563 MWL progress

Hi Folks,

I've been a member for some time now and have made a few comments on the Forum which I hope have been helpful.

One of my fleet is the pre-production Elf that has been mentioned a few times on the Forum. As it's the 50th Anniversary, I've committed to getting the car restored this year with the deadline being the Goodwood Revival in September. After many delays there is finally some progress. The shell is now completely stripped and awaiting some structural repair prior to grit blasting the appropriate areas. I've sourced the parts needed to rebuild the shell and with the help of other members in the Register hope to figure out how the illusive A panel de-seaming has been done. The strip down has revealed many interesting details some of which relate to the original car, others to the major rebuild and modifications it had in 1967. It's the updated specification the car received by the Service Department at BMC that I'm restoring the car to.

I stripped the engine this week and it's going to Southam Mini's today for a checkover, considering what the engine has done it's in superb condition. Could almost have re-assembled it! Hopefully Simon Naylor won't find any major issues. The engine has done around 75000 miles with the supercharger bolted to it, bores are perfect, no ridges or scratches, big ends have a couple of scuff marks and mains evenly worn with just a hint of copper starting to show on a couple of shells. Worst wear is on a cam follower but the cooper cam looks fine. Gearbox looking pretty good too and will just need a freshen up a the Miniworks in Edinburgh.

I'll try to keep you all updated on progress.

Kevin

sounds marvellous - hope it all goes well

Update on progress - The gearbox has been stripped and found to be in very good condition. The layshaft was replaced as it was showing signs of pick-up, the syncro rings were replaced as a matter of course and the main shaft bearing was replaced as the cage had broken. Gearbox now re-built and ready for use. The engine is getting a re-bore to +0.020" as there is too much wear to get away with a hone and the crank will probably get a grind as there is slight ovaling on the journals. If the engine was normally aspirated it would probably be fine. The cylinder head is getting inserts on the exhausts to save having to use a fuel additive, I'm going up and valve size to help breathing. I've tracked down someone to supply a new crank and supercharger pulley and hopefully a matching tensioner as the original drive belt is not available and I have to use two Vee belts

Had a bit of luck this week. I've been trying to track down the colour the roof was painted back in 1967. I have the receipt from G & I Paints for the paint but no one could figure out the code numbers for the paint described. As a last resort I asked a pal to try the chap he gets his paint from. This chap has been in the industry for many years and set about tracking it down. After a few dead ends it transpired the codes related to a company that G & I Paints took over in the mid 1960's. The resulting code identified the colour as a Standard Triumph colour, Champagne Beige Metallic. The paint has now been mixed in cellulose, matched in 2 pack and delivered to my pal. One of the missing links resolved! The body was painted in Rootes, Autumn Gold 68 and has also been mixed, matched and delivered. All I need now is for Simon at The Miniworks to pull out the stops and get the shell repaired.

I've included a link to a picture of the car before I bought it. Hopefully, I'll get some up to date pictures posted soon.

Kevin

http://www.miniresource.com/shows/Mini%20In%20The%20Park%202002/Rare%20Supercharged%20Elf.jpg

Great news Kev! Can't wait to see it coming back together again. Are you still hopeful for Goodwood?

Bill

Hi Bill,

I've got my ticket for the Revival and intend being there with the car! Whether its driven all the way there or trailered part way is still to be decided.

Kevin

hopefully you'll be able to drive it, but either way make sure you take a few pictures to show us afterwards!

Hope to see you at Goodwood, Wol is taking us.

Significant progress this week. Both floorpans/sills have been repaired or replaced as neccessary. This was more complicated than it sounds. The new pans were carefully let in to the existing floors to maintain as much of the origanal floor as possible and a few repair sections were needed to the offside tunnel and both toeboard ends. The rear subframe mounting panel ends have been repaired but they still need to be attached to the inner sill. We hope to do this by removing a section at the bottom of the rear map pocket to allow us to weld through to the mounting panel. The cross-member has been replaced as the original was too badly corroded and damaged by previous repairs.

Today the rear arches and boot floor have been removed and the edges dressed ready for new panels to be fitted. Most of the original detailing has been transferred over to the new floor but a couple more are still required, tomorrow I hope to complete this and do a fit up of the new parts. The offside arch is clamped in place and appears to fit well. The nearside is a bit more complicated as it appears the vertical shock absorber mounting part is for an offside arch although numbered for nearside. Hopefully, Minispares have a correct one in stock. Next week the boot floor should be completed and the shell dropped off at the grit blaster to treat the remaining corrosion. On its return, we can then complete the closing panels, do the map pocket repairs and attack the front end.

I recieved the paint for the car today and suspect the body colour I thought the car was repainted may be incorrect. I'm going to clean and polish some of the existing paintwork and match it up tomorrow. Nothing's ever straightforward!

Kev

good luck!!!

1071kev wrote: Nothing's ever straightforward!
Kev

Too true.

Simon, the welder's back from his globetrotting so work has re-commenced this week. Both rear pockets and subframe mount closing plates were completed on Monday along with repairs to the nearside front corner of the bonnet and templates made for the offside repairs which although more appear easier to do. We started work on the offside inner wing on Tuesday and by the end of the day we had done all the modifications to the new section, fitted it and completed the repairs to the front of the inner wing. A couple of repairs were also needed to the parcel shelf due to the effects of mice infestation.

