helloooo! ! !

[Captain Slow]

Hi,

Heard about you lot in MiniWorld magazine and thought i should come check the site out.

I live in Chester and figured a while ago i needed to drive a mini one day before its too late :eek: . So im 28 and I just bought my first mini, got it on ebay for £700. Its a 1969 MkIII ( i think :confused: ) although it was first registered in 1971, no idea why but thats what the V5 says. its very tatty and has a few dents in the roof and on the wings (no idea how you get dents there) its dodgy 70's green (a few differnet shades) with a silver bonnet and was originaly an 850 but has a 998cc engine now that seems to run pretty well. I havnt had time to get it off the ground yet but underneath seems pretty solid (i hope) but it leaks through the rear window and passenger door and is going to need a whole new interior and probably a full respray. the breaks dont work and the speedo has decided i dont need to know how fast im going, the indicators only work when they want to and its missing its front bumper.

I really didnt know what i was leting myself in for, I have no idea how to do anything but i plan to get the old thing through its MOT then strip out the interior and start tidying up the paint and may have to get some new wings welded on. im going to do it one job at a time and it may take yeaaaaaaaars to get it finished.

Im worried i may have made a biiiiiiiig mistake buying this wee car but we shall see. :D

[Gr4H4m]

hello and welcome. not many on tonight as its the monthly club meet. Welcome. good luck with the car, people on here are a friendly bunch if you need any advice just post, and I'm sure someone can help:)

[Deano]

Hello somefool welcome to the miniaddicts forum hope you enjoy:)

[moddinmad]

you can never make a mistake with a mini. yes they may be hard work but always worth it.

Welcome to the forum and if u need any help just shout out someone wil surely help out

[Siano :)]

:D hi there welcome to the forum, minis do need time and patience, im gettin stressed with mine n aint even started lol!! well worth it in the end, chester close by were based in northop north wales (nr mold) so feel free to pop down to a met and ask questions :) hope u enjy the forum :D

[@lex]

somefool from chester saves a mini in need. :)
you aint no fool.......well done mate.... welcome and the best of luck. it will be worth it.

cheers

[TONYELF]

Welcome to the forum from the oldest member with the oldest car! Thats my only claim to fame! LOL. There is a few of us in same position, in fact some of us come to the meetings in our daily runabouts so please come and join us (just a social evening really, no stiff collars here! ) make an note in your diary if you have one! Next meeting is Weds 4th April at The Red Lion in Northop at 8.00pm but a few usually turn up early to compare/discuss problems ect(which we do in the meeting anyway!
There will be no pressure on you to join and you may come a few times(try before you buy if you like!) you may even join us on a run (next one is a run around the Wirral. some of us are meeting at the Tudor Rose at 10.15 bring a flask and butties or we can stop for lunch somewhere

[Siano :)]

There will be no pressure on you to join and you may come a few times(try before you buy if you like!) you may even join us on a run (next one is a run around the Wirral. some of us are meeting at the Tudor Rose at 10.15 bring a flask and butties or we can stop for lunch somewhere

feel free to tag along on the events in your daily run about too, i often go in my saxo (must admit try my hardest not to tho lol :o its awful lol!)

[Captain Slow]

Thanks everybody :D

i have been doing a lot of research in the last week trying to find out what i need to get this little car back on the road, it seems to have parts from many different generations and seems it may me a re shelled mk2 (was manufactured in 69 so could just be a very early Mk3).

I have decided that fixing the drum brakes and keeping them in working order is more work than its really worth so have decided to get it converted to disks right away although this means losing the 10 inch wheels :( i may consider a fiesta brake conversion (been reading about that in another forum, doesnt look too hard :confused: ) but the nice chap at chester mini centre said he can give me a set of 12 inch steel rims so ill get a set of dodgy part worn tyres on them until i can afford some shiny new alloys, he can also supply me with all the parts to do the conversion for £90 (used) which is less then replaceing all the cilinders (inc master cillinder) and shoes and will be a lot easier to look after. im still looking for somebody to sort the body work out for me for as little cash as possible but it doesnt need to look good to have some fun driving. ;)

I may pop in to the next meet and say hello, its only about 15 minutes from my house and i hope to have the little green thing back on the road by then if not ill be in my company car (an 06 focus TDCI)

[Gr4H4m]

Hi we should have a fiesta brake conversion how to soon, I'm editing the video check out the links below for further info...

The drums arn't too bad I replaced all of the wheel cylinders and shoes on mine last year. You can get the part from the Quality factor in Chester down the side of staples.. cost about £55.00 for the wheel cylinders and the shoes can be got for about £8 for the rear and £12 for the fronts... not hard just a bit of a pain to get the clips on the rear ones and you need a bit socket to get the brake line undone for the front one... so you might as well change it whilst you are there...

