Reviving a Neglected Gem – Flipping Bangers – S03 EP04 – Car Show

Embark on the fourth episode of Flipping Bangers as we unravel the intricate journey of rescuing a forgotten BMW Mini. Delve into the mechanical intricacies, addressing overheating challenges with precision. Follow along as thermostat and water pump revelations unfold, adding unexpected twists to our restoration adventure. Experience the surprise interior upgrade and witness the transformation with a sleek change in wheels. In this thrilling test drive, witness the culmination of our efforts, hoping to breathe new life into this classic car. The Flipping Bangers team navigates challenges, turning them into triumphs!

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Join hosts Will Trickett and Gus Gregory in Flipping Bangers as they embark on an exhilarating automotive journey. Watch these two car enthusiasts search for neglected classics, work their magic in the garage, and turn old vehicles into pristine gems. Experience the excitement of buying, restoring, and selling cars in this thrilling series. From rust to riches, it’s all here. Buckle up and enjoy the ride with Will and Gus!

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This time on Flipping bangers a future  classic now that’s a nice car they sold   shed loads of these cars the costs buttons  there’s going to be good opportunity for us   to make some money here but it’s head  scratching fault you break it you buy  

It what a brilliant waste of time and dollar  peel just a bit boring that’s not pretty is   it threaten to divide us I knew you’d bring  it up that’s crazy if it runs it sells it’s   still the same car anything else you want to  get off your chest should we be in business  

We’ll say goodbye to our day jobs and invested our  own hard-earned cash as we try and make it in the   Cutthroat world of second-hand cars you’ve got  to buy well but you’ve got to sell well we have  

A goal we need to double our money if we put 500  quid in we need to see a thousand pounds back but   we’re forced to the very bottom of the market we  buy cars that nobody else wants who else will buy  

That car can we keep our business afloat flipping  bangers there’s so many things to do to this car returned our backs on our regular jobs   we said to carve out a new living by buying and  selling cheap cars evicted from our previous  

Workshop by Angry neighbors will has sorted  us out with a new base and apart from having   no working toilet it feels like home we’ve  raided our bank accounts and this time we   have enough to invest around 500 to 1500 pounds  on each car rights what car do we want soak us

Let’s do a car that we both like this time we  always do a car we both like oh no you always play   the game with me don’t you you always tricked me  into suggesting something that you like and then  

I’m on your Turf anything else you want to get  off your chest okay what do you want what do you   want then well I don’t know actually how about we  play it like this you suggest a load of things and  

Then I choose okay what about Peugeot 205 yeah  too expensive Volkswagen Golf they’re pretty   expensive too Subaru Impreza love to do one of  those by just not feeling it at the moment I got  

It mini one BMW version oh now that’s a nice car  fun nice to drive and plentiful yeah I’m down with   that as you know I have one and I love it I used  to have one so that’s a good knowledge base really  

Yeah and there is loads of them on auction sites  with issues so it’s looking like you know a good   everyday Runner is about a grand and a rotter 600  Quid ah it’s not a big gap is it we’re going to  

Struggle to double our money there okay come on  then let’s find one maybe you’ll find one maybe [Music]   Maybe it’s got lucky it’s because I’ve had a mini  before although I know exactly what to look for  

He’s just broken the number one rule of buying  a car by bragging about it before you bought it   quite possibly I have but here’s the deal it’s  a Mini Cooper yep so it’s really quick good uh  

Goody points are is drives it’s got an mot on it  and it’s already had a gearbox fault so it’s been   converted to a six-speeder that’s fantastic  I didn’t know you could do that but I’ve got  

To say there is a buzz well there’s always a butt  isn’t it there is there is yeah and the bus is uh   it’s on auction and the person who’s selling  it says they won’t take it off auction it’s  

Around about 400 quid um we’ve done that before  it’s fine yeah sorry we just bid later yeah it   sounds great I’d say oh I’m glad you’re sounding  positive because there are some other issues too   one it’s not that bad smoke says really  great well that’s great so your raft of  

Knowledge has led us down the line of  running your finger down the list of   cars and getting us to go to the first  shed that you can come that’s great   a leafy Suburban Road in herefordshire  bodes well nice house often equals nice car  

Not looking forward to uh reversing the trailer  down here oh we haven’t bought it yet no   he didn’t tell me it was green no I thought I’d  save that little nugget of information for you   hi morning uh Morningside morning I’m well Gus  nice to meet you hey Simon I’ve got to say the  

