Painting a Mini Cooper S shell

Ian Goodwright is in the process of painting the Mini Cooper S body shell. The shell was first coated in zinc phosphate epoxy for long term rust protection. Then the shell could be filled, shaped, primed and prepped for the Island Blue top coat.

mini cooper s shell 2 mini cooper s shell mini cooper s shell engine bay mk1 mini cooper s shell island blue paint

Alpina update: Bespoke BMW E9 CSL Batmobile Rollcage

We made a bespoke roll cage for this BMW E9 CSL race car. The cage is made from 45mm CDS tubing to FIA regulations. The reason this car required a bespoke roll cage is because it is an original car with period history. In period, the car raced with an aluminium roll cage. However, we can’t use aluminium roll cages anymore. The new bespoke roll cage was made to resemble the original and to use the original mounting locations. This way we don’t have to disturb the history of the car.

As well as the bespoke BMW CSL roll cage we built for this car we also supply and fit the Custom Cages Historic T45 roll cage.

BMW E9 Alpina 3.0 CSL roll cage BMW E9 Alpina 3.0 CSL roll cage BMW E9 Alpina 3.0 CSL roll cage BMW Alpina 3.0 CSL

Cheetah Progress

A lot of progress has been made over the past couple of weeks. The body work has been fitted, the roll cage has been fabricated and welded to the chassis and much of the aluminium paneling for the chassis has been made. The seat and pedal box are both in place now and we are currently working on the steering column.

Bill Thomas Cheetah 4 Bill Thomas Cheetah 3

The best California Mk1 Mini Cooper S shell

In his 27 years of Mini restoration our bodyshop manager Ian Goodwright has never seen an original mk1 Mini shell this good let alone a genuine early Mini Cooper S shell with right hand tank. The term “never been welded” has been used liberally in the past but this shell truly has never been welded. There is not a single seam on the car that is bubbling up with rust. Everything is original including the sills, wings, scuttle, a-panels and the proper mk1 rear seam covers (anoraks will know what that means). You can even see shiny bare metal under the door hinges. An extraordinary find from the dry climates of sunny California and imported only weeks ago. Unfortunately somebody has cut a few holes in it for speakers and the like but once we are finished with it it will be immaculately presented with a new coat of paint ready for its rebuild.

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