My new project - 1975 Mini Pickup

[Richard1]

Here is a little project I picked up a month or so ago after 2 years of getting the PO from "I won't sell for all the money in the world" to something I considered reasonable. It has been sitting in his backyard with a collapsed front suspension since 2004.

Once upon a time he pulled the original engine because "the timing chain made noise" and stretched the front end, putting a 3 cyl Suzuki engine in it. To do so he cut up all of the front sub-chassis.

These shots (after I pulled the engine) shows the re-bar he welded in to support things

Anyway, It turns out that the original engine is trash, rebuild to 0.020, rusty, missing a piston and a few other things.

Lots more pictures on http://www.widman.biz/Mini/Mini/index.html where I will keep the progress growing.

At the moment it is cleaned up. I have a 1275cc engine and a sub-chassis coming from Chile, and a long list of parts (complete brake package with disc fronts, wheels, tires, grill, etc.) coming from MiniSport. That shipment went from the UK to Tulsa Ok by DHL where it was put on a container to drive to Houston, sail to Chile, and then travel over the mountains to Bolivia.

I'll be picking up a few other parts in the states in June.

Not a lot will happen before I get back to it in July, although the body shop may get started in the meantime.

This is not going to be very "stock" when I finish. From the bigger engine, disc brakes, minilite wheels, stainless grill, flared fenders, wood dash, etc. it will not be a plane jane pickup.

(but my Renault Ondine will be close to stock)

 

[Toby57]

wow. that looks like a great project. I love working on cars like this. I help restore an old school VW Sirocco. When we finished it, we rented it to the locaal VW dealer ship to show with the new Sirocco when it came out. Had a great time but at time I just wanted to scrap it as it caused so much hassle. We also restored an old VW Beetle and that was a mission as well as we stried to restore it with original parts but it was great fun
Here are some pictures

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums..._458522372322_509737322_6328945_4362322_n.jpg

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums..._118493597322_509737322_2946299_8323541_n.jpg

I will see if I can find some pictures from the sirocco

 

[obi_waynne]

How did I miss this thread. It looks like a real challenge! Keep us updated.

 

[Richard1]

Body shop put it up on blocks yesterday, will start today. A huge order of parts from MiniSport is on a boat. Having a little trouble with transport from Chile for my motor and sub-chassis, but they aren't holding anything up yet.

 

[Richard1]

Some things take forever. It's been in the body shop for almost a year with very little progress. He says "Tomorrow". A couple of months ago he cut the floor out of a Toyota minivan to use as a floor.

The engine and front sub-frame still haven't made it across the andes.

But this weekend I sandblasted and painted the rear sub-frame so it will be ready.

The only parts I'm salvaging for the brakes are the rear drums and hubs, so here they are.

 

[gummy]

Brings back memories i worked on a few minis in the late 70s,knew a fair bit then!
Good luck with the project,be good to see it evolve!

 

[turbonutter69]

great stuff. Love to see someone getting stuck in.

 

[Richard1]

Finally got the body shop moving. Got the floor cut out and working on eliminating the mangled front sub-frame

 

[T9 man]

Looking good Richard

 

[Richard1]

And I now have a floor and reinforced support areas for the sub frame.

 

[Prince]

It's fantastic to see an old car being completely restored instead of seeing it scrapped! Hats off to you sir!

 

[Richard1]

Got a couple of hours free this afternoon so I polished up the trumpets, put in the new knuckles and put things together. Going fine til I realized I hadn't ordered wheel bearings. Then realized my wheel bearings aren't like the ones in catalogs. (see other post for questions)

 

[gingerbrother]

Finally got the body shop moving. Got the floor cut out and working on eliminating the mangled front sub-frame

tracky bottoms+sandals+welding=hero

great project mate,can't wait to see the end result.

 

[T9 man]

Forgot all about this one, sorry Richard :embarrest:
Looking good buddy!

 

[Richard1]

I forgot to update this. There hasn't been a lot of action, but we welded in a floor and reinforcements for the rear subframe. Then began waiting on the front subframe and engine again.

I gave up waiting on the engine from Santiago and found another in Iquique, Chile, in the port free-zone. My body guy went there (1500 km or so) and called me for more money to buy a whole front clip from a 94. He was only able to bring part of it back due to a paperwork error, so the actual body part and engine will be here next week.

He was able to bring a few smaller things that he stripped and mixed with other parts in the truck, so I spent a couple of days cleaning up, painting, and polishing.

We are going to graft the front clip onto the pickup. So it will basically be a 75 pickup with a 94 front, making it one of few, if not the only pickup with roll-up windows. It will also have a 1300cc engine (instead of the 1000cc original), automatic transmission, air conditioning, etc. I'll replace the 94 brakes with the Cooper-S discs I bought, and use all stainless hoses and lines.

