Vikram's 1960

Started by 94touring, May 15, 2016, 11:55:37 AM

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94touring

Kind of odd but I guess that's the UK for you.   Is there a gap in the floor under the cross member or something?

Vikram

I think they are being a bit picky, but I'm not sure all the welds were consistent. I will report back once they give their detailed analysis.

I have tried over 4G and 2 different WIFIs with no success. Just logged out and logged back in with no luck. Emptied my cache, cleared cookies etc Same issue while using my phone. No idea whats going on

94touring

Try 1 at a time or use a resize app.  The forum automatically sizee them down but maybe multiple at a time is tripping it up.

Vikram

Some great news. Along with being a member of this forum, I am also a part of the mk1forum. One of their members, Simon has been been very helpful in tracking down the history of my car. The car has an incorrect cooper VIN, however during my time with Dan I saw a body number 017683 on the slam panel. Using this, Simon traced down my original VIN at the heritage centre and found this:

It was built 30 March 1960, fitted with engine number 21410, painted Speedwell Blue and despatched to New York on 2 April 1960. The body number 17683 (the original tag format may have been 017683) was mated to chassis number A-A2S7L - 21406.

So now, I have to get new tags for the car and then somehow register the car with the correct VIN, even though all my import paperwork has the Cooper VIN on it. It will be quite an adventure. I will hopefully be getting some help from the 1959 Mini registry in this process.

MiniDave

#379
Congrats on getting the info sorted on your car! Best of luck getting it thru the bureaucracy! BTW, is that Simon from Mini Spares?

Does Simon know if there is anyway to get a heritage cert for an Inno, or any way to get official numbers like that for it? We have the actual chassis number but I would like to get the engine number too.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Vikram

Yes, it is Simon from Minispares, to my knowledge. I will certainly ask him.

94touring

Cool you got the info and yeah see what he says about the inno!

BruceK

Quote from: Vikram on October 22, 2018, 07:57:37 AM
Some great news. Along with being a member of this forum, I am also a part of the mk1forum. One of their members, Simon has been been very helpful in tracking down the history of my car. The car has an incorrect cooper VIN, however during my time with Dan I saw a body number 017683 on the slam panel. Using this, Simon traced down my original VIN at the heritage centre and found this:

It was built 30 March 1960, fitted with engine number 21410, painted Speedwell Blue and despatched to New York on 2 April 1960. The body number 17683 (the original tag format may have been 017683) was mated to chassis number A-A2S7L - 21406.

So now, I have to get new tags for the car and then somehow register the car with the correct VIN, even though all my import paperwork has the Cooper VIN on it. It will be quite an adventure. I will hopefully be getting some help from the 1959 Mini registry in this process.

Great news Vikram.  Good luck on the next steps.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Vikram

Along with the pursuit for recovering my car's identity, I am also having some work done to the car.

I was going to have it done at Somerford Mini, but they insisted that they the entire car needs to be restored. I explained to them that it had recently undergone a complete shell tear down in 2016, and that only the floors needed work but they would not listen. I believe that they are a company that do all or nothing.

As a result, I am going to another garage in Shropshire. They are happy to do the work that I want, and they also happen to be very close to where I will be starting my new job, which means I can frequently visit them and see how the car is progressing.

The main project is the floor. I would like to do a single complete piece so as to keep welds to the minimum, and appearance to the maximum. Here is the dilemma. Minispares sell a non genuine full mk1 floor at an eye-watering £930, but on the other hand sell a genuine rod change floor for £230. My car also has a rod change gearbox as it has a later motor.

The rod change floor is quite literally perfect in every sense, except for the fact that I am putting a late floor in an early car. What do I do here? How severely will this effect the value of the car? Will the barn-find gods smite me down?

MiniDave

You already have a non standard engine, I'd do the rod change floor......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

I agree with Dave.  Also, the genuine MK-I floor may need different cut-outs made to accommodate the rod-change shifter you already have.  The rod change floor will match up better for that.  Unless you still have the floor start, then the later floor will not have the right shape for retaining that.


Vikram

I agree too, it makes all the sense in the world to use the later floor. Decision made!

If I ever go back to original factory colour, maybe then I would return to the original floor. Then I'd have to put in a really hot 850  :D

Thanks for the advice!

Edit: I just hit the 1275cc mark for this forum. Hyped

jeff10049

What ended up being the concern with the floor I thought it was ok back when you did all the work to the car? welding in patch panels should be fine and offer the same support as a full floor. Unless the welding is very poor.

Vikram

So the floor pans themselves are OK, however the way they were welded in is very poor. The car doesn't have to have an MOT, but if anything were to ever happen the floors simply collapse. The last time they were changed was in 1988, so it's about time.

I can do new separate panels, however I might as well change the tunnel too because I have a rod change. A single floor would offer the most structural integrity.

94touring

I'll give my honest opinion, but I think you'd be wasting your time and money replacing your floors.  Even if whoever did the patches put in ugly welds, structurally they are no different than they came from the factory. 

BruceK

Quote from: Vikram on October 29, 2018, 02:16:58 AM
So the floor pans themselves are OK, however the way they were welded in is very poor. The car doesn't have to have an MOT, but if anything were to ever happen the floors simply collapse. The last time they were changed was in 1988, so it's about time.

I can do new separate panels, however I might as well change the tunnel too because I have a rod change. A single floor would offer the most structural integrity.

Dumb question:  since it hasn't actually failed a MOT, is it possible those people who are telling you the welds would not pass are the same people who want you to pay them to fix the issue? They are not totally a distinterested party right? 

