Unfortunately, the rust had really gone to town on this pickup, I even
found small weeds growing out of holes in the sills!
This is the kind of thing that'd make you wake up in the middle of the
night screaming - if you were a Mini.
Below you can see the terrible state it was in.... wherever you see red paint, that's where I found a rusty hole !!
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For three years now, I have been welding, grinding and swearing at it....
but it's been worth it,
'cos it's really come along, and is looking like a Mini again !
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You can see here how I've rebuilt one of the rear subframe mounting areas - these always rot on Minis |
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I had to turn the whole thing on its side to do the floors, luckily
my friend Rich sold me new floor panels together with the pickup! Notice the large steel braces, to stop it all warping.... |
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By the time I got to this stage, the pickup had new floors,
front wings, front panel, sills, door pillars and rear valances. Plus about
20 other assorted patches.... and a pair of second-hand doors |
I've now painted the whole of the inside in bright screaming yellow paint,
so the floor's looking really nice!
Plus I got a full carpet set at the South Wales Mini Festival, tailor
made for the pickup - this really sets it off!
I even managed to pick up a beaten-up wooden dashboard for a tenner, it'll
need refinishing, but will eventually look good.
here you can see the front, cabin and the new rigid cover I've now built to support the tonneau cover, so it won't turn into a mobile fishpond...
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After several years of hard work, and lots of fiddling, this Easter weekend the paint went on!
Man, that's a really yellow truck!
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