Welcome to..."The Roughest V8Mini Deathtrap In The World"*
3.5 litres of front wheel drive fun.
If RWD is your thing, then try the Pievan for Spag's mid engine van project.
Please follow the Facebook page for latest progress, as (because I'm cr4p/lazy) there is a bit of a delay before I can sit down and do proper updates in here!
Doris Resurrection
September 2024
Yet more stainless pipework, this time it's plumbing for the cooling system.
June 2024
Exhaust building, more fun with stainless pipes.
May 2024
New brakes and wiggling with skinng pipes..
April 2024
Side window fitting
October 2023
Rear windscreen screen fitting.
September 2023
A bit of flatting and polishing to make things curiously shiny!
August 2023
Tests with the flip front.
July 2023
Getting the doors the right colour.
May 2023
Rebuilding & reskinning the doors.
April 2023
Finally off the jig and rolling again !
March 2023
Updated harness anchors.
November 2022
Testing the seat and harness with a willing volunteer on the UpsideDown-A-Tron!
October/November 2022
Time to get the roof on !
September 2022
Painting the main bits of the shell and generally enjoying rotatory access to everything.
June 2022
Upside-Down-A-Tron! Lets make a rotating jig to help with painting the shell.
May 2022
Messing with the shell to get new side scoops fitted.
April 2022
Off with the rear subframe to replace the radius arm bearings.
November/December 2021
A bit of paint for the scuttle ends and inner wings.
Investigating front end packaging and making manifolds.
October 2021
The sailing season is drawing to an end, so the plan is to sort some condensation proofing in the garage and crack back on with Doris stuff into the winter !
Also in line with the state of the art technology used in Doris, she now has entered the world of social media with her own page on Facebook and a bit of Youtube (steady on!)
Doris on Facebook 
Doris on Youtube
June 2021
New flip front from ABS motorsport!
Quite a lot of 2021
Fairly limited activity with Doris, due to essential repairs to the
garage, a new shed roof and all the ongoing fun of helping keep Scouts
and the sailig club ticking along through the fun of the pandemic.
Only minor car tinkering...
December 2020
Design and fit seat mounts.
Bad weather stops play!
Minor leaks in the garage roof are making the workspace a bit too damp and
causing a lot of fun with condensation. Not ideal when trying to work with
bare steel, and not a great environment to be trying to paint things.
Hibernation time until the spring methinks !.
November 2020
Front subframe overhaul, hubs and steering rack too.
October 2020
Scuttle panel replacement - plus inner wing tops too.
August/September 2020
Heater renovation.
Flitch panels, A posts and bulkheady things. Lots of important structural stuff really!
July 2020
Front bulkhead / toe panel fun.
June 2020
Repair, refurb and refitting of the rear subframe.
On with the sills !
May 2020
Making more holes in the shell to get ready for the new floorpan.
New floor going in!
April - 2020
Stripping, chopping and other such fun with the shell.
Some checking of engine bits and engine reassembly.
March - 2020
Tidy of the garage making space, moving V8 Minis and even a special 'engine running in Doris' video!
2020 - Doris Ressurection !
March 2020, Covid-19 is ravaging the planet, countries are on lockdown, civilian movement is restricted, shops are low on toilet roll and self raising flour can only be sourced from very shady characters on the darkweb...
It is now 15 years since Doris left home, returning in 2016 in need of care and attention, waiting patiently for the right time. That time is now...
Basically, with the country in lockdown for C-19 there's suddenly a lot more time to spend on important DIY around Spag HQ. So, having fixed the fence, trimmed the trees and chopped the hedge down in the front garden the next job was to have a tidy in the garage, the result of which is is plenty of space to play. It is a well known fact that when time and space are forced together anything can happen, and something frequently does, so hopefully there will be time to get something fun done during this uncertain period!
November - 2016
With the engine out, it seems a sensible time to look at options on beefing up
the starter motor adapter plate to avoid future ring gear issues.
Starter Adapter
October - 2016
After 6 years of development, the engine removal system gets his
first test.
Engine Out
September - 2016
DORIS RETURNS !!!!!
Yes, it's true, after 11 years away,
Doris is back.
The bodywork is in need of attention as some of the paint has lifted, but
considering the respray in 2004 was a a panic job over one weekend, she hasn't
faired too badly.
There is a bit of reassembly needed to finish the install of new clutch &
starter bits, plus a couple of boxes of goodies that Adam had been collecting,
including new shocks, trumpets, arches, handles locks and sundry other bits
still to be discovered :)
Seems I have a bit of renovation and recomissioning to do!
For a quick introduction to Doris, the yellow V8 Mini, please have a look at Doris' Story. This way you can get an idea of the front wheel drive V8Mini project, without having to try digging through years of rambling diary!
All old diary, gallery & vids will remain in their familiar places, but general Doris antics & updates will be posted here.