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.