Hi,
After many years of waiting, largely due to financial obligations and a string of crap employers, I am finally prepared to take the plunge and get my '66 Deluxe/Cooper S replica, back on the road.
The car is pretty much intact, however the paints is worse for wear (bought it in 1995) and was not garaged for 10 years. There is rust (as far as I can tell) on the driver's side A panel, door jam panel, back seat and the battery recess floor has disappeared. Back in 2004, some local thugs tipped the car onto its side as a joke, so the drivers side door is dented at the handle.
My budget is limited - dont want to get the wife angry. So making the job easy by not changing the old Brit Racing Green colour.
I live in the Inner West of Sydney. A short while ago, I approached a local shop (Dulwich Hill Smash Repairs) and they expressed an interest in taking on the job. The car is currently immobile and will need to be trailered.
Do people have body shop recommendations?
Also, seeing that I am keen to keep costs down, what should I consider?

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1966 Morris Mini Deluxe
.... 4 bicycles and 3 screaming kids.

I had a little bit of rust in the A panel like that...

there was actually a lot...




your wife won't like how much it's going to cost to have done professionally

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I was told each repair would be in the vicinity of $150 to $200.
Is that a fair estimate?

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1966 Morris Mini Deluxe
.... 4 bicycles and 3 screaming kids.

Simon, how much did that repair cost you?

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1966 Morris Mini Deluxe
.... 4 bicycles and 3 screaming kids.

Didn't cost much, I did it myself... but a lot of hours went into it.

$150-$200 is what you'll pay for a couple of hours work if you're lucky. If the smash repairer will give you a quote for small patch up repairs then it might be ok, but a little bit of rust showing here and there usually turns into a lot of rust hidden where you cant see it, especially in that area at the bottom of the A pillar.

I don't want to scare you but you need to be really sure about what you want, and clear with your family about your budget. Car resto projects turn into time and money pits very quickly.

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Thanks for that piece of advice Simon. I agree, I should be clear about how far I am willing to repair the thing,
I don't want it as a Concourse ready car. I simply want it registered, looking good and drivable.
The car will be having a easy life parked in my dry garage. It will definitely not be a daily driver.

With regards to the paint job. I plan to do as much of the prep sand down of most of the body myself. Not back to metal, but I can sand it down pretty good with my rotary.
How much will a simple 2k job cost? It is currently BRG, plan to get it repainted to BRG again.

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1966 Morris Mini Deluxe
.... 4 bicycles and 3 screaming kids.

I’m about 6mths ahead of you, car in the shop currently. You would need to budget $75 - $150 per hr, plus materials.

I doubt a body shop would give you a fixed price quote. Until they get into it, they don’t know how big a job it is. A bubble of rust could be a whole panel replacement depending on what is uncovered. Also a false economy to paint over potential rubbish to have it rust in 2yrs time. My car looked pretty good, and actually almost no rust - still 2 weeks of body work (yep, do the maths)

Maybe you can strip the areas back expose the issues and cut the rust to save a bunch of time, then the body shop is just welding, straightening & painting?

If I could go back in time I would have bought a welder and learnt how to paint. But then I don’t have the space either, so would have needed a new house with a shed to do the work and it would take me 5yrs longer.

This is not a cheap hobby

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1966 Mini Deluxe - “Gabby” 34 years under restoration and counting...
1970 MGBGT
1959 MGA

if Simon was not so far away he could probably do some weekend work for you. Looks like he has done a great job on his mini. My advice is work out a budget ,and you can tell the panel shop if they can do the job to meet your budget. Don't get caught where you have to triple your budget .Good Luck with the project I have done plenty of restorations, none have come in on budget ,and I do all the work except for the engine and gear box.
Allen The mini would be best done on a rotisserie.

Thanks Allen, but no... I'd be seriously expensive, so expensive that he'd be paying me enough to get a professional to do mine for me.. I just sold my long term rust project (traveller), just too much time and money needed to he sunk into it. I bought that yellow clubman as a good running car for not much more than I got for the other one.

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

sounds like a wise move Simon .You do a great job on this forum even I follow your answer posts that is why the forum works well .Not always easy to do as we don't want to offend members.
Allen

At the risk of hijacking the thread - Simon is a legend

ahem.... stick to the rules please



lol

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?