Caspers Journey

[Ridhwaan1275E]

I was always a Mini fan , new and old , from early years watching my family own a good few , to it being my parents mode of transport to school.

So my hunt began early last year when i joined MOCKZN alongside Trinesh and Ed , they knew i was looking for a classic Mini of my own.

There was a good few that i came across and for some reason or another i just did not manage to seal the deal ,

On the 9th of December 2015 that all changed , i came across a beautiful 1275E for sale and again with the advice of my trustworthy companions i made the call and sealed the deal

I took a lift with a friend down to PMB and literally had no lift back , i entered the sellers yard and was graced with this site


Seriously it was love at first sight!

Had it's known issues , front suspension collapsed , Hi Los were included not fitted so had my first task at hand!



Was sitting a bit too low!

but i still loved everything about the car! it was neat , the seats and interior was neat , was missing backboard and hood lining (More exciting times regarding that coming up)



so it was time to get Casper loaded ! called up a flat bed and the journey back home began

we started this long drive back , and gitty as a child i was eager to get her in the yard and start her up.

We reached home and it was time to offload my new pride and joy



By then i was even more keen to get in and drive! so the next day bright and early , i contacted my good friend Ed and asked him for advice on attempting to do the Hi Los , he told me what he could and gave me some pictures and diagrams , and i was also being advised by Doug , so with a good luck from them both i started my first ever mechanical job which was tackling Hi Los on a Mini



Got my tools out and got the wheels off and started the struggle! constantly on the phone for help with Ed (Sensei)



My help via diagrams had arrived



so with a bit of motivation behind me i got cracking , a few cuts here and there , pinched skin , squashed fingers and a lot of sweat later i reached my next stage



Did not want to stop there so head down i got on with it , again numerous calls to Ed and Doug and i managed to get the passenger side done !!

At this point i took a break , realised that this was no easy task at all , but i was already half way there , so head down i got on with it , it took me 11 hours !! yes 11 hours! to complete this task



Greasy fenders later the car was ready to hit the road , started her up with the aid of jumpers only to find out after the drive that the starter motor was fried as well , Doug was at hand to help me out there and supply me one

came home got the new starter and fitted it



Starter in and with the first swing Casper shook into life !

Loved every minute of driving it , i was content at the time but slowly but shortly the eagerness to get things done kicked in

so what would have taken me 5/6 months had now turned into a 2 month frenzy!

That nasty mark on the door that you see , was because the driver side door had no door stop , got one of those and fitted it in , good thing was i was doing the work by myself so learning about the car as my journey goes on.



Doors did not open from the inside so for the few weeks i was stretching and opening the door from the outside like a gentleman that i am

Went to Doug who helped me with one door only to find out that the door opening mechanisms were put on upside down , so right door had left and vice versa

got home and started with that !

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Success! i could finally open the door from the inside!

At this point i was quite happy with my progress so far leaving me with a few things to sort on my list to begin with , reverse light , radio and hood lining ...

decided we go easiest one first , went and bought me a radio , which was going to be my first time ever installing a radio!






Aaand done ! Mind the wires which thanks to Zak for supplying me with some cable bulking i have hidden !

again i was happy for a few days then realised i needed to sort the reverse light switch! so under the car i go!

remove switch go to Doug ( by now i was a regular) bought switch returned home , under the car again , switch fitted and .......



Now my car was in working order but still the hood lining and now we figured out CV joints needed to be replaced as well!

Boy it felt like it was never going to end!

Well this is Part 1 of my jouney with Casper!

still a lot more to come ! (Hood lining , Self made Boot Board , little bits and bobs) all in part 2

[Vinay-RS]

That's a good number of jobs that you've tackled yourself Ridhwaan and Casper will benefit greatly from all the changes.
Soon you will be one of the experts on the forum, especially since with each fix/change that you do, you are gaining so much experience.

Any plans to fit smaller discs and get 10" wheels? I think a set of wide 10" minilites would suit your car perfectly.

