Happy Holidays

Winter moved in quickly where we live in Northwest Indiana, it was late summer and then suddenly the temperature dropped quickly and snow began falling. Our Mini Mark is now snuggly tucked into the shop with a warm car cover over it. There will be a few small projects before the spring thaw and the first drives of 2014, but overall the finish of the restoration in 2013 put the car where it needed to be.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the followers of the blog this year, and all the businesses used during the restoration for without you our Mini Mark wouldn't be what it is today. In 2014 the car will be out on the road when the weather warms and making more road trips, tours, and car shows.

 Please stop by next year for updates on Mini Mark's located, more company history, and new happenings of our Mini Mark.

Fall 2013

As fall sets in and the leaves begin to change just an update on the last few months. The end of summer has been very enjoyable with great weather. The car has been out making road trips and getting more miles on it. We have put almost five-hundred miles on it since getting it back on the road in July. I have checked everything over a few times and no adjustments have been necessary.

It is still a real pleasure to drive and it is still amazing the response it gets. We took a drive to Three Oaks, Michigan yesterday and parked the car to browse the city. When we were walking back we saw someone taking a picture of it. That is just one occasion, there have been others. That also doesn't include all the thumb's up, waves and just plain head turning when driving down the street.

When we purchased our car it was from Larry F.  a local restaurant owner. I was able to trace back to the person he bought it from (Thurman M. in Shipshewana, IN) and after some research I was able to make contact with him. We talked on the phone for around an hour and I was able to piece together a little more about the history of our Mark. He said he had a job that took him on a route along Highway 15 south of Bristol Indiana and one day he found it in someone's yard for sale then finally purchased it. The location he conveyed to me wasn't that far from Bremen where the car was built. Assuming that was the first owner of the car, it makes us the fourth owners. I guess it is just hard to believe that the little car has had that many owners over the years.

There are still many warm days ahead for fall and it will be fun to get the car out and more miles on it. Unfortunately the cold midwest winter will follow and a rest until spring.

The Car Show

July 27th, 2013. It was an overcast, cool Saturday and the first local car show since we finished our Mini Mark. The La Porte County Historical Museum was hosting a car show and I had decided it was time to see how the public responded to the Mini Mark. There was a nice turnout of cars, and spectators as the day went on. All total there were probably close to seventy plus cars on display all ages, makes and colors.

There were many owners and spectators who were interested in the Mini Mark and stopped by to see what it was. Probably the most asked question of the day was if the Mini Mark was a kit car since it had a VW engine and pan under it. I had put together a history book of the restoration, and took some time to answer their questions and explain that it really was a factory built car, not a kit, and built in Bremen Indiana, only around fifty miles from the museum.



Three o'clock came fast and it was time for the awards and results. All of the owners gathered around the registration tent and I waited impatiently to see if the car would be awarded. There were a few trophy's presented and then number 16 was called, (that was the our registration number). We had won the President of the Museum's Award! Wow, not a bad result for the first showing after the restoration. It gave some confidence to all the work which we had done for the restoration.  It was exciting to share the car with the public, and educate some of them on this stylish little car.

I am not sure what the rest of the summer and fall will bring, time will tell, but Saturday turned out as a big positive!

The Interior Part 2

With the carpet complete, and the end in sight, it was time to move on to the last stages of the interior. We had decided to do the upholstery work ourselves after delays with the shop we had chosen. The seats were the main concern, but I started checking the web and found that Pacific Customs Unlimited had narrow width custom seats available at a reasonable price. After working back and forth with them to verify the dimensions, the materials, the designs, the cost, we crossed our fingers and ordered two new non-returnable  seats. The only difference I was able to identify was that they did not extend up to match the curve of the rear deck. They offered a few different options of head rest and high back, but we decided to go with the standard seat.


