My daughter Annie (7) has recently started watching your videos with me and this is her favourite car in the Furious fleet. She's watched the back catalogue of this series and is now always asking me when the next Mini video is!
Matt, those "lava discs" as you call them are polycarbide discs which as you've found out make short work of paint and filler. I used them when I stripped the paint off my 1972 Triumph Dolomite when I had it resprayed. Taking it back to bare metal is absolutely the right call. You know the true extent of the condition of the body and there's no danger of your fresh paint reacting with anything left behind. The various "bodge" repairs have helped this Mini to survive for over 50 years.
Will watch this with great interest, as I've taken ownership of my very dear late Mum's white 1978 Mini Clubman, which she owned from new. It's done 84,000 miles but hasn't been driven for about 5 years. Although it's in good condition, it will need all kinds of maintenance after not being used for 5 years. Especially replacing 5 year old petrol and all the other fluids. The Clubman saloon is a particularly rare model now. I see a few Clubman estates at car shows as well as the 1275GT which has the same front end. But very few Clubman saloons. I'm currently at an outpatient appointment at the hospital but will watch this with great interest, as well as for sentimental / emotional reasons in honour of my very dear Mum, who very sadly passed away earlier this year due to a stair fall. She was otherwise very fit and healthy. Her Clubman is a great tribute and reminder of her personality and her life.
@@furiousdriving Or use the opposite, a co2 fire extinguisher on the underside or slopey parts , or put co2 granules inside the floor , it will freeze the insulationthen can use a hammer to break it clean off, it is a lot cleaner and tidier.
Horrible work sanding but well done for getting stuck in Matt. I'm enjoying this series of vids, the Mini is a piece of British motoring history. Be great to have another one saved. Have a great Christmas when it comes!
This Mini has stood up very well, my 1974 Mini in 1984 was rotten but still saved my life when someone reversed out of their drive in front of me. All I can say is you must have a very understanding family. Merry Christmas to you and all your family Matt.
Whilst the initial outlay is high I cannot recommend enough having an air fed welding/grinding helmet... You'll find that you will use it for everything, and the air feed means it will never steam up and keeps your head nice and cooled, the filter on the belt traps all the nasties so your lungs and eyes will thank you which is a bonus... Seriously it's been an absolute godsend as a metalworker. I wholeheartedly recommend! Ps great vid as always chap!
Well done Matt. You are a brave man taking all that on! Huge respect for you. Its way outside my comfort zone! Will look forward to all your future videos.
I have found that once the blasting media becomes dirty it's much more prone to clogging, it just seems to act like a magnet to any moisture. When it comes to attitudes towards repairs etc, I totally agree, I grew up in the 70's when you used to see all kinds of crazy stuff, cars with different coloured doors or wings, where they had simply gone down to a breakers yard and simply took what they could find and bolted onto their cars. Very common back then. Not something you see at all these days. Back in those days most people were more concerned about whether the darned car would start on a cold winters morning - something we take for granted these days with fuel injection. I remember my cold walks to school back in the early seventies, the sounds of starter motors whirring on and on, slowly getting slower, before the owner finally gave up and stomped off in the direction of the nearest bus stop!
Great to see more Mini content Matt.This car is just too important with its one-family provenance and Eustace Watkins dealership to alter from the original specification., and I think your consideration to involve experts in the proper repairs to the body is sensible as they are not easy to deal with properly .Don't write -off the rare automatic specification so rare nowadays , I drove a 1967 ' E ' reg. auto 850 and it was an absolute hoot and more fun than than you'd think !.I have recently completed recomissioning a 2-owner 1961 Austin Seven unused since 1974 and believe me , they provide more smiles per mile than much more powerful varients so don't compromise its immense rarity and the best of luck and have a great Christmas to you and your family .
Great video,takes me back over 40 years when we were repairing this type of stuff in our small Bodyshop for the trade and private customers ,constantly applying yards of body filler and all the associated follow on prep work to apply a ‘toffee apple ‘ paint job… great days .
