I picked this little piece back in July. The price seemed good and I was ready for a new project. The more I dug in the more I realized how little was salvageable. Here it is in the beginning waiting for me when the time was right to start the rebuild
A Canadian Mini, eh? 😉 At one point about 30 years ago I owned a '79 Canadian Mini 1000 in the same colors as yours. Looks like it will be a challenging project.
Oh, and what the heck is the deal with that miniature sunroof? Is it a porthole from a boat or an accent window from a 1970s custom van?
Good Question about the sunroof. I absolutely abhor them so I am going to replace the whole roof with a CF one from Rogue7s. The only original metal will be the A,B and C pillars, the exhaust tunnel, the back of the rear seat and deck. The rest will be replaced and at this point I only have the roof left to do. The rest...... well lets just say I have been a little preoccupied since the end of November. ;D
Can anyone tell me why the images keep uploading sideways??? They are all square in format and it they are manipulated images they are fine but if they are unmolested they get all wonky. :-[ 8.gif 50.gif
I can't help with images but I can remind you to remove the parts black primer before carrying on. Nice looking work.
Pics rotate with certain phones and cameras. If posting by phone use an app to rotate pics called "reduce photo size".
Thanks 94 and thanks Larry. Today I am. Going to seal up the seams on the nose and get it ready to put down some stone chip on the inside. With the weather starting to get nice I am itching to get the bottom chipped, painted and suspension on and get it on all fours!!!
Been finishing up a bunch of little things in order to get the bottom prepped and painted now that the weather is starting to warm up. Got the seat frames and mounts fabbed and installed and the bases for a rollbar/cage. Gonna get back on all fours this weekend!
It's been a while but I haven't been distracted. Instead I got a bunch done and am over the hump on the way to the rebuild. Just got a carbon fiber roof installed from rogue7evens and am waiting for a front subframe from John McGee from McGee customs. Getting excited!
Cool! How will you bond the roof to the sides/back/front?
So, what you lose in structural rigidity will be made up by the roll cage?
You're doing a D series? I think I like John's subframe even better than MiniTec's...........I think that makes 5 of those on our forum here now.
I'm working on one right now too.... http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=1711.0 (http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=1711.0)
Just wanted to say Exceptional WORK! Looks great!
I bonded the roof with 3m panel adhesive and I do plan on putting a roll bar in the car to bring back some rigidity. I know that the panel adhesive is what is used in the automotive manufacturing world and was told by my paint supplier that this stuff is as strong or stronger than the spot welds that held the previous roof on.
I am going to be using a D16Y8 motor. Not huge HP but more than enough to have some fun. When all and done I want to use this as my daily and have some big trips in mind. 77.gif
D16Y8 is what's in the Pup, and I think it's plenty fast!
I just spent a lot of time re-engineering the engine steadies on the Pup with the D16Y8 in it, I'll be curious to hear from you about the NVH in yours, as I think John uses poly engine mounts. I used factory Honda mounts for the two ends and modified classic Mini steadies - they completely eliminated all the buzzes and vibrations that it had in spades before!
Hey guys.. been awhile. Still waiting for front subframe to arrive but I anticipate that occurring very soon. Since writing last I have been able to get a few little bits done. Got some SSR wheels from Japan, cleaned them up and painted them. I settled on the metal flake silver. A little subtle but flash in the sun! Then the seats got upholstered and installed today and finally settled on a front grille with additional lighting. Oh and I have my engine/tranny so it really is getting the subframe and start building!
Good choice of color on the wheels. But then I am more on the traditional side of things.
I agree with WillieB, I like the silver wheel centers....
The plaid seats look great, remind me of 70's VW's - dunno about the red carpeting - but it's certainly colorful!
You've come a long ways since you started this thread in January, thanks for the update!
