Jons Mini 25
Turbo Mini Forums

So I bought this mini off of eBay back in 2005 with the ambition of getting the couple of minor MOT failures sorted and getting it on the road as my daily run around. However after driving the 100 or so miles home the engine wasn't sounding great and I ended up being towed the last mile home and that was the last time it ran, we whipped the head off and this is what was found.



So the car was laid up and eventually garaged for a number of years while my life took me on a journey across the world and when I eventually made it back to the UK in 2012 it was clear the next time I did anything with it the time spent laid up had taken its toll on the previous rust cover up repairs and some of the more vulnerable areas so after a little bit of poking around it was clear I had a lot more work to do.

Edited by J_W1985 on 19th Jan, 2016.

I said I'd do it, there's no need to remind me every 6 months!!

So over the course of three years I’ve been doing bits and pieces to the body work teaching myself how to weld as I go (please don’t be to hard on me I know some of the welds aren’t pretty)!




During this time I made the decision that it is going to become my play thing so a Metro Turbo setup was bought along with full coil-over set, 4 pot metro vented callipers, roll cage and a few other bits and pieces.

I said I'd do it, there's no need to remind me every 6 months!!

Howdy!! Be nice to have another 25 to the bunch
The weld looks good, especially self taught and how thin that metal must of been round the window

Wow. That's a serious meltdown there.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Classic circlip failure on the gudgeon pins.

Not seen that for a while.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

Nice project, if rest of the floors is good that's not so bad.

Dazed and Confused....

Yep as Wil says, a circlip has got free. I suffered the same thing on the first engine I ever built when I was 17, a 1098cc +20 with a 12G295 head. At the time I had never heard of gudgeon pin buttons!

Rust repairs look fine. You've got your work cut out for a first time welding project, so fair play for getting it done and not giving up. I scrapped by 1st mini with less rust than that

Ouch!! Nice bits of grot there...

Thanks for the support guys,
It seems like every time I touch it I find another bit of rust, over the last 6 weeks I've had the bottom of both door frames (one was full of filler so has obviously been a problem before), both scuttle closers, so have had both wings off and am at the point where the front panels going to go and a removable fibre front end is going on. And the upper suspension mount was hiding a pretty nasty hole.







And where both of the footwells have been "Kwikfitted" they've gone as well so still got a bit more welding to do before I can get the engine in.

I said I'd do it, there's no need to remind me every 6 months!!

Nothing out of the ordinary rot wise. Have a look at the inner sills especially in the companion bins as well as the closing panel above the rear subframe, also in the companion bin.

Well its been a productive couple of months,

Floor wells replaced


Scuttle repaired and scuttle closer fitted


Front subframe Primed and trial fitted with brace bars


Fibre glass front trial fitted just a little more fettling to get it right


Seats and roll cage trial fitted


Plenty more to do but it's getting there slowly!

I said I'd do it, there's no need to remind me every 6 months!!

Looking good mate

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

So it's been a reasonably productive 3 or so months.
Got the last of the welding finished off, the fibreglass front in position and the engine bay painted,



Painted the underside with stone chip and underseal and fitted the fuel and brake lines


Got the Turbo fitted to manifold and on the engine and dropped the engine into the car ready to start trial fitting and squeezing everything in.


Now its get on with the prep work in order to get some paint on

I said I'd do it, there's no need to remind me every 6 months!!