I'm with mimini1. Great to see a MINI that would otherwise be abandoned in a salvage yard come back to life and be enjoyed.

Also reminds me a little of that Bud Light commercial with the rescue dog "Here we go".

 

+1. Really enjoyed following the resurrection!

 

Glad that you guys are enjoying it. I have learned quite a bit about the R50. The sheet metal is quite soft and I also noticed this on Rovers specifically Disco II. American made cars the sheet metals are not as easy to bend at least from my experience.

Front and rear bumpers are made of aluminum and boy the welding looks ugly.

Overall, they are nice little cars with attention to small details and they spent time trying to keep things from rattling I notice with many many small clips.

One interesting thing about the rear side airbags, is that when you are trying to pull the pillar plastic piece down, these airbags are tied to the pillar piece and also the metal frame work. So you peel the plastic a little and cut the plastic loop that holds these 3 pieces together. It is quite a task; one thing you are in an awkward position hunched over working in that height and that you have to take your razor blade through 3" opening and cut this plastic loop holding 3 pieces together while not cutting the airbag. I wonder how they got those up the at the first place! I had to do this to lower the headline to adjust the tailgate as it was pushed up from the rear end collision.

On other thing is that on R50, hardly there is any insulation on the floor pan that exhaust note comes right through. I have sound insulation project in the near future.

Here are some latest shots.

Added a racing stripe.





Please excuse the rubbing and polishing compound residue.

 

Coming along nicely. I agree about no insulation, I feel like I hear every little exhaust/gear sound in mine - until I crank the radio up!

 

You would not believe what I did today.

I was trying to fit the bumper cover and I noticed that the tailgate would not close. The tail end has been pushed in that the contour of the bumper would not line up with the frame on the back. I sorta notice this to be a problem when I was fiddling with the tailgate to close without any bumper cover. I had to widen the holes for the tailgate actuator because I had to adjust it further out than how much the actuator would actually allow.

Once I noticed about 1/2" gap, my heart sorta sunk in because wasn't sure if this is something I can do it at home. Then I realize I got something very strong in pulling.

This is a DIY-home-frame straightening.



****** strap for pulling vehicle out of places. Looped around the shackle.


Attached on the other end is Warn M8000 winch on 4000lbs Jeep.


At first, either the Jeep or Mini would roll. I placed some weight on the brake pedal and the metal started moving. Kinda scary but the pulling wire moves about 1" a sec under no load I think. So I could regulate it pretty well.

Frame much straighter and the tail gate closes with the bumper cover on!

I hope you guys got some kick out this.

Time for me to go to sleep!

 

Added to the list of reasons i will be getting a jeep as a second car!

 

LOL. "Honey, we need a Jeep so we can straighten the back of that Mini!"

 

That's awesome

 

Well done!! It's a good looking MINI, and it is the perfect example of the difference between a financial total loss and a structural damage total loss. So glad you are putting in the effort to give it a second life.

 

Thanks guys.

Believe it or not, they even sell the chassis by itself of different models with different options.. But it cost $8000. LOL

If the owner is inclined to keep the vehicle and the other party is responsible, it can happen. I have seen a late model Jeep being literally transferred over to another frame.

I thought I knew cars, but man, I got a new found respect for body technicians that are good. It takes some effort to make it look good.

 

Awesome rebuild! You and I have similar tastes. I have a 03 R53 and a 96 Toyota Land Cruiser 80 series with an ARB up front. I haven't quite saved the dosh to throw in that WARN winch but now I have another justification.

I also attempted body work for the first time on a beater Subaru last summer. It was a lot of the same work with fill, prime, paint, etc. It's a lot of work and I respect you for tackling it. I don't know if I have the stomach to do it again. I did get some nice toys out of it (Compressor, HVLP guns, grinder, multitool, etc).

Best of luck! You are nearly there!

 

The front bumper and other things are shipped.

$150 worth of bolts and nuts arrived. Of course they leave out the biggest part, about a foot long bumper mounting bracket and they still charged me for it.

