MG bodywork in six easy peices:
So, I bought this Mini Cooper and had an MG1100 thrown in for free. I got
the mini to my garage, opened it up, found the engine is an 850 and almost
brand new, along with, as far as I can tell, a new head and gearbox. The mini
has a fair amount of rust underneath I'll have to deal with, but on the whole
is in good shape. It's also missing the interior as it had been used as a
racer, and an ill-prepared one at that. (IE, stock carbs and exhaust). The guy
that sold it to me sugguested that I simply use the MG1100 for parts for the
mini and throw the rest away. I saw it, covered with snow, and it looked like
it was in pretty good condition and decided to salvage it. I found a friend
that wanted it and made big plans for putting it into shape.
Sooo, yesterday was the day to go and pick up the MG. We called Mals tow
and made arrangements, they use the wreckers that grab the car under the front
wheels, which turned out to be a real good thing. The car was (note the tense)
a '64, last register in '72, last moved in '84. Since 84, which I couldn't see
the first time I was by as the car was mostly buried in snow, ther car had
sunk into the ground and the whole underside was resting on the ground.
When we moved it it left a patch of rust the size of the whole car. The
floorpans were left behind entirely. The tow truck driver made us sign a waiver
saying that he wasn't responsible for anything and he actually doubted he could
get it all the 3 miles to my house. If it had been towed by the bumper it
wouldn't have made it. I got it home, into the garage, disconnected all the
wiring and hoses, jacked it up by the front bumper and the subframe and
everything attached to the subframe stayed on the ground.
Out comes the sawz-all. Drop the car loosely onto the front subframe,
remove the interior, saw off the roof. Open the doors and the middle of the car
now rests on the floor. Saw off at the front fenders, pull the front of the
body off, pull the subframe, engine and suspension out whole. Think, hmmm...
with a motorcycle back end...
Tomorrow morning the rest gets chopped up and hauled to the junkyard. The
positive side of this is I get a set of seats for the mini, the 1100 head has
much better flow and larger valves than the 850 head, the 1100 gearbox has a
remote shifter instead of the vague 'magic wand' shifter of the 850, and the
MG1100 has front freakin disc brakes, the mini has drums all around. After
a quick inspection I think I can put the discs on the mini despite the bolt
spacing being different, I'll just have to use larger wheels which I have,
maybe smaller tires.
It's such a shame, the car has 49000 miles on it and is in excellent shape
except that the whole bottom rusted off. I grabbed the fan pulley and turned
and the motor gave no resistance, that's after sitting for six years. If it
had been kept off the ground I wouldn't have all those neat parts and I'd have
another money sink.
If anyone out there needs any parts off this car let me know. I'm still not
too sure what I'll do with the engine and I know I want the brakes, but any
glass, doors, dash, hydroelastic horrors (still charged!) are up for grabs.
Also, if anyone out there has ever worked with a mini much and has any
sugguestions to offer I'm all ears.
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