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.

Getting Ready for Paint

Now with our Mini Mark back in a rolling state, there were a few other tasks before getting it ready for paint. After all that time in pieces I could now put some gas in the tank and fire it up. Before that, one last bleed of the braking system, verifying the engine electrical and Vrooom! Pouring a little gas in the carburetor and a few cranks of the starter and there was life to my Mini Mark. At this point there were no doors, hood, engine cover, mirrors, windshield, or lights, but I couldn't resist taking it for a drive. It wasn't far, just up and down along the street, but if felt good to have it running again. Back into the shop, and let the body work begin. I didn't want the two spare tires, and rather than cut the wells out, I decided to fill them in, just in case someone ever wanted to return it to original. Fiberglass matting, resin, building up each well until they were ready to get the contours. Plastic body filler, sand, more filler, more sanding, sanding, sanding , primer, wet sand, finally getting both where I wanted them There was lots of other body work to do. I removed all the  snaps from covers and tops, Plugged holes from the original antenna, the power outlet for the hardtop, holes from the two driving lights on the cowl which I didn't plan on putting back on, and a few other holes which weren't needed anymore. Some had the edges cleaned up and resin added, other just received body filler. The whole body was sanded with 120 grit and then worked down to wet sanding. Red primer and more wet sanding, then finally a micro mesh pad over the whole body. Washing the body down and looking at the body lines until It was ready for paint.

Finding the right body shop was quite a challenge. Since I wasn't able to drive the car to each shop to get an estimate, I took pictures of the car at different angles and the loose body panels taking them to the shops I selected. A few came out and looked at the car in person, others just gave me a price, and a few never got back to me. The final decision was for the body shop I originally wanted to do the paint. I knew they would do a great job, and it wasn't far to trailer in. Dan's Body Shop in Michigan City, IN took on the job of turning my Mini Mark red. Jim, at Dan's made sure everything went according to plan. My son was given the task to pick the shade of red from all the color swatches. Dan's used PPG products, and this was actually a water base paint. PPG Mercedes Red was the final choice. I finished up the prep for the paint and asked my brother in law to trailer it there and back for me.



The day finally came and I rushed home from work and dove it up on the trailer. We got it down to Dan's and off loaded it. I gave Jim the keys and left it in his hands. While it was in paint for the next few weeks I started getting ready for assembly when it came back. Buying new Ford tail lights, polishing the aluminum brackets, polishing all the hinges and hardware, and doing something which wasn't done on the original. Each piece of hardware had a EPDM rubber gasket made for it where it would meet the body. The original had all the hardware screwed in with phillips head sheet metal screws, and direct contact to the body. Many of the screws were stripped or missing by the time I started the rebuild. My plan was to use stainless carriage bolts and serrated flange nuts for all the hardware mountings.

Three weeks after dropping the car off for paint I received a call that it was ready. The week was going to be busy and the weather just as unpredictable. The weather report called for light rain in the afternoon when I picked it up, and we made the decision to give it a try. Since the car was completely open, I didn't want to move it in a rainstorm. We were able to get the car back to my shop during a small window of no rain, or just light drizzle. WOW, what a change from the original tan to the new shade of red. The job of putting parts back on began. I installed the engine cover hinges first. That small porthole behind the passenger seat came in handy. I wouldn't be able to reach the nuts for that side without it. I was able to reach up to fasten the driver side hinge. Polishing the molding on the engine cover , re-installing it, and then attaching the engine cover to the hinges. The stainless carriage bolts looked great. I buffed and polished each head, cutting the bolts to length before installing them.

The Body

The first step after getting the body into the shop was to drop the gasoline tank. Four bolts, the hose clamps around the filler hose and down it came. The tank actually is rather heavy, so plan ahead for this and put a jack under it. Disconnect the sender wire and slip the tank out from under the body. You can now pull the sending unit and flush the tank. You can pressure wash the inside with special detergents to clean it. You will probably find a lot of rust inside, so clean it well and leave it dry out well. There are special gas tank paints which you can put inside and seal the inside of the tank, slowing the rust. You can still get the sender and gasket for the tank as it is original VW. They don't cost much and it is a lot easier to replace it now than once it is back in the body. You may have to bend the float arm a little to match what you took out. Put on a new gasket and tighten the screws down. It wouldn't hurt to get the outside of the tank cleaned and painted, then you can put it aside until you are ready to put everything back together.


A simple hint here. When you get back to working on the body, on the passenger side, way up on top, make a port hole in the body panel behind the passenger seat (I suggest around six inches in diameter). If you ever need to access the sender unit, you can get at it through that hole (you will never reach it through the engine compartment). It is also a lot easier than dropping the engine and tank to change out the sender. Make a cover plate when you are finished and screw it in place from the inside. Now that the tank was out of the body, I took my overhead hoist and turned the body onto its side. With the heavy fiberglass there was no worry of damage. Fabricating up some supports to hold the body in place on its side, and leaving the straps in place to the hoist I didn't worry about the body falling while I was working on it.