Since I now have adjusta-rides for the front, I'll order a set for the rear and replace the trumpets.

 

[HugoBoss]

That looks really good, can't wait to see what's next.

 

[Richard1]

The rest of my front clip arrived, so we are ready to fuse the two parts together. I won't be able to get there till the middle of May to disassemble the engine and see what I need, but my body guy can now start, putting the Renault on hold for a while.

I will have to figure out how to use the necessary parts of this dash with my wooden dash from MiniSport.

I also bought a pair of 1998 Toyota seats locally that I will re-upholster along with the door panels for a final look. These have arm rests and good back support. I showed them to a friend last night and he is going to the same place for the other pair to put in his 59 saloon.

I've now set a target. I'd like to be driving this by the end of august!!!

 

[jac114]

wow your making me feel bad now .. have not worked on my mini project for some time.. need space and good weather..

 

[HugoBoss]

Looks like you got your hands full matey, thanks for the phodies, great to watch.

 

[Richard1]

I like your valve cover. When I get mine off, if it is in good condition I'll chrome it.

 

[T9 man]

This is all epic stuff Richard, I am amazed at just how far you have come with this project in such a short space time

 

[Richard1]

Now it starts looking like a pickup again. All the parts are aligned, maybe tomorrow he will start welding things together.

 

[HugoBoss]

Awesome work, looking real good.

 

[Richard1]

Here is a little more, showing how the inside of the door frame looks on the finished side, and how the roof corners are modified to accept the window frame of the roll up doors.

And now I have the parts to assemble the engine. This all came in one nicely packed box from the UK (48 hours). Bearings, rings, water pump, thermostat, kit to convert to double timing chain and tensioner, alloy valve cover, complete set of gaskets, etc. Also picked up a set of 12 pt sockets since that is what the rods are assembled with, and large sockets, as I had to borrow 1 1/2" and other large sizes to get it all apart.

Now it's back to Bolivia where I hope to get to Tarija by the end of the month and start the assembly.

 

[T9 man]

Looking good Richard, out of curiosity where did you resource those parts from?

 

[Richard1]

So far most new parts have been from Mini Sport. Used from Iquique.

 

[HugoBoss]

Coming along great matey, keep up the good work.

 

[T9 man]

So far most new parts have been from Mini Sport. Used from Iquique.

Thanks Richard, much appreciated

 

[Richard1]

Mini Sport has been outstanding in helping me decide what I need, especially Mike in Florida. I got the rear bumpers from DSN classics. Also very efficient by mail.

Then I sent my son in San Diego to a swap meet where he picked up a rare set of pickup tail light lenses.

 

[Richard1]

Now a little progress on the engine, although the lifters are shot, so I need to wait for them to come from the UK. Using a polyurethane paint with hardener. If I get time tomorrow I'll try bead blasting or soda blasting the injector base.

 

[HugoBoss]

Starting to look really good mate, keep it up.

 

[Richard1]

Not much spare time today, but I glass bead blasted the injector body.

 

[Richard1]

Right side door now fits, opens, closes, etc.

 

[T9 man]

I love the use of the logs for make shift axle stands - brilliant

 

[Richard1]

In an hour or so I'm loading the front and rear sub-frames in the pickup to take to him tomorrow. Both are sandblasted, painted, and assembled for installation and final squaring.

 

[Richard1]

Some progress to report. I made stainless trim pieces for the rocker panels.

Also managed to take an afternoon off and assemble the 1300 cc SPI engine.

And the body shop finished aligning the drivers door by stretching the cabin to meet the door frame.

Here it is aligned, with a test we did of the Targa Red sprayed on the front, against the Fire Red of the A panel. Fire Red won the contest.

He also cut the tailgate apart, replaced the bottom half, and put it back together.

 

[T9 man]

Marvellous stuff Richard, I love that engine

 

[Richard1]

Rear window and windshield tested in their new openings. Just need to fabricate the new windshield now.

 

[Richard1]

After putting on the wheel extensions on the rear and disc brakes on the front, it was time to fabricate fender flares to keep the mud from flying.

This week I've stolen a few hours away from work to get into details, as we approach the painting stage. Putting in the seats I found that the steering wheel is too far inboard to center on the ones I bought with the arm rests, so I went to the used auto parts store and picked up a couple of u-joints, relocating the steering column a few inches to the outside.

Also decided that the little chain and pin on the tailgate were not of the quality I wanted on the finished truck, so I bought some plastic coated stainless cable and a couple of stainless bolts, chopped off the threads, inserted the cable, etc.

And painted all the little parts that would need it. Here is the brake booster.

Finally I got the wooden dash from MiniSport out and modified it to receive the dash cluster from the 94 Rover, adding a tach, oil temp, and oil pressure gauges.

 

[old-git]

This is beginning to come together nicely. Looking forward to seeing the little beastie finished.