Hi guys

Founder and ex chairman of MOCKZN (+-1996) before my move up to the big smoke (Johannesburg) in December 2014.

Am 46 years old now, (2015) and have had a Mini since i was 18.

Currently own 2.

One 1978 1100DL round front with a 1380 and more mods than you shake a stick at
And
a 1981 1275e Clubman which at some stage will end up with a Toyota 20 valve 1600cc engine.

I am a hot rodder at heart so a standard Mini doesn't stay that way long in my hands,

Hi everyone,

My name is Quinton,
I own a 1982 Mini 1275 Rebel, that is currently under restoration. 

This is what it looked like in September 2015 after getting it, i did a lot of foolish tinkering after deciding last year May that she needs a makeup session badly and that's when i ended up starting to strip it.

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Hello gentlemen....
Let's start

Old alias : Mini-Sumeet
New alias: mini~mizer

Good to be back here...

Name: Sumeet
Location: Pretoria East ( formerly from KZN)
Wheels: 1975 Mach 3 Leyland Mini 1098cc
Year of 1st ownership: 2000


Work done so far: 
Complete engine overhaul with 20 thou rebore in 2008.

Upgrades:
LCB branches
HS4 carb with all new bits & pieces (set of twin HS2 fully rebuilt and ready to go in)
Cooper S 7.5inch front discs
Rear GTS drums and studs
New rubber donuts 
Dougs Hi-Lo kit (front + rear)
10" mistrals .....

And a whole lot of other small bits and pieces along the way in the 15 years that I have the car ....

Not too sure which sub-forum would be best for this, so if the Mods think it's better elsewhere then please move it.

Has anyone got any experience with the British Heritage Motor Centre and their Heritage Certificates? I'm considering getting one when the exchange rate improves and I have some money (so it may never happen). I'm trying to find out if guys who've got them feel that they're worth the money - at 42 Pounds they're not cheap, and I don't want to spend the money only to find that they don't have any useful information on my car.

Also which option did you go with? There's a simple Dating Letter, a Dating letter with technical specs, a Heritage Certificate, and a Heritage certificate with technical specs (for 73 pounds!).

Link to their website: http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/s...vices.html

I've found two pages which are pretty useful, the information is similar but not exactly the same. Both the links are for English built cars, so are only applicable to very early Minis.

http://www.minimania.com/Mini_Chassis_VI...__Revised_

http://www.retrominisltd.co.uk/index.php...page&id=16

If you're looking for chassis or engine tags (purely to get your old Mini looking smart you understand) here is the link. They sell the genuine rivets too, so you can keep things original, and shipping isn't a killer.

http://www.retrominisltd.co.uk/index.php...x&cPath=31

Jared Mk3 suggested that a dedicated Multimedia/Photoshop forum section be created for custom artworks and Photoshop type images.

I was thinking maybe a rename of the "Things that make you go Hmmmm" section as it is essentially pics section?

Saw this link in another thread and found it useful : CLICKY

My engine number starts with 9AK-H . . . Not listed there.

My Mini now has a name - Eileen. The thread title is in anticipation of trying to coax an 850 up some of the monster hills around here, while having to carry her over-weight owner. I'm not going to post any pics in this first post, I'm just going to explain the recent history of the car.

I first heard of her existence about ten years ago while I was down the coast visiting a friend, and I got a phone call from a good friend (who I worked with at the time). He had been offered an old mini that didn't need too much work to get through the RWC and he wanted something small and cheap to drive around town in, saving his Audi for longer trips. Without really knowing what old Minis sold for, but knowing that a Mk1 was worth owning, I advised him to buy it, and he did. He spent a little money on it, and did some fiddling, but not too much, and before he could get it on the road, he was transferred to Gauteng, and didn't have space up there to store it. I offered to store it out on the farm I was staying on at the time, and he offered to sell it to me at the price he paid for it, and I could pay him whenever I had the cash, so I took it. I sorted the brakes out and drove her on the farm a few times, but didn't have the cash to spend on any fixing up or even the RWC, so she mostly stood on the verandah.

I re-married, and moved with her to Hilton, and there she stood outside under a car cover, which was not a good thing - the cover trapped the moisture in (and there is a lot of moisture in Hilton) and some rust damage occurred, mainly the boot and under the rear bumper. When I moved her after the divorce, I couldn't get her running, but wasn't stressed - I had no-one nagging me to work on other stuff and I'd have the time to work on her, or so I thought. Actually, she stood out in the garden for three years and I never touched her. Just after the move, I acquired a girlfriend, and spent a lot of time out of town visiting her, and even when I was at home, working on the Mini wasn't at the top of the list of things to be done. The rust got a little worse. When I left that house, a friend who has a panel beating workshop and who specialises in old cars (mostly a lot more valuable than a little Mini) offered to store her in a shed and suggested that instead of him getting his guys to strip her down and rebuild her, that I do it myself both to save money and to allow me to do it myself. I suspect he was hoping I'd be finished by now...

All this time the car wasn't registered in my name, as the registration papers had gone missing somewhere, and it was a bit of a mission to get a new copy. Kiru had kept the license paid for (I did mention that he is a good friend didn't I?), and I repaid him for that, and made contact with someone at the licensing department who helped out a bit with the schlep of getting the papers sorted out. As far as I can tell from the chassis number, she was built in 1961, and she has been registered since 1962. At some stage (exchange rate depending) I will see about a Heritage Certificate, just to see what the original specs were and to decide if I'm going to keep to that or just build a car to look good and to drive and enjoy.

So Dave collected the car and plopped her down in his shed, she was finally in my name and I started stripping her down. The work is very slow - I am slow and don't get there to work nearly as often as I was hoping. There just seems to be so much that take priority, and it is dragging out quite frustratingly. Being a member of the KZN Mini owners and following most of the chat on WhatsApp helps keep my focus on things Mini, and has increased my resolve to keep plodding on and eventually finish this. This forum is also good, not just for knowledge, but the support and motivation it provides. I have now got a donor body to get bits off that might be too badly rusted to repair, and really need to get some concentrated time in and have her stripped and ready for painting by the end of the year. If all goes according to plan, I might possibly have a running Mini by Cars in the Park. But don't put money on that happening.

For the record the chassis number is M-A2S4-132XXX and the engine number is 8AMUH 389XXX, although I never checked to see if the original engine is still in the car.


tl;dr - I have an old car with a name and no social life

Some of you have seen it already, but hey :


 
And two other bodies on the same base :