[Miniac]

I have to admit that I was seriously considering to buy Casper myself had you not bought him but I'm a lot happier that you did after seeing all the enthusiasm that you've shown after stepping into the role of a classic mini owner always willing to make the attempt before outsourcing the job to a professional, which in your case has only happened once with the CV joints which I myself would have given Doug the job of doing them for me as well, hopefully the jobs don't get the better of you and you continue to enjoy years and years to come of classic mini ownership and enjoyment.

[Jared Mk3]

Love to see progress like this, especially getting stuck in yourself Great stuff.

[Ridhwaan1275E]

Part 2 !

So after settling in with Casper and learning more about the engine and so on , i was quick to find out that it was rebored to 1380 and using Mazda pistons

also found out more about the twin su carbs , and that mine were in very good nick and running very well (Words from Doug)

motivated me more to learn about them so ended up getting myself a digital copy on how to tune SU Carbs for mini book on my laptop and i am still studying it ( for those who want it can contact me i will email it to them)

and whilst doing that i managed to download the original Mini Workshop Manual , not the Heynes one , the original manual

also if anyone is interested in it you can contact me and i will email a copy to you



Before my engine clean,

after my engine clean we found the block to be blue and silver

At this point in time i was starting to feel the pinch in terms of budget and my big plans for an amazing hood lining got put on hold , instead i got on the phone with Doug we managed to find a very very neat second hand one at his place , yet again Doug to the rescue.

Got home and gave it a proper scrub , yes a little rough around the edges , the odd stain here and there but at this point some hood lining is better than nothing , got myself some glue , recruited a guy from work for a day and we got to it!





Again many hours later and quite high on glue , we were done

up till today not a saggy corner nor a loose side has come about.

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Then i got a big edgy about the boot! For some reason the standard two piece board was just not working for me , so before i recovered them i decided to try something very different

Part of our business is making Poly-carbonate Awnings , so with the use of my awnings materials and tools to cut i hatched a plan to custom make myself a boot board!





So first i had to make myself a template



Then trace it out onto the Poly Carb sheet and cut it to shape



After having cut the sheet i placed it in the boot and made some finer trimmings so it fitted snug



At this point it would have been complete but being a bit of a perfectionist i could not leave it like that , so i added a lip at the bottom and rubberized the whole thing. Added a piece of rubber over it to protect it from scratches





And then i was finally happy with my boot board! For those who are interested in doing something like this , you can contact me

[Vinay-RS]

It actually cleaned up quite nicely Ridz.

Post up the picture of your engine tag, so we can confirm the original paint colour of your mini. I think you are right in saying it was red before, but I haven't had a chance to check.

[Jared Mk3]

Great job with the boot board!

[Ridhwaan1275E]

So that was the hard work gone into Casper so far!

a few little bits and bobs needed changing , headlamp globes , indicator flasher , steering wheel!!



Before reverting back to stock



Not to forget just yesterday i had a go with changing the mirrors , mine were old and tired so just bought a new set to stabilize things on the mirror front , big difference now at 90km/h my mirrors have lost the automatic close function.








So ladies and gentleman this have been my journey so far , and with time this journey will grow and grow and i will keep everyone up to date with the work i carry out on Casper!

Hope you all enjoyed our little journey so far!

Best of luck to all working on their cars and let this be a bit of motivation , 3 months ago i knew very little about Classic Minis

and here i am today capable of changing Hi Los , Needle and seats and floats in the petrol catch which sit next to the carb

So it is really possible to do it yourself , just be confident and go for it!

I'm no expert but i am always available to try and help , looking forward to hearing from you guys

[Vinay-RS]

Great idea on the rubber on the sides of the boot. I am definitely going to borrow/steal that idea. I too have noticed that when the boot boards vibrate, while driving, there is quite a bit of rubbing.

[Miniac]

Those Mazda 323 mirrors really do look the part.