Austin Mini Countryman
1968 Austin Mini Countryman
Engine 998cc/4-cyl/ohv
Gearbox 4-speed manual
Time off the road 44 years
Work done
Moved into the workshop, washed and polished. Three years ago I received a message from a friend. ‘Do you want any bits off this old Mini before it’s scrapped?’ The Mini was hub-less in their late grandfather’s garage, where it had sat since 1977, and it took my friend Craig Mccarthy and I a full day in scorching summer heat to get it rolling once again and ready to be transported back to
PC HQ. I introduced the car, a 1968 Austin Mini Estate MKII in the March 2019 issue of
PC, with hopes of starting the project ‘just as soon as the Minor is finished.’ Well the Minor took longer than expected and the Austin Seven has somewhat jumped the queue, but with the latter slowly progressing in my shed at home, and a space presenting itself in the
PC workshop, the Mini has finally made it through the door.
The first task was to assess the condition of the paint on the top of the car to work out if my plan of only locally painting repaired areas and polishing the original paint on the rest of the body was feasible. After all, how many Minis still wear their original paint? After a thorough wash, a few passes with the mop with a soft pad and coarse compound (Scholl Concepts’ SZ extra heavy cut) brought the dull, oxidised paint on the roof to a shine. That meant a plan could be formed. The underside of the car will be painted, as will the wheelarches and under the bonnet while the top will be kept as original as possible.
I’ll locally repair the bodywork and paint where required, then polish the whole car to restore it’s shine.