S1 Project - It's got to start somewhere

[brooke bond]

It started with a text message with view to buying a few parts from a clasifield who was breaking an S1 which had suffered a roll ....



As the car was still complete....a few parts added to a few more....and before we knew it Jason & I were proud owners of a near complete S1 111s

Although, all the best bits were removed by the seller, these included :-
Ally Rad
MMC's
Nitrons
Victorys
Seats
Oh, and the engine

[Rich H]

So you have 2 clams, 2 seats and a chassis?

[brooke bond]

So you have 2 clams, 2 seats and a chassis?

Seats were taken out so even less than that

[jbs_type25]

the seats were pretty grim, hence why i didnt want them!

[Rich H]

Mental

[jbs_type25]

We soon managed to get an engine though!
A good VVC motor, with all ancillarys out of an MG
It had a fair oil leak from the cam carrier joint, but you could see it had the multi layer head gasket, so the plan was not to remove the head, just reseal the bits that were leaking.

Its had a full head gasket set, new seals etc, removed the sump to see an uprated ladder rail, and spotlessly clean inside. However, when it had been stripped and new gaskets fitted, they didnt seal the cam carrier joint, hence the oil leak.

Quick check of the exhaust cam timing showed it was out by around 8 degrees, so i fitted an offset dowel and got it spot on. Looking forward to trying this!

New cam belt fitted, plastic manifold fitted, S2 exhaust manifold fitted
Just need a clutch friction plate as the original was pretty worn, but it is all AP stuff.

[brooke bond]

After a little bit of detective work , I found some photos of the car before the accident, which then lead me to Scottish Elises . A quick PM, confimed that the car had recently been sold to another Scottish Elises member.

His story can be read here http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =2&t=34158 poor guy only had a week before he had his off.

Peter has really been a superstar.. after contacting him, he said he still had all the service history, books, receipts, shocks and a few others odds and ends from the car. He packaged them up and posted to me, which is a really generous offer. He said he felt they belongs to the car. Thank you a gain Peter

[oggy]

decided on a colour yet

[jbs_type25]

Got to be YELLOW - the only colour for an S1!!

[brooke bond]

Well it arrived home on the trailer, high and dry minus wheels and discs...the stripdown commenced...





One thing Jason didn't spot was the damage to the Roll bar, which wasn't obvious with the roll bar cover in place.

This meant we had to change the Roll bar

[mill]

Mental

You do know these two don't you? Mental is a compliment to them!

Can't wait for the end result will suit you two down to the ground
I take it Jason does all the Graesy bits while you stand there with a brew on your and go "naa I think we should make it bigger?"

[mill]

So that's a yes then

[brooke bond]

One good point and the reason we descided to go ahead with this project was that the chassis has no damage and is spot on. The steering bars need to be replaced though.

I don't know how long it has been up in Scotland, or if the weather and roads up there actually contributed to it, but the wishbones...were rusty rusty.

[brooke bond]

As we are building this with a clear view to using it to compete in Autosolo's , Sprints and trackdays, we are being meticulous in the structural reconstruction . Not sure how pretty she will look at the end, but she will be clean and A1 under the skin.

[brooke bond]

The two upper Ball Joints were split and goosed, and this was not accident damaged.

[brooke bond]

[brooke bond]

Not sure what exactly is going on here...perhaps he needed some parts ?

[Rich H]

I meant mental in the best possible way

[karluk00]

Good effort so far will watch with intrest. Found that permabond stuff for the front caliper bolts now as well if you still want to borrow it

[pilk]

keep up the good work, have you got a roll bar hoop ive got one sat in my garage if you need it

[brooke bond]

Thanks for the offer Pilks, but we got one sorted.

The cleaning up started and it became obvious that just because it made from Aluminium, dosn't mean there will be no corrosion. The locations where another metal type is in contact with the aluminium can cause a reaction (so I'm told)
Below photo shows shock mounting point, dirty but looks ok?






The next stage was to get rid of the corrosion by wire wheel gismo.

[DoubleD]

oh nooooo it has the orange glue.....

[brooke bond]

Once preped, these areas were treated to a couple of coats of very expensive, but very good POR15, silver in our case.



A careful inspection was also needed around the front wishbone mount areas, fortunately they were not bad, but still were treated to some POR 15 protection just to be safe.

[DoubleD]

Looks like you got lots of work done, Nice One - going to be watching this build

[Nathan]

Nice one guys! I'm very envious - I've spent the last 20 years restoring classic Mini's and finally got sick of chasing tin worm, so I'd love to have a go at something like this. If only I had the space! (it'd be divorce lol)