Photographs of this card don’t do it justice this  looks far better than I was imagining well that’s   always good to hear can you tell us a little bit  more about it yeah we’ve had it about 12 months  

And it’s been absolutely great until about a month  ago and it’s developed a quite a serious cooling   problem and has been pumping out all its water  so uh we think it’s probably Beyond economical  

Repair for the likes of us um but we thought  we’d put it online and see what we got for it   well it seems like the sort of thing that we  might be able to investigate doesn’t it yeah it  

Does yeah it’s got a six-speed box hasn’t it yes  yeah that was the the previous guy the mechanic   um he’d fitted It upgraded it from the five speed  to the six speed yeah well that’s brilliant it’d  

Be interesting to try it with a six-speed box  we should take it for a drive do you do you   think that the cooling system would take it  if we just took it up to the roundabout went   round came back yeah no problem it should  be fine five or ten minutes but obviously  

If you break it you buy it I better drive  then did I yeah definitely in that case the mini seriously overheats  and a warning has been given   if we drive it in the red the engine gets  cooked and we’re forced to buy a lemon  

So how fast does it go and how long do you reckon  we’ve got not very and not very in actual fact I   reckon if it goes over a hundred before we get  back we’ll just park it up degrees [Laughter]  

Well how’s it feel though it’s got good bones  yeah definitely I am eminently qualified to   comment on this car because I don’t know if  you know but I have got one of these cars I   do know that yeah and the steering is very  good the the gear change is exceptional the  

Brakes are great in that fact it’s embarrassing  how much better this car is than my car well it   does seem like a nice little car I mean really  for us this could be a good honest little seller  

Yeah well so what is it worth to us it was to us  six seven eight hundred quid I mean actual fat I   would definitely think swapping this in for my  car would be a better thing to do really which  

One is on a business we can sell this quickly  and easily this is a nice car that seems good   your car has got toffees stuck to parts of  it that are almost unmentionable yeah it’s   done a million miles as well the temperature  is rising and it’s time to head back we’ve got  

To give the engine and the rest of the car a  private check before we hand it back to Simon [Music] I can’t find any evidence that it’s a head  gasket good news good news okay okay brilliant  

We think the car is worth around 700 quid  and we may as well ask Simon if he’ll sell   it to us now uh hi there how does he get on  drives brilliantly yeah yeah we’re really   quite sold on it I’m wondering um would  you be prepared to do a deal on it now  

Um I think I’m inclined just to to let the  auction run its course and hopefully get the   best price we can if that’s okay with you  well to be honest I don’t blame you really   this is definitely what I do yeah yeah okay  well we’ll go away and do that and you know  

Hopefully we’ll see you again soon yeah I hope  so thanks oh hang on I didn’t give you the keys disappointed but accepting fate we walk away   waiting for the auction to  close in two days [Music]   we allow a maximum bid of 865 pounds  when the auction price is only at 400.  

Seconds before the end it jumps to  602 pounds and the lucky buyers are us   and once settled up we arrived to claim our prize and all we need to do now is get this back to base BMW they’re taking that classic British car retro  car really nice car worth their magic that’s now  

A stylish classic looking modern car with the  benefit of not really breaking down well apart   from this one of course which is broken down  they are great little cars I love them through   and through so let’s toss some figures up  into the air it’s about 600 Quid I think  

There’s there’s going to be good opportunity  for us to make make some money here as I see   it when you’re on an auction the car Finds Its  Own level doesn’t it it’s only actually really   worth what someone’s prepared to pay for it so  right now to everybody concerned and us that  

Car is only worth 600 Quid isn’t it and if we’re  trying to make money on it then really with the   parts and the labor we still need to see 1500 to  2 Grand from this car we do we paid 600 Quid and  

If we can’t turn that into an awful lot more  then really you know should we be in business the next day as is our method we park the new car  outside our workshop and gather our thoughts and  

Hopefully translate them into a plan wow it’s  amazing what the cold live day does to a car it   really is when we got this car I was so excited  about it but now we’ve got it sitting here ugh  

I’m not liking the color scheme I think it’s a bit  dull and a bit boring really you see that doesn’t   worry me in the least this is how it came out of  the factory and they sold shed loads of these cars  

Didn’t they to my mind it’s all about the margins  on this car there’s so many of them out there   they’re so cheap the only way I think we can make  money on it is if we don’t spend any money on it  