Defo worth a collob with Simpson's Classics from time to time to get the mini restored and on the road quicker than project binky. Looking forward to seeing this project in 2025 take shape.
The best way to remove underseal from a car is to apply heat with a heat gun, then scrape off the softened underseal using a scraper; for stubborn areas, follow up with a wire brush to remove any remaining residue, and clean with a solvent like mineral spirits to finish
Good luck, strip and clean discs for the underside, its a very messy job. Heritage front panel, wings, scuttle, A panels, inner/outer sills, boot floor, etc. etc. etc.
Stick some heritage wings on it. Anything else would be a false economy. With the availability of full good quality panels its best to do it properly. With it being a good early car its going to be worth it
Always tune in to a new (og) mini video. Great to see progress on this thing. Those poly strip disks are sooo much better for smooth surfaces than the blaster, good to see the specialisation of each tool. (not wasting time using the blaster where its unnecessarily slow) 👍👍
You need a needle gun (needle scaler) such as Draper 84131 which will run off your air compressor. That should get the underseal off and the rest of the paint. Spare needles can be got off Amazon as well as the needle gun. Use your link to get a bit of cash back.
Hi we have our mini on a spit as a bare shell took days of scraping to do the underside but we'll worth the effort loving the channel what about speaking to the boys that steph works with they said they have done a lot of minis don't no how local that would be to you though great to see the mini coming back on the channel
loads of furious hard work there, well done. the underseal will be bitumen based so I would turn the shell on its side, heat with a heat gun on low setting and scrape as much off as possible, then use something to break down the bitumen and a wire brush. once you have a thin soft mess left white spirit or tar remover should work. won't be a quick job, sorry lol
I had an 87 998cc Austin Mini City e that was automatic. I had the garage that sold it to me swap it out for a manual. Best decision I made for that car. You need to drive these cars like you’re driving the Monte Carlo rally 😆. I can’t wait to see the end results of this 👌🏻
When removing underseal, I usually use like a bunsenburner/open flame and scrape it off when it gets soft. This must be done with the car on it's side out doors. Since it's a bit of a smelly operation and most likely hazardous to breath in the fumes.
Heat gun and scraper is how I have always done underseal. The sound deadening stuff I seem to remember is just a scraper. But it's easy to try. If you don't want to warp the panels you just use loads of tack welds, but make sure you earth is good and turn the amps up. With short tack I'd start at 60 amps, watch the Welsh man who loves buying knackered bmws, I want to say westland but I think it wrong.
Matt, I read somewhere that an easier way to remove underseal is to plumbers' spray freeze it before chipping off - more investigation required by this one.
@@furiousdriving Dry Ice but you'll have to get someone in. Heat gun and scraper. 2 ends of the temperature range. Clean N strip wheels work well. Pay a bit extra for good ones as they will end up being more economical as they last longer.
Nice one Matt, it maybe worth contacting ADO restorations ( the place Steph works for) and ask them the best place to get the best Mini panels, and what you need to do to get them to fit. It would appear they do loads of Mini's according to Steph's latest vid.
That would be too much rust for me, too old and never fitted into a Mini, but I appreciate the value in keeping this on the road. Also, do keep the transmission, it just makes sense with such a history. Personally, just too old now, 61 in 13 days and now living in Aus as a uk-expat I really love the absence of rust. Ironically the only car with rust is "built for Austrlian conditions" 07 Falcon BF II wagon
From experience mate the only way to deal with the underseal properly is to get a heat gun and a thin scraper and have added warm it up and scrape it off takes rages smells horrible but works beautifully good luck
I had a couple of Minis around 40 years ago when they were everywhere. My cars were old when I got them, the usual places of rot were the front floors (my 1st one was like lace in the front floors), sills, the 'A' panel, the headlight surrounds, rear subframe, the join between the 'A' pillar and the wing, inner front wheel arch below the door pillar, inner and outer front of the rear wings. Oh and check the battery tray in the boot. All could be patched up to do the job but would be far from concourse work. The roof on both were good though. I paid a fair chunk keeping my cars on the road but they were worth it as long as the mechanics were OK. A stuffed gearbox synchro meant my first one was sold, the second was sold because I was being nagged by a lass who wanted it for when she was at uni. Great memories of brilliant cars though, I would have another one but I'd like a 2CV first as I'm getting old and don't fold into small cars well these days. Thanks for sharing.
