Freshly squeezed

Nick Whiting’s project Mini has been totally rebuilt, welded up and customised within the confines of a single garage, but with professional results.

- Stephen Colbran

Admittedly Nick does work as a mechanic and has been playing with Minis for years, but his latest DIY project is his first full restoration at home, as it’s the first chance he’s had to rent a local garage. Given the tight confines, the results so far are incredible, and it’s all in the detail as with any build of this calibre. Check out the scuttle panel and you may notice the welded-up spare wiper holes, the wiring has all been neatly hidden from the engine bay and the panel fit is spot on.

It’s a far cry from where Nick began around two years ago, with an abandoned shell delivered on an old pallet. He reckons it was a bargain, although the costs soon began to climb as the rust turned to small holes and small holes turned to a big pile of crumbs in the dust pan. Where have we heard that before..?

The project may be a little more advanced than some of the bare shells and rusty wrecks that we’re used to photographing for these four pages, but refreshingly it means the end is very much in sight. Nick and his car mad pals hope to visit Mini in the Park later this year with the completed custom Mini. Judging by progress so far we reckon he’ll make that deadline no problem.

There’s still a few potential pitfalls on the way, including a right-hand fuel tank install, sorting arch extensions to cover those wide wheels and trying to fix an issue with the fuel pressure regulator. Teething problems for some, but Nick is clearly a perfectionist and he’s already talking of ripping out the custom made dashboard and building something better. We struggle to see the issue with it, though we’d never stand in the way of a quest for perfection!