Description
This is "Fiona" named after the previous owner, it has had 5 owners including me, 3 of the others were from the same family, i have a large collection of paperwork history appertaining to the car kindly supplied by Fiona.
It had stood for 30 years in a garage and Fiona asked our mini club if anyone wanted to rescue it or it was going for scrap as she was moving, i accepted the challenge and collected the car.
It is now registered as historic and is ULEZ exempt.
It took 8 months of work ( i am retired ) and many invoices from Minispares and Newtons to bring it up to its present state, everything that could be saved was.
New left and right outer sills (vented) and front floor pans left inner sill and inner wheel arch and spare wheel well repaired, lower left rear wheel arch corner repaired, it has had a new bonnet, doors, wings and front panel replaced at sometime previously and were in excellent condition, the bumpers and grill were cleaned and painted satin black.
It had been resprayed at sometime and i wasn't happy with the adhesion so i removed much of the paint sometimes to bare metal then a coat of epoxy primer followed by 2k hi build primer flatted then 3 coats of Nautilus Blue cellulose paint as per original factory finish.
A new headlining was fitted and then the windows and windscreen glass with new seals, the original carpet was very good so was deep cleaned and refitted, the foam in the drivers seat had collapsed so was replaced, the biggest expense was to replace the original specification Houndstooth seat covers as the originals were in very poor condition, the seat frames are the slide back and forward non headrest type and work perfectly.
A new bulkhead dash and parcel shelf cover was fitted and the ashtray replaced with a phone/ charger mount, i have the original ashtray if you want originality.
I collected 11 standard wheels to find a good set, they were sandblasted and painted and fitted with new 145x80x10 radial summer tyres ( NOT trailer tyres! ) the hubcaps are original polished stainless again as per original.
The engine and gearbox was stripped and all the gearbox bearings and baulk rings were replaced plus a new layshaft, the clutch had been replaced at some time previously and was perfectly reusable, the engine itself was in surprisingly good condition a testament to the previous owners servicing routine, a light hone and new rings was all that was needed, the valves were lapped and new valve stem seals fitted, the crankshaft thrust bearings were replaced the main and rod bearings showed no signs of wear so were left.
The wiring loom was refurbished the pink wire was deleted and the ballast resistor fitted on the coil, new distributor vacuum unit, the wiper motor park switch and wheel boxes were replaced, a pre engaged starter and new ring gear fitted, new heater matrix, heater valve and reconditioned radiator.
The front subframe was cleaned and painted and all engine and subframe rubber bushes replaced, top arm pins and bearings and suspension cones replaced, front dampers were replaced sometime in the past and are fine, steering rack refurbished with new shaft bearings and boots, new left hand inner cv joint, all joints cleaned and regreased and all drive shaft boots replaced.
The petrol tank was cleaned and sealed and the metal petrol pipe front to rear replaced, a filter is fitted to the rear subframe as a precaution, the exhaust was replace not long before it was parked 30 years ago and is fine along with the rear subframe.
All brake pipes and wheel cylinders were replaced, the clutch and master cylinder were honed and new seals fitted, the front and rear brake drums cleaned and checked for distortion and refitted, the right hand front brake adjuster was seized so a new backplate was fitted.
Of note the speedo "ticks" at low speeds i suspect the grease has gone hard with lack of use, it should improve. I wont get back the time i have spent on "Fiona" but my aim in taking on the car as a project was to save it from being scrapped and to give it a new lease of life for it's next custodian i have enjoyed the journey but now it's time for someone else to enjoy.