Okay all right then well in that vein we know that  the main problem with this car is that engine yep   I think if it runs it sells to me this really  seems like we’re just aiming at the lowest end  

Of the market where there’s least money to be  made it’s difficult we’re trying to make money   on a car that’s difficult to make money on okay  well I know that our winning card is that we do  

Have an expert within our Miss yes and I’m here  all week that’s it’s a winner if Gus is to play   the mini expert then I can play photographer a job  he often hugs so I take out my aged phone smeared  

And cracked and I go to work so I’m just listing  our mini for its online auction Will’s Keen to   change the appearance of our car but the pictures  we’ve got actually do it justice it doesn’t look  

Too bad and I’ve upped the contrast slightly on  the wheels which has saved me cleaning them but   it looks okay and I’ve been thinking I’ve been  thinking about the things that we need to know   or the prospective buyer needs to know about this  car they need to know it’s got a six-speed gearbox  

They need to know that it’s a Cooper they need to  know that it runs well well actually at the moment   it doesn’t but it will do by the time it’s sold  and they need to know it’s got an mot so these  

Are things that I’ve stacked towards the beginning  of the advert and then I was thinking about price   and I think our car is probably worth 2 500 pounds  but I’m going to put it up as a bike now price of  

2995 which might be a little bit too much but I’m  doing it just to get interest going in the car I’m   going to put it as an online auction I’m going to  start at a 999 and I’m going to put a reserve of 2  

000 pounds and I don’t know I don’t know if  that’s underselling it I don’t know if that’s   overselling it but there’s only one way to find  out and that is to list it done the mini experts  

Is just getting the car inside all right what  are you up to just looking for the sequence we   need to do on the cooling system ah no I looked it  up last night oh event so first undo bottom hose  

Drain fluid yes it’s a good start that is oh so  open bleed valves isn’t the ignition got to be on   yeah it’s the weirdest of things it says that  we then have to turn the ignition on turn the  

Fan on low this is complications but I wonder why  heater on hot no wonder it’s got a heating problem   re-tighten bottom hose and then refill system okay  all of that before you can refill the system yeah   look I’m gonna that’s crazy in aeronautical style  oh excellent so checklist absolutely perfectly  

Precise fail safe and then I’m going to put a  numerical system indexing system down this side   so we have an eight point plan this  is very polished and we only have   eight stats from here to there let’s  get started on the job too brilliant  

I’m not even sure Gus has the right car but  he seems happy with his ideas and I’ll play   along until the trouble starts the garage lift  we ordered hasn’t arrived so we’ll may do with   a limited access and uncomfortable proximity  to the workshop floor will is on draining Duty

Right Next Step turn ignition on fan on low  heater on hot right fan on low which is number one   Hey sir oh scorchio perfect I’m done perfect  off the list yeah we refill with antifreeze as  

Per the plan we get this test right well either  we cure it or we know it’s wrong don’t we yeah there we are well I am absolutely happy that we  got the right amount of fluid coming out of here  

Good it’s gushing out the back as well so we’ve  done everything on the checklist yep we’ve ticked   every box have you ticked every box I don’t know  I’m gonna go and check refill system yes big tick   so now we’ve got a highly complicated  test procedure we run the mini up and  

See if it overheats and if it does  Gus’s research has been for nothing   right now we wait huh yeah let’s change  color already it has yeah look up tea yeah [Music]   yes there you go mate thank you what if it does  overheat though it’ll be the water pump it’s  

Always the water pump when that car’s done 87  000 miles it’ll need a new water pump this is   brilliant for me having the in-house experts that  you are it could be the thermostat as well so well  

That could it would be prudent for this stage yeah  yeah definitely without shadow of a doubt yeah   yeah we know it’s not a head gasket so it’s either  water pump or thermostat we’ll have to change the  

Water pump anyway and while we’ve got it all up  I don’t think that’s the yeah [Music] turn it   off that wasn’t a resounding success well maybe  the residence expert will be right next time yeah time for Plan B replace the water pump  and to gain access remove everything

Well this is the this is the sort of Crash  protection for the front of the mini it’s a   clever system because it’s got a plastic bumper  which basically bolts onto this this is all the   protection and then it’s got this sort of plastic  cradle around here that goes all the way around  

Which holds the air conditioning radiator and  the radiator for the cooling system the car   once that’s off then the whole of the  front of the car is accessible [Music]   the front end is tightly packed  and all the layers have to come  

