01x07 - Austin Mini Mk1 Part 1

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers,
where I show you how to buy,

restore and sell modern classics,
iconic cars of my generation.

Now the challenge is to
find the cars and return them

to tip top condition for no
more than a thousand pounds.

To help me, I've got my very own mechanic,
Ed China.

He's going to be showing
you how to fiddle with

the oily bits and how
to fiddle the paint work.

I'm going to show you where to get the
cars from and how to source the parts.

And at the end, we
should have a collection of

lovely classic cars like
this beautiful Austin Mini.

The Mini is one of
the world's best loved

cars, like the Citroen
2CV and the VW Beetle.

It's a 20th century classic.

I love the Mini because I learned to drive
in it.

So did my dad, so did my mum, so did my
brothers.

It handled like a go-kart.

At 50 miles an hour, it felt like he was
doing 100 miles an hour.

It drove like it was on rails and I loved
it for that.

Character.

I've never seen a car with so much character
and that's what this car is all about.

Character, character, character.

Launched in 1959, the Mini will forever be
remembered as a child of the swinging 60s.

The Beatles were in the charts.

The Mini skirt was
causing a stir on a high

street and the Mini
caught the mood perfectly.

It was cheeky, fun and affordable.

Before the Mini, hard-up cool cats like
these drove around in motorcycle side cars.

Now there was a cheap cool motor and
everybody wanted one.

The Mini went on to
be one of the world's

best-selling cars, with
fans on every continent.

And that success was down to one man,
Alec Izagonis.

His revolutionary design mounted the
engine across the front of the car and

pushed the wheels into each
corner, creating a small car

which felt big inside and
handled like a pocket rocket.

Over the years there were estates,
cabareles and variants like the Clubman.

The Mini Cooper went on to
win rallies all over the world

and even upstaged Michael
Caine in the Italian job film.

The basic design eventually went out of
production in 2001.

But I love how this car goes
on and immaculate cars like

this can change hands today
for as much as five grand.

I'm looking for a Mini and to do that I'm
using the free ad newspapers.

Now when these things
drop through your letterbox

don't throw them away
or use them as kitty litter.

In the back you'll find dozens of cheap
cars for sale.

Admittedly you won't find a
Bentley or Rolls Royce but

you're likely to find a
mass-market car like a little Mini.

Now the early bird catches the worm.

There's no point getting the Friday free
ad the following Wednesday.

All the good cars will be gone.

Well there's lots of there to choose from.

There's a Mini 1275 GT in Tahiti blue.

I've never heard of that colour.

1977, September 03 is the MOT.

Good order 895.

It's a bit too rich.

Mini Cabriolet, might be the wrong time of
the year.

Mini Club Mini State, a car that suffers
with woodworm.

A Mini Rose, 89 limited edition.

Taxed MOT.

Good runner, 750 quid.

Problem is, they're pink Mini Roses.

Bit too girly.

Here's one Mini Mark II 850cc 1968,
that's old.

Green, very original, much loved
reluctance sale.

Two owners from new.

Two owners from new since 1968.

Only 350 quid.

So lots of potential cars to check out.

First one I'm looking at is a 70s Mini
Clubman.

They've got a different
front end to the old Mini

but under the skin the
mechanics are all the same.

This car looks okay but I don't think it's
worth the 750 quid this guy wants for it.

It's just rotting in places
where you don't expect one

of these to rot and what
about down here on the door?

When you're buying a motor you have to
learn to trust your first impressions.

So I'm going to pass on this one.

It's a nice enough motor but I'm sure I
can find a better deal out there.

Next up I'm off to see
that green 1968 Mini

I saw in the free
paper for just 350 quid.

I wonder if I'll have better luck there.

Lovely day to see a car Roy.

It's good isn't it?

I hope there is a little engine underneath
here Roy is there.

Nice on this one.

Wow look at that.

That is seriously good ain't it?

Yeah totally, totally original.

Look at it.

Blimey.

Nice and tidy isn't it?

Look at that.

I mean the inner wings are actually much
straighter than the outside of the car.

The outside is rotten
as a pair but in here

it's nice and solid
and that's a good sign.

Nice honest shut.

The chrome is nice.

All of this is good isn't it?

Lovely.

What's happened to the paint work Roy?

It's flat as a flat thing isn't it?

Well it's not really.

It's been well maintained.

That's the main thing.

What have you been polishing it with?

Grit?

No it's a low maintenance finish.

Low maintenance finish.

Right now the important thing on buying an
old car especially a mini is the subframe.