The inside of the body looked rough. The wiring harness was a mess, and the inside of the body was not painted. Under the dash was even worse, loose and frayed wires, bad splices, and a nightmare of wires running everywhere. There had to be a plan, so it was start at the back and move forward. Each wire was traced, labeled, splices soldered, heat shrink, tape and plastic wiring loom cover. I chose red loom cover, taping the ends, and lots of plastic wire ties giving it a professional look. Little by little, wire by wire, inch by inch I made it through each section of the body, painting the raw green fiberglass black, working the wiring at each section and finally ending at the dash. With all the ends of the wires labeled, it was now time to label the start of the wires and rebuild the dash. Patience was the key word here, I polished all the bezels on the gauges, checked each one for operation and cleaned the lenses. Once the dash was stripped out. I painted the under dash, put in a piece of plated steel angle for a ground buss bar, and started putting the dash back together. The front of the dash was a hand painted wood grain which didn't look very real. I also wanted to change some of the locations for the radio, lighter, and switches. I was able to find a wood grain Wilsonart laminate. It was a thin gauge, not like regular counter laminate. Making a pattern, checking it twice I cut the laminate and contact cemented it in place. I am a bit of a naturalist and would have preferred real wood for the dash, but with the constant sun, UV rays, and atmosphere, real wood wasn't practical. The color of the laminate matched the grain and color of the steering wheel and looked better than the hand painted dash. The naturalist side did come out however. I crafted all new knobs for the dash, (four-way flasher, lights, wiper, and inside door handles) from Padauk with a bit of stain to "brown" them up. I finished them with super glue, polishing them up to 12,000 grit with a final wax burnish on them. An added touch was to add a small polished stainless steel button in the middle of the wiper and light knobs. I finished putting the dash back together piece by piece.

Wiring all the instrument lights, reinstalling all the gauges, tucking and looping all the wires in a pattern and following the same red plastic loom and wire ties the dash was starting to take shape. Part of the rebuild of the dash was a new sound system. The original was an AM-FM with cassette player. The new was a Pioneer AM-FM-CD with MP3 and auxiliary input. I could listen to just about any format currently available. Commercial station, CD, flash drive and MP3 or Ipod. Along with the new radio were new speakers using the the speaker cups built into the front firewall, and adding three inch speakers to the center console. Rather than an external antenna I chose a hidden antenna which mounted on the front of the firewall close to the top. Since the body was fiberglass reception for a hidden antenna was better than a steel body.  It actually took more time to complete the body than the frame, but the inside of the body was finally complete. Lowering the body back to the floor, and re-installing the fuel tank the two halves were soon to be reunited. When you put the fuel tank back in, don't install the filler yet, That will be after final paint.

I purchased new stainless bolts and nuts, a new VW pan gasket and after lifting the body high in the air, wheeled the frame back under it. Connecting the steering linkage and shaft, assembling the brake reservoir, fishing some of the wires through openings and aligning the bolt holes joining the two halves back together again. A few hours later the halves were back together as a car. The body was still the tan color and it needed body work before it went to paint.

The Frame - Part 2

 Now that all four wheels were back on the ground, the engine and transmission in place there was just a little touch up work before moving on to the body. The original exhaust were low dual zoom, glass packed chrome trumpets. I had taken the heater boxes off the engine during the rebuild and added straight pipes in their place. with a little searching I was able to find the original low dual zoom chromes at CIP1 Some high temp exhaust paint new gaskets and the exhaust was in place.

Rebuilding the pedal assembly and master cylinder came next. The master cylinder had been replaced within the last few years from the look of it, so just a rebuild. New clutch cable, accelerator cable, and hook up the emergency brake cables to a new chrome handle. New pads on the three pedals, then temporary hook up of the brake reservoir. Adding fresh brake fluid and bleed out the system, fine tune the brake adjusters, brakes ready to go..

Next was rebuilding the rear axles with new CV joints, boots, grease and them mounting them in place. Rebuild the shifter assembly and after some minor adjustments to it drivetrain was ready to go. One other modification I made was to the front bumper brackets. The single bracket welded to the front suspension seemed a bit week, and I noticed the bumper vibrated when driving. I added brackets between the welded brackets and the fastening bolts for the front frame extension. I had to add a little bend to the new brace so it wouldn't hit the body when put back in place. I think it really "beefed"up the bumper. It was now time for the frame to change places with the body and start work on the upper half.

