My original cowl has seen better days, and one side has split in 2.

I purchased a reproduction cowl (which is pretty) but I noticed some very minor differences.

I want to restore this mini back to original so.... I am wondering would something like replacing the original cowl be seen as a no-no... or is it ok to replace it?

I know that there are those in the forum who don't like cars being put back to original because they think that they don't get driven. Let me put your mind at ease, this will not be driven around on a trailer (unless it breaks down) and it won't be collecting dust in my garage. It will be driven.

I just want this car (a 68 AUTO) to be as he was when rolling out of the factory. My other 66 is already a mongrel so it won't be original at all.

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1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

I would fit a new cowl. The old ones are all shagged these days.

Be careful where you get it from. There are some pretty awful cheap chinese copies around that simply don't fit.

cheers
michael

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

I prefer to refit the original - even if it's not perfect, it's correct...

or at least have the correct original part in a box in your garage like where most of my original bits are!

Here is a photo of the cowl... split in 2.

Tomorrow I am visiting a mate who builds models, I am hoping that he will have some ideas on how I can go about restoring this -- and the other half.

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1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

I would be using some fibreglass matting on the inside and some plasti weld on the outside. a little body filler and paint it satin black.

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The stock plastic gets brittle and shrinks. The top half shrinks more than the bottom half which twists it as well.

I think Paul Gulson makes repo ones and sells them on Ebay from time to time.
Cheers Pete

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A recent study found the average Aussie walks about 900 miles a year
Another study found Aussies drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year
That means, on average, Australians get about 41 miles per gallon

Kind of makes you proud to be an AUSSIE

The repairs have started. I went to the hobby shop at lunch and purchased some Tamiya Cement (used for sticking plastic models together).

I have painted both sides of the join and have stuck them together. The pieces are stuck with sticky tape to my desk so that it doesn't move whilst drying.

The next stage (if this works) will be to sand the back back and add some eproxy to it - for support. After that, another sand, and then I will use some surface primer - suited for plastic.

Finally a top coat of satin black (as suggested).

I will post progress shots when I can.

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1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

I'll be interested to see how you go.

I'll finish restoring mine once I find a way to do it.

Mine looks like it's an old bakelight job, so it don't like any of the modern paints/primers I've tried.

I've read somewhere to give it a coat of thinned down epoxy to seal it so I'll give that a crack sometime soon.

Ian

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1961 Morris 850 (being restored)
1965 Austin 1800 (daily driver)

Last night I left one half of the cowl at work drying, and the other half went home to get sanded and cleaned.

The tape residue is a real pain in the neck. I used WD-40 to get the main glue off and then tried to sand the other bits out of the plastic. I also soaked it in warm soapy water too.

This morning I put some more cement on the hair line crack in cowl half 2. The idea being that the cement will melt the plastic and give it some strength.

Today a mate is bringing in some styrene strips. We will lay them across the main split in cowl half 1 and cement it in. Tomorrow I should then be able to sand that cowl half. (That's the idea anyway).

Picture below: Cowl Half 1 with Cement and Taped up






Picture below: Cowl half 2 cleaned up still with hair line crack



Picture below: Cowl half 2 hair line crack with cement applied




Picture below: Tamiya Cement used ($4.00 AUS)

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1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

I use tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil to remove tape adhesive. It's the ducks nuts for that sort of thing. Won't attack the plastic or paint in most cases. And it smells good while you are at it.

cheers
michael

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Avoid using WD-40 anywhere you plan on painting

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Pete...
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1968 Deluxe 1275
1969 Deluxe 'Scruby' 998 Looking for a roof skin...

Tamiya Cement..its good stuff and used it alot when building plastic Aircraft, Tanks, Cars & Boats models when I was young. Easy on the sanding / light handed till you get the differance between the cement and the plastic

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Im nearly done with the restoration of the Steering Wheel Cowl. I've just done my first base coat in Satin Black (as suggested above).

Photo below: Cowl 1 just sanded
The following photo is of cowl 1, after it had the plastic cement sanded back.



Photo below: Cowl 1 Rear Support Patch
I added a rear patch for added support. I ended up purchasing a Styrene strip from the local hobby shop and used the same plastic cement to fuse it in place.



Photo below: Cowl 1 with Putty applied and sanded back
I purchased some plastic putty (epoxy) from the hobby shop too. I applied it, let it harden and then sanded it back. It may not be perfect but it seemed to do the job.



Photo below: Plastic Primer applied to Cowl 1
You may notice that some primer is missing from the cowl. That's because I dropped it whilst I was painting it... duh! It actually cracked the plastic and I had to patch it and reapply some more primer. (lesson learnt). One good thing out of that was that the original break held up.. no stress cracks or anything.



Photo below: First base coat applied
This photo was taken of both of the cowls (side by side) after the first base coat of Satin Black base was applied. I am very happy with the results so far.




Next I will apply one more coat of Satin Black... then I will apply a clear gloss coat. Thoughts?

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1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original