Now the subframe is underneath here you
want to bring along a sharp implement like

a pen or even use your finger and have a
good jab underneath and make sure you

can't find any holes because if there's
holes underneath here then really you

should just walk away and the good news is
is that this one has just got surface rust

on it very much like what's on the body
it's just got surface rust so we should be

all right so inside it's perfect inside
yeah nice and original isn't it that's

leather do i have to pay extra for this
Roy the tear in the seat look at that

steering wheel lovely it's tiny isn't it
what i like about these is the simplicity

of it i should think if you rip this apart
there's only about four wires in the uh in

beyond the dashboard other than the body
work which is a bit of shambles the only

thing i need to The test, really,
is the way it drives.

On the outside, this is a very, very tired
old car, but that's what I like about it.

It's a nice, honest little car.

I reckon it'll tidy up into quite a genuine
thing, and it's so cheap to begin with.

Now, when you're driving an old Mini,
there's a few things to look out for.

First of all, you want
to make sure the brakes

work OK, because the
brake miles are cylinder.

It's something that leaks quite badly on
Minis.

You also want to check
the gearbox to make sure

there's no whining
coming from the gearbox.

Now, the steering, on a clear bit of road,
give it a little move from side to side.

You're feeling for any drifting coming
from the front wheel, but, no,

yet again, this one feels nice and
positive.

So, it's good.

I quite like it.

It's got a nice little throttle response
as well.

The engine sounds sweet.

It's doing all right.

Right, he wants 350 quid for it.

It's going to need a complete body
respray, lots of attention to the body.

It's cheap enough as it is, but I'm going
to see if I can make it a little bit

cheaper, and I've got a funny feeling I'm
going to have a deal with him.

Well, thanks for that, Roy.

Struggling to get out.

So, what do you think?

Yeah, I'm actually pleasantly surprised.

It's a good car.

Yeah, it's not bad.

It's a good little runner.

It is a good little runner.

What I was thinking of, Roy, is because of
the amount of paint work that he's doing,

because it does need a load of paint work,
and it's going to cost us more fortune to

put it right, that I'll make you a little
offer.

Only a little offer.

You've advertised it for 350.

Yeah, well, that's what I want.

It's cheap.

It is cheap.

I admit it is cheap.

But I was going to...

You never go and buy something about
trying to get some money off.

What about 250?

No, no way.

Take 250?

I took a little bit of bringing...
No, 350 is a fair price.

I mean, it's good.

It's a goer.

Put the cash down with me.

Well, I hope.

Do it a little bit cheaper, Roy.

Come a little bit cheaper.

275.

275... And I'll drive it away.

300.

300 quid.

You've got it?

I'll have to take that much back out.

Hold out your hand.

It's nice doing business with you.

Just means I've got to go and get my hands
dirty.

That repairing this whole thing,
isn't it?

I can hardly believe me luck.

A cute mini for just 300 quid.

But this car does need some serious TLC.

Will my mechanic, Ed,
share my enthusiasm or

curse me for all the
work I've landed him?

Fingers crossed.

I know it's a grim day, but you shouldn't
have a grim face.

What do you reckon?

Ed?

This is fair.

It's totally original.

This car has got the original door
handles, the original hinges.

That's what I like about it.

It's cheekiness.

It might have door
handles, it might have

hinges, but it's just
every panel is knackered.

They're not all... It's
just rust everywhere.

There's no chrome hanging on.

It's just... It's not that bad.

It just needs a little bit of love and
care and attention.

What do you mean you're not happy with it?

It's all right.

It's going to cost loads.

It's not going to cost a load.

You take the keys and fix it.

I don't even fit.

Join us after the break when the hard
grime begins on our rusty old Mini.

Welcome back to Wheeler Dealers.

The show that brings
cars like this Mini back to

life before, hopefully
selling them on for a profit.

Our total budget is £1,000.

The Mighty Mini cost
me only £300, so I've got

£700 left to spend on
parts for the restoration.

Most of that money is going to go on a
professional full-body respray.

But before we can do that, there's a ton
of work to get through.

So, best of luck, Ed.

You're going to need it.

Driving this car back to the workshop
reminded me just how much I love the Mini.

It's a cheeky little car,
and old ones like this little

chap have gorgeous
features like this lovely grille.

Now, mechanically, it's pretty sorted.

It runs like a dream.

But it's the bodywork that has the
problems.

Now, 35 years of hard motoring have really
taken their toll.

The metal moth has begun to take hold,
and this is where my challenge is.

I have to restore this bodywork to its
former glory.

Now, the obvious rust is on the outside,
but there's also hidden rust underneath.

So what I have to do is remove the paint.

And before I can do that, I need to remove
the fittings.

You've just got to be careful not to bust
everything.

