Cars


Mini Rebuild

 

Step 8 - Ready For Transport

 

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008:

 

More progress. A good friend stopped by tonight and helped me load the Mini shell into the back of this truck. Tomorrow morning I'll be dropping it off at a media blasting company. They'll strip the shell down to the bare metal, removing any primer, filler, and surface rust, exposing the condition of the metal. With any luck, this car will prove to be as solid as I believe it to be.

Mini Rebuild Step 8

I originally planned to rent a small trailer to haul the shell around but some quick measurements revealed that all I really needed was a Ford F150 and a couple long crates.

Mini Rebuild Step 7

With the tailgate down, she fits perfectly.

Mini Rebuild Step 7

 

Mini Rebuild Step 7

 

Mini Rebuild Step 7

Once the media blasters are done with the shell I'll rush it over to the bodyshop I have picked out (Mark's Body Shop in San Carlos, CA) to have the entire car primered. Otherwise the freshly-exposed sheetmetal will rapidly begin to rust. At that point, I'll bring the shell home and begin fitting up all the various parts of the car (most of which I still don't have yet!). That will reveal what fits and what doesn't, leading to a laundrylist of items to be resolved - by purchasing different parts, modifying others, or by having the bodyshop repair various items.

 

Then I plan to take the car to a rollcage fabricator. Besides installing a basic 6-point cage, I plan to have them reinforce a number of areas within the chassis and tie the cage into the 4 suspension mounting points. When that is done, its back to the bodyshop for the bodywork and paintjob. Final steps will be reassembling the car and fine tuning.

 

Continue to Rebuild Step 9

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