We ordered additional material, both in the grey suede and black vinyl so that the balance of the interior would match the seats. Delivery went faster than promised and within three weeks everything was here. I rough fit the seats and made new mounting angles to the adjusters. The door panels and side trim panels were the next task. We did away with the buttons and just did a vertical seams with foam backing. The door panels and side trims turned out great, good look, good color contrast with the red body and black carpet. It was really coming together and looking great!


The last challenge was the console. We had saved that to the last. I had enlarged the hole for the door, and added two speakers to the console up towards the top facing the seats. I took around three hours cutting patterns taping patterns, cutting material and in my mind figuring how to sew it all together. With all of the contours the final count came down to four panels which needed to be sew together and then assemble on to the fiberglass. We seamed then french stitched the panels, taking time between each step to test fit it onto the console.

It was Sunday afternoon when we finished sewing and it was 92 degrees outside, not much cooler in the workshop. I started with a small section and spray glue.  A half hour later, I decided to call it a day and rethink what I was doing. All of the way through the rebuild, (going on three years), and inches from the finish line,,,, problems. I spent the next few days starting from page one on the attachment of the vinyl to the fiberglass. I re-started by sanding all the fiberglass, removing all the old paint and the glues which were on it. I followed up with landau foam, contact cemented to the console. I left spaces between the foam panels for all the seams on the cover.  The next few evenings were spent contact cementing  section by section to the foam.  FINALLY after a week of small glue ups I was finished. I called it a night and planned on the final install over the weekend. Saturday morning I made a few patterns and glued carpet to the interior of the console.  A few final tucks and staples around the speaker holes, installed the speakers, and into the car it went. A few loose wires to attach for the speakers and interior light and the console was bolted in place. Eight nuts to attach the seats to the adjusters, and it was finished. We learned a lot about upholstery, and finished the job under what any of the upholstery shop's had quoted us.

It was hard to believe this was the same car that barely made it home almost three years ago. Yes there were hours and hours of work which went into the rebuild, but they were well worth it. The day was still young so we took it out for a nice afternoon drive. It really does have the effect, people driving up along side with thumbs up, honking, waving, and just stares. There is a lot more summer to go and it will be fun just getting out on the road and driving.  There is a local car show next weekend, and if the weather is nice, it will be in the mix.

FINISHING TOUCHES~ Since we had decided to purchase new seats, there was that small area on top of the seat that didn't meet up to the curves on the top of the body. After driving the car a bit, and looking at the seats, I finally came up with an idea of a finishing touch for the seats. I  began crafting small "head rests" to cover that open area above the seats. We had additional grey suede material left over from the seats so that would be the covering for the head rests. We thought of giving a little identity which would be visible when the car was parked. Why not embroider the Mini Mark name in that small space. I did some research and found Dale at Precision Ink & Stitch in Galien, Michigan. I sent him the same script we had used for the wheel covers and he had it digitized, making it ready to embroider on the suede.

I drove to Dale's on Saturday and watched as he put the Mini Mark name on the material. It looked GREAT! I took them back home and within a few hours we had the two head rests finished and installed. This was that finishing touch needed for the seats, and gave a little extra identity to the car for people wondering what it was.

The Interior

I know it has been a while since I have made a new post to the blog, so let me bring you up to speed with where we have been.

Back in February I took all the upholstery to Palmer Upholstery in Michigan City and told him I needed it back by warm weather, I guess I should have been more specific, for which year the warm weather was in! After numerous calls, and visits, I finally went and picked everything up the first week of June, nothing had been done to it. We were now on to Plan "B" and "C", find a new upholstery shop, or do it ourself. I checked with a shop in South Bend, IN and then after weighing several factors we made the decision to do it ourself. One good thing about our choice was that we could drive the car while completing the upholstery details.