You can tell this car's
quite original, because these

are actually made out of
glass rather than plastic.

Even though this car's
only 35 years old, it feels

like this is coming
from the Jurassic period.

OK, now with the bonnet up, I'm hoping I
can get at the front grille.

When I finally get round to painting the
car, the body prep and the actual painting

itself will be a lot easier when this
bonnet has been removed from the car.

So while I'm taking everything else apart,
I'm going to do this too.

It's actually going to
be getting quite tedious,

but every last bit has
got to come off this car.

Look at that.

Yet another small bit of rust to fix.

You can see here that the
water has been coming up from

the wheels and the fuel
tank has rotted away the car.

So it's yet one more thing to fix on the
list.

Now, obviously, the more
petrol in there, the heavier it's

going to be, and therefore
the harder it is to move around.

So if you can get the tank to its bare
minimum, that would be ideal.

This beading I'm taking
out now is probably

as old as the car,
which is a good 35 years.

So it's a good 35-year-old car.

It's quite brittle, and so I've got to be
careful not to break it.

Well, I was being really
careful, and it seems like

I've actually got a bit of a
crack in this beading here.

Now, luckily, you can
still buy this stuff, and it will

come back nice and shiny,
so it's not the end of the world.

Now, using my special magic tool,
which could easily be a screwdriver,

to peel back the rubber here and then
gently push out the glass.

Just work it round.

There you go.

And it's already starting to go.

It's best to wear eye protection and
heavy-duty gloves when you're dealing with

glass, especially if you're working on
your own.

These rear windows are even easier to
remove, because it's just two screws there

and two screws there that have to be
undone.

And there we have it.

I'm going to put these somewhere safe.

That's the way it is.

Well, that's the last of the back windows
done, and now on to these door windows.

Only thing is, these windows are held on a
channel, which is held to the door by

hollered screws that have been there
forever.

I'm not even going to bother trying to
take them apart.

I'm just going to mask up the window
before I paint.

I'm now at the stage where I can attack
these localised rust areas.

What I'm going to do
is sand down this paint,

and then I can see
how bad the corrosion is.

Now, that's going to
give me an idea of exactly

what I'm going to have
to do to fix these patches.

Well, this is pretty bad.

Somebody's had a go at my mini before me.

And this is all filler.

I'm not entirely sure what this stuff is.

It's very weird.

It's like plaster seam.

And it's actually caused blisters in the
outside of the paint.

And it's going to mean I'm
going to have to go all the way

back to the metal and start
again and bring it back out again.

This is a time-consuming job, but if I
don't get it right now, then in a few

years' time, a nice new
paint job will begin to

bubble and flake off as the
old damage comes through.

Look at the state of that dent.

It is terrible.

It is so deep.

So rather than using the
world supply of filler to try

and fill this dent, I'm
going to try and bang it out.

OK, well, it's coming
out a little bit further than

I'd like, so I'm going to
try and tap it back in again.

And what's happened is because the metal
is stretched by the original dent,

it's either going to pop right out or pop
right in.

Now, I could shrink it down a little bit,
but I could shrink it down using a

shrinking hammer, which is
basically a hammer with some

swirls, like a spiral imprinted
on the head of the hammer.

And when you bang it, it just kind of
twists the metal and shrinks it down.

But as I haven't got one
of those, I'm just going to

do the other chap and
actually fill it with filler.

But this time, I'm going to mix my filler
properly.

Going to take a couple
of minutes to dry, so I'm

going to leave that and
get on with something else.

On minis of this age, it's
actually quite easy to remove

the doors because there's
two hinges held on by two nuts.

And as long as you can get the nuts
undone, because bearing on, they have been

there a while, once they're off,
it's an absolute breeze.

When I find the bumps, I just sand them
down a little bit.

And once I'm happy that they're all gone,
I'm then going to be ready for primer.

This wing is looking pretty good now.

I've got a bit more finishing to do,
but check this out.

This is nasty, and this is probably the
hardest bit on this whole car.

What I'm going to have to do is cut this
panel out and possibly the one behind,

because it's such an important panel,
because actually, it holds the door on,

because the door hinges are attached to
this and to a bit of structure behind there.

So I'm going to cut it out and then have
to repair it.

I don't need to take the
wheel off, but it just makes

my life a lot easier,
because I need some space.

Next, the guttering needs to be lifted off
to give me better access to the bodywork.

I'm going to need
to use this for later to

put back on once I've
replaced these panels.

It's getting a little tricky now.

I need to get this hinge off.

And because of all the rust
around the back, it's almost

impossible for me to get
at the head of the bulge.

Well, that was a bit of a struggle,
but I have a result.

