The Begining

Let me start from the begining. I saw my first Mini while stationed in Okinawa, Japan. I was sitting in my Honda Civic at a light and a Mini in the opposite direction turned right in front of me. I couldn't believe how small and just plain cool it was. I knew then I had to have one.


It wasn't until a couple of years later when I had come back to the States before I could get one. I found one in South Carolina for $3800. We called him, "Percy."

Here is a couple of pictures of me cleaning it up after getting it home. The date is June 2003.

I soon found out I should have not bought this Mini. I had never had a classic car before and didn't really know what to look for. I should have done some research because this mini turned out to be a real basket case. Rust and bondo was everywhere. I really had no business buying this car.

I soon discovered that the rear subframe was rusted through and collasped on the ride home. In this picture you can see it leaning. A rear subframe that is as strong as a wet paper bag will do that.
When I started to take off the rear suspension is when I discovered some real problems! Where the rear subframe mounts to the body was all rusted and had no strength at all!



Complete suckage.