MiniWorld July 2019 37
blue carpets but the original headlining
was revived with a good clean.
He was able to salvage some other
interior parts like the steering column.
“I just stripped it, blasted and painted it
but certain things I’ve left as it was: the
cowling is nice and brown and faded.”
The steering wheel is original but was
cracked at the horn push so you fill them,
paint them, rub them down and paint
them numerous times. It does take a
long time to do. I’ve tried to keep little
bits but most of it I just couldn’t as it was
just too far gone. He was able to keep
the original door handles. “The door,
boot and ignition key is still the same
but I have had the locks re-chromed
as they were just too far gone.”
He found that the original-spec engine
was fitted to a non-original gearbox.
“It had got the wrong gearbox casing
for that age. It was too late to be the
magnesium 1959 type but it should
have had one of the first aluminium
ones. I managed to find a complete
engine on eBay so I used the gearbox
off that with the original engine. I also
fitted a replacement second-hand
clutch.” As usual, he was hands-on. “I
stripped the engine. The bores were
good. I replaced the pistons, piston rings,
shells and bearings and fitted a new
oil pump, a water pump that I found
in an autojumble and the gaskets.”
A new wiring loom from Autosparks
was fitted. “They know all the specs. If
you’re going to do a restoration then
it’s the only way forward to be honest.
You see people trying to repair them
and tape them up but it’s better to
start afresh. Then it’s as it was 60 years
ago. The wiper motor was stripped to
free it up. “It was in quite a poor state
and the dynamo was the same so I
stripped, cleaned and re-bushed it.”
Thankfully the cast iron water pump
was still there. “It was a worry as it’s rarer
than the aluminium one that you can
get anywhere. What I do is I build the
engine, put the radiator on, I pipe in the
heater and then the exhaust and I start
it on the floor in the garage. So, before I
paint the engine I’ve had it running in the
driveway or in the garage so it’s pumping
the oil, the water, getting everything up
to temperature to make sure there are
no leaks before painting the engine. Yes
it’s a long way round of doing it, and
it may take longer, but if there’s a leak
then it’s easier to sort there and then
rather than having to take the engine outonce it’s in. One of my most hated jobs
is actually putting the engine in, after
you’ve sprayed it, without scratching
it. I line the engine bay with cardboard
so that, as you tip it in, if it does touch
then it will touch the cardboard first.”
His Mini came with the correct steel
fabricated radius arms. “I’ve re-bushed
them. The rubber doughnuts are new.
I used the original steel trumpets,
the original front subframe.” The rear
subframe is a modified newer second-
hand one. “The rear ones didn’t have
any holes so I welded them all up as
they should be. Anything I could, I have
re-used. The rear bolts were captive »The fuel tank was replaced as the bottom of the
original one had rotted away and Dave found a bird’s
nest inside! The replica boot mat was made by Mick
Hannan and sourced via the 1959 Mini Register.Dave with son James
at National Mini Day,
Beaulieu in 2018.