Well Hung Minis
by Zoran Ursic
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My name is Zoran Ursic (from Urban Legend Contracting) and I am the builder of the Well Hung Minis (in the white T-shirt).
I am a tile contractor by day, and I used to own a 65 Woody Wagon. I've also tinkered with a lot of cars in my time. Nigel (the designer) and I got talking about Minis and he thought it would be great to put them up so they look like they are driving on the wall. So really, the idea to hang the Minis came from Nigel Walker & Associates (in North Van). The roadway for them to drive on will be painted on the wall sometime after.
The engineers were CTA (in Vancouver). The cars came from 3 different places: The 1st came from Annex Autowrecking in Naniamo - he happened to have about 20 Minis there and while I was over there I heard there were more Minis at a wrecker near Parksville (I didn't get a chance to check it out though). The 2nd one came from Wolfgang at the end of Scott Road, underneath the Sky Train in Surrey - he had shelves full of Mini parts outside. The 3rd came from Coast Import on Mitchell Island. They were very helpful with trim parts.
The bumpers came from Craig's Automotive in Port Coquitlam. All 3 cars were rusted out shells with no windows or running gear. They were taken to Protech Welding on Pemberton Ave in North Van and Phil welded frames to mount the cars onto the wall. We welded wheels to the bottom of the frame so it would be easier to wheel them on and off the flatdeck truck and around the body shop.
They then went to Straight Lines Autobody on Esplanade in North Van, where Monty and Fiji did a fabulous job with the body work - far better than I had hoped to get considering the shape of the cars! They welded tin to the passenger windows and welded the hood and the trunk. Over the years, Monty has painted over a dozen cars for me and has done a fabulous job. I highly recommend him. While the cars were at the body shop they got a lot of attention. Lots of passersby stopped in to ask questions or ask if they were for sale or what we were up to. I undercoated the whole car with a roofing membrane.
The cars were taken to the site and stored in the bowling alley.for about a week before they were hung. The day before we were supposed to hang them, Riverport Business Park asked me to hook up the lights on the cars. So I scrambled and McGyverized because they had already been siliconed permanently onto the car. So I drilled out the back of the headlights and taillights and installed low voltage garden lighting that will be hooked up in the future. Over a period of two of the coldest, windiest and rainiest days in November, Protech Welding hung the cars.
As far as the complex goes... there is a bowling alley with glow in the dark bowling balls, laser beams, smoke shows and loud music and pretty wild decor! The inside of the White Spot is decorated to have the feel of an old drive in.
The Big River Brewing Company is a pub with 23 different home brew beers on tap and really good food! Across the street there is the largest theater complex in Canada, 12 theaters in one building are scheduled to open mid December.
The complex also houses the Grizzlies (Vancouver's basketball team) practice gym, an Aquatic Center and ice skating rinks. It'll be a great place to visit!