Off to gain access before I can  drain the coolant [Music] got it thank you that water pump is red hot we’ve  actually found it aren’t we yeah but it’s   there but listen it is red hot isn’t it and  there and the fluid that came out Stone Cold  

So it’s just not circulating  should we do that tomorrow   don’t want to be here anymore today  no me neither worn out [Music] it’s rainy day two out of five  on our mini project it was cheap   but it hasn’t made us cheerful with an  overheating problem that we can’t fix  

But we’re adding a big fat yes  onto that because we might be close well we’ve gone a long way in but we’re gonna have  to get this off aren’t we if we’re going to get  

Access to that water pump properly this is exactly  what I was talking about this is my fear it’s like   you’ve got to remove so many layers to get to that  bit there okay so but we take these extensions off  

Here and then this comes off doesn’t it and then  oh it’s all just there it’s grabbing chassis to   move because look at this I bet those won’t come  undone very easily I don’t know we’ll have to try  

Gus suspects the issue is with the water pump and  if he’s wrong I’m gonna have it made into a poster right that’s my side dungus foreign [Music]   so um water pump’s coming out I’m gonna have to  take the the alternator out as well because the  

Bottom fixing bolt of the alternator goes through  the top fixing bolt of the water pump but it   doesn’t matter because the access is fantastic I  mean look at it you could do what you want [Music]   oh and just like that the pump is mine just  getting access to the thermostat because when  

We’ve been running up the engine I’ve noticed  that there’s absolutely zero temperature in the   top of the radiator so Gus thinks it’s the water  pump which it probably is and these cars are well   prone for having the water pumps gone but as a  precautionary measure I’m going to change the  

Thermostat as well because I’ve got a sneaking  suspicion that with the top of the radiator and   the top of the hose being freezing cold there’s  zero movements of water there’s not even any   thermostiphon happening which would indicate that  the thermostats is stuck closed so which dog will  

Win the fight water pump or thermostat this could  be one of the tensest moments we’ve faced in the   workshop and may the best man win so it’s the  water pump it’s always the water pump that’s the  

Maxim that’s the maxim that everybody has ever  told me with minis if you ever have the front   of your mini off always change the water pump  that’s what you’ve got to do so I’m taking this  

Apart and I will show you the plastic impeller  on our water pump uh there we are look at that   it’s absolutely perfect yep there’s nothing wrong  with that at all other than the fact that I’ve   broken almost every screw taking this off so it’s  now completely unserviceable but it’s okay because  

I’ve got another one what’s a brilliant waste  of time with my head hung in shame I install a   new water pump which if you’re counting costs  us 45 pounds at least it looks good [Music]   foreign thermostat on this car is on the back  of the head which is on an unusual place to  

Put it really but BMW in their wisdom I think  have done quite well because they’ve actually   managed to use it for the coolant filler neck  as well so this is the thermostat housing here   and then up here at the top that’s the filler neck  

Which means it’s quite easy to find and  identify and also it’s a real bonus having   the hole of the front of the car off so we can  get to it easily oh well it just looks so easy

There was me thinking it was going to be an  absolute piece of cake uh instead of being   the two bolt flange I was hoping it was it’s  actually a three bolt flange and number three   is well buried so I need to spend a  bit of time just trying to get to that

Not too bad not too bad I thought it  was going to be really really tricky   battery cable and a couple of other bits of wiring  were in the way I’ve got access to the third Bolt   think I can just sneak it out past everything

And now my Quarry is revealed  there we go there we have it that   is the thermostats so I’m going to  run a little test see if it works   if Will’s homemade test works I’m in the doghouse  and if it fails then the car has a worse issue  

And we’re both in the doghouse thermostat  when it gets up to temperature which is you   know pretty hot as hot as I can get the kettle  the valve should open now basically I work on   the principle that if it’s hot enough to melt  the plastic spoon and it’s hot enough that I  

Can’t hold on to it this thermostat should have  opened and I can quite clearly say that it hasn’t   it’s opening then because actual fat if it didn’t  open it would be good because the water pump is   absolutely fine oh sweet sweet joy we’ve got a  thermostat that has failed its test it hasn’t  

Opened up I’ve run the test several times now  poured boiling hot water on top of it giving   it the best chance of working it doesn’t brilliant  that’s our problem that is a success Annette all I  

Need now is for it to go back on right here I have  a brand new thermostat and luckily enough they   come with the rubber gasket you’re going to need  to fit it all important thing to remember about  