Fond memories of cutting the front floors out of my first Mini, using nothing but a Dremel 😂 and many cutting wheels. Couldn’t afford an angle grinder at the time. It was slow but a good learning experience for a 21 year old me.
Matt there is only one person who can help and you have had him on the channel before. If Marc from simpsons classics can't advise you the knowledge isn't worth knowing. I can't wait to see further progress on the mk1
At least its in better shape than Binky when Bad Obsession Motorsport started their project! Its just a case of taking your time, and getting it right. Best of luck, and I look forward to see the completed Mini back on the road, ..
My first car was a 1968 Mini in 1980. It had all the same rust problems as this. I couldn't weld and so I became a sculptor- in filler. I soon realised this wasn't even a medium term solution and was soon overwhelmed. I sold it. I did enjoy driving it and passed my test in it but I still look at them to this day with disdain.
All quite normal for a mini :) It's easy to take a brutal approach with so many panels available to buy for the mini, but with hindsight now I'd choose to repair over replace wherever possible. But 'possible' is always relative to the skills and tools you have. That driver's wing is shot though :)
This car looks a bit of a "Trigger's Broom", but when it is finished it will be absolutely worth it. Regarding being an automatic, don't confuse rare with desirable. Sometimes things are rare exactly because nobody wants one. It reduces the potential market size. I wonder if it might have been better to use paint stripper on the majority of the body before blasting it, just to get the bulk of the thick paint off.
conversely as the nation becomes ore lazy/dependant on autos, and learners who start on EVs it opens up a market of drivers who cant drive manuals, the market sadly is changing
No offence Matt but if you're looking at assembling a 20k mini I would suggest not doing a DIY respray. Blow lamp and scraper to get the underseal off?
Take care Matt, if the blasting media has silica in it, the fine dust is a carcinogen and can damage your lungs leading to silicosis and long term breathing problems.
Hi Matt, you can get every single panel for a mini, there is a company in the UK they have the original Mini presses and they reproduce the panels, I remember seeing it on Wheeler Dealers a couple of years ago, cannot think of the name of the company though sorry Matt.👍
Hi 😊 Will there be a full end of year round up and future plans of the whole fd fleet then channel plans , roadctrips festivals , buying and selling. Many thanks keep up your great work.
that didn't occur to me but you're surely right. how do the pros get around that problem? no disrespect to FD but he's out of his depth here. he's huffing lungs of silica paint dust for a start
There's a channel called "Ed's Mini Empire" who is resurrecting a mini pickup and is presently fully replacing the drivers door pillar in his latest video. He's done some collaboration with other UA-cam channels.
Pretty standard old Mini. Be very careful which repair panels you get. If they are avaiable from Heritage I would go there. A lot of the cheaper ones are just junk. I wouldn't bother repairing, just go for panels.
Mine went in for restoration (Yeah okay not a MK 1) no panel got patched just replaced, only original bits left. Roof and Doors, Its all available. Also an auto. Get it back just before Christmas (Not that I can I afford Christmas)
By the time you do all that work to a decent standard, you might be better off buying a new bodyshell and fitting the existing mechanicals and interior to it.
I wondered about that and research tells me they don't produce a Mk.2 Mini bodyshell. The Mk.1 bodyshell is £16k though! Not a viable proposition at all.
Resto mod the mini Turn it into a manual transmission get that 998 cc back in or even a 1275 cc engine into it better modern brakes shocks etc and enjoy the experience 😉I’m 100% sure you will love it when it’s complete- the Everyman’s car 👍🏻😉
Replace the whole rear quarter, and front wings you can remove it and there will be an inner rear wing that'll hold the shell anyway. It is far easier to drill or grind off spot welds than it is to cut and butt weld in a repair section that big. I've seen your welding and it's not to a decent enough standard for a seamless repair. I think you should buy yourself a 3 phase spot welder and do it that way rather than try to butt weld in a massive panel. I replaced the whole rear quarter panel of my MK2 Fiesta on the drive in all kinds of crazy weather. It's doable but you've got to be brave with the grinder.
