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+--- Thread: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck (/showthread.php?tid=693)
The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck - jimmyjamjar - 06-03-2017
Growing up I always wanted a mini (some say the growing up bit never happened). A friend got one of the first Minis in Cape Town and we called it the 'biscuit tin' because you could place a 1 pound biscuit tin on the floor in front of the accelerator and drive at a steady 60 MPH. The desire for the mini never went away but I ended up with a Wolsely 1500 which I tweaked a bit and modified the interior , including a lounge settee back seat! (I worked in the furniture industry at the time).
Fast forward a number of years when no1 child was ready for university and she needed a car to get to campus, she wanted to get a motorbike but I got her a 1982 1275 Mini which we christened 'Jemima Puddleduck' on account of the colour. The car was very popular with all the children and when no 2 child went to university it was always a dash to grab the mini keys first in the morning, the loser having to take the Honda. After 4 years at university the mini was brought up to Pretoria where I had been transferred. Junior then inherited 'Jemima' and became transport to Tukkies until junior bought an Alfa GT junior and I finally got to have my Mini to myself but the joy was short lived for one day coming back along the M1 at 120 (or thereabouts
) the gearbox went in spectacular fashion, lots of blue smoke and terrible sounds, no doubt due to children no's 1,2 and 3 thrashing the car all over the place! By good fortune for me a colleague at work wrote off her mini (just a few hundred serial numbers on from 'Jemima') plus a ex racing 1100 which her husband intended to put the mechanicals from the written off one until he realised the he didn't have the skills to do it so I got both cars for a song. I stripped both cars of all the parts I thought I could use and cut the body of the smashed one up and gave the body of the 1100 to a friend who needed a body for his Mini.I then retired and moved back to CT. I made a towing frame and flat towed 'Jemima ' from Pretoria. All the parts were put into a wendy house in the back yard and began the job of restoring 'Jemima' , however not much progress was made and I got involved with other projects , but two years ago my son (no3) gave me a set of 'Minilite' mags and some other bits like mirrors that i began work again.
Now that I lost my other daily car in an accident(see separate post) I have begun in earnest to get 'Jemima" back on the road again. Pshew! that was long but here are two pics of the car, one from 1987 which was on the M.I.N.I. list Member pages and another of where she is now.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 2 - jimmyjamjar - 06-10-2017
been having fun the past week and some progress was made with the 'Jemima' restore. Everything just takes so long firstly because my left hand and arm don't work so well since a stroke last year and secondly although I have plenty parts it is over ten years since I stripped the Mini's I had and now have forgotten what some of the parts look like and Heyne's BOL does not show everything. A case in point was I was looking for the clutch slave cylinder and after sorting through several boxes in my shed found one but the bore looked a bit dodgy so I got a swap re-sleeved item from Clutch and Brake I also did a swap on a brake master now have all the parts to complete the brake rebuild.
I also prepped the interior prior for fitting carpets and seats. I also spent a day re-sorting all my boxes of parts and making new contents labels.
Once the brakes are done it will be time to take the car to the garage and drop the engine in so although it's still a long way to go I am getting there slowly but surely.
A few pics of progress plus one of my sandblasting box.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - Vinay-RS - 06-10-2017
The shell does look incredibly straight. Interesting colour on the motor and it's a nice idea to build a sandblasting box, it'll definitely help with the restoration of the components.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - Grant - 06-12-2017
Agreed, a sandblasting box is a great idea - Im spending the majority of my time hunched over a grinding wheel with a wire brush attachment.
There is always the option of taking all my parts to a sandblaster but I doubt my skills in being able to put all the returned pieces back together again - easier rebuilding one side at a time using the unmolested other side as a reference.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - jimmyjamjar - 06-12-2017
Just a tip if you do make a sandblasting box use a bigger one than the one i used as there is not much room to manouver the gun in the one I made. THe gun holds about 600 gram of grit and is quite bulky but with the box you can recover most of it for re-use. My little compressor also struggles to deliver the demand for air but I just take my tiume and let the tank recycle before blasing away again.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - Jared Mk3 - 06-16-2017
This looks like a really nice base to start with
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - jimmyjamjar - 06-17-2017
Yes I am fortunate in that the car was basically sound to start with. There is just one small hole that had to be fixed at the bottom of the front wheel well. I am only the second owner of the car and I bought it for my daughter as varsity transport when it was five years old . The original owner lived on a farm in the Malmesbury district and for the next few years we kept on finding brown dust from farm roads embedded in the carpets and under-felt every time they were removed for cleaning.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - jimmyjamjar - 07-08-2017
here are some pics of the tyre fitted an of my fully kitted and air conditioned spray booth
Well another week gone and some progress made just slow as I can really say this rebuild is being done single handed, my right hand, cos the left doesn't wok properly. I have sprayed more parts like the tank, steering column, pedals, hand brake air filter and other smaller bits. I finally went to Ferro Brake for the clutch cylinder kit so now all the hydraulic bits are done, just to be bled. I also got all the studs for the wheel spacers fitted and tried the new 13" wheels and I will definitely need to put the 'sport pack' arches on, I tried the standard arches I had but they just don't look right. I fitted the new taper roller bearing kits to the rear, I know that I will have to do the same with the front but that will have to wait a bit. I also got the vinyl for the door cards and rear inside cards as well as the new carpeting . Then I spent a morning sourcing rubbers seals for door and front and rear screens. I was unable to get front door window tracks. I can't get rear window seals but the existing ones just need a bit of reglueing, THe boot seal too is not available but I will use a standard 'D' section seal which should work.
The project for the week, before I drop the engine back in will be to install anti-vibration and sound proofing material on the interior and heat resistant sound proofing under the bonnet.
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - Jared Mk3 - 07-15-2017
Making some nice progress
RE: The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck -chapter 1 - jimmyjamjar - 07-21-2017
Not much progress this week, been attending to setting up rainwater tank. but i did manage to clean up the seats but am having problems with the seat runners which wont slide properly, I'll have to strip them and figure out a way to make them work. No 1 child came round and helped with the cleaning and also with cutting and fitting the acoustic panels for the floor. I also managed to decipher some of the wiring loom but still can't connect with what I am seeing and which diagram in Heynes BOL is the right one, what I would really like is to find a wiring layout rather than a diagram which I find confusing. I alo did some prep worek on the bonnet as the spray job I did on it was pathetic. I must add that I am the world's second worst spray-painter (I figure there must be someone worse than me ).