Irish Mini Owners Club

Thought that I would start a thread on the restoration of the van that I bought diwn in the Kingdom during the summer.I,ve been resisting the temptation to start as I had other projects on the go,namely the RSP.Anyway I ran out of argon this evening and having a hour to spare I jacked up the rear of the van and started to take off the rear subframe.I was thinking that if 1 of the 8 bolts holding on the subframe came out without shearing I would be lucky.Guess what,all 8 came out and the subframe only has minor rust in two places so it will be sand blasted,repaired,powdercoated and used again.The threads on the bolts were greased and came out like new.I had a good look around the rear floor area and all seems to be solid there.It will need a complete valance and closing panel but thats all the panels needed at the rear.The whole of the underneath seems to be coated in some kind of tar and when I took this off shiny metal is below.I will post pictures tomorrow.

Keep us posted on progress

Few pictures of the van.Not great quality but I will post up better ones when I get a chance.

Rear load floor from underneath.


Anyone got a spare van fuel tank


Heelboard.


Shiny metal under the tar on wheel arch.


The plan is to strip it over the next couple of weeks,put it on a spit and get the whole car beadblasted due to the surface rust on the body.[/img]

Would a Marcos fuel tank fit ???

If a tank from a pickup is the same I have a spare one in the shed.

that shiny metal is amazing. after 46 years.. im speechless.

Fair play to Jackie Healy Rae for keeping the roads of Kerry well tarred (and his fleet of trucks delivering the stuff)

I think the tank is the same on the pickup so I interested in the one you have steeo.I will send you a pm.And it was the roads of south Kerry that Jackie fixed and built,he had heavy plant machinery as well.

Here is a few photos of the tank just to make sure its the right one

View of tank


Underneath


Dent in the bottom


Don't worry about the 2 black marks on the left it must be something in the camera lens

Good condition for a spare.

I picked up a new van/estate/pick up/marcos tank in Norfolk at the IMM, fully galvanised with all fittings and mountings. Made in Canada.

I picked up a new tank thats why this one is spare.

Before i got the new one i stripped this one to see if the dent was terminal (cracked metal) but it turned out grand but i had the new one by then, I even had it pressure tested and every thing was ok, I then sprayed it with an acid etch primer before giving it a coat of black.

right which one are you taking Aden my ould girl needs a tank as well so If one of you are intrested in parting with one for a few yoyo im's your man

Sorry Merlin,I,m taking both,one for the van and the other for my estate,it,s only a matter of time before it springs a leak.The rust was so bad on the underneath of it that I was afraid to wire brush it so I left well enough alone and just painted over it but I need to replace it before the trip to the IMM.

I,m continuing the strip down of the van and I was wondering if anyone knew the location of the heater switch in an early van.There is a blank in the switch panel and I was wondering if this was correct and the switch mounted elsewhere or was this put in by the last owner.The wires are hanging down from the switch panel behind this blank.It just seems like alot of trouble to go to,putting in a blank in the panel.And if the switch is in the panel should it be an on/off switch or a rheostat.Just wondering.

I think the heaters where optional extras on comercials. I think I have a rheostat and heater if you need them.

I know the feel it can be very temping to on more than one project at time. Best of luck with the van, nice project.



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10 inch wheels it’s not the size it’s what do with it.

The front subframe is ready to come out and after that it will be the wiring loom,interior and doors so by the weekend I should have it down to a bare shell.

From what I,ve seen so far the rust on the rear drivers floorpan is the only rust in the floor of the whole van so rather than put in a whole rear floor panel I will put in a new piece of floor in that bit only.I want to keep as much of the original shell as possible.Also if anyone knows of a really good panel beater anywhere in the north east/Dublin/midlands area that is good with a hammer and dolly to take the dents out of the roof drop me a pm.

I fairly sure that the heater was fitted at a later date to manufactuer as the two bolts holding it onto the parcel shelf go right through the trim of the parcel shelf and I think thats a step too rough even for early minis.

Will it be ready for the IMM in Holland ?????

Incidentally , you don't need to do a new post for every photo,

The plan is to have it ready for the IMM in England,if I had enough time I,m sure I could have it ready for Holland but then I would have to live in it after as I would be homeless.

I got a tin of El-Bo grease off TMG at the IVS Mondello Live show and the results were amazing.After a half an hour I was able to transform this

into this.

I,ve also started cleaning up other bits and the rear subframe is away for shotblasting and hopefully I will be able to save it.I hope to finish stripping the shell on saturday and I,ve been trying a chemical method for removing the rust on the panels so I will post pictures of the results later.Heres a picture of the pieces cleaned and painted and ready for putting back on the van.

Ye can expect more lots more posts now that the race is on to have it ready for the big birthday bash in Brum,the IMM, next year although it might make an appearance at the biggest and best classic only mini run next year.

Wow, KMG, that El-Bo grease is powerful stuff. Does it have any other uses - around the house for example???!!!!

Julie

I have never tried it around the house Julie, but if you want to try some I can bring it to the Committee meeting on Sunday.

I think Julie needs more shotblasting to get help get the house clean. EL-bo grease is usually used by oneself , rather than the shotblasting which is usually given to someone else to do.