Thermostats is the bit on the back this bit here  is the bit that wants to get hot so that has got   to go inside inside the engine if I put it on that  way around won’t work that way around will work

I thought this was going to be a bit tricky  because you can’t really see very well so I’m   working a little bit by feel and a little bit by  seeing when you’re trying to wedge a rubber gasket  

Into a very tight recess It Ain’t Easy after a  long painful interval will is getting nowhere I’ve had to give up on trying to get the  thermostat wedged into this rebate here because it   was just too difficult to see and it is absolutely  essential that this goes incorrectly so I’ve had  

To work on getting it all apart making sure that  I can see it all go in there correctly foreign again as we refit all of the  bits that had to come off earlier [Music]   I still think it’s a clever way of getting  into a car is is quick and easy isn’t it I   do I show you in the first time I see things  like this like seems like a lot of faff but  

It’s one of those things though isn’t it  you can see how the construction process   especially with this you can just imagine that  going on can’t you have one piece with a factory   engine in with a sub Pro yeah if everything’s  already assembled piece of cake right water

I’m just going to put water in start off  with just for the check because if there   is something wrong with this and this  does leak and we have to take it all   to bits again I don’t really want  to be wasting loads of antifreeze Thank you maybe it’s the Russia Victory  but I’m quickly ready for the next stage   Goss however is taking his time you  ready to go down yeah Ready Steady right we need to run it up [Music]  

Yep so here we are again a bit more caffeine  and a smidge of rain it’s good yeah yeah well   that my friend is perfect well that’s what I  wanted to hear cheers hasn’t moved so it’s good it’s got to be long enough  isn’t it yeah I think that that  

Is a done job so how much was that then  how much was the um thermostat that’s on   the Turner so that car was fixed for less than  a tenor yeah and we bought that car so cheap  

And the price of water pump while there is  that too but that’s just you know you do   that as a matter of course apparently or minis  it’s always the water pump perfect yeah right   we have a weakness for cars that someone else has  tried and failed to fix we love the challenge and  

Right now we’re properly in the driving seat with  a working car that owes us very little [Music] it’s the third day on our mini we’ve had a  cooling issue that’s even beat our resident   mini expert Gus but now we’ve got around that and  we’re moving on I still can’t help but think that  

It’s amazing isn’t it we’ve basically fixed the  car haven’t we for just the price of a thermostat   I know and the water pump but you always change  the water pumps oh you do standard affordable  

Fix for what has been so far a very affordable  car but I mean really it’s it’s still the same   car we’ve got to do something haven’t we it’s  got to stick its Header by the parapet isn’t it   well funny you should say that because I’ve  been looking at this interior I knew you’d  

Bring it up I’ve got an interior form you led  me to that I’ve got an interior for it I’ve   got a Cooper S half leather interior for it’s  supposed to be beautiful really yeah well where  

Is it then it’s coming today oh okay well okay  well if you’ve taken the lead on the interior   please do me the honor and let me do something  about these rather awful wheels are on it yeah   without spending too much time and money on it  because we’re short of both aren’t we that’s  

Very true have you got an idea I have got an  idea I’m not allowed to know no need to know   basis like it right come on let’s get this  interior gonna give me a hand I shall yeah   fair play to us it previously disagreed  with me about the look of the Mini  

But he’s come on board and ordered  up a new interior last night [Music]   I think this just pulls doesn’t it ah I’m glad you came in because I  was starting to struggle with that no that’s got to be the key in it don’t you reckon  after Will’s lucky diagnosing of the overheating  

Problem he’s become unbearably happy hard work may  solve this so do you think you got it figured out   uh no but I will find out okay you do that I’m  not gonna drop you in it by leaving you all on  

Your own no no but I’m just gonna go have a  little look for some Wheels yeah yeah foreign Pals have a conflict even a boring one about  engine cooling one of the pals could decide  

To get the other pal a treat like a new set of  wheels so I’ve come along to our local Brokers   where there are plenty of Wheels to choose from  Gus and I seem to have very very similar opinions  

About The Wheels on our mini they’re a bit dull  they’re a bit boring I don’t want to be unfair to   them but we just don’t like them so my job for the  day is come and find some much better wheels for  

The car and I’ve taken the precaution of coming  to a scrap yard that I know has got every single   car that I need I mean just look at all these  minis it’s brilliant a thorough search reveals   mini wheels from every generation and trim  it’s an Aladdin’s cave if you like old Wheels