Our first project was the spare tire cover as outlined in the previous blog. Once that was completed, it was on to the carpet. The original carpet which I saved when we tore the car down was in numerous pieces for some reason (VW style).  I thought I could do the passenger compartment in one piece. After making patterns for the shifter, emergency brake and pedal assembly it was time to make a few cuts. With everything now stripped from the inside, and the carpet piece cut oversize, I started to fit it into place. I had installed sound and heat barrier when the pan was rebuilt, so it was just getting the carpet fit over it now. I used 3M spray adhesive in areas to ensure fit and attachment and after allowing dry time moved to a new area. I wrapped the carpet up to the bottom of the door, and up along the inner front panels. It was really starting to take shape. I moved on to installing carpet in all the area behind the seats. It really isn't visible, since it is covered by the console and seats, but I wanted that finished look.

Around 8 hours in and I had the interior carpet in place. The best part of this weekend was that when the day was over the seats were back in and the car was out on the road for part of the shake down drives. Around 25 miles and many people stopping to wave and look as we drove by. Day complete!

Last week we started the carpet and this weekend it is already wrapped up. We finished both sides of the firewall and the front trunk area. All told the carpet took less time than I thought it would, and it really looks sharp. We have had the satisfaction of doing it ourselves and my suspicion is it looks better and is more complete than the upholstery shop would have done. We also laid out and fabricated the boots to cover the emergency brake and gear shift out of black vinyl, attaching velcro to the bottom of each to secure them to the carpet. This also allows removal should it be necessary to work on the emergency brake or shifter without pulling the whole carpet. We also put velcro on the heel pad securing it to the carpet. If it ever wears or needs replacement it will be easy to do.

Wrapping it up, a good vacuuming and still having weekend left it was time for a drive, another 25 mile shake down and home in the garage.

There isn't much left of the interior, but the story of that will continue.

The Spare Tire

Hopefully if you are reading this you have had the opportunity to take a slow gazing walk around a Mini Mark? The lines are so smooth, flowing and stylish, that is until you get to the rear of the car and the engine cover. The rear bumper is swept out in the center, and it looks like there should be a continental tire mounted there. The engine cover is even rounded in the shape of a tire.

There are two spare tires, one on each side tucked in the running boards. I made an early on decision during the rebuild to eliminate the running board spares, I just didn't like the way they looked, they broke the flowing lines of the fenders. The more I looked at the car, the engine cover needed a completed look of a continental tire. I took some measurements and tried to match it to a 12 inch or 13 inch tire. Both seemed a bit too big and the weight factor of a wheel and tire combination when you have to open the engine cover could pose a problem. I researched continental kits and the ones I could find were for the back of custom vans, way too big for the Mini Mark.


That wasn't stopping my vision of putting a continental tire there. Why couldn't I make a lightweight spare? I could get the size that I wanted to match the circle that was there from the factory, and make it light enough to still raise the engine cover. I picked up some 1-1/2" thick Owen's Pink
Styrofoam and cut two 24" squares. I then cut a piece of 1/2" birch plywood and made a sandwich with Gorilla Glue to hold it all together. Clamping it overnight and cutting the exterior in a circle  then cutting out the interior. Shaping the "donut" to look like a tire, building a mounting pad out of 1/2" plywood, and then coating the styrofoam with wood glue, I was finally able to start the fiberglass layup of a tire. While I was doing all of this I was able to find a 13" NOS wire wheel cover to match the 14" set I had put on the car, and I made the inside of my "tire" to accept that 13" wheel cover. Layers of fiberglass, resin, sanding and finally it was complete. I knew there would be a bit of a clearance problem opening the engine cover when the tire was in place, so I had engineered two stainless drawer slides to mount the tire to the engine cover. This allowed me to raise the tire assembly to clear the rear bumper when opening the engine cover, and slide it back down in a neat package with the cover closed. Some additional sanding before a few coats of black paint and then off to get a black vinyl tire cover made to complete the look. Even unpainted this was the look that I was envisioning, it completed and took away the unfinished appearance of the engine cover.



