Now strip!

The strip down begins, and doesn’t take long: it’s a Mini.

First, the interior. Half the carpet was already missing, but I think the floor is salvageable.

Rear subframe is out, and looking surprisingly solid, if a little dirty.

Next comes the engine bay.

 The brake booster bracket is distinctly home made- I’ll have to fix that. (Funny what seems important when you first start a project).

The previous owner had added an expansion tank (a good idea) and mounted it in the driver’s side wheel arch, where you couldn’t get to it without unbolting it. Bizarre. So I’m fitting it in an equally bizarre but slightly more accessible place.

Our haul of spare parts included a right hand fuel tank, so we fitted it at this stage, just for the hell of it.

Keen eyed viewers will notice that the retaining strap is on the wrong side. I didn’t notice at the time, but I’m sure it’ll come back to haunt me.

Disk brakes were a nice surprise, but they’re going to need a bit of work.