Right then I found three matching sets of  alloy wheels they all look quite nice like   these ones but the problem is there’s nothing  really Sparky or interesting about them and I   know that Gus does have a bit of a passion  for steel wheels so instead of just buying  

These ones and going back and watching Gus  go hmm don’t like it I’m going to look a   little bit harder because I just think little  minis at some stage they did use steel wheels   but the ones I’ve got in mind seem quite  scarce here and I’m not far off giving up

I have found the best time and energy saving  device that you can use in a scrapyard you   just ask the owner really really nicely and  he says will go and have a look in the back  

Of that white van I think you’ll find what  you want and I have look at these aren’t they   lovely Gus is going to be over the moon with  these I’m over the moon with these they’re   stylish they’re old-fashioned looking they’re  retro looking they are perfect I just need to  

Get back to the workshop as soon as possible  and check out the smile of Gus’s face [Music]   smiling the mini interior has been a pig to  remove at least the new one is arriving soon  

Ah they are new seats blow me they look a bit  of a mess well they are a bit of a mess aren’t   they still they are Cooper S seats aren’t  they oh yes definitely are thanks got the  

Rest of them so they are they they look like  they’ve been sitting at the bottom of the sea   yeah they’re lovely don’t think I’m not  appreciative oh sorry thanks honey see you later they’re not quite as good as I  thought they were going to be  

But it’s a big bloke so I just said thank you well I’d have to say that’s a bit embarrassing  isn’t it who they were supposed to be immaculate   but maybe when they went into the shed or into  the scrapyard or into the pile of dust that  

They’ve been living in they were Immaculate  they certainly aren’t now but somewhere under   there there’s really good seats they’re half  leather they’re Cooper S seats they’ll look   Smart in the interior of our car and just need  to clean them up I’ve got precisely until will  

Comes back to clean up my hundred pound seats  I cannot lose any more points on this project that’s not pretty is it I’m not sure what that is   but I think I’m gonna jet wash it I don’t  think this is going to cut it foreign

Some sort of super shampoo in the workshop maybe  this is all I need to get the seats clean [Music]   we’ve got to admit they’re looking well wetter  but I think probably better uh it’s certainly   gonna look wetter when I finish with a jet wash  [Music] I don’t recall seeing this in the BMW  

Owner’s manual but if your seats look and smell  like these it’s an effective solution [Music] and they should be dry before he gets back  the washing line is the only path left to me   oh hello hello mate these are seeds there  are seats now yes there are new seats new  

To us and you’re giving up a bit of a polish  off hey I gave them a very very light buffing   really yeah well it’s made them just totally  perfect absolutely that well you got ta-da  

Still is yeah and I say very cool yeah you’re  like I thought they might make it a little bit   more rugged a bit more racy yeah maybe a  bit more rally yeah and above all of that   retro and a little bit bigger which  is great they’re cool they are very  

Very good four wheels four guitars as well  amazing that’s great you can paint them well   I think probably yes but I think definitely not  today no I mean I’m gonna leave these to dry   it feels like day 99 but actually it’s just  the third day and oh what fun we’ve had [Music]  

We’ve got five days to turn around a BMW Mini this  is day four and the story so far is that we’ve   done the mechanical stuff and we’ve switched our  attention onto the looks to make the mini stand  

Out in a crowded Market I can’t be sure but I  think this is the first time that we’ve ever   test driven a car before we’ve actually finished  it that’s what I’m doing now and I’m keeping a   very very close eye on this temperature gauge  hoping that our thermostat and our water pump  

Have fixed the problem if it hasn’t then the  collective we are going to be very disappointed   I’m here to answer the question how can you  change the Mini’s appearance without painting it   and the answer is our design and vinyl Guru Donna  who’s helped us before I don’t know how you got

Some pictures of Stripes that is exactly the  car I was talking about the 1960s scalextric   it’s some sort of special edition but I had  that as a kid and I thought that would look   so cool to make that look really retro and  really stick out yes and then you’ve got  

These the double Stripes matching sides this  is obviously the newer design with the stripes could you could you do that yeah we could do could  you that’s that’s so tempting it’s so tempting but  

In actual fact if we’re trying to sell the car  we’re trying to make it look retro so it’s a hint   to it and sell the car I think the two stripes  down the middle and then could we do it onto the  

