200 replies to this topic

[skoughi]

Finally i've taken the plunge and managed to get another clubman, the first one i had, and only other, was a 1275gt i had 20 years ago! After that one i said i would never have another!! Never had the money to properly fix her so she was allways broken, and when i did finally get her ready to sell she got close and personal with a very solid sheep ( coming from the shetland isles this happens often, and only with cars i hasten to add!! ) So that was that, sold her for £150 and said never again, until now. I'd been keeping my eye one this one for a while but the owner was wanting to much but he finally gave in and accepted £850. So after twenty years since i last drove a clubman here i was in an early mid life crisis with a big grin driving a knackard mini, amazing how much fun you can have at 50mph!!! I knew she needed work but as she was mot'd i drove her for a couple of weeks just because i could but all the creaks and groans told me i had to get her in bits so in the garage she went. As a panelbeater to trade i was very keen to get my teeth into something as i left the trade a while ago and i soon realised i was going to get a big refresher course! T o be honest for a mini in the shetland isles (lots of damp salty air) she's not to bad, the worst is lots of patches on patches on patches so it's a simple methodical step by step of cutting out and replacing. Allways try and focus on each repair and try not to look at the big picture!! I also managed to get hold of an s reg shell and various other parts that has provided lots of small body repair sections. I think my marbles have completly gone in that i bought an s reg shell to cut up to repair a 73 shell!! Heres a few pics so you can see what i've let myself in for!! Great website by the way, all the technical sections have helped to jog my memory on fixing these damn things greatly, allways have a look on here everytime i pick up the laptop!

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•  mini_clubman_009.JPG   44.03K   37 downloads

Edited by skoughi, 18 December 2010 - 10:23 PM.

[rich2]

Wow - excellent find for the cash - especially as all the bits look to be present! Your bulkhead seems to be in a similar state to mine. Looking forward to seeing some metal work!

[skoughi]

Yeah it's mostly all there, should only need drivers full floor pan, both sills and maybe both front wings. The rest is cutting out old patches on patches and fabrication of new sections. Rebuilding rear sub mounts just now then both rear mounts on the boot floor. Once the rear sub is in place then check diagonal measurments with the front sub then i'm going to join both subs with long box section then replace the floor. As i said i got an s reg body (£50 and came with door frames, front sub, 12" spare wheel with tyre, fuel tank plus other odds and sods!) this has provided passenger floor with center tunnel which will go in first. Panelbeating is my trade so it's good to get back into it and this is providing me with lots of practise!! I'll put on more pics once i get something more done, cheers.

[1380sprint]

im liking that roof!
im really imperessed with the amount of work people take on for projects nowdays,
Good Luck!!

[1984mini25]

That’s goanna be quite some job to keep that straight with all the de-seaming and rot, the only thing holding that shell together is filler.

[malcs_miniturbo]

nice mate i like that

[mini danny]

are you chopping another mini up for panels for this one if so i think it would be better to buy brand new as they will last longer as the panel of the other mini are proberly all ready rusting away

[feybrand]

id love a clubby
that roofs ace

[skoughi]

Aye there will be probs with keeping her sraight and square but i'm going to be welding the subs together with box section and other bracing plus have points marked on the garage floor with a plum bob to check against flexing. To be fair the deseaming on the rear is fine for rust it's only on the front wings thats the prob so shouldn't affect things too much, the repair to the drivers a piller will need some care though. The panels from the other car were mostly the back panel from the rear seat and rear shelf so i could get the seat belt mountings plus rear bins. I managed to get half the floor but its not perfect and will need a little repair but it's straight. The time it'll take to repair and get ready to be installed is about break even with my time against cost of a new one so mostly this route dosen't really save much. As for the roof it's certainly different but i'm not that keen, think a gloss black one will be better. Think they've painted one colour then gone over it with a rag then done the other and ragged it then clear coat! Not for me!

[skoughi]

are you chopping another mini up for panels for this one if so i think it would be better to buy brand new as they will last longer as the panel of the other mini are proberly all ready rusting away

I went out to the garage this morning and looked at the sad heap of floor panel i cut out and realised i didn't have the mental strengh or cutting and grinding discs to sort it out for fitting! Went on minisports website and priced out both r/h and l/h floor panels, an extra £78 but priceless in terms of my sanity! Cutting out these old bits out of old shells are mostly more hassle than they're worth.

[minisam92]

looks good especailly for the money mate hope it goes well looks like it ll be nice when its done

[skoughi]

looks good especailly for the money mate hope it goes well looks like it ll be nice when its done

Thanks, actually enjoying getting stuck into it. It makes a difference when you're not try to get it going because you need to run the kids to school in it, when its a hobby and it can sit in the garage then it becomes enjoyable!! Even though i've been out of panelbeating for a good few years and haven't had the experence of cutting up car bodys in the last fifteen years you can easily see how the design of the mini shell needs every part of it to be sound. Take out one part/section through repair or rust damage and it turns to jelly!!! There must be a lot of flexing in a mini shell when you get 100+ bhp in them unless there is extra bracing or a proper roll cage installed.

[skoughi]

Hi folks, not had much progress over xmas due to xmas family things and xmas illnesses! I have managed to make a start on repairing the mounting points for the rear subframe. I made new body sections for the front mounts then offered up the sub and bolted the front mounts on then when i looked at the rear mounts on the boot floor the sub was about 7-8 mm further back than what it was before! Altough when you look on the boot floor it's made up of lots of patches so who knows where the proper holes should be. The rear sub in relation to the front sub is parallel , give or take 2-3mm and the diagonals are within 5-6mm so i'm thinking to leave it where it's at. I'm going to be fitting adjustable lower arms and adjustable tie bars so wondering if any of you guys have used them to align wheels and how much badness can they take out. I'm planing to use 13" wheels as well and poly bushes. One thing i would say is i wished i'd bought the repair panels for the front mounts as they cost very little compared to the time i spent making ones, plus both sides aren't a mirror image of one another. Please give me some thoughts on measurment tolerences for these little cars and what the adj suspension can sort out thanks

[skoughi]

Hi folks been ages since my last post on here and have a few photos of what little progress i've managed, First is the repairs to the boot floor, wheel tubs and toe board.









This gives a taste of the state of the rear end! With hindsight i should've just bought a boot floor, two tubs and a complete toe board but i'm doing it on a tight budget and if i replace everything with new panels then there'll be nothing left of the original car! There's lots of pros and cons for both ways and i got the sheet metal for nowt so it's just my time.

[skoughi]

Managed to 95% finish getting the passenger floor and door post repair finished today.