A Gunson easy bleed is very worth the cash...

http://www.miniaddicts.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28

[KAYE (Mrs Jones)]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Havn't been to chester mini centre for a while. I heard he had started doing parts. M&M's in Warrington are also pretty good (see links forum). Im originally from chester. Sunny Blacon. Whereabouts are you based? Hope you get your mini sorted soon :)

[Captain Slow]

Hi Kaye, im in Blacon I have lived here all my life and doesn't look like ill be leaving any time soon :).

I Have seen adverts for M&M in warrington and been past a few times but never went in but i may have a look next time im in the area. Chester mini center is only about 5 minutes from my house so its going to be handy for all the parts im going to need to get this car half decent :confused: im going to pop in and see him about gettin my brakes done today, hope he can fit me in soon.

[TONYELF]

Hi, I'm in Blacon:) too. I'm Kaye's Dad. Have not seen your mini around Blacon yet. Call at 6 Cavalier Drive, off Saxon Way/Shelley road if Ya fancy a Chat

[Captain Slow]

My mini has hardly moved in the 2 weeks i have owned it so no chance of seeing it around yet :( but once i get the brakes sorted ill be out in it all the time (gotta test everything to see what else doesnt work ;) ). im in overwood lane at the and of auckland road, so its a bit hidden at the minute.

im dreading taking it in to see an expert to have the brakes done, im worried he will find hundreds of other problems that will cost a fortune to fix but its gotta be done and then at the end of this month its MOT time :eek:

[Captain Slow]

things are not going well :confused: im taking my mini to Chester mini center on wednesday to have the brakes sorted and am getting a set of 12" wheels to fit over the disk brakes but cant find cheap tyres anywhere, i have phoned around and the cheapest new tyres i can find are £39 each, a place in shotton that sells part worn tyres told me he has never seen 145 70 12s and doesnt have anything that will fit, i still have a few places to call tomorrow but its not looking good. i hope tyre save in queensferry or saltney tyres have some :confused: or im gonna be looking around for a used set of wheels with some decent tyres on.

it looks like somebody has done some pretty poor repairs to the off side front of the car, the wing and A panel are way off so the seam looks right on the a panel side but on the wing side its about 2cm too wide, looks like this is why the door doesnt fit right so is gonna cost quite a bit to put all that right as well as the near side wing and door and the dents in the roof.

I told you i didnt know what i was letting myself in for :eek:

I have bought a Speedo cable though so its a start :D

[KAYE (Mrs Jones)]

We got four pirelli's delivered to the door for £98 from www.mytyres.co.uk for Mavis (our 1983 auto) She has 12inch mini lites on at the moment. The only trouble with getting tyres this way is getting them fitted as most places are only happy to fit them if they supply them. Good luck. Keep at it. Mini's have feelings and if you are nice to them they are nice back :)

[KAYE (Mrs Jones)]

Also I have heard Buckley Tyres are very good :)

[Captain Slow]

Thanks :) called buckley tyres today but they only do new tyres for £25 each. thats the chespest i have found for a new set but its a bit too much for a set of tyres that i dont plan on using for very long, im planning to get a new set of wheels with tyres pretty soon (12" weller motorsport steel rims) so really only need the tyres to get the car back home and for something for it to sit on outside my house. I have found a place in Ellesmere Port that can get me a set of part worn tyres for £15 each fitted so that should be fine for now. I looked in to buying online but the price to get them fitted makes them just as expensive as most other places.

Now im trying to find a place to rebuild the front end of the car and put a new coat of dadgy green paint on, there is no way im gonna get that done without paying more than i want :confused: can anybody recomend anywhere good?

[KAYE (Mrs Jones)]

Hey up. Dont Chester mini centre do all that sort of stuff, bit of restoration and spraying??? I know M & M's fit engines and stuff but not sure bout bodywork. Best just ringing round bodyshops me thinks. :)

[Captain Slow]

so its been nearly a year since i last posted. the little car has been sitting outside my house looking very sorry for its self, the cover i bought to keep it dry blew off too many times and got ripped in half so its been getting wet for the past few months and it doesnt help that the doors and windows leak, i havnt started it in a few months either and the battery is flat so i feel bad for neglecting the poor thing.

good news is i have managed to get some money together to finaly start getting some work done. time to find a body shop and get it ready for an mot :D

[RSP]

Hang on in there, all good things come to those who wait (According to Guinness) mmmmmm like Guinness.

If you are in need of some body work, pm Denty on the forum he is the proud owner of a body repair shop in Ellesmere Port and has done a few of the members cars.