Bumper would we do that and then on to the little  chin thing at the bottom yeah so we can yeah go   all the way down brilliant should we do that then  let’s do this but to make the look work we need to  

Wrap the roof this is the bit that really scares  me this is the bit that that cries out to me it’s   gonna go wrong it looks like you have to pull it  from six different directions at once to get it  

Round these curves and honestly the last time  I did it it was rubbish yeah so what we can do   I’ll show you how to do a wet soapy application  which gives you a chance to get all the bubbles  

Out and to get it to shape um you’re gonna have  to give me a hand because I’ve hurt my shoulder   so I’m gonna have to but that’s good it’s good  because at least it gives me an opportunity to  

Learn how to do it properly so it’s time to put  the cream wrap on the roof of the mini right so   what we do is we cut a piece that’s big enough  for the roof to start with okay Donna is full  

Of good information when it comes to wrapping  which will be good for me and will in the future   okay stage two right now we  need to peel the backing off yeah so I’ll cut a little hole now I’m going  to cover it completely with soapy water Once you’ve done that you’ve got to  be bold though haven’t you you’ve got   to be bold where do we start right  always start right from the center   my goodness it looks so good so quickly doesn’t it  do it dry it’s just a nightmare compared to this [Applause]  

That is perfect that looks amazing [Music] that’s how to finish it and then  slop it under the rubber [Music] I didn’t end up doing very much did I but I have  taken away three really important lessons from  

This I’ve got three friends one soapy water soapy  water will help you move the vinyl around when   you’re wrapping a car and that’s really important  secondly a hair dryer hair dryer allows you to   stretch the vinyl it makes it malleable so you  can tuck it into those little places and dry  

It out and get it to stick properly that was a  big problem we had before but the third and most   important thing is 32 years of experience like  Donna’s got that is the dark magic of wrapping   oops so we started off just wanting  to get the mini driving it drives and  

Then we thought let’s make it  look better and a tight wallet   has been prized open an interior  Stripes Wheels where will it end so it’s day five the last of the last the  end of our resources maybe it’s the day   our mini guesses wins I thought  you’re going to spray those with  

Well I thought you were going to put some  stickers on this look at that that is lovely   that is really really nice I’ve got more I’ve  got more I’ve Got Stripes for them have you   cool okay well I’ve got some paint to put on  these what color were you gonna put on there

That color yeah let’s see mine’s  think alike this really true too true wheels are really nice condition and somebody’s  recently repainted them as well so they look great   so it means that my work getting them ready for  paint is going to be relatively easy apart from  

Somebody has sprayed them with like furniture  polish or something so that’s all going to be   decreased and Jet washed to get it all spotlessly  Keen ready for paints then on this is the other   problem this tire here has got a great big  split in it and then another problem none of  

The tires match either so you can have to find  your set of tires too it does make sense though   at least we know we’re sending the car out with  good modern up-to-date brand new tires [Music] [Music]  

Yeah because I’m painting these wheels and the  tires are scrap I need to take the tires off now   there’s two different ways of doing that there’s  a way where you take them down to the local tire  

Fitting Place and get them to take them off  which will cost you well three or four quid   attire and quite a bit of time getting there  and back or there’s the West Country Way I’m   removing the air if that’s not 100 clear my  favorite way of course is the West Country  

Way one of these Jack out the back of the  car toe on firm surface immovable object carefully put the jack in between the edge of the tire and the edge of  the rim we’re trying to break the bead we’re  

Trying to force the tire off the bead of the wheel  this one here and carefully [Music] there we go both sides set as high levers tires off piece  of cake from the Practical to the Aesthetics all right so by my measuring I’ll go 79  

79 there we go let’s go to there that gave us a  little bit extra is anything better than cutting   through a backing sheet no exactly it’s one of  life’s great pleasures right everything we need now I’m putting my new info to  good if not perfect use [Music]  

Yeah good so this is the our heat gun  Donna said it was a hair dryer or some   something like that but it’s it’s a it’s a  blower blows hot air very useful [Applause] all right so it’s just the fiddly  bits now I think it’ll look great

I’m not to be outdone the cream  wheels are coming up a treat [Music]   now is rebuild Central the cleaning interior  takes its rightful place we attach some 30   pound mini spotlights stick the Retro  wheels on and now we’re in business

So what has the mini cost well the car was a  ridiculous 602 pounds we spent 150 pounds on   the wheels 200 on the stripes 100 on the  interior and 250 pounds to get it looking   and feeling like a super retro Mini and  the total look at that ridiculous value  

