Matthew97
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 49
- Drives
- Anything
I've decided that I am going to try and use this as a motivation piece to get this thing out this year (or next), as for the past 11 years I've been saying I'd like to go to the MINI run at the port, and so far I have a 0/11 year success rate.
So I'd like to introduce my 1985 Austin Mini Mayfair.
Bought just over 12 years ago, this little car has caused me more grief than any other car I've ever owned, yet, seeing it was my first ever car purchase, I can't really ever sell it!
Bought from outside Ballymoney in 2012. Had been off the road since 2005 at the time. Cost me £480, and it was a running, and driving car, with no working starter and no 1st gear! Little 1000cc engine ran sweet though, and it was trailered home.
Someone had painted it with a brush, in a horrible pastel blue colour. Please forgive the horrible photos with filters
I spent at least a year just ripping it about the house, thinking about how I would ever afford to fix it, learning how to do handbrake turns etc. Then decided I would start taking panels off it and get it ready to go for paint and welding.
Painted in tahiti blue with sportspack silver roof. Was pretty chuffed.
However, at this point in approximately 2014, the MINI was put under a cover and wasn't touched for the next 5 years. A loss of interest/first job, first car on road etc fuelled this
Fast forward to 2019 and I was getting married that year. My best man and I decided to be a little ambitious and with 41 days until the wedding, we decided that this would be the ideal wedding car for my wife and I
- hindsight, this was one of my less smart decisions.
Regardless, what followed was a 6 week battle with wiring, arches, panels lining up, sourcing parts that I had sold or lost, all whilst trying to plan my wedding and get that part of life organised!
This is how it sat when we started (engine pulled out for gearbox repair)
Ended up getting another engine with box etc on it to save some time, fitted that and got it rolling again
Then we started fighting with wiring, getting the glass in, trims, lights etc. - Also some arches (badly) fitted
Then it fired into life for the first time. Drove it exactly one week before the wedding for the first time in about 10 years
Then after some arch paint, again not a great job, and some finishing touches including number plates, we ended up with this.
Far from perfect, but definitely from at least a 6 foot distance, you'd nearly think it was a well finished car!
It has sat mostly untouched for the last nearly 5 years now. Apart from one house move, and one run out with the dog in the front seat, it hasn't really been driven or worked on.
My plan is this year to pull the engine back out, as we have some major oil leaks. Paint the engine bay, and tidy the wiring/engine up. Then some new bumpers as the old ones have rusted, and some proper trim pieces and stickers as well as a full suspension/brake overhaul.
Hopefully this wasn't too long winded, and even more hopefully I can pull it out in the next week or two over the holidays and get cracking.
So I'd like to introduce my 1985 Austin Mini Mayfair.
Bought just over 12 years ago, this little car has caused me more grief than any other car I've ever owned, yet, seeing it was my first ever car purchase, I can't really ever sell it!
Bought from outside Ballymoney in 2012. Had been off the road since 2005 at the time. Cost me £480, and it was a running, and driving car, with no working starter and no 1st gear! Little 1000cc engine ran sweet though, and it was trailered home.
Someone had painted it with a brush, in a horrible pastel blue colour. Please forgive the horrible photos with filters
I spent at least a year just ripping it about the house, thinking about how I would ever afford to fix it, learning how to do handbrake turns etc. Then decided I would start taking panels off it and get it ready to go for paint and welding.
Painted in tahiti blue with sportspack silver roof. Was pretty chuffed.
However, at this point in approximately 2014, the MINI was put under a cover and wasn't touched for the next 5 years. A loss of interest/first job, first car on road etc fuelled this
Fast forward to 2019 and I was getting married that year. My best man and I decided to be a little ambitious and with 41 days until the wedding, we decided that this would be the ideal wedding car for my wife and I
- hindsight, this was one of my less smart decisions. Regardless, what followed was a 6 week battle with wiring, arches, panels lining up, sourcing parts that I had sold or lost, all whilst trying to plan my wedding and get that part of life organised!
This is how it sat when we started (engine pulled out for gearbox repair)
Ended up getting another engine with box etc on it to save some time, fitted that and got it rolling again
Then we started fighting with wiring, getting the glass in, trims, lights etc. - Also some arches (badly) fitted
Then it fired into life for the first time. Drove it exactly one week before the wedding for the first time in about 10 years
Then after some arch paint, again not a great job, and some finishing touches including number plates, we ended up with this.
Far from perfect, but definitely from at least a 6 foot distance, you'd nearly think it was a well finished car!
It has sat mostly untouched for the last nearly 5 years now. Apart from one house move, and one run out with the dog in the front seat, it hasn't really been driven or worked on.
My plan is this year to pull the engine back out, as we have some major oil leaks. Paint the engine bay, and tidy the wiring/engine up. Then some new bumpers as the old ones have rusted, and some proper trim pieces and stickers as well as a full suspension/brake overhaul.
Hopefully this wasn't too long winded, and even more hopefully I can pull it out in the next week or two over the holidays and get cracking.
