28 replies to this topic

[mid england retrims]

Not much happening on the mini , wd40'd all the nuts and bolts ready for removing the subframes , one of my customers who was in to minis bought me two bread trays of spares out of his garage ,new ball joints , track rod ends , brake shoes , brake pads , two brand new never fitted front hub carriers with balljoints attached , new in packet cone wind back tool and various little items . All helps.
Replaced the gun on my pot bellied sand blaster . Hopefully have the sub frames off this coming sunday. Thanks for looking. Ade

[Carlos W]

You'd be better with plus gas rather than WD40 mate.

 

A bit of heat often helps too.

[mid england retrims]

You'd be better with plus gas rather than WD40 mate.
 
A bit of heat often helps too.

thanks bud ,

for 26 years before i changed career ,i was a refrigeration engineer , ive used quite a few release agents over the years and ive always favoured wd40 , an old engineering trick was to soak in wd40 , the use a little heat to expand the item then quench in wd40 so the expanded item drawed the fluid in capilary style. Never let me down yet , ive had 3 foot scaff poles hanging off 36 inch stilsons to release some very big bolts in the past , used the heat and wd40 trick and theyve released nicely. its a very similar process to quenching in oil to lubricate threads

I should really give an introduction to my history ,43 years ago born into a custom car hot rod custom van family , taught to monkey wrench from a very early age , taught to mig weld at 12 yr old , city and guilds in engineering and vehicle mechs , city and guilds in refrigeration and a/c . Can mig , tig and gas weld , engine , gearbox rebuilds no problem , use a lathe , vertical and horizontal milling machine , panel fabrication . Vehicle and industrial, domestic, commercial electrics savvy.
Found out by chance 10 years ago that i had a knack for upholstery and stitching.
I will try to find the two build threads on retro rides of my 71 bedford cf with 5 ltr v8 and my 72 vauxhall victor fd. Still got to finish the bedford , sold the fd.
Cheers ade

[mid england retrims]

had a good day on the mini with my son josh  , removed front sub-frame with engine still attached , only damage was we managed to smash the starter motor solenoid when the engine fall over on to the jack  resized.jpg   79.68K   3 downloads

 

then once the engine and sub-frame was safely stored under the shelving , we removed the rear sub-frame , this came out very easy , i'm new to minis but this looked relatively new to me , very clean and no corrosion  IMG_1540.JPG   58.62K   2 downloads 

 

once these were off the car , we flipped the shell on its side to have our first proper good look at the underside , turns out the car has its original floor which is mostly unrepaired , there's a couple of small areas that have been patched , the outer sills are original too.  IMG_1552.JPG   77.03K   6 downloads

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quite pleased with the overall condition of the shell . now the car is starting to make progress the wife is starting to get into it , she's now chosen alloys rather than steels and wants the car in baby blue with old English white roof.

more pics as I resize them and upload them.

cheers ade

[Paullly]

Hi, 

 

Like the sound of the heat then quench in wd40, have quenched in water before after heating to release nuts but wasn't sure on how wd40 would react so good to hear it works well! On the power steering front, i believe a popular option is a corsa (C i think) unit as the power steering is in the column so just needs a way of connecting to the original shaft. Kit cars are the main users of this unit but i work with someone with a porsche 924 who has done it to that. 

Hope all goes well!

 

Paul

[mid england retrims]

In engineering and production , when they want a self lubricating thread , they heat the threads to cherry red then quench in oil , the heat opens the molecules , the quenching draws the oil into the molecules. It will smoke , possibly flame up but its controllable.
Yeah ive been looking at the corsa c column , pretty cheap on ebay to buy.

[nicklouse]

Ade you get everywhere.

Got the T3 done yet?

Lots of captive nuts on Minis. Plus gas has always been my release agent of choice. No heat needed. But have also used the heat and oil quench.

Liking some of these chill and lube products that are out there now.

Box cushions still doing the job perfectly. Saw quite a few examples of your work at Eastnor castle at the weekend.

Good luck with the Mini.

Nick.

[mid england retrims]

Ade you get everywhere.
Got the T3 done yet?
Lots of captive nuts on Minis. Plus gas has always been my release agent of choice. No heat needed. But have also used the heat and oil quench.
Liking some of these chill and lube products that are out there now.
Box cushions still doing the job perfectly. Saw quite a few examples of your work at Eastnor castle at the weekend.
Good luck with the Mini.
Nick.

hi nick , lol , majority of the bolts have come out easily , praise the gods . No , my t3 has had to take a back step whilst her who must be obeyed has her mini restored . Nice to know about eastnor , dont manage to get to any shows , all my times up here working. Its a hard life lol.
cheers ade

[mid england retrims]

New toys arrived today , bizweld grinding welding overalls , cleco pin and intergrips package , 23 foot scaf pole from a mate too. 

Role on sunday , start work on it again.

 

 

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Does anybody know where i can get the shell media blasted. Cheers ade 

[Country_stock]

Hi

I'm a complete novice too looking to take the plunge and start a project. My first car was a Mini and want to get back into the scene.

I've seen an auto and like you would put an manual engine into it, so how's it been for you so far and has it caused you any headaches????

Looking for all the advice I can get

Andrew

[mid england retrims]

Hi , im a novice to the mini , was going to change it to manual , but the wife has decided to give the auto a go. I believe you need manual engine gearbox subframe , pedal box , gear linkage . Theres a few threads on here i believe. Good luck bud

[mid england retrims]

Bit more done today by my son and me , due to my workshop having my trim shop upstairs, all sanding and blasting has to be done outside , doing really well till the rain came .   IMAG1521.jpg   37.43K   1 downloads  IMAG1523.jpg   49.07K   3 downloads

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Removed the front wings.  Going to replace wings , inner wings, scuttle, inner flitch panels , thinking I may fit a new front panel whilst I am at it. 
Cheers for looking
Ade 

Edited by mid england retrims, 23 August 2015 - 09:53 PM.

[mid england retrims]

my son josh has been busy today , I've been re- trimming a Harley Davidson seat. using flap discs with 120 grit da pads and a da sander , he's managed to strip a fair bit of the paint off.

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last picture is quite interesting , we found that the rear c pillar has been cut through , welded and fillered in the factory , the filler is onto  the metal , then the factory primers over the top. 

josh is working on the rest of the car tomorrow as its bank holiday Monday and he's off work. hopefully next weekend we can start sand blasting all the rusty  areas.

im on the look out for inner wings . so far it looks like it needs the following ,

 

inner wings , drivers a post , small repairs to inner sills , outer sills , windscreen scuttle , dashboard top , front floor pans ,  rear valance , lower boot opening panels , rear quarter bottoms .

 

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[mid england retrims]

more work done today by my son josh. for  all the people viewing this thread ,  please don't think this is a no expense spared company rebuild , we are on a budget with this car but I want to do it right as its my wife who will be driving it daily.

first picture is of my son josh hard at work , he will hate me for this  , lol

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not original sills as first thought ,