Our mission was to make it stick its head above  the millions of other Coopers that there are out   there for sale and we have definitely done that  haven’t we we have yeah and we are so lucky that  

Minis lend themselves perfectly to the addition  of fun we look at these tasteful lines yeah the   spotlights the color change on the roof are my  favorite of all the wheels yeah and this proves to  

Me that retro is still top fashion yeah it’s right  on cue isn’t it right on cue they played our cards   well with this car but if you think of what we had  when we bought it we were lucky weren’t we because  

We had a slight overheating problem and we we took  a call on that didn’t we could have gone either   way could have been good could have been bad and  it was only really the thermostat and obviously  

The water pump was they do always go don’t they  you’ve always got to change the water pump but   but that’s that that took it up so far because  we went from a a car that wasn’t running to a car  

That was running what we’ve got now is we’ve got  a Cooper which drives really well with a six-speed   box which is a fantastic conversion with a Cooper  interior and we’ve got this amazing exterior we’ve  

It’s gone so far it’s stratospheric isn’t it and  it’s still a really honest car and in this day and   age honest cars are few and far between the one  thing I worry about is the steel wheels I know  

That it’s in your nice blood to have steel wheels  and we both love them but it’s not everyone’s cup   of tea is it and I was thinking we’ve still got  them haven’t we we’ve still got the Alloys and and  

If the person who buys it wants them they can  have them back it’s not a problem and if they   don’t we can sell them and buy ourselves fish and  chips or maybe just put a tick in the plus column  

Well I’m liking the idea of the fish and chips I  love some fish and chips sometimes time are you   hungry I’m always hungry you know me but I’m so  pleased to that’s your only worry because I I’m  

Actually terrified terrified because so far this  entire project has gone so well do you do you not   think that we’re just getting better at it well I  would like to think so but I don’t want to attempt  

Fate the car’s so clean we really shouldn’t  drive it well we want to so we will you know   some people don’t see these as real minis do they  they see them as a sort of cynical design plot by  

BMW to pull on the heart stings of people that had  original minis but just not the case because it’s   a great car isn’t it and it’s a proper car of the  people isn’t it they are they’re brilliant cars  

Yes people are always cynical about them I think  they’re missing the point this is a different   car tip of the hat for the history brilliant well  done but when they built the menu they managed to   capture the old-fashioned fun that you could have  in an old-fashioned classic Mini it’s time to test  

It properly isn’t it and take it up to some proper  speeds I think within obviously legal limits of   course of course well from my point of view sign  this side it does feel pretty good so far My worry  

Is whether we’ve done enough to raise it above the  the stream of other Minis that there are out there   for sale I’ve been mentioning it to friends of  mine in the hope that you know I can maybe drama  

For sale and they you know they they all want to  know a little bit more about it so that could only   be a good thing yeah definitely yeah and also  you know if I can drum up a bit of Interest  

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to create a word  of mouth sale rather than having to go through   the same auctions where we’re competing against  apps absolutely everybody else yeah it would   be really nice we get a sniff of interest from  Simon who wants to buy a first car for his son  

So what we have done to the car is we have um  put these rather rather beautiful and Incredibly   useful uh stainless steel fog lights on the  front Okay we put these stripes on as well yep  

Very smart and we’ve wrapped the roof in a in a  cream wrap as well and then we’ve put these steel   wheels on we thought it looked somehow a little  bit more classic the Retro look versus the Alloys  

Let’s show you the interior because what we’ve  done is we’ve put a half leather interior in it   as well that’s very smart I think it makes a lot  of difference but I’ll show you this conversion   that was done because you wouldn’t know and it’s  quite a complicated conversion what else have we  

Done to a new thermostat and it put a new water  pump on it as well looks lovely and clean you’ve   steam cleaned it haven’t you so no we haven’t we  haven’t actually no we no we haven’t we haven’t  

Really done anything to it yeah no I like it I  think it’s a great car it does look good good   well I don’t know I mean do you want to get have  a think about it and get back in touch with us and  

See what you think makes enough in there I think  we’re keen I think this is exactly what he needs   um we might need to do a little bit of  negotiation around the price okay brilliant   all right Simon thanks bye bye later transfer  is made for 2 500 pounds a little south of the  

Double money we’d like but it’s close enough  to crack open the Bourbons another great result [Music]   foreign