Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

[Rich]

When this car is back on the road it will be a tribute to you.

[MrBounce]

Rich - Thank you so much. It is that sort of comment that keeps me going!

I have to admit to quite liking other peoples' bodges. Makes me realise that my corrective work can be nowhere near as bad. I finally got some more resin and set about laying some more fibreglass behind the nose and also over the inside of the hole I made last weekend. This was where I remembered that doing a "hot mix" of resin is where you need to use it quickly. Oops. I now have a paintbrush firmly stuck to the hardened resin still in the mixing pot. Never mind...

I had a small issue of how to make sure that the repairs to the nose were straight. I used the relatively simple option of a wooden baton with clear tape wound round it and clamped to the front end. I was able to stuff the hole with P40 and will be able to peel off the baton once it's dry, leaving a straight edge. At least that's the theory.

Whilst that was drying I thought I would have a look at the fuel line. I am going to replace the brake line anyway as I have a full set of cunifer lines which came with the project, but I thought the fuel line might be salvageable. It was quite horrid really; I couldn't quite figure out whether it was covered in badly applied paint or if it was the accumulation of 30 years of grime from both the road and from just standing around in gardens. Still, wire wool is brilliant. A bit of elbow grease and the fuel line looks in good nick again. I will need to give it a blow through and will also have to re-bend it at the front beause it just won't sit right. Not too difficult a job I guess, but I will need a pipe bender.

Newly laid fibreglass under nose...



...and around the indicator recess.



Baton (covered in clear tape) clamped to the front.

[MrBounce]

P40 applied. Baton *should* peel off.



Starting to clean the fuel line. Is it paint? Or is it grime?



Looks nice again!

[MrBounce]

I have been a little lax recently, enjoying the hot weather both here and abroad so no recent updates and for that I can only apologise!

With the shell up on its side I could turn my attention to the vast amount of holes through the floor. These were for the old twin-cables from the handbrake as well as the lever itself, the twin bolt subframe floor mount holes, the old seat mounting bolts and where the old remote gear selector had been mounted. Tink went inside the car and gaffa-taped over the holes whilst I used the countersink drill bit to enlarge the holes a little and give the filler something to adhere to. Then it was a simple matter of filling in the holes & sanding them flat.

Talking of sanding, I feel I am getting somewhere with the front end now. It's flattening off nicely, the tape-covered baton did its job well to straighten up the nose; soon all I will need to do is to give it a thin skim of P38 in places and we will be good for some primer. However, I noticed some more cracks (groan) on the underside of the front airdam which included one which had gone right through. I have strengthened it from behind for now and will grind it out properly in due course in order to repair it properly.

Finally I have been collecting some more parts - I have 2 CV joint kits, a pair of inner boot gaiters, and have finally splashed out on a pair of recon radius arms. Big thanks to Ted at the East Anglian Mini Centre who was happy to take my hydro/dry hybrid arms in exchange.

Holes filled in - these are in the exhaust tunnel.



Front end smoothing off. It doesn't look great but it will after the primer!!



More cracks! Arrrggghhhh!!

[MrBounce]

Recon Radius Arms. At last!!

[MrBounce]

Yet more bodywork today. Am getting to be quite a dab hand at sanding. Yay me. I still hate it though. If anyone ever wants to offer me a job at a bodyshop, it will only be as the teaboy, or the bloke who is allergic to sandpaper and never does body repairs.

I ground out and repaired the crack in the bottom of the airdam then spent the rest of the afternoon filling in bits around the bottom of the bodyshell. I also spent time sorting out the hole which I'd filled where the original selector sat. I say filled. I meant chucked a load of P40 in and left to do another day. It is now much, much smoother, and nothing like the wild terrain that had been left there before.

There was a little bit of damage where the steering rack U-bolts come through the bottom of the bulkhead. I wasn't 100% sure how to deal with it but then had a brainwave. I put some tape round some old bolts and poked them through the holes, then used P40 around them. Touch wood it looks like it'll work well. The upper bulkhead repairs have been finished off with some filler and I have also applied my first skim to the front end. It appears I have turned a corner. Woo-hoo!!

Airdam repairs complete.



Bulkhead repairs filled (pic taken halfway through - I did finish it!!)



Filled hole where gear selector sits midway through tidying up.

[MrBounce]

Steering rack U-bolt repairs underway.



First little skim of filler!!

[DavidL]

I hate to think what this car would cost you if someone had been charging you per hour...

[MrBounce]

David, in answer to that question, I'll just say OUCH!

Had a couple of hours spare after work so spent most of doing yet more sanding. I cleaned up the repairs I had made to the bulkhead where the rack bolts through - am quite pleased with it. It needs final smoothing but that shouldn't be too much of a chore. However, having given the car a further once over I noticed I had missed a few spider cracks in the floor (some around one of the holes for the seat belts) plus some more in the front. Out came my trusty friend Dremel and I ground them out before filling them with resin. I once again did the trick of tape round the bolt to keep the hole round. I am getting tired of repairs now. Will it ever end???

Rack mounts repaired - final smoothing needed.



HOW MANY MORE DAMNED CRACKS ARE THERE IN THIS THING??!!

[MrBounce]

2 steps have been made forward, which is always a good thing. Unless there's 3 steps backwards. Which in this case, there were. My wife's stepbrother has a Mini and wants to put a 1275 engine in it eventually, so bought a 1980 Allegro. In Brown. On hearing this, I went to look at it and he very kindly let me have the rad in exchange for helping him eventually fit a stage one kit to the Mini. So out came the rad (took 2 minutes) and I pilfered the expansion bottle too. I'll need to get a bracket for it as the one on the car had morphed into a huge nasty rusty blob on the inner wing. I left it there. I also took the thermostat housing & the sandwich plate as these will be more suited to the heater I am using.

However, the problem with removing the thermostat housing on a 33 year old car usually means they haven't moved in those 33 years. It took 45 minutes of bad language, brute force, double nut technique and a little ingenuity. I had to remove one of the studs at home (broken of course) as it resolutely refused to move. New studs required. I will clean up the housing & the sandwich plate in due course.

I decided to back flush the radiator so blocked off the pipe to the expansion bottle and put the hose in the outlet pipe. A bit of brown sludge came out and then it all ran clear from the inlet. And the middle of the radiator. Yup, it has a hole. I might see how much it is to recore as this one has solid looking metal end tanks as opposed to the rather fimsy plastic ones on my old rad. There's a rad specialist not far from me so we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime I have done some more sanding and finally removed the remains of the old screws which held in the headlining. Am getting depressed about the body work again...

Radiator, fan & expansion bottle, as removed.



Sandwich plate & thermostat housing. They were a struggle to remove.



And the reason I won't be using this radiator.