After 4 long years, lots of patience and anxious moments, my Mini is complete. Over the months I often thought I had taken on something far to hectic, often doubting the progress, wondering if she would ever get finished. But now, after 4 years, I drove her home and she even turned out better than I had ever expected.

After this long journey, the fun is just about to begin.

The engine has been placed into the car, she'll be running very soon. I also purchased Minilites and 4 Yokahama tyres which will get put on the car very soon. Not to much more to do to her and excitement is kicking in for her first drive.

Only a few more important additions to my mini this week. All the brake lines are in and all the wiring has been tucked away nicely. The interior door panels are also in and they look awesome.

The windows have been fitted, along with all the new rubbers. New fuel and brake lines have also been installed and the petrol tank fitted.

Assembly has started on my Mini. With the carpets and seats already completed, she is starting to take shape nicely. She is finally back on wheels and ,with all the parts being resprayed before going back in, she is looking like new. The front seats have not been put in yet as it's easier to work on the car without them. All the electrical wiring has been done as well, and both doors are almost complete. There's still lots to do, but she is coming on nicely.

I finally got the chance to go see my Mini with the finished paint job, the only unfortunate part is I missed it in the Sun and only got to see it in the workshop.

But even looking at in in the "dark", she really looks good. The white roof and stripes are a Pearl White which compliments the "metallic" red really nicely.

The pictures still don't do the paint job any justice, and hopefully I'll have some pictures of her in the sun, which should show off the metallic.

My beautiful Mini. A deep metallic red, the photos are just not doing any justice. The paint job is absolutely amazing! I am so thrilled with the colour and after all those times pondering, I can honestly say, this is the colour she was meant to be.

It's a real amazing feeling seeing her like this. After nearly 4 years. We have almost reached a major milestone, just need to do the white roof and the white stripes. The reality for me has hit, I have something special, something unique, something that's mine.

It's time to put her back together.

One more visit before she is painted. She has now been sanded down and ready to enter the paint booth. Only a couple of days to go until she is the right colour.

Once the panel beating was complete, the first coat of primer went on, and then the sanding started. With just a little over a week to go until I'll find out if my colour choice is still the right red. I'm not changing my mind.

This was the second visit while my Mini is undergoing panelbeating. A lot has changed from the last visit. All the holes have been sealed. The battery casing has been repaired. The speaker holes, which looked very untidy have been sealed and then the rust spots, which included the foot wells and by the wheel arches, have been repaired. The biggest repair was the front left panel. This is where the most damage was, but it has been completely restored to it's original state.