1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Vikram

Yes, Somerford Mini told me to change the floors, but then insisted on doing a full shell restoration. Hence, I pulled the car out and am now moving elsewhere.

Since the car is so old, it actually does not need to have an MOT. They just said, if it was in the position to need one, it would fail. They definitely did want to do as much as possible. I don't want to bad mouth them, as they are a reputable company, and they probably believe that if a car leaves their workshop bearing their name it needs to be perfect, i.e £25k minimum restoration.

That being said, in a moment of panic, I asked them how much they would pay for the car, if I was to sell it to to them. They gave me an interesting figure of £250 (which included not being charged £150 for a detailed ramp inspection), so in essence £100.

At that point, I politely told them I was going elsewhere. I was pretty insulted, if I'm honest.  You live and learn.


BruceK

Quote from: Vikram on October 29, 2018, 05:23:53 AM

That being said, in a moment of panic, I asked them how much they would pay for the car, if I was to sell it to to them. They gave me an interesting figure of £250 (which included not being charged £150 for a detailed ramp inspection), so in essence £100.

At that point, I politely told them I was going elsewhere. I was pretty insulted, if I'm honest.  You live and learn.

WTF?  They said that and you were still polite?  You are a better man than me. 

So, the implication being your car is a totally worthless POS and you must spend £££££££££ with us to make it worth more than the pitiful £100 it is currently worth?  Does insulting a customer work in the UK?   I would have told him to FOAD.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

94touring

They are trying to rip you off.  You're a young "kid" and they are taking advantage of you.  I wouldnt believe anything they've said, including it would fail MOT,  which it most certainly would not.  The floors have no rust and all the panels are property aligned and in order.  I don't even think the welds are ugly.  It sure as hell doesn't need a full restoration.

Vikram

Agreed. But I might do the floor anyway, I'll see what the new guys say and quote. I kinda regret doing the plating on the floor in the way I did, and a new floor would fix that. Will keep you guys updated.

Something definitely didn't feel right. Yeah, they basically valued it at 0. I'm surprised because I visited them twice and talked to them at length, showing that I knew a fair bit about the car. Yet, they still came to me with that number.

I was really worried for a few days when they initially came back with the ramp inspection. I was really doubting myself, and all the work that had gone into it. In fact it was almost a relief when I heard that number, as it was confirmation that something was up.
I'm glad it happened before any work started!

Thanks for the reassurance!

94touring

Quote from: Vikram on October 29, 2018, 07:34:21 AM
Agreed. But I might do the floor anyway, I'll see what the new guys say and quote. I kinda regret doing the plating on the floor in the way I did, and a new floor would fix that. Will keep you guys updated.

Something definitely didn't feel right. Yeah, they basically valued it at 0. I'm surprised because I visited them twice and talked to them at length, showing that I knew a fair bit about the car. Yet, they still came to me with that number.

I was really worried for a few days when they initially came back with the ramp inspection. I was really doubting myself, and all the work that had gone into it. In fact it was almost a relief when I heard that number, as it was confirmation that something was up.
I'm glad it happened before any work started!

Thanks for the reassurance!

Interior wise I'd ditch those metal plates.  I can't remember how you bolted them in, but either grommets or a few welds will plug the holes.  Those things just add weight and take away value.  I think you were carpet-less too.  At least get a budget carpet set for cheap to dress it up.  There's probably a few other interior adjustments you can do to return it back to more normal mini that will help value.  The body is solid and the paint is new.  Having those doors matched better would be money better spent  than tearing up floor pans, which will require, depending on the welding, repainting door frames and underside.  I think you had gone through the suspension and most of it is new.  Then you have this 1275 that just needs tuned up to run properly and you have yourself a damn nice car.   

Vikram

Whee, you're absolutely right. I will be getting an MOT regardless, because as you say it is for peace of mind.

Dan, yup I'm ditching those metal plates. I'm also changing the dash since it's going over to RHD. I'd really like to do the Works boxes and central speedo to give it a period race look. I will most likely be getting a blend on the doors to match the colour up a bit better.

Yeah basically all the mechanical's are new. I'm going to do a weber box to sort out my carb once and for all. The current angle it's at, and the short manifold are not helping.

Then address all the small problems to get it running well. I think I might remove the flares, and go back to the 5J cosmics that were originally on the car. Might suit it better.

There's a really good car waiting to be driven soon, it's certainly taken me long enough!

94touring

On the doors a white primer then respray in tartan will match the body. We had sprayed the body in white and when the time came, the doors in grey, giving it the wrong shade.  Easy fix.  Just ran out of time before it shipped out.

MiniGene

Vikram,

If you EVER decide to sell your Mini, do your research on what the same spec'd out cars list for on all of the classic car sites.  Having just spent the last 4.5 years in the UK, all the cars I saw similar to yours seemed to go for at least £10K!  I would never ever go back to those crooks as Somersfords.

jeff10049

No peace of mind in getting an MOT I've seen horrible cars full of bread loaves stuffed in rust covered with bondo pass with flying colors.
My 94 spi mini was this very thing.
MOT is CHEAP for a reason its a CHEAP check over.

After seeing your floors replacement would be an invasive procedure that would only hurt the car. Cutting it back apart is not going to help the integrity NO reason to do it that I can see.

Also I have heard lots of bad about Somerford and your experience confirms they are no more than crooks out for your money.
I owned a 74 restored by them work was not as good as your floor plan job is now do not trust them. Find some cars they did and really I mean really look at the work you'll see. It's OK but not great they are really good at hiding their fuck ups though.
As my friend over there says they are plastic surgeon's plastic being bondo.