillights metal. I didn't factor that into my quote. Rear end needs some work for sure.
Example of my own car that was goofed via theft.
I saw your posts on Instagram....I know it made you sick because I it made ME sick! I'm sorry to see this but glad you're okay. You'll get it back to top-notch again.
I just had my insurance adjuster finished taking photos of the car and so far I have found one shop that would be perfect to do it. My biggest worry now is matching the paint and if they decide to blend it with the older (3 yr old) paintjob. I hope it won't deteriorate after a few years or else I would be a very unhappy man. I haven't worked with this shop in Orange County, CA but I heard a lot of good things about them. I have this nasty bruise on my inner thigh that's been bothering me since yesterday. I'm limping a little bit but I hope it's just a sore muscle from being pushed by the car. I will post pictures and updates soon!
No need to worry, newer paints don't fade or suddenly look mismatched.
Any updates?
No nothing yet. This adjuster is hard to get a hold of. Kinda annoying. But I'm not in a rush too. I'm supposed to show the car this coming Saturday for October 13 San Diego british Car day. Supposed to be my last and then it's going to be repaired and then afterwards I'm pulling the motor, rebuild and convert to right hand drive. Yesterday we were on TV news promoting the event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_neRJMjhMU
Yeah caught the vid on Instagram, which prompted me to see what's going on!
Hey Dennis,
There's a guy on MM forum who's looking for an expert on rally Minis. Of course your name came up and I hope the fellow finds you.
Chris
First reply for year 2019 and it's been a long journey trying to find the right shop for my car's rear damage. There's this shop in Orange, California and they're a top contender for classic mini restoration. The owner's name is Chris Ashworth and he's an English artisan and the shop's name is Romance with Rust. It's been a long journey but man it was so worth the wait. I was all worried about the common shop horror stories of cutting corners, and half assing jobs but I didn't get that but assurance and peace of mind. He's always updating me about each step of the way with photos and him and his team has always been upfront and honest. His wife, Maria took care of the administrative part and has been very helpful as well. I'm the worse client and honest critique when it comes to my car just because I do meticulous work with it and my dayjob involves nitpicking the tiniest detail.
He told me he will not blend anything and will repair it seam to seam just because he doesn't want any unwanted imperfections popping up after a few months and years. I'm not the expert when it comes with classic minis, I'm not a rich collector and this guy didn't talk down to me or treated me like I'm no good like some. The car went in last October and I told them to take their time because I won't have any show commitments until March and so I'm just getting my car next week, Monday March 4. It was great anyway because the whole time my car was gone I was able to learn a new skill in leather craft and so I will be making some accessories for the classic minis.
Enjoy the new pictures 😁
More repair photos
Painting the door squares
We debated if were going to stick to OE White door squares but it really didn't give much vintage impression so we decided on a tad creamier shade. It looked great.
It also pays to be a graphics designer being able to make your own decals just like how they were in 1965.
So yeah. The car is finished. It's gonna make it to Minis of Los Angeles club's Classic Auto show in March 16-17 in Socal. Thanks to MOALA for that. I'll post more photos.
Better than ever! Looks fantastic. Must be nice to start enjoying it again.
Yay! CRX90B is back on the road:)
Dennis,
Telling you "well done" doesn't really do your efforts - or your car - justice.
There are USA Mini rally car experts and then there is Dennis.
Take pics of the SoCal gathering for us,
cw
Oh man there are a ton of things I still need to do to this car. Unfortunately I injured my left shoulder and it's been very difficult lately. Ive been on this battle with work comp and last Dec having my claim denied... so much for that.
So changing to RHD might not be an option until later. But I'll have to rethink up to how far I want to take this build. I'm at the point where I want to stop now and just leave it as it is but maybe I'm just frustrated because of my health being not 100%.
Then there's this thought of selling it.. ugh...
Forgot to mention I've picked up a new hobby. I bought a used industrial sewing machine and built myself a Works grill muff just like in the black and white photo of the CRX90B. But it was acting up on me so the stitches weren't great. But usually all first prototype projects got issues... but hopefully I get this finished before Friday because this weekend is the Classic Auto show at the OC fair and center in Costa Mesa. Should be another fun event. This time Mike Brewer won't be there to try and buy my car 😂
Good on you for learning to do that. Looks great!
And the upcoming event looks like it will have a good number of auto celebrities too.
I'm learning a lot and would like to make tool bags and sell them. Yeah last year it was great. I met a lot of celebrities. Looking forward to meeting new ones this weekend.
I wouldn't worry about the quality of your stitching on that first effort, I seriously doubt the originals were all that well made either, after all - it's a rally car! They expect them to get beat up in the rally.
The only face I recognized in that poster was Wayne Carini......maybe Adam Carolla?
Two others to the left and right of Corolla, Mark Worman the Mopar builder from Graveyard carz and Dave Kindig from Kindig it design/Bitchin rides both on the Motor Trend channel.
As for the woman, on the right I believe that is Lyn St. James, the race driver who completed in CART and at Indy among other races. And on the left it is Sarah 'Bogi" Lateiner who wrenches on the All Girls Garage tv show. I don't know who the sunglasses/hat guy is.
March 14, 2019 around 3pm I received a call from one of the organizers of The Classic Auto Show and she requested that I be moved at the Grand Boulevard area where it houses the best 30 cars of the event. Most cars are 6-figure value cars and a few million dollar ones. There was a Merc, Duesenberg, Matt's, Metz, Cadillac, Tomaso Pantera, La Bestioni, Fiat Jolly and few more really nice ones. I didn't think twice but had to let MOALA guys know because they have a reserved spot for me for their theme. I felt bad that I had to be a last minute problem for the club but I figure they'd understand because it's once in a lifetime I'd get that kind of privilege to have my car next to these giants.
March 15, 2019 around 10am I arrived at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa and there was a lot of cars already. Kindig big trailer RV was there already with the Meguire's booth setting up. I parked my car and did my set up. Even better that my winter grill cover made it last minute to complete my theme.
The show was great and I was in awe and disbelief that the rally mini won People's Choice Award at the Grand Boulevard level. Super happy!
More pics to come
Congratulations! 4.gif Loved seeing all the pics and stories on Instagram too!
Yeah seems like this thread is where all documentation of my car's transformation is. I like this a lot. Super easy to navigate and post photos too. But most photos are on Instagram and very few on Facebook. Here are more photos from the show. This first pic is with Andy Leach when I received the award. And few photos of cars I competed with. Overall a fun event. Met a lot of great people and friends.
Grand Boulevard cars
They had the Mercury from the movie Grease! ;D
The Winter rally grill cover looked great too. It just completes the theme.
Quote from: Armycook on March 22, 2019, 12:07:10 PM
The Winter rally grill cover looked great too. It just completes the theme.
Yeah. The original Hell's Chariot Merc. The owners had a lot of fun with it letting everybody sit in it to take photos. They're very nice peeps. They won Kid's Choice award.
Congratulations on the award!!
Way to go, Dennis! Your machine looks 100% great and the People's Choice award proves you've been on the right track all this time. Kudos to you, man.
Don't let Wayne talk you out of your car, ok?