South African Mk3

I really like this view of the car, especially since it has the chrome around all windows :



Just the right amount of poke at the back :

I decided to fit the door card before work, with all the handles and pocket. You can also see the rear view mirror in this picture :



With the door open :



I must say, even with the new door rubbers, it still closes with a confident 'clunk' and with the lightest of touch (my brother helped with this).

And, just because I can and because there's lovely sunshine :

I did a little more today - put some covering on the wheel arches and put the card in :

coming together nicely - good work on the headlining - not a nice job!

Big_Al_Smith wrote:coming together nicely - good work on the headlining - not a nice job!

Thanks mate Definitely not a nice job doing the headlining, but now I know can do it.

Well I was itching to see what the interior might look like, so I put the rear seat in :



It probably won't be liked by everyone, but I love it. Everything is all tied togther - white roof and headlining, grey carpets and white and grey seats. Perfect.

Also, before fitting the seat, I put the blanking plate back in. I sprayed the rear of it black (there was light blue overspray) and left the front section painted light blue. I did this to keep a piece of the car as I got it way back in 2007. It won't be seen, but I'll know it's there. I also used a white marker and signed my name and the year there as well.



Not the best pictures because of the sunset, but you can still see I suppose. Also placed a small order with Minispares for a couple things I need.

I was really curious to see what the interior will look like with all the seats in :



I like it. Comfort and safety for the driver; the passengers will just have to deal with it

I've been asked a couple times now as to what my dash area will look like. Well, I mocked things up today. The RHS unit will stick out quite far and face the driver directly. The LHS unit will be angled to allow the driver to reach anything a little bit easier. Like so :



I also put a small extinguisher in, in case I need it (touch wood I don't) :



Lastly, I put both seatbelts in. It's not the best picture, as it was getting dark, but really, it's only a seatbelt :

This is what the dash pieces now look like :



The front panel is fully removable and will house gauges and swtiches etc., while leaving space behind for wiring or anything else.

I thought I'd better get a crack on with the dash panel and cutting for everything I wanted to put in. So far, this is what the driver's side looks like :



I still need to get a Smiths volt or battery condition gauge. There's 3 flick switches, 1 rocker switch and 1 push button (for the electric washer squirt). There's also an aux port for a period lead light from a Toyota. Still have some work to do on it, but it's getting there slowly.

Since it was dark by the time I got the dash cut, I decided to see what it would like in the car :



And an in car view of it fitted up :

So, rather than having a boring afternoon, I decided to fit the driver's door - on my own . . . It's on, undamaged and all lined up. Like the passenger door, it shuts with a confident thud. I was too lazy to take a picture, but it's the same as the other side anyway. I just need check strap seals and then the car is fully sealed.

Coming together nicely

Big_Al_Smith wrote:Coming together nicely

Cheers mate

It's been raining for almost two weeks now and there was a HUGE hail storm that narrowly missed us, so consequently progress is slow. I thought I should make a start at trying to finish up a few sections in the engine bay. Seeing as I changed from the manual pump to an electric pump for the washer jets, it had better have a decent place to fit in. I made a T-piece bracket that fits behind the pump and fitted it to the original holes for the old washer bottle bottle. I then added in the new chrome jets and piping, like so :



Also, seeing as I've used a fair few suppliers and received some of their stickers, I thought it would be nice to fit them. I didn't want to cover the car or any windows in stickers, so I put them here :



I'm not to fazed that they don't line up 100%, that's not what I wanted.

The car is currently filthy on the outside. It makes me cringe every time I see her. I'm waiting on prices for a clay bar kit, an anti-swirl and a good wax. Once I now what I'm looking at, I'll make an attempt at giving her a proper and well deserved clean.

I managed to rip the skin off my thumb. Not so easy to do jobs now. The below picture only shows a small piece that has come off, the rest has lifted but not come off :



Anyway, I made a start with completing the carpeting on the floor. The front piece is nearly done. I need to put some edging on the carpet itself and make a plan for some kind of sound deadening. I got to here :



The carpet is removable with the extinguisher in place. I mocked up the rear section as well, it still needs to be remade so it's 100%. There's some nice thick sound deadening underneath there. Also, the previous owner replaced the plastic floor protectors with metal strips - these are for the wheels that have been attached to the bottom of the seat frame. Again, it's not finished yet and the strips will be redone :



And for fun, I put these two stickers on that I got from StickyFingers a while back. They're on the rear quarter lights

Passenger side, to warn anyone who gets in :



Driver's side :

Taking a break from the car. Not feeling it at the moment.

So I've had a short break from the car, just to cool off and not make any irrational decisions. I got around to fitting the inlet and outlet pipes for the heater, using these joints :



Again, space saving.

I also went and bought a cheap aerial while I look around for something nice. It doesn't look bad though :



When buying the aerial, I also bought FIAMM hooters for her, which will be nice and loud.

On a side note, my dad gave me this book, which covers the '59, '60 and '61 model year Minis :

I fitted up the wiper motor this past week, using new mounts and chrome wheel boxes. I also polished up the standard stainless wiper arms and got new Champion blades (I'll fit the blades when I start using the car or nearing completion) :



I also refurbed the steering column using new upper and lower bushes. After fitting though, it seems that the lower bush has shifted and now the inner and outer column seem to be touching every now and then. Is it worth redoing it all again?

So, I chucked the plan of fitting the blades later because I really wanted to see what she looked like. Turns out I only have one clip to hold the blades on, so I need to make a plan for another one :



This was taken with my Passport well after sundown - not bad I think.

looking good

ELF SCARE wrote:looking  good

Cheers mate

I redid the upper and lower bushes on the steering column a couple weeks back, only to find that the lower bush had slipped after fitting everything back on the car. I have now redone the whole thing again :



I seriously need to get some kind of driving gloves to keep it all clean!

I made a start on the carpeting for the driver's side front and rear. It's cut to the right size and didn't come out too badly I think :



Again, the carpets are far from done, so they'll still receive some work.

The interior is now also fully sealed after fitting new check strap seals :



Bath time soon!

So, rather than sitting with my varsity, I did some extra on the car for the day. I made up brackets that hold on pieces of perspex to improve the air stream onto the windscreen from the heater. The interior now looks like this :





As always, a work in progress. Opinion will be divided, but hey, can't please everyone.

After not having washed the car since last year (lucky she stays in a garage), I decided today was the day to do it. I purchased various Meguiars products, including the clay bar kit, swirl remover and wax. I'm suitably impressed with the clay bar, it really did give the paintwork a smooth finish. Anyhow, here are the results :











The level of depth is amazing :

Oh yes, I had to raise the rear suspension to get it into the yard!

So, as it turns out, the 12G295 casting I have, happens to be from a 1000 S. Seems they used different castings for those cars, as someone mentioned a different casting number as well for their one.The 1000 S was a locally produced performance alternative to the Cooper. It had a worked 998 motor, slightly better interior and a rev counter too - cheaper too! This makes my life easier. A little flow work etc. and I can fit the head straight onto my standard motor, no skimming involved.

I pulled the car out while we had a little sun and took these :



Now you can see how blue she really is :



Also, while washing the car yesterday, I realised that the RHS quarterlight window wasn't sealing properly. I had a good look this morning and it turns out that the window frame was actually sitting away from the rubber seal. Simple solution = perspex spacer :



She's now sealed and you won't know it is there, unless you look hard for it.