I love the color ! Super Cool 71.gif
I love the color and the body-color Van grille too!!! 4.gif
Thanks guys!! Yeah luckily I have a girl that gets me to understand that I am not a boyracer anymore and that sometimes a more subtle approach is better. Her words: "the car is already going to attract attention, why do you need to have bright ass wheels?" Well stated. SO... i went subtle with bass boat silver! Subtle but BLING!! As for the paint and interior... well I don't know if I told you guys but I have always been an early water cooled vw guy from my 1st car until still now (have a 84 gti and an 82 caddy) (1987-ugh). Guess what? Car color... Lofoten Green. (Vw color) and the plaid... VW. It's in my blood but minis... I have loved them just as much, maybe more since I was a kid. So this build is a little bit British, a little bit German and a little bit Japanese. Not unlike the cars of today really. For this build it wasn't important for me to be a purist although I do understand the allure. I just wanted to build something I have always admired and desired and have a sense of some reliability to be able to truly drive as a daily which I fully intend on doing. Additionally I wanted to right all my wrongs as much as possible in building this car after building my mini van. It was an OK build but there are things that I did that drive me mad and embarrass the heck out of me. I am really grateful that I have found this forum to share the progress, ask questions and seek information as I work my way towards greater understanding and appreciation for this little car along with the rest of you!
Hey guys been a while. I have been diligently working away on many of the small things on the car while waiting for my harness to arrive. It has taken 3 months which is beyond ridiculous but what can I do about it? Just wanted to share some images of the various things I have been fabbing up. Brackets for the alternator and then a way to vent the air from the radiator, a battery tray as well as enclosing the engine back in with the vtec conversion. I should be getting my harness in at the end of the week so I will be on to electrics and then startup before too long. I am hoping to have everything completed soon enough that I can drive it back home to upstate NY this summer and then maybe even out to killer Cali at some point in the near future.
Cool box you built around the alternator! And I don't think I've ever seen inner wings used on a Honda engine conversions - should help keep things tidy.
Thanks Bruce. I never liked how the motor was exposed to the elements with a motor swap like this so I figured I would make things a little more tidy and more like its original state this way. I also found a little time at work when my students were painting to whip up a design for these stickers. The kids LOVE stickers!
Those are cool stickers.
If you are coming to the 10th Anniversary BBQ, bring a bunch of those stickers - or send a bunch to Dan for the attendees.
For those who have Facetube, look what I found!
https://www.facebook.com/266785820018607/videos/2565858817033706/ (https://www.facebook.com/266785820018607/videos/2565858817033706/)
Well I guess the cats outta the bag. Just got it registered and insured yesterday and now it is time for some shakedown runs. There are lots of vibrations/buzzing to resolve and an occasional clunk but I should have that stuff situated over the week. I'm just looking forward to finally driving it and refining it. Have some interior bits to put in like front and rear cards, seatbelts that work and possibly even something that makes music sounds. Gonna be taking a road trip back home to upstate NY in late July and want this thing buttoned up before the trip. If it does well there and back then next summer I'm rolling it out to Cali and back. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this on the road. I love my van but this is what I have dreamt of since I was a kid. 4.gif 4.gif
I thought John's engine steady looked a better design than MiniTecs, I completely re-engineered Don's MiniTec engine steadies and completely got rid of all vibrations. If you're running poly engine mounts, that's most of it. Getting rid of the poly mounts killed 50% of Don's vibes, the rest was due to poor design of the engine steady.
Congrats on getting it running! 77.gif
Looks great. If you need a hand give me a call.
I didn't get Johns steady in the kit. Funny I just spoke w him about the issues of vibrations yesterday. I designed my own out of necessity and it is solid mount to the tranny with bushes at the mount, so I think that may need to be reconsidered. I also have vibration coming from the floor mounts of the subframe. Was thinking about putting some rubber in between like the older mk1 mounts. It'll all get worked out. I can't imagine that it I'll ever feel like a Cadillac buts that's fine by me.
What's the distance of the trip? With those A032R tires you'll need new ones in 1500 miles or so.
Don's last 5000 or so on his Vtec Pup, and he drives it plenty hard.....
I have another set of minilites with tires for the long trip. These are just for balling around town here. 4.gif 4.gif