How we restored a genuine Cooper S, hydrolastic suspension and all.
It was finally time to reassemble our Mini.
Fresh from the paint booth, our Tartan Red Mini awaits reassembly. Time to turn our pile of parts back into a car.
While our Mini was at the paint shop, we took the time to organize the mountain of parts we had laying around.
Time to paint our Mini red. But first, some final bodywork and filler.
When we bought our Mini, it looked relatively solid. As the metalwork progressed, we learned the sad truth.
Minis like ours use a Hydrolastic suspension setup: Fluid-filled displacer units replace the traditional springs and dampers. While riding very nicely, the system typically fails over time.
Like the rest of our 1967 Mini Cooper S, our transmission was disassembled when we bought the car. Now to piece it back together.
Our 1967 Mini Cooper S came to us in a DIY state: The engine was not only missing from its compartment, but it was disassembled.
After we totally disassembled our Mini Cooper S, it was time for the next phase of the project: blasting away layers of paint and rust using baking soda and then …
Our 1967 Mini’s trim and interior had been removed, while the engine, transmission and differential were completely disassembled. This type of project is not for the meek.
We found our car—No. 1012106A, built in the spring of 1967. We had to pay the owner a visit when we learned it was a rare, originally Tartan Red Austin …
Our Mini Cooper S wins gold at its first concours event.
Preparation for a concours event only takes a few materials, but requires a lot of time and effort.
The oil used to break in an engine is important, especially for our Mini Cooper S.
After finishing our restoration, our Mini experience is down to sorting.
Our Mini Cooper S restoration is finally complete.
Our project Mini Cooper S gets a fresh, shiny grille.
A small oversight meant we had to replace and repaint much of our Mini Cooper's rear bodywork.
Our Mini Cooper S gets some new door seals.
Our Mini Cooper S project car gets its Hydrolastic suspension pumped full.
Our Mini Cooper S gets one step closer to completion with the installation of the side windows.
Our project Mini Cooper S gets seats installed.
We install carpet in our project Mini Cooper S.
We fit our Project Mini Cooper S with its rather strange headliner system.
Our project Mini Cooper S
Our project Mini Cooper S gets a windshield.
Our Mini Cooper S gets twin fuel tanks.
Our Mini Cooper S needs doors.
Our Mini Cooper S gets a new exhaust system.
It's time to install our Mini's front and rear windshields.
Once we got started reassembling our Mini, it wasn’t long before we needed a few little parts and some advice.
With the subframes installed, we start reassembling the interior.
We have a Mini with four corners, engine and drivetrain all installed almost instantly.
With our Mini's shell all painted we can start our reassembly process.
Take a look at our Mini Cooper's new paint.
When it finally came time to paint our car, master painter, Ramon Quiles, of The Body Werks laid the color on.
Choosing the right color is sometimes more complicated than it seems.
Bodywork starts to take off on our Project Mini Cooper S.
Bodywork on our Mini is finally underway.
We were asked to attend the 40th anniversary party for Mini Mania as the master of ceremonies.
We get our gauge cluster back from Nisonger.
We sourced a few parts we needed from Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals.
The headlights and window glass were next on our to-do list.
We had to start from scratch to restore the Mini Cooper S wiring harness.
We got some fresh chrome for the front and rear of the Mini.
It's critical to find every part that needs to be painted body color.
These last bits let us finally get the Mini to the body shop for paint.
This was the final major metalworking task left on the Cooper.
Fixing the rusty rain gutters on our Mini Cooper S was a more challenging task than we’d thought.
Putting a car back together requires a lot of careful shimming and careful measuring.
We finished repairing the floor pans on our Mini.
Moving rearward to replace and repair our floor pans.
We take on welding and patchwork on our Mini Cooper S.
Choosing the oil for our Mini Cooper S was a no-brainer.
We aligned and welded our Mini Cooper S body.
We started our car outside our car.
You can't modify a wet suspension much, but you can add bump stops.
We kept the aftermarket alloy drums on our Mini restoration project.
Assembling our front subframe was an involved process.
We sent our Mini’s heater to Ron Jernigan from Sussex Screen Printing.
We rebuilt our carbs and made them colorful.
Rebuilding a generator is pretty straight forward.
We now have the driveline completely finished and running. Now, on to welding.
A new machine in the shop helps us with the sheet metal work.
Our next step was to get back to the metalwork.
We sourced an air cleaner and some original hose clamps.
We couldn’t imagine restoring one of these cars without these resources.
Stopping by this established Mini shop taught us a lot about the car we're restoring.
The next step in our Mini's restoration is to attack it with new sheet metal.
The Cooper's suspension linkages needed rehabbing. We opted for durable powder coat.
This Mini Cooper S came with "wet" suspension, but it wasn't working. We set about fixing that.
After fully stripping the Mini's chassis, we can start restoring.
We figure out what's left after media blasting the Cooper.
We prep the Mini's chassis for paint.
The chassis is away, so with the undercarriage we play.
We strip down the bits underneath our Mini.
We prep the shell for a trip to the sandblaster.
After finishing the drivetrain, we took the chassis apart.
We take apart our alloy-housing shifter.
We choose from the myriad options and find the right rolling stock for our Mini.
We find out how to compromise and optimize our final drive ratio for our Mini.
Putting the transmission back together was easier than we thought with Mini Mania’s help.
We find a clutch and pressure plate for our Mini Cooper S.
We get our Mini Cooper S's head checked.
A trip to the machine shop made sure our Mini's engine was A-OK.
Developing an engine rebuild plan for our Mini Cooper S.
We sift our way through boxes and boxes of parts that came with our 1967 Mini Cooper S.
We introduce our newest project, a Tartan Red 1967 Mini Cooper S