Well the good news is, the roof looks OK!😂😂 Sorry, but you'll have to bite the bullet and replace all the outer panels. Bodging it will come back to haunt you. Brace yourself, this is a big job. Good luck.👍 👍
I see an old Mini rising I see trouble on the way I see secrets and blasting I see sand dunes today Don't go home tonight Cause you're bound to wake your wife There's another car on the drive (Apologies to John Fogerty! 😁👍)
At this point, you'd probably be better off financially, and timewise, with buying a whole new Heritage shell; however, it will be a question of whether it will be the original car or not. A right Theseus Ship paradox there.
for the underseal .. buy / borrow / steal / make a rotisserie so you can access the underside in relative comfort .. last time i used a blowtorch & a scraper ... was a PITA of a job , but everything else either clogged up ( wire brushes / lava disks / DA pads ) or didn't touch the underseal ( paint stripper / thinners / acetone ) ..... would love to know if there is some secret chemical / tool / technique
The simple fact is that this is an automatic which makes it rare which makes it a five figure car and also to be all steel body mo filler will increase its value also l was just wondering about your automatic mini and this video l can see the continuing work a long process is it worth yes especially when finished the automatic mini will be worth a lot of money
A chemical paint stripper would've been a lot less messy (and less hazardous to your health). Granted, I don't know if you can just buy the good stuff across the pond, and it won't take off filler.
My daughter Annie (7) has recently started watching your videos with me and this is her favourite car in the Furious fleet. She's watched the back catalogue of this series and is now always asking me when the next Mini video is!
Matt, those "lava discs" as you call them are polycarbide discs which as you've found out make short work of paint and filler. I used them when I stripped the paint off my 1972 Triumph Dolomite when I had it resprayed. Taking it back to bare metal is absolutely the right call. You know the true extent of the condition of the body and there's no danger of your fresh paint reacting with anything left behind. The various "bodge" repairs have helped this Mini to survive for over 50 years.
Will watch this with great interest, as I've taken ownership of my very dear late Mum's white 1978 Mini Clubman, which she owned from new. It's done 84,000 miles but hasn't been driven for about 5 years. Although it's in good condition, it will need all kinds of maintenance after not being used for 5 years. Especially replacing 5 year old petrol and all the other fluids.
The Clubman saloon is a particularly rare model now. I see a few Clubman estates at car shows as well as the 1275GT which has the same front end. But very few Clubman saloons.
I'm currently at an outpatient appointment at the hospital but will watch this with great interest, as well as for sentimental / emotional reasons in honour of my very dear Mum, who very sadly passed away earlier this year due to a stair fall. She was otherwise very fit and healthy. Her Clubman is a great tribute and reminder of her personality and her life.
You can easily buy new panels for the Mini,: don't mess about patching.
With all the repair panels needed reminds me of Triggers broom. Good luck great channel
Heat gun and wallpaper scraper with a sharp edge works wonders with removing underseal.
and smells so good too!
@@furiousdriving Or use the opposite, a co2 fire extinguisher on the underside or slopey parts , or put co2 granules inside the floor , it will freeze the insulationthen can use a hammer to break it clean off, it is a lot cleaner and tidier.
Horrible work sanding but well done for getting stuck in Matt. I'm enjoying this series of vids, the Mini is a piece of British motoring history. Be great to have another one saved. Have a great Christmas when it comes!
This Mini has stood up very well, my 1974 Mini in 1984 was rotten but still saved my life when someone reversed out of their drive in front of me. All I can say is you must have a very understanding family. Merry Christmas to you and all your family Matt.
In an glassblaster cabinet at work we had an airhose with a pin that we could blow reverse through the blastergun to unclog the blast tank.
