i was looking at the British Motor Heritage Ltd website (the people who make the body shells in the UK) and found a link to an Australian place that sell MG parts, but also Mini panels. I thought at first that it may be cheaper than importing your own shell.


http://www.mgspareparts.com.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=33851&category_id=92&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26
it's the same price for a clubman shell

£4,250.00 inc vat from Minispares in the UK = ~AUD$6,990
how much would it cost to import it?

if you went to the bother of importing a shell, can the internal hinge doors even be used? can you legally convert an Aussie Mini to have the UK doors, as it's before the year (1989?) that you can't import UK Minis etc.
There's no point importing a shell if you can't use it!

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Saxon Green 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62641
Nightfire Red 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66555

legally you can't use a 'new' shell unless it is registered as a new car, to be registered as a new car it needs to pass all of the ADR requirements of the day... crash tests, ANCAP ratings, etc. etc. etc. etc.

It's OK to comply & register an internal hinge car as long as it was imported properly, but that's a different discussion

sorry, i wasn't very clear..

what i mean is> can you use the shell for panel replacement for a rusted-out aussie mini, including the doors. It would save having to buy every individual panel, and may help save a few of those Minis deemed "stuffed". You wouldn't actually be creating a whole new car.

kind of like converting an 850 to have leyland burstproof doors, can you make any aussie mini have internal hinges?

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Saxon Green 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62641
Nightfire Red 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66555

If you build a Mini will all new panels except the firewall and passenger side inner wing you can probably get away with it legally.
The firewall and inner wing have the identifying numbers.

But if you use the chassis numbers of an old Mini on a newer shell, it's illegal. Fullstop.

If you just wanted new panels, it would probably be cheaper to buy the panels individually than a whole bodyshell. This is because the panels are normally cheaper to ship.

Besides, I'm sure Customs/DOTARS won't normally allow a complete new bodyshell into the country anyway. I don't know how the Choke people get around that one.

Cheers,

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Am I right in thinking you cannot "Re-shell" a crashed or rusty car out here in Australia?

Very common in the UK, Thats why Motor heritage build new Mini and MG shells.

In fact it is what I (sort of) did with my 1976 Mini in 1988...

Smashed the car up on the way home from my girlfriends, with the crash damage and rust it was cheaper to buy a new shell change everything over and change the body number on the logbook...

I actually re-registered the car to get a Q plate as I thought that would be cool, but I should have kept the original registration.

Didn't have any problems bringing it over here with me either!

correct...

I would think that over here some would prefer to see these old 'legacy' models of cars quietly dissapear from the roads rather than be extended new leases of life...especially road safety advocates and the car industry.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Welcome to the Nanny State!

I can't see why reshelling with a new shell needs to be illegal. It used to be done quite often with Crummydores and Falcoons. You could buy a "Body in White" from Ford or Holden as a spare part until a few years ago.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

IMO the primary reason it is all made too hard now is to convince you to go buy a NEW car instead. As if...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Agree! So what happens when your 3 month old Falcon FPV needs a re-shell after a big off? Do you scrap it or straighten out the bent body? (Less safe than a re-shell?)

(Again) In the UK re-shelling "new" written off cars is common and an accepted repair procedure! Plus all the MG's that have motor heritage bodies...

And yes Ford still sell an FG "body in White"... which would imply it's legal to re-shell!

My mate wrote off his BA Falcon XR6 when it was 12 months old. The power pole went sideways through the VIN plate.
Car could have been fixed, but without a VIN... no can rego.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Just found t his on Vic Roads website:

"The practice of re-shelling a damaged vehicle by using a body in white or a salvaged body shell is no longer allowed. Re-shelled vehicles will not be accepted for registration."

So no longer legal in Vic...

like you said, i would think a reshell would be alot safer. a leyland shell i had looked fine from the outside, but the internal panels were bent/warped from what would've been a head-on that had been repaired with new panels.
what do they class as a reshell? what if every panel needed replacing? it'd be similar to a reshell!

it would be cheaper to import panels individually i suppose. Only order what you really need, and take up less space - although a lot more work!

kind of makes it more a restoration than a "new" mini though.

edit>> i did a VERY rough quote for the panels i'd need for a rusted out spare parts car i have from minispares in the UK. AUD$2,543.09. That's including a roof and complete floor pan. Even if i've missed a few things, it's much cheaper than a complete shell! (of course shipping would lift the price considerably!)

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Saxon Green 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62641
Nightfire Red 850: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66555