Adding a Splash of colour..

Well the time is almost here. After 2 years of stripping, paneling and repairing the mini is almost ready to get a splash of colour.

The first choice was obviously choosing the colour that I wanted. I've always wanted a red mini with a white roof
(Which I can put a union jack decal on), but which shade of red ?

Thankfully Phil (Ross's son) was working on a newly painted Toranna which was a lovely
shade of red (it also matched my old red Subaru Impreza) which made my life easier.
It was probably harder to pick the shade of white I wanted for the roof.

Turned up at Ross's after a few weeks and I'm sure my heart stopped for a few seconds when I saw it in the paint booth.
(thought it wont actually get painted here as the booth is not ready to begin service as Phil is still setting it up)

At the moment everything is getting its final sand, touch up, smoothing and check to make sure everything
is ready for the undercoat.

The Final clean down of the front end and Ross very kindly plated up the rear parcel shelf for me.

Well the day has finally arrived. My little girl has been painted with 3 coats of brilliant red and white.

The doors, boot, bonnet etc.. are off being done right now.

The paint job (although not polished yet) looks brilliant. The work Ross did on getting it as smooth as glass has really paid off.

The roof was done in a brilliant white and will eventually have a union jack on it.

Even the inside was given the royal treatment.

I've sent off all the door and bonnet strikers off to be zinc plated which stop them getting damaged and give them a lovely gold look.

And for a bit of fun, found this YouTube video of a mini cooper having a Union Jack painted over it.

A few weeks later I got back the bits I sent off to be zinc plated.

The Doors and Bonnet are back and have been fitted.

The boot with it's chrome hinges. Note the colour difference between my dads camera and mine. My camera is making it look more orange
than it should be (mind you when ever I take a phone its usually of a part thats covered in white dust.

Oh. thats me in the photo.

And a photo of more dust. Looking forward to bringing it home and keeping it a bit cleaner than it is at the moment.

Basically the only things that have to be done now is for the painter to come back and touch up some areas and give it the final cut and polish.

And lastly a great video showing two guys painting a Union Jack over their mini.