SUCCESS! As you can see from the picture to the side the spare tire cover is complete and the tire is now in place. It didn't take long, two days of patterns, cutting, sewing and finished. It is the look I originally envisioned and it didn't take three months to finish. The next step will be the carpet- patterns, cut and fit, inch by inch getting it all into place.

The Wheels

One of the other items that needed updating during the rebuild were the wheels. There seemed to be a mix on my car, the two spares on the running boards had aluminum honeycomb wheels which I have seen pictured in ads, and the ground tires were Dayton chrome wire baskets which I have seen in ads as well. One of the baskets was missing and the remainders were very rusted and had been painted someplace along the way. The center caps which held them on were random as well. I tried looking for replacement baskets with no luck, and then turned my focus to complete wire wheels, but I didn't like the look.


My next option was wire wheel covers. Finding 14" wire wheel covers which weren't plastic or dented and rusted was a bit of a challenge. I kept an eye on eBay and then one day I found a NOS set of GM (Camaro) wire wheel covers, all steel and chrome. These had the locking accessories with removable center caps and "keyed" lock bolts. That was what I was looking for and they would be secure. These wire covers were actually the least expensive of the options I looked at and seemed to fit the period look I wanted. When I received the wire covers they looked great, as advertised, New Old Stock and never on a wheel. The only tweak that was needed was the center logo. These had "CAMARO" in plastic which wouldn't work on a Mini Mark. I dreamt a little and did some research then had an idea. Why not make my own Mini Mark center logo's?  I found Plate Engraving Co in Medina, OH who was able to take my own designed script and engrave it into aluminum coins. Problem solved. Plate put black epoxy in the script and sealed the coins so that they would withstand the elements.




I'm not sure I like the wide white walls which came with the car, but there are other things to finish first before that decision needs to be made.

UPDATE: As you can now see from the picture on the left, we made the decision on the tires. Tire Barn in Michigan City, IN and Don T. did an awesome job of getting the BFG Radial TA tires that really change the look of the car from the old style wide white walls. There was a final bit of hard work to get ready though. Since the wheels were chrome plated, and a bit rusty, they had to be prepped for paint. Each wheel was sand blasted, sprayed with etch primer and then finish painted in black. Paint completed, tires were mounted and balanced, then mounted on the car. The wire wheel lock brackets were mounted the covers installed and locked and ready for the road.

The next project will be the spare tire, then on to the interior, carpet and upholstery.

The Chrome is Back!

I closed the last post ready to pick up my chrome, so Saturday I took the trip to Sterling, IL and Quality Chrome Plating. Gary did an AWESOME job on the bumpers and grille. A completely different look than when I took them off a few years ago. The grille went back on first, re-tapped all the holes and then mounted the new Wonder Woman ornament. Before the car went to paint I had located the original Lincoln Mark grille inserts, replacing the honeycomb plastic factory units. I like the look. After making new brackets to hold the grille in place, I moved on to the bumpers. Making thin rubber pads to go between the "footballs" and the bumper, I then tightened down the bolts and flawlessly the bumpers were in place. Remember I had made support brackets for the front bumper brackets to give it more stability and they worked just fine.

The Re-Assembly Continues

 The small steps continued. The original back up lights didn't look quite the "new" look  I wanted for the rebuild. Searching the internet under back up lights and utility lights didn't bring up what I was looking for, so I turned my searches to lights for motorcycles. I found aluminum billet housing turn signal lamps. Doing a little conversion after I got them, and replacing the bulbs with clear rather than amber I had two bright stylish back up lights, just what I wanted.

I had mentioned the replacement tail lights and turn signals earlier in the blog. Here is a better picture of how they look. I moved the license plate from the engine cover to the left rear fender with the tail/brake lamp. I will explain more about the engine cover later.

The other main lamps on the vehicle were the headlamps. I had toyed with what to do for the front ever since I bought the car home. The front turn signals were converted fog lamps with amber lenses. The originals were very rusted, and actually had been painted when I took them off. I thought of moving the turn and running lights to the top of the fenders as older MG's had. I kept looking and looking and finally found the solution. RJay's Speed Shop had King Bee 7" Headlamps with a built in turn signal and running light. The lamps have the original sealed beam look, yet had a built in 1157 lamp. Everything contained in one complete sharp looking light.