Anyways, will update as things happen.

 

Thanks. I love those FJs 40s 80s.... They are amazing machines.

M8000s are like the standard of all winches. I mounted the solenoid under the hood so it is somewhat out of the element. Those 0 gauge wires cost $100 to run from the winch to the solenoid whole 3 feet of them.

I never thought I'd use the winch for this. LOL.

I started thinking this build is going to be a cheap quick build but I picked up so many tools and supplies along the way, those added up substantially. But I'd like to think of it as the tuition for the skills I have picked up.

I am just grateful that I didn't have problem getting it registered and titled.

Once the front bumper arrives, this thing is ready to roll on the street. Let's see how long it takes for me to receive the bumper.

 

After the straightening last night, after work today I decided to finish the vent mounting and everything else so that the bumper can be bolted on once all of my hardware arrives.

After about an hour work hammering and pulling using slide hammer. Here is the result.

Initially this is how it looked.




Done some work to it.




Mounted the vents.



How the bumper looks mounted.



Please forgive rather unpolished bumper. I blended the rear quarter panel and recleared it.

 

Little show off.. This is what happens when you wet sand, cut, and polish.



Better view of the right rear quarter panel.



Good night folks!

 

Looking really nice! Seems like things are going quickly with the rebuild. Can't wait to see the final product!

 

Exciting - getting closer to finished and shiny wow!

 

[QUOTE=DailyDrivenMini;3537620]Glad that you guys are enjoying it. I have learned quite a bit about the R50. The sheet metal is quite soft and I also noticed this on Rovers specifically Disco II.

Your Disco II was an all aluminum body (except roofline) Funny when seeing them advertised - no rust... DUH

 

Like I didn't know. Window frames are NOT aluminum. Ladder frame is not aluminum. Axles are not aluminum. Control arms are not aluminum. Steering knuckles are not aluminum. Trackbars and tie rods, TRE and springs are not aluminum. Many parts in the drivetrain are not aluminum. Hardwares that connect parts are not aluminum. No rust.. LOL.

There are more than body panels that makes up a vehicle as we all know. Sad thing is when people think the whole car is made of aluminum. LOL. Hardly so.

My Jeep's sheet metal is much thicker than either R50 or the Rover in every aspect.

From my first hand experience from owning and "Working on" both of them, Mini is not any better than Rover regardless of the material used but I am sure it is stiff/hard where it counts or I sure hope so.

On the other hand, nothing wrong with being soft. I'd rather have the Mini get crushed and absorb the impact than me absorbing all the energy in a small and light car such as Mini.

 

Finally got around to taking some photos. Got rid of the stripe.

Before...


Wetsanding after about 2 months of curing...




Polished/Cut Clear Coat...

 

Very nice. I didn't care for that particular stipe myself. I think the car looks better without it.

I saw this on Autotrader (I think) a while ago and thought it would be an easy fix. You are my hero for keeping this R50 on the road. I was looking at Autotrader because my dream is to win the lotto and start collecting bad tranny/bad engine/light body damaged R50's and sending them back out there after being fixed. "Just MINI's; take your "S" elsewhere!" If nothing else, I have the name and slogan of my business ready to go...

Val

 

Rad

 

Thanks. I think it was sitting in the lot for a good 4-5 months before I got it. It was sitting on a dirt lot and I still have traces of dirt in the vents and crevices which I am still struggling to clean out.

Since I picked it up, I changed out the tranny fluid and give it a Mobil1 oil change. Cleaned out the DDM filter and reoiled.

I put on about 3000 miles on it and so far no mechanical problems. Knock on wood. Drove from SC to MA in a day without a problem back in August on 90+ weather.

I love Mini and I think I am going to keep this one awhile.

 

How well did your aftermarket hood fit? I also rebuild a crashed 2006 R50.The aftermarket hood I bought was poorly made. My body man had to put the hood on the shop floor and jump on it to open it up to fit the body
properly. Also who was the vender for the aftermarket hood?

 

The "before" picture kind of looks like an R56 up front