This is the new panel which I'm offering
up, just to see how well it fits the car.

All I have to do is line that one up a bit
more accurately.

And then the other issue is what happens
here.

But as this is defined by this part here,
I think that'll be fine.

I'm just trying to make my life a little
bit easier by using a square on this panel

and on my other panel,
my new replacement one,

and then using the
same mark as a reference.

I'm hoping, therefore,
when I cut both of these

panels, they should
fit together beautifully.

Well, that's the first bit of the rot
removed.

But, of course, I've now revealed loads
more.

Well, all I can do now is cut
out all the rot, see how much car

I have left at the end of it,
and then start reconstructing.

This repair panel now pretty much fits,
but to get it to fit properly,

I need to fit the door back in,
make sure all the door shuts are right,

and then use the bottom
hinge through this panel

to align everything in
relation to this hinge.

I'm just bolting our new repair panel onto
the original hinge.

The hinge, of course, is now attached to
the door, and the door is in the door

aperture in pretty much the right
position.

So the plan is I can now
line up this repair panel in

exactly the right place
and then tack it into position.

I know that it's going to be perfect.

One last thing.

If you're going to be welding with a MIG,
make sure that you get a MIG welding mask

rather than a gas welding
mask, because MIG light, or

the energy from these
things, is much more powerful.

It can really damage your eyes.

It's going pretty great now
because I've got the panel

welded in along here and all
down the back here as well.

But I do have a small
hole to fill here and

a slightly bigger
hole to fill just in here.

And this is where a bit of useful origami
can come in handy.

A bit of paper, get it down to a
reasonable size, and get a dirty finger.

And I have an instant template for my metal,
and I do the same thing on the inside.

Yeah.

There you go.

Very simple, nice paper template,
and I can transfer that shape straight

onto some steel and weld it back onto the
car.

Now, here's a good
little tip to stop you losing

little bits of metal like
this inside your chassis.

Use a magnet.

It's quite a cool little thing.

Get it from most welding stores.

You can do right-angle joins and hole
pipes and all that kind of stuff,

but it's also very good for holding sheets
to sheet.

Look at that.

Got an ounce of rust in sight.

Lovely replaced
panel here, filled that

little hole there and
the hole round the side.

So it's still quite a bit of
work to be done, but this

mini is really beginning
to look like a solid car.

To prepare this car for its glorious new
paint job, what I have to do is paint

these metal bits, the bare metal,
with acid-etch primer, and then go over it

with some grey primer
and then flat that off with

some 800 wet and dry
and maybe a bit of water.

Give it a go there.

And then any paint which is still existing
and it seems in good condition,

I just have to take off
the shine with a Scotch

pad or, again, the 800
wet and dry paint pad.

The mini looked in a sorry
state and Ed really has got his

hands full if we're going
to get this car up to scratch.

The good news is we've hardly spent a
thing.

Grinding pads and sandpaper have cost us
about 30 quid and the A-frame repair panel

was only £45, so we've still got over £600
left for a professional respray.

It's time to catch up with Ed and our
small Mark 1 Mini.

Now, I'm not too sure that boy's going to
be pleased to see me because when I gave

him the car, it really was rotten and a
ton of work to do.

But he should have got halfway through it
by now.

So let's see how he's getting on.

Ed, how are you, mate?

Hello.

Looks like you've been pretty busy.

Well, I'm still here.

I'm not eating properly.

I'm not sleeping properly, but the car is
looking good now.

It's getting there.

It looks like you've had quite a bit of
work today.

I'm very, very sorry.

What have you been up to then?

I've had loads to do.

I've been fixing all
the rough space to go

all over the car, stuff
on top of the wings.

But this, that was a greatly cold air.

That's fantastic.

I had to do the outside panel and the
inside panel.

There's a really nasty repair that's coming
down, so I had to replace that as well.

What about the door?

There was nothing wrong with that.

Well, there was.

It was all full of soggy filler.

It made all the paint go kind of crinkly
and stuff.

So I had to dig all that out and put in
nice new hard filler.

I want to say I'm sorry for that as well.

But we're nearly there.

It's ready for paint now, yeah?

Not exactly, though.

I've got about two days of prep work
before I'm ready for paint.

Two days more?

Is it ever going to be finished,
this car?

No, it will be finished, eventually.

Cos I want to advertise it.

I suppose that can
be a bit of time to think

about what I'm going
to say in the advert.

Indeed.

Don't be too hasty.

Well done, Ed.

Well done.

Ed's still got sheds of work to do on this
little mini before it's ready for sale.

Join us again when
we find out if this little

car will be restored
ready for its new owner.

We'll see you soon on Wheelie Dealers.