The rebuild of Jemima Puddleduck

[jimmyjamjar]

       
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.