During Simon's departure I took the shell to the blaster, a week later I collected the shell and gave it a coat of etch primer. I then started work on the boot floor extension and valance. I've re-manufactured the web section that ties the subframe mount to the valance but still need to do the boxing plate. The re-manufactured extension panel was modified to the car's specification and trimmed to size. At some point we will let in repairs to the lower rear wings and boot closing panel then fit the extension and valance.

The front panel is too good to replace but still needs to be repaired. I'm planning on letting in a replacement section from a mini panel while saving as much of the original (1967 replacement) panel as it has been modified to accommodate the components fitted in 1967. The Miniworks web page has some pictures of the work we've done so far, I hope to figure out how to upload some of my own when I get the time.

Hopefully this is a photo of the rear subframe mount before repairs





and this is of the repaired floor

This is the floor before repairs

and this is it after.

This is the rear floor and map pockets repaired

Coming on nice and fast!

More progress again this week. Both front inner wings have had repair sections let in at the front and replacement rear sections have been modified to the correct specification before fitting. The lower dash rail and parcel shelf required repairs which have also been completed. The windscreen scuttle has also had repair sections let in at the corners. As a final boost I did a trial fit of the offside door, A panels and pillar. The resulting fit was very impressive given how bad the area had been repaired previously. Just need to make it fit as well when it's all welded in. Finally, last night I came to the conclusion of how we plan to address the de-seamed, A panel to wing joint based on the information I've been given.

Kevin

I've just returned from the Miniworks today. More progress with the car. The rear end repairs have been completed; boot floor extension panel, web pieces and all brackets fitted, sealed and primed. The bumper flange and rear wings have had repairs let in. Both door pillars, A panels, boxing panels and doorsteps have been fitted and the inner A panels modified to allow us to replicate the de-seamed joint. This morning I was working on the front panel while Simon let in repair sections to the rear quarters. With luck the front panel repairs will be completed next week, the already prepared wings will be fitted and the localised repairs finished, then the shell will be off to the paint shop.

On the mechanical front, the engine machining has been completed and was collected yesterday. It should be with us to start the engine build while the body is away.

Tomorrow's task is to track down some carpeting as requests for suitable replacements have not produced any suitable ones. I then hope to do some more work tidying up the wiring looms.

Looking good!!

Coming on great, just like Myvanwy the mini van. what a job (I couldn't have done it without the spit !)
sounds like you are streets ahead with yours! Keep it up and do let us have some more update photograghs please!

The completed shell made it to the painters last night, unfortunately got caught in the rain even though we only took it a mile along the road. The shell should be stripped back to bare metal again and re-etch primed tomorrow. Then shaping up will commence. One door and the bootlid will get a final check-over but the bonnet still needs the front repairs completed before they go along too. I gathered together the engine and gearbox components this afternoon for assembly over the next couple of weeks and tomorrow will make replacement front to rear brake and fuel lines - in steel. Only 6 weeks until Goodwood!

1071kev wrote:The completed shell made it to the painters last night, unfortunately got caught in the rain even though we only took it a mile along the road. The shell should be stripped back to bare metal again and re-etch primed tomorrow. Then shaping up will commence. One door and the bootlid will get a final check-over but the bonnet still needs the front repairs completed before they go along too. I gathered together the engine and gearbox components this afternoon for assembly over the next couple of weeks and tomorrow will make replacement front to rear brake and fuel lines - in steel. Only 6 weeks until Goodwood!

No pressure then

The diff was stripped, checked and rebuilt yesterday. The bearings were replaced to be safe but all looked in good condition so was re-assembled and the gearbox completed. The supercharger was dismantled and again all appeared in good condition so will be re-assembled when I source new bearing seals. We gathered together the engine bits and pieces in preparation for the engine build, and I did some work on the brake pipes, most of which are the cars originals. I'll have to replace a few of the pipes so have reclaimed and sourced some of the correct fittings to fabricate new steel replacements.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've not had a chance to get on the PC lately. The shell's at the painter, underside, inside, boot and engine bay all finish painted. The body and roof are ready for top coat, which will be done tomorrow and Monday and the shell comes back to the workshop on Monday evening. The re-fit starts Tuesday!

The supercharger is back together, engine and gearbox completed and the supercharger has been assembled on the engine with the new tensioner set-up and it all fits. Also, the dash panels have been assembled with the instruments although they haven't been tested yet. The repaired and re-lacquered dash looks superb fully assembled. Fingers crossed the rebuild continues well as Goodwood is less than three weeks away. Unfortunately it looks like the car will be trailered down to where we are staying but driven to the event, keep your ears peeled for the supercharger whine!

good luck, hoping it all goes smoothly

Picked up the shell from the painter last night. Got it back to the workshop, cavity waxed the shell and fitted the front to rear brake and fuel lines. Today both subframes were fitted and completed and the engine and gearbox. The car was back on its wheels by 6.30 pm tonight. I even fitted the rear lights to add some bling!