Whilst the initial outlay is high I cannot recommend enough having an air fed welding/grinding helmet... You'll find that you will use it for everything, and the air feed means it will never steam up and keeps your head nice and cooled, the filter on the belt traps all the nasties so your lungs and eyes will thank you which is a bonus... Seriously it's been an absolute godsend as a metalworker. I wholeheartedly recommend!
Ps great vid as always chap!
Well done Matt. You are a brave man taking all that on! Huge respect for you. Its way outside my comfort zone! Will look forward to all your future videos.
Wow you have made some great progress, Matt
I have found that once the blasting media becomes dirty it's much more prone to clogging, it just seems to act like a magnet to any moisture. When it comes to attitudes towards repairs etc, I totally agree, I grew up in the 70's when you used to see all kinds of crazy stuff, cars with different coloured doors or wings, where they had simply gone down to a breakers yard and simply took what they could find and bolted onto their cars. Very common back then. Not something you see at all these days. Back in those days most people were more concerned about whether the darned car would start on a cold winters morning - something we take for granted these days with fuel injection. I remember my cold walks to school back in the early seventies, the sounds of starter motors whirring on and on, slowly getting slower, before the owner finally gave up and stomped off in the direction of the nearest bus stop!
That's sub optimal had me in stitches 😂
Great to see more Mini content Matt.This car is just too important with its one-family provenance and Eustace Watkins dealership to alter from the original specification., and I think your consideration to involve experts in the proper repairs to the body is sensible as they are not easy to deal with properly .Don't write -off the rare automatic specification so rare nowadays , I drove a 1967 ' E ' reg. auto 850 and it was an absolute hoot and more fun than than you'd think !.I have recently completed recomissioning a 2-owner 1961 Austin Seven unused since 1974 and believe me , they provide more smiles per mile than much more powerful varients so don't compromise its immense rarity and the best of luck and have a great Christmas to you and your family .
Great video,takes me back over 40 years when we were repairing this type of stuff in our small Bodyshop for the trade and private customers ,constantly applying yards of body filler and all the associated follow on prep work to apply a ‘toffee apple ‘ paint job… great days .
Defo worth a collob with Simpson's Classics from time to time to get the mini restored and on the road quicker than project binky.
Looking forward to seeing this project in 2025 take shape.
Love your impression of "The Flowerpot Men"
The best way to remove underseal from a car is to apply heat with a heat gun, then scrape off the softened underseal using a scraper; for stubborn areas, follow up with a wire brush to remove any remaining residue, and clean with a solvent like mineral spirits to finish
Good luck, strip and clean discs for the underside, its a very messy job. Heritage front panel, wings, scuttle, A panels, inner/outer sills, boot floor, etc. etc. etc.
Matt - look up dry ice blasting. You may find a mobile service down near you, and from what I’ve seen it’ll make mincemeat of that underseal
Underside - start with heat gun and scraper, clean and strip wheel (Brillo pad). White spirit / thinners can shift stuff after the heat gun stage
Stick some heritage wings on it. Anything else would be a false economy. With the availability of full good quality panels its best to do it properly. With it being a good early car its going to be worth it
Good to see this car being saved. Given the history with it, it will be nice to keep it original. Plenty of restomods out there already.
I’m glad you still have the Volvo - such a lovely barge! Good to see some Mini progress too - one of the more interesting projects you have on!
Always tune in to a new (og) mini video. Great to see progress on this thing. Those poly strip disks are sooo much better for smooth surfaces than the blaster, good to see the specialisation of each tool. (not wasting time using the blaster where its unnecessarily slow) 👍👍
You need a needle gun (needle scaler) such as Draper 84131 which will run off your air compressor. That should get the underseal off and the rest of the paint.
Spare needles can be got off Amazon as well as the needle gun. Use your link to get a bit of cash back.
Hi we have our mini on a spit as a bare shell took days of scraping to do the underside but we'll worth the effort loving the channel what about speaking to the boys that steph works with they said they have done a lot of minis don't no how local that would be to you though great to see the mini coming back on the channel
loads of furious hard work there, well done. the underseal will be bitumen based so I would turn the shell on its side, heat with a heat gun on low setting and scrape as much off as possible, then use something to break down the bitumen and a wire brush. once you have a thin soft mess left white spirit or tar remover should work. won't be a quick job, sorry lol
Nice work Matt, Mini is progressing nicely. 😊👍
Well worth restoring, the AP Automatic makes for a good drive, I had ‘69 Clubman Auto for a while in the early 90’s.