The only concern when mounting these lamps was grounding. With all of the lamps inside one assembly and mounting on fiberglass I decided to run a woven ground strap from the mounting bolt to the frame. That strap should cover all the amperage required for the lights. I did a little re-alignment of the mounting holes, and made sure the front trunk flaps opened and closed before tightening everything down.

Next was installing the trunk lids. I polished the stainless, hinge and made small rubber gaskets between the hinge and body mounting. I also made rubber gaskets for the length of the hinge. This was one of the only areas on the car where i decided to stay with the original pop rivet design. It wasn't long and the trunk lids were in place. I re-attached the hold downs and moved on to the straps which hold them open. The original were black and frayed when I took them off. I found some new woven red strapping in McMaster Carr and replaced both of them. The mounting of the straps to the lids was a little bit weak in the original as noted by the numerous pop rivet holes which were pulled loose, so I carefully drilled holes for thread inserts allowing for 1/4-20 bolts and epoxied them in place.

I also wanted to replace the original plastic windshield washer nozzles. I found  some stainless nozzles that fit an older Corvette and mounted them in place. new windshield washer hose and working washers (somehow I doubt I will ever use them??). While I was at it I installed a new washer switch on the dash. This one is the right size for the hole and has a nut on back to hold it in place.

I just found out my bumpers and grille are ready, so Saturday I will make the trip to Quality Chrome Plating in Sterling Illinois to pick them up. I can't wait to see them and get them installed back on the car. I will let you know how that goes in the next post.

After Paint

With the engine cover back in place it was time to get other parts of the car back together.  The look of the carriage screws did give a neat look.

The next object to finish was the gas tank filler. When I first got the car, and I think all were built that way. There was no grommet around the gas filler. I found a black rubber grommet that worked in McMaster Carr. It did have raised letters on it, but with some wet sanding of the grommet, working the grits up, I was able to get a smooth finish.

The well bolt which hold the hard top to the car were very rusted and needed work. I was able to find stainless hex socket button head screws, drill and tap the center out while still having the hex to hold the bolts to tighten. Now I chucked the two bolts up in a lathe and turned the heads down to match the original height. A few minutes at the buffer and the tops were polished and ready to go.

The early models, of which mine is one, had a a door latch which was a bolt which triggered when the door closed and locked the door closed. I am not sure if it was factory or done along the way but someone had taken large flat washers, bent the lip and pop riveted then to the door posts. They didn't seem to work very well, so I fabricated two new door latch trim. 14 GA SST bent into shape and polished them. The back has a lip to trigger the latch, and I backed them with the thin rubber material before using carriage bolts to mount them to the door posts. A few minor adjustments and the doors closed and latched perfectly. Looks a lot better than the flat washers on the posts to start with, and I am betting there will be less damage to the fiberglass when the door gets closed with the bolt ejected.

Doors were already mounted and as with the other hardware, mounted with carriage bolts and rubber gaskets.  The windshield came next. I had aluminum welded all the holes put in along each post. I was able to get a new gasket for the frame to the body and then made new mounting bolts from the frame to the body. A little lathe work again followed by polishing and I had four bolts ready to mount the frame. I made a gasket for where the frame meets the body, and mounted the windshield back in place.

When I first got my Mini it had body side moldings on the step panels, which was a look that didn't seem to fit the running board look, or give much protection to the painted running board. I fabricated two 14 GA aluminum plates and had them coated both sides with Rhino lining, the same material used in pick up beds. Dean's Detailing in Chesterton, IN. did a great job in coating both sides and giving the running boards a great look.

Taking my time and working on the small details was bringing the car back to the way it should look. There were still lots of details to go but it was starting to take shape.