Hi everyone, I've posted on here a few times about some project woes I've had, along with some low moments and terrible thoughts.
The short of it is, my first car was a 850 sedan that i got for $500 and then dropped a $3500 ebay second hand 1360 into and drove for a while before being told by my parents to get rid of it, which i did and then about 2 years later tracked it down and purchased it back absolute trashed. I then got it back on the road and fell in love with the little guy again, but circumstances changed and i had to move away and couldn't take my little guy with me, when i finally
returned he had been left in the back yard of my parents for 2 years in long grass and the body was so rusted that opening the doors resulted in some serious sag and then near impossibility of closing them.I decided I would re shell my mini and found a cheapish 'fully restored' body in primer which i purchased for more money than i care to admit now, which then went in the shed for a further 18 month before i got to working on it, which first i rebuilt the subframes and got an 1100 motor going for it that was fully rebuilt (as i wanted to do some further work on my 1360) and then came into some financial issues and had to part out almost everything I had but i kept this shell and my 1360.
fast forward another 12-18months and i get my old subframes and restore them also and start working on this body as time in primer has left it now with surface rust comming though and i start discovering some terrible repairs, huge mounds of body filler, bad welds, panels riveted together then boddy filler covered ect. so i began trying to correct these and have fixed around 3/4 of the bad repairs but am running on empty, no motivation and no love really left anymore then the big one hit. . . the roof had been replaced and the windsheild gap is 20mm too tall and then also the doors has a 15mm gap at the top edge. . im so much at a loss, Its been since 2009 since I have actually had a mini on the road and driving. I even got a tattoo of my original mini, it really means that much too me, yet im struggling.
I managed to get a new rusted out shell and a half another from a really nice and helpful guy local to me, but i dunno where to go from here, do i just body fill whats left on my shell, cut the A pillars and then paint it up and know its a bucket of bolts and then save up to try and get this other shell repaired? or what do I do? I have sunk enough money into minis since 2009 that i could buy a genuine cooper S but all i have to sow for it is rusty bent out of shape minis and old damaged parts now.
I have entered int he rylestone classic for 2018 as my deadline, but i will not be able to afford to buy another mini as a whole car, and there is no budget for another shell, the last of my money will have to go towards buying paint so i can attempt a home paint job.
What do I do guys? I'm no mechanic, just a tinkerer, I am an IT Geek who maintenance systems all day, my mechanical knowledge is enough to do engine swaps and services and general repairs following manuals, but i got a welder, no idea how to use it (i can enlist my uncles help for those tasks though) but i just don't know what to do. . . .
I keep looking for a shell that is already painted in some form that i can just drop all my gear into and go, but minis are getting to expensive for me to afford now, i mean when i first got mine you could get running registered minis for $2G easily. . now i need 6K to buy a shell in primer that still needs lots of repairs?
I need some motivation and help, nothing brings a smile to your face like driving a mini, but right now i just get depressed looking at my pile of parts and cant find any motivation to even attempt work on it now, last thing i did was try and hang the passenger door but the hinges wouldn't even line up
Leroy. . . .
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