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Madame's Mini!

Madame has been driving her beloved but battered Mini around for years, so it is unsurprising that the glove compartment was full of tissues and receipts from filling stations (and chocolate wrappers); that the back seat had long disappeared under a detritus of discarded maps, books, car tools, batteries and spare plastic bags (and chocolate wrappers); and that even putting your feet on the carpet from the passenger seat could not be completed without a strong sense of uncertainty about what might be found under the chocolate wrappers.

Long after we had both forgotten what colour the car used to be, she suddenly went and put it through a car wash, which not only revealed that it had originally been bright red with a white roof, but also that terminal rust holes had entirely taken over the bodywork.

Our long-suffering workshop confirmed our worst fears: without major bodywork (not quite a reshell, but close) our Mini would never terrorize bigger cars on European roads again!

We can't show you photographic evidence of the sorry state this Mini was in, because we didn't have the presence of mind to take any pictures. You'll have to guess from the 'Replaced Panels' list, and from the interim and final shots below, just how much work was done to restore this Mini to its present glory!

Replaced Panels

Complete front panel
Both front wings
Bonnet
Windscreen apron
Both inner and outer 'A' panels
Both complete doors
Both inner and outer sills
Both front floor pans

All chrome, lights, glass, accessories, fuel tanks, carpets, seats, wooden dashboard etc. were removed from the body shell. The front half of the car was more-or-less entirely replaced, apart from the sub-frame, inner wings, and bulkhead; the back half was restored by cutting out the rust and welding in healthy steel. The shell was primed (the underside with rubberized primer), sprayed with two-pack lacquer and baked in an oven before it reached the state visible in the accompanying photos.

Putting the car back together again after all this work only took one week. Various parts were simply replaced (rear fog light, rear window) because they were broken but, well, we also decided to have a number of additional alterations made. There is a list of the major changes below:

Most recent Modifications

New front seats (Partially leather)
Radio, speakers, and a sexy roof aerial
Intermittent wiper function
Alarm thingy for when one leaves her lights on
Plastic inner mudguards (front)
Window chromes on door frame
Chrome bullet door mirrors
Twin Spots (on full beam)

Madame was pretty much content with her refurbished toy, especially as the workshop had sorted through all the trash they found in the car and decided what to do with it. They put the bits we get to keep (tools, torch, manuals etc.) neatly into two cardboard boxes that just fit between the fuel tanks in the boot, and they probably burnt the rest in a big bonfire behind the bodyshop.

	Replaced Panels Complete front panel Both front wings Bonnet Windscreen apron Both inner and outer 'A' panels Both complete doors Both inner and outer sills Both front floor pans
All chrome, lights, glass, accessories, fuel tanks, carpets, seats, wooden dashboard etc. were removed from the body shell. The front half of the car was more-or-less entirely replaced, apart from the sub-frame, inner wings, and bulkhead; the back half was restored by cutting out the rust and welding in healthy steel. The shell was primed (the underside with rubberized primer), sprayed with two-pack lacquer and baked in an oven before it reached the state visible in the accompanying photos.
	Putting the car back together again after all this work only took one week. Various parts were simply replaced (rear fog light, rear window) because they were broken but, well, we also decided to have a number of additional alterations made. There is a list of the major changes below:
Most recent Modifications New front seats (Partially leather) Radio, speakers, and a sexy roof aerial Intermittent wiper function Alarm thingy for when one leaves her lights on Plastic inner mudguards (front) Window chromes on door frame Chrome bullet door mirrors Twin Spots (on full beam)
	Madame was pretty much content with her refurbished toy, especially as the workshop had sorted through all the trash they found in the car and decided what to do with it. They put the bits we get to keep (tools, torch, manuals etc.) neatly into two cardboard boxes that just fit between the fuel tanks in the boot, and they probably burnt the rest in a big bonfire behind the bodyshop.