Its been a while..............!

like the title says its been a while since my last post (so I had forgoten my blog user name and password!), the shell has been collected from the very nice people at pro motive, but very little progress in the past 2 years or so until now ......................

 

 

I did start stripping out the donor car back in July 2012, I had a couple of free weekends and managed to strip out all the parts under the car, the exhaust, the petrol tank and fuel lines, severed the main brake lines to the subframes and get the car up on blocks in prepartation for dropping out the subframes.

 

I eventually got round to dropping the subframes, removing the steering rack, steering column, gear lever and selector, the handbrake and removed the dash and switches this week (19th - 21st Feb)! All parts bagged and tagged and electrics all labelled up.....................

 

No major dramas only one bolt on the rear subframe on the petrol tank side boot floor had to be cut with an angle grinder, which was a major surprise, the rest came off really easily.

 

So the donor is now looking a little more sad for itself .................. and the past three years sat up on blocks have taken their toll, more rust, more holes, green slime and the windscreen rubbers have perished and are letting in water.

 

 

 

But progress has been made, I have spoken to a couple of companies that could potentially be willing to build a spaceframe chassis / roll cage that can be tied into the subframe and suspension mounting points so hopefully by May (or at least the end of the year) I should have a rolling shell...............

Stroke of luck...........

looks like after months of delay I have officially started the build having managed to source a 2nd hand shell off ebay!

brand new untouched shell from pro-motive (Yamaha R1 engine conversions without modifying the shell) who bought the shell two years ago for their next project car but never started it.

Saved myself £800 off the new price so I am well happy, just need to collect it on the 31st and hand over the money.

Couple of jobs to finish on the van (sorting rust), need to redecorate the bathroom and keep up or get on top of my HNC studies so I can make a start!

now then what can I spend that £800 on.........!

The Van is Complete...........

well almost complete just a couple of finishing touches, but the start of the minus project is not in sight yet.





fingers crossed I can get to a couple of late summer events and to the 1st big one in Stafford to order my shell in 2011.

Was getting a bit disheartened but then watched "Love the Beast" about that Aussie actor who played the incredible Hulk something Bana and his classic Aussie muscle car he had from being a kid............then had it restored only too smash it up on its first outing IT WILL BE REBUILT hopefully soon!

Meet Marjorie...........

here she is my new Van, Marjorie is her name and she is a 1998 T4 VW Transporter. My new everyday car and soon to be Camper Van..................!

Soon to be British Racing Green, with widows in the rear doors and the sliding door, a 50's Gil Elvgren Pin up to adorn her rear doors, the interior to consist of a full width rock and roll bed, Cooker, Sink, Porta POO and a 12v Cooler.................well thats the plan any ways.

Just ordered the rock n roll bed so its going to be six weeks of hard graft on the Van, to get it ready, so unfortunately the Minus builds going to have to wait, although I do now have a van to haul around lots of parts...............!

Just when I thought I could get started, still not to worry the Minus WILL get started soon!

Bristol Mini Day...........

well it may have been for some, but I had some spare time during this past week or two and I started to look on e-bay for a VW T4 Van......................during our recent holiday to Cornwall I saw loads of these and its got me thinking........................

(Now generally I try not to do too much of this thinking stuff, usually cos it hurts my head as well as getting me into mischief), but it would be nice to have a camper for lots of cheap Holiday's?

So I did a bit of a search on e-bay and up pops a couple of clean looking T4's from the mid to late 90's, a quick phone call to a couple of insurance companies for quotes and before you know it I am in the car off to have a test drive in one!

So I missed the Bristol Mini Day to go and view a VW Van a good two and half hours away from home, on what was one of the nicest days of the year, luckily it was a nice Van.

A bid was entered, and before I can say oh no what have I done, I am the highest bidder, its now a nervous wait until Friday night to see if I have won!

Progress at Last............

finally got started, with a bit of gardening! Unfortunately there is no room on my Dad's drive to do the build, so the car had to move from its resting point outside the garage to the back garden.

So just three small (ish) evergreen trees to dig up (that I am allergic to, I come out in a blotchy rash if I touch them), a fence panel to remove, a greenhouse to manoeuvre around and a couple of well established bamboo bushes in pots to move about to get the mini into position.................

So Bank Holiday Monday complete with full on Hangover, on what was supposed to be a very overcast and wettish day I began............the trees came up a treat, all three dug up in about half an hour, which was good as I was getting a bit itchy!

But it took another three hours to cut them up bag 'em up and load up the car with the 1st load (the 2nd load - roots went in a 2nd load later in the week), lots more itching!

Then a good hour to manoeuvre the car into position, with me my Dad and my brother all pushing, mostly in opposite directions to get the car into the back yard.

And next weekend it the Bristol Mini Day on the Sunday at Puxton Park, Weston-super-Mare, hopefully some good weather and lots of photo opportunities to brighten up the blog....................

All ready to start.................

Still no progress................

finally finished the early morning shifts and started on some of the house renovations. Fixed up the garden during the 1st week in May, but no more DIY on the house untill the 1st full week in September, when its the turn of the Kitchen to be sorted.

Unfortunately due to the Garden work I missed the BMC show at Himley Hall on the 10th of May, mainly due to a lack of funds (garden cost more than I thought).

But progress expected soon...............

Spring Bank Holiday Weekend, 23 - 25th May and work to strip down the mini can begin. Between then and now however I am trying to work out how best to start, but I think if I go ahead in the order of:

1. Interior (seats, trim, audio etc)


2. Engine Ancillaries (alternator, carb, starter motor, Exhaust etc)


3. Fuel Tank and pipes


4. Front subframe inc Engine


5. Rear Subframe


6. Brake and Clutch Hydraulics (master cylinders and pipes)


7. Wiring Loom


8. Bodywork (bonnet, boot, doors & Chrome)


9. Glass


10. ?

The plan at the moment is to get the car stripped down before the end of Summer, so I can order the new shell as Christmas present to my self, then start fitting out the new shell as a 1st fix in the new year, before stripping it all again, to spraying and rebuild all over again..............!

So hopefully from June the progress should be more rapid and the blog updated more regularly.

Parts Wish list added to the right hand Column........................