I had an 87 998cc Austin Mini City e that was automatic. I had the garage that sold it to me swap it out for a manual. Best decision I made for that car. You need to drive these cars like you’re driving the Monte Carlo rally 😆. I can’t wait to see the end results of this 👌🏻
When removing underseal, I usually use like a bunsenburner/open flame and scrape it off when it gets soft. This must be done with the car on it's side out doors. Since it's a bit of a smelly operation and most likely hazardous to breath in the fumes.
“That’s suboptimal” far more polite than I would have been.
Heat gun and scraper is how I have always done underseal. The sound deadening stuff I seem to remember is just a scraper. But it's easy to try. If you don't want to warp the panels you just use loads of tack welds, but make sure you earth is good and turn the amps up. With short tack I'd start at 60 amps, watch the Welsh man who loves buying knackered bmws, I want to say westland but I think it wrong.
Great progress, and fair play undertaking this all yourself. You must have an understanding landlord allowing the dust and noise.
When you walked on at 3:20 without your hat and specs I thought 'hello who's this bloke?'
Matt, I read somewhere that an easier way to remove underseal is to plumbers' spray freeze it before chipping off - more investigation required by this one.
worth a try!
@@furiousdriving Dry Ice but you'll have to get someone in. Heat gun and scraper. 2 ends of the temperature range. Clean N strip wheels work well. Pay a bit extra for good ones as they will end up being more economical as they last longer.
I think someone (Sarah-n-tuned?) used dry ice but it was for sound deadening inside. Make the material brittle so can be scraped and chipped off.
@@3vom Yes she did. It cost her a small fortune.
@@delukxy - hence the option that came to mind...
Nice one Matt, it maybe worth contacting ADO restorations ( the place Steph works for) and ask them the best place to get the best Mini panels, and what you need to do to get them to fit. It would appear they do loads of Mini's according to Steph's latest vid.
We know where this is going… I smell a collab with Simpsons Classics coming along 😊
That would be too much rust for me, too old and never fitted into a Mini, but I appreciate the value in keeping this on the road. Also, do keep the transmission, it just makes sense with such a history. Personally, just too old now, 61 in 13 days and now living in Aus as a uk-expat I really love the absence of rust. Ironically the only car with rust is "built for Austrlian conditions" 07 Falcon BF II wagon
I'm impressed that UA-cam's auto-generated subtitles can (mostly) understand the words coming from behind the mask!
From experience mate the only way to deal with the underseal properly is to get a heat gun and a thin scraper and have added warm it up and scrape it off takes rages smells horrible but works beautifully good luck
I had a couple of Minis around 40 years ago when they were everywhere. My cars were old when I got them, the usual places of rot were the front floors (my 1st one was like lace in the front floors), sills, the 'A' panel, the headlight surrounds, rear subframe, the join between the 'A' pillar and the wing, inner front wheel arch below the door pillar, inner and outer front of the rear wings. Oh and check the battery tray in the boot. All could be patched up to do the job but would be far from concourse work. The roof on both were good though. I paid a fair chunk keeping my cars on the road but they were worth it as long as the mechanics were OK. A stuffed gearbox synchro meant my first one was sold, the second was sold because I was being nagged by a lass who wanted it for when she was at uni. Great memories of brilliant cars though, I would have another one but I'd like a 2CV first as I'm getting old and don't fold into small cars well these days. Thanks for sharing.
Scott from coldwar motors in Canada does great body work vids one of his pals has a Crown Vic.
Fond memories of cutting the front floors out of my first Mini, using nothing but a Dremel 😂 and many cutting wheels. Couldn’t afford an angle grinder at the time. It was slow but a good learning experience for a 21 year old me.
