Gunnar is a Mini restoration artist!!

Wow! What a fabulous job! With that attention to detail, I reckon you are an engineer?? :-)

Color is very close to my old 66 S, think it was almond green, but I could be wrong on that.

Good luck with the project!

Thanks - I agonized for months over the color. I even got the original paint formula from Australia. Some old paint shop owner actually dug through his old material and found it. When I got the color, I couldn't find any paint store that could mix it. I have a door skin with about 5 or 6 shades of green. This color matched the original color the best out of the bunch and changes from almost black in the shade to a nice green in the sun. It may as well be black - it is not forgiving to any flaws.

Regarding arches:  Yes, these are the Australian Cooper S arches used on the MK2s. These arches were also supplied to dealers for Mk1 cars. I think that cars in New South Wales required arches to be fitted on the Cooper S. It has been many months since I researched this bit of history, but I think there was a recall for cars in this "state" and fitted for free. Copies are made periodically from the original molds and require metal straps for support. I think they are a nice looking flare, but I haven't decided whether or not to use them.

Hi Scargo,

Engine is apart and at a machinist (numbers match). I need to order replacement parts. Carbs need a rebuild. I have been purchasing various Australia only parts and stashing them away. I have a new set of hydrolastic displacers (still in the box) that will go on the car. Tanks need to be cleaned and painted/powder coated. Rear subframe is new old stock, just needs powder coating. Front subframe is original and fits nicely - needs powder coating.

Work on the shell started in July 2010. I think we're between 500-600 hours. This Mini had some bad repairs in its lifetime and a front end collision at some point. It wasn't a hard hit, but did do some damage. There was a fair amount of work repairing this front end damage in addition to rust. The Australian front ends have no vent holes, different bonnet catch, license plate bracket, etc. that had to be made right on the replacement front panel.

I wanted to keep the original floor stamping pattern, that's why sections were cut out and repaired. The floors took a fair amount of time. Much of this was due to the front end collision - lots of areas to straighten with a hammer and dolly. In the end, the front subframe and remote shifter fit perfectly. We didn't get too carried away with making the floor perfect. There are still some small dings here and there to retain some character.

Some parts were made from scratch, since we couldn't find a good match. The door steps were made from scratch since replacement parts didn't match. There was only one vent on the outer sill panel (lower rear), so modifying replacement sills was not easy. Somewhere in the pictures you see one that was crumpled up and thrown around the shop in frustration (smile). Original spot welds were put back on all replacement panels. The inner fenders were pretty beat up and these were straightened and repaired. The fan shroud is also stamped with the body number, so this had to be retained and fixed rather than replaced.

I think the boot lid had something like 40 rust holes, but is original and the outer skin was very nice. These were all welded up and looks like new.

One door skin was replaced, and another repaired. Door hinges are original steel and not aluminum. These were refurbished. The door pockets were in bad shape. We salvaged one door pocket and I got another from Australia (found a guy who had a parts door stashed under his house).

Boot floor was badly rusted and repaired. There were a lot of hours in this repair, as this was also cut to include a portion of the rear seat that had rusted. New battery box replaced as well as a tank support which was badly rusted.

Left rear quarter had been bumped at one time. This required some metal shrinking and dolly work. It looks great now!

Drip rails along the roof were removed, fixed, and welded back in place. Portions of the roof gutters were fabricated and replaced.

There is probably of long list of items I've missed, but that's what I recall off the top of my head. So, I think we're nearly finished with the body and paint. The roof still needs paint.

Mark

awesome color choice! are those australian arches?

Stunning so far.  Nice work, great detail in the process phots.  Thanks for the post.

Great photo documentation of the process. What's the current status of the project, and how long has it taken to get to where you are?

Thanks - paint and body work was performed by Gunnar Gordon in Seattle. He's pretty well known in the Seattle area for his work on Minis.

Wow....some of you guys do such excellent work with paint jobs.  That looks great!
I recently saw anothers users home paint job in person....very nice.

Making progress on my Mini restoration. Thought I'd share some pictures here for fun.

Over 800 other photos here - from the frustrating beginning through today.

//mmalleck.smugmug.com/Cars/1966-Morris-Mini-Cooper-S/12970678_BfRcx#1161425748_LKmTM

Mark