MINI SETBACK – BY THE SKIN OF ITS DOORS. UNIDENTIFIED FIBREGLASS OBJECT INVADES DEP-O
AFTER WORKING in publishing all this time, you would have thought I’d know better. It’s a really simple rule, don’t make any pledges in print you know you can’t keep. So by signing off my last report with the words “I am not buying anything else. No. Definitely not.”, I was, of course, doomed to be found by yet another car.
And that’s my only defence. I didn’t go looking for this one - not a moment on eBay, the local free papers remained unopened that week, I spoke to no-one who has been, in the past, guilty of friendly arm twisting and cajoling which usually results in another sorry looking hulk being deposited at the unit. I am innocent. But I’m also the owner of another car.
What? A Status 365. Now the unkind and the unknowledgeable will dismiss it as a kit car, a 70s oddball. But I say, here is a classic. Carrying more than a few hints that this came from the same pen as the Seventies Lotus Elite, the only word that can be used is wedgetastic.
The 365 is interesting for another reason. It’s Mini based, but it would appear that the Mini that gave the majority of its mechanical components - this really is a simple reshell with most of the donor being used - was an exceptionally early car. My knowledge led me to conclude that the car would have been pre-1962, but after ordering a Heritage certificate to get a few more details, I’ve been told that the engine number pre-fix could well be from an even earlier car.
Mini fans would have a lynch party up in seconds if you as much as suggested cannibalising an early car these days, but back in the late Seventies, it would have been just another crumbling relic and worthless. We’ll see what we’ve got when the Heritage Certificate shows up.
Everybody who has seen the car so far arrives expecting to have good snigger, but leaves full of enthusiasm. It exudes that wacky optimism of a more innocent age, it’s so tiny that it’s sort of loveable and although the looks are ‘challenging’ when you see it in pics, in the flesh it’s really quite cool. But I suppose I would say that.
There are a few dodgy bits that will be sorted out, but for a car that’s been around in its current guise for at least thirty years, it’s in remarkably good shape. If you recognise the car, or know anything about it, I’d love to hear from you.
So other than spending money on cars I don’t need and can’t afford, I’ve actually had quite a productive month. With Simon actually laying hands on both the Singer and his Golf, I decided to set aside a few days to get the Mini finished and failed spectacularly. After all, it was only a case of finishing off a few bits and bolting it all back together.
The problems started when I decided that the driver’s door wasn’t just shabby but knackered. Replace or repair? Well, regardless of condition, it fitted really well and as I’ve learnt from bitter experience, no two Mini doors are rarely the same shape. So a quick assessment showed the bottom edge of the frame was rough (a simple repair with a folded piece of steel) and the skin was creased. So it was simple. Strip the door, remove the skin, repair the frame, fit a new skin that I’d had knocking around since Adam was a boy.
All was going well until I thought I’d trial fit the repaired door before I painted it. A conservative estimate would have the door at 5 mm longer than it was before I stripped it and the hinges caught on its leading edge. Arse.
I employed the walk away and lock the door tactic, as opposed to the really lose it and smash things with hammers. A few days later, I thought the best approach was to make myself feel better about the car, so I’d do some jobs that just couldn’t go wrong. Refitting the glass went smoothly using glass cleaner as a lubricant (well, it was there…) and the handle of small paintbrush to ease the rubbers through.
Fired up, I dragged the front end trim out of the corner it had been languishing in for the last ten months, cleaned it up, painted the headlamp bowls and refitted the lot. Ditto the fuel tank, rear lights, and finally the interior trim. Alright, so none of this has gone back in the right order, but I felt a whole lot better.
Enthusiasm restored, the door has been stripped (again) and had another skin very carefully fitted. It fits, and is just waiting to be painted now.
I’m not going to make any more crazy predictions - the first self imposed deadline for getting the Mini road legal has come and gone - but I’m hoping that by the next installment, the car will be road legal. I can’t have Charlesworth beating me in the Roadworthy Stakes…
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DEP-O JOB SHEET
1982 Mini City
Paint the driver's door, refit it along with the boot and bonnet, race Simon to the MOT station.
NSU Prinz
Make some room, get it up in the air and get it stripped down. Start to find all the parts for the brakes.
Morris Ital Estate
Try and find some time to get it cleaned up and work out exactly what needs to be done.
Status 365
Wait for the Heritage Certificate, start collecting bits and pieces.
GH’s PLEDGE: “I'm saying nothing.”
