Rare barn find restoration project: 1983 Mini Sprite
/A rare barn find, this 1983 Mini Sprite only had 6,000 miles on the clock when discovered.
In September 2021, Steve began the restoration journey of taking the car back to a bare shell.
In December 2022, The Real Mini Company was booked in to collect the car for a full bodywork transformation. This began with a local spot blast to test the integrity of the shell – a few holes around the boot floor, inner wings and sills were found.
The full body restoration had begun…
Doorsteps were replaced, along with new inner & outer sills and Jacking points. Boot floor was repaired including the heel board, a new rear valance including closer panels. A new scuttle, A-panels, 1 x inner, both outer wings, front panel and bonnet were fitted too. New British Motor Heritage door skins and rear quarters finished the job.
Next up was a seam and spray seal ahead of fresh paint – in its original Primula Yellow (BLVC442).
Once painted, we fitted and built-up doors as well as running new fuel and brake lines.
While the Mini Sprite has been in our workshop, Steve has been busy refurbishing and assembling the subframe and suspension ready for reassembly.
This has been an amazing full body restoration project for the team to work on and we can’t wait for it to be reunited with its owner.
And soon, there will be 37 (we believe!) Mini Sprites back on the road.
Follow Steve’s restoration journey on Instagram.
If you have a classic Mini in need of a full body restoration, then get in touch. The Real Mini Company is based in South Oxfordshire and we pride ourselves in restoring classics to a very high standard. We are passionate about classic Minis and serious about quality.