Compared to the frame you may say there wasn't a lot of work required on the body. In reality there was. I planned on going through all the wiring, all the gauges, wiper motor and linkage, then dropping the fuel tank and painting the interior fiberglass before putting both halves back together. I am getting ahead of myself though and that will be covered in another blog.

The Frame - Part 1

With the engine and transmission complete it was time to move onto the frame. With the benefit of an overhead hoist in my shop I was able to pick the rear end up and spend around a month rebuilding it piece by piece, the two rear bearing boxes (new bearings, shims and seals), rear brakes, (cylinder, hoses, shoes, hardware pack) transmission linkage, mounts, rubber bumpers, shock absorbers and exposed frame. Considering it was a 69 there wasn't the amount of rust I expected, and the brake drums were in decent shape. With the help of a wire brush, Wire brush cones for a drill, sandblasting, degreasing,  and sandpaper I eventually got down to solid metal. Once clean and shiny, I began priming, undercoating and painting, getting it into shape.

Once the rear half was completed, back on the ground and then turning the frame around I began work on the front half. The front  wasn't quite as easy as the rear had been. The brake adjusters were broken (not froze, but completely broken), brake cylinders leaking, brake linings worn, wheel bearings and seals worn and leaking, the ball joints very worn, the tie rods, steering shock absorber, brake lines, anything that moved was worn and needed replacement. The front took a lot longer to go through than the back did.

Since the frame was a VW, parts were readily available for everything through Auto Zone, Cip1, Mid America Motorworks and J. C. Whitney.  More wire brushing degreasing, sandblasting, sanding and overall cleaning and back to priming, undercoating and painting.  

Around three and a half months after beginning the frame, lots of blood sweat and tears and the frame was finally complete. My Mini really couldn't go too far though,, no engine or transmission, not to mention, seats, steering wheel, or any of those other things around you when driving. That driving part was a long way off although it doesn't hurt to dream. The refurbished frame was soon re-united with the engine and transmission. All the chrome on the engine and fresh paint on the frame made for a nice look. There was still a lot of work to go before the car would make it back on the road, but this was a big step forward.

Let the Restoration Begin!

Finding our Mini Mark and finally making the deal, it was time to get it home. It hadn't been run much in the past few years, but at least it did run. I took the chance of driving it the roughly six miles just to see what it felt like and what it needed. It kept stalling at every stop and the steering wheel pulled hard to the right when putting the brakes on. Half way home I passed a police car without plates on the car, and the exhaust was rusted and noisy. When I made it into the garage and turned it off I found out that there was a rather large engine oil leak as well. Doing a little more exploring over the weekend it became apparent that it would be better doing a rebuild rather than trying to fix one thing at a time and having it break down along the way.

My son and I took one last ride around the block and then back into the garage to start of taking it apart. My plan was to pull the body loose of the frame and work on each one individually. About two hours later my son and I had the body was up on my overhead chain hoist and we wheeled the frame out from under it. We lowered the body and put it on rollers finding a spot in the corner of the garage for it to "rest" for the winter.

The frame didn't look like much, it needed a lot of work. Worn ball joints, loose steering, leaking brake cylinders and rusted lines. The adjusters were frozen and broken, not to mention the engine, lots of work needed there. Another few hours more and the engine was up on a cart and ready for inspection. The following weekend I began disassembling the engine, laying parts out and making a list of what was needed as I went. Before the weekend was over it was down to a stripped block with parts laid out in the order they came off.

With the block being rather small it was somewhat easy to get it de-greased and flushed out. Patience, lots of solvent a few small wire brushes and the clean up began. Over the next four months inch by inch the motor was rebuilt. High temp engine paint, new gaskets, new parts where needed (oversize jugs and pistons) new oil pump with filter option, and lots of chrome. New carburetor, electronic distributor, chrome starter and intense cleaning of the intake manifold. Now it was beginning to look like an engine that could. New clutch and then a minor transaxle rebuild and the drive end was complete.

The move to the frame was not as simple, but that is another blog!

Mini Mark Advertising

Bremen Sport did a fair amount of advertising for the Mini Mark. One of the 8 x 10 color fliers which had a picture of a yellow Mini read. "For a color brochure and price sheet, send $1.00. For color brochure, price sheet and complete 22 page instruction building manual, send $5.00 (refundable with order). "Also available with mid engine chassis kits for Rabbit and Scirocco." I think there was even an advertisement that was run in Playboy. Another brochure showed a yellow Mini Mark with a small yellow fiberglass trailer towed behind. (I wonder if there are any of those trailers out there, or that 22 page building manual???????) The yellow seemed to be a striking color used to catch the eye of a prospective buyer. Smart marketing on the part of Bremen Sport. The tan was the most popular color they sold however.