Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[P5Nij]

Thought I'd start a thread on my Mk2 S which is currently about half way through its (second) restoration

I bought 'WMU 211G' back in June 2011 from a fellow Cooper Register member with the intention of running it for a while, then sorting out the front end which was bubbling in all the usual Mini places - around the seems and below the headlamps etc... having made the decision to take it off the road last September and get it done it soon turned into something much more involved, all par for the course really with any old Mini. So I took it down to Tim King of John King & Sons, Napton, Warwickshire and asked him to strip it (but leaving the engine and subframes in situ), remove any rot and work his way round the car until it was all done... in all the new metal going into the car consists of (so far) new wings, front panel, A-panels, repairing good inner sills and fitting new outers both sides, new door skins, bottom rear quarter repair sections, gutter channel repairs, partial boot floor, rear valance (the old one fell off as he was stripping the car!) and correcting some bodges made by the firm who restored it the first time round way back in 1991. They weren't really Mini specialists and it looks as though they gave up on some of the jobs as they worked their way round the car, although to be fair they made a good job of most of it l without resorting to using too much filler, with all the correct Mk2 S parts being put back as per factory standard.

The car was built in October '68 and despatched to Stewart & Ardern's Morris showroom in Acton the following month, where it sat until being put on the road on 15th April '69, this was quite common at the time, with some Coopers and Cooper S's not being registered for a year or more after being built. Originally it was Island Blue with a Snowberry White roof and all black interior, however I'm ringing the changes slightly by having it painted in monotone dark blue, the same shade ('Pacific Blue') as John Hammel's gorgeous Wood & Picket Mk2 S which sold at auction recently. The purists might have kittens but it's only paint, and it'll contrast nicely with the chrome and stainless steel trim once it's all finished. The idea is to have the car looking how I'd have liked it had I been old enough to buy it in 1968, along with a set of Dunlop D1 alloys and some other tasty period bits. The car came to me with lots of spares and period extras, not least the Mk2 style 'Benelite' spotlamp grille which I've been tidying up a bit. The interior is standard apart from a pair of replica factory recliners, Moto-Lita steering wheel and period rev counter (mounted on a genuine SPQR pod). I'm on the lookout for a period wooden dash to fit in it as well to add a bit of colour. About 95% of the interior is still in excellent shape so won't need replacing.

This is how it looked just before it went down to Tim's workshop - not too bad at first glance but the bubbling under the headlamps was already in progress and paintwork was hiding more trouble....



A few weeks later it looked like this...



Mechanically it's great, as the engine had done about 6k miles between rebuilding in '91 and me buying twenty years later, it's still as tight as a drum and very quick. I'll post more pics later
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'68 Mk2 Morris Cooper 1275 S
'70 Rover P5B Coupe

[Rick]

Should be a belter when it's all done eh, and very different to the P5B

RJ
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[P5Nij]

Should be Rick yes.... the Mini would probably fit inside the P5B as well

Ordering the rest of the parts this week

Nidge
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'68 Mk2 Morris Cooper 1275 S
'70 Rover P5B Coupe