What a job and more to do you have done well to get it to here heat and a scrapper will remove the underseal Matt best regards Andy Allen
As my old man used to say " Put your hat on they are sacking the old buggers".... Take note FD
Matt there is only one person who can help and you have had him on the channel before. If Marc from simpsons classics can't advise you the knowledge isn't worth knowing. I can't wait to see further progress on the mk1
At least its in better shape than Binky when Bad Obsession Motorsport started their project! Its just a case of taking your time, and getting it right. Best of luck, and I look forward to see the completed Mini back on the road, ..
Another great video has always matt and family 👍
My first car was a 1968 Mini in 1980. It had all the same rust problems as this. I couldn't weld and so I became a sculptor- in filler. I soon realised this wasn't even a medium term solution and was soon overwhelmed. I sold it. I did enjoy driving it and passed my test in it but I still look at them to this day with disdain.
I would be tempted to use the blaster on the difficult fiddly areas, and the sanding tool on the main large bodywork areas. Keep going though!!!
All quite normal for a mini :) It's easy to take a brutal approach with so many panels available to buy for the mini, but with hindsight now I'd choose to repair over replace wherever possible. But 'possible' is always relative to the skills and tools you have. That driver's wing is shot though :)
Great job!
Lots of repair panels around. Lower rear quater panels are also available. I had some for my old mini when I had it restored years ago.
I think, after all the rust shenanigans with the Crown Victoria you've become toughened to rust!
Metalwork is the most satisfying part of any restoration.
This car looks a bit of a "Trigger's Broom", but when it is finished it will be absolutely worth it. Regarding being an automatic, don't confuse rare with desirable. Sometimes things are rare exactly because nobody wants one. It reduces the potential market size. I wonder if it might have been better to use paint stripper on the majority of the body before blasting it, just to get the bulk of the thick paint off.
conversely as the nation becomes ore lazy/dependant on autos, and learners who start on EVs it opens up a market of drivers who cant drive manuals, the market sadly is changing
You might as well replace both A panels, its a known rot spot if you want the high end of the value it helps to show its been done.
B-b-b-bad to the bone! 😁👍☠️
No offence Matt but if you're looking at assembling a 20k mini I would suggest not doing a DIY respray. Blow lamp and scraper to get the underseal off?
Take care Matt, if the blasting media has silica in it, the fine dust is a carcinogen and can damage your lungs leading to silicosis and long term breathing problems.
its an aluminium powder so no silica
Hi Matt, you can get every single panel for a mini, there is a company in the UK they have the original Mini presses and they reproduce the panels, I remember seeing it on Wheeler Dealers a couple of years ago, cannot think of the name of the company though sorry Matt.👍
Hi 😊
Will there be a full end of year round up and future plans of the whole fd fleet then channel plans , roadctrips festivals , buying and selling. Many thanks keep up your great work.
That's the plan!
Nothing in humanity rusts faster than a newly stripped car in an British December ( yes ,even indoors ).
that didn't occur to me but you're surely right. how do the pros get around that problem? no disrespect to FD but he's out of his depth here. he's huffing lungs of silica paint dust for a start
@sirlordbabish3873 My thoughts as well
How was your Sand-Wich Matt?
soooperb
There's a channel called "Ed's Mini Empire" who is resurrecting a mini pickup and is presently fully replacing the drivers door pillar in his latest video. He's done some collaboration with other UA-cam channels.
Ill give him a watch, thanks
It's a (very) old mini so just assume you will be replacing sills, wings, A-panels, front panel, floors, rear valance and lots of patching
Pretty standard old Mini. Be very careful which repair panels you get. If they are avaiable from Heritage I would go there. A lot of the cheaper ones are just junk. I wouldn't bother repairing, just go for panels.
I believe a certain Steph works in a Mini specialists😊 allbeit the other side of the country, would it fit in the trunk of a Crown Vic 😅
Mine went in for restoration (Yeah okay not a MK 1) no panel got patched just replaced, only original bits left. Roof and Doors, Its all available. Also an auto. Get it back just before Christmas (Not that I can I afford Christmas)
By the time you do all that work to a decent standard, you might be better off buying a new bodyshell and fitting the existing mechanicals and interior to it.
I wondered about that and research tells me they don't produce a Mk.2 Mini bodyshell. The Mk.1 bodyshell is £16k though! Not a viable proposition at all.
No, the price makes it not possible
Resto mod the mini Turn it into a manual transmission get that 998 cc back in or even a 1275 cc engine into it better modern brakes shocks etc and enjoy the experience 😉I’m 100% sure you will love it when it’s complete- the Everyman’s car 👍🏻😉
give the auto a go -- they're really fun to drive and they shift down as you brake, so you're in 1st or 2nd to take off
Replace the whole rear quarter, and front wings you can remove it and there will be an inner rear wing that'll hold the shell anyway. It is far easier to drill or grind off spot welds than it is to cut and butt weld in a repair section that big. I've seen your welding and it's not to a decent enough standard for a seamless repair. I think you should buy yourself a 3 phase spot welder and do it that way rather than try to butt weld in a massive panel.
I replaced the whole rear quarter panel of my MK2 Fiesta on the drive in all kinds of crazy weather. It's doable but you've got to be brave with the grinder.
Please make this your sole big 2025 project. get it done!
Well done, the end of the de-rusting is somewhat near 😅👌 I would do 2 new wings, as they are pretty much in sight.
The poor car! Reminds me of Trigger’s broom!
How is the shell where the subframes mount?
matt with ur mask on we couldn't understand a word you said lol
Have you farmed out some of the work on this car, e.g., the engine and transmission and the interior trim, for example?
no, those are the easy bits
Well the good news is, the roof looks OK!😂😂 Sorry, but you'll have to bite the bullet and replace all the outer panels. Bodging it will come back to haunt you. Brace yourself, this is a big job. Good luck.👍 👍
I see an old Mini rising
I see trouble on the way
I see secrets and blasting
I see sand dunes today
Don't go home tonight
Cause you're bound to wake your wife
There's another car on the drive
(Apologies to John Fogerty! 😁👍)
Think replacing quicker n easier then repairing panels . What a problem to have resto mod or original. 👍👍
It's all fixable but it will be a big job. How are you going to stop it rusting even further now that it is back to bare metal?
Yipee I'm finally here.
At this point, you'd probably be better off financially, and timewise, with buying a whole new Heritage shell; however, it will be a question of whether it will be the original car or not. A right Theseus Ship paradox there.
You'd think that, until you check the price of one
@furiousdriving ouch
that mini shell by you will have to be taken to a paint body shop as to bigger job for yourself to sort needs a BIG RESTO.
for the underseal .. buy / borrow / steal / make a rotisserie so you can access the underside in relative comfort .. last time i used a blowtorch & a scraper ... was a PITA of a job , but everything else either clogged up ( wire brushes / lava disks / DA pads ) or didn't touch the underseal ( paint stripper / thinners / acetone ) ..... would love to know if there is some secret chemical / tool / technique
I have a spit on loan, so thats not a problem its the actual removal thats going to be messy!
Saw a mini Monday , probably seem less than 5 whole year😢
Did u use the tea shelf?
I'm glad it's better than the w123 was.
Would it be easier to get a new bodyshell?
if you have a spare £25,000 yes
You mentioned before that you had a spit... I presume that's going to be used to attack the undersealed areas.
thats the plan yes
That reminds me how is the Mercedes W123 coming on.
That was painful to watch. Acid bath?
The simple fact is that this is an automatic which makes it rare which makes it a five figure car and also to be all steel body mo filler will increase its value also l was just wondering about your automatic mini and this video l can see the continuing work a long process is it worth yes especially when finished the automatic mini will be worth a lot of money
A scraper or a wide flat screwdriver to remove underseal. & plenty of time!
Ah well at least the roof is ok 😂 I could have bought a white mini in mint condition in the mid nineties but didn’t because it was an auto 😵💫
A chemical paint stripper would've been a lot less messy (and less hazardous to your health). Granted, I don't know if you can just buy the good stuff across the pond, and it won't take off filler.
and there was a lot of filler