409 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Looks good mate.

[1984mini25]

I think I've come up with a plan on how I'm going to weld up the extra hole in the drivers floor pan that's currently filled with sealant.

 

What I'm planning on doing, rather than weld another patch next to an already patched section of floor, is to replace the front floor and drivers inner sill replacing all the previous repairs in one go. But the only problem is I can't have half the car in bits for more than a day. I could just patch the floor and use one of the cheap 'cover' inner sills, but I'm really not a fan of those panels and I'd still have to remove the sill/brace the door opening to fill in the cut out for the cross member.

 

so what I'd planed on doing was to remove the end section of the drivers side crossmemebr, witch due to the way i's been welded previously would need to be repaired anyway. Chop out and replace the inner sill up to the rear bin using a cut down full inner sill panel, repairing the front floor and welding back in the crossmemebr end.

 

The problem being I'm so tight of funds (only just have enough to tax the bloody thing at the end of the month) and with the time issue, I just haven't go the time to chop out the crossmemebr and do any extra repairs to it as well as replacing the inner sill. So ideally I'd be after just a 5 or 6 inch section of crossmemebr that I could have all ready to be welded beforehand or even a scratch made section. But I just don't have any decent steel spare big enough and aren't able to make all the various bends I'd need.  

[Ben_O]

what a pain!

If I lived close enough, id pop over and give you a hand.

Two pairs of hands are better than one. plus I could have donated any necessary steel to repair it. 

I know what its like to be in this situation where you need the car to remain on the road but at the same time, repairs needing to be done.

Good luck with it

 

Ben

[Down&Out]

Fantastic seat covers!

[1984mini25]

Change of plan. After realising the full length inner sill panel I'd previously seen isn't as easily available as I'd first thought, the problem of a crossmemebr and not willing to buy a full panel only to chop an end off. Plus after a recent conversation with an ex (long story I won't go into) I've decided to go back to an original plan of using the floor panel I'd already bought and doing pretty much the same method of repairs as I'd done to hers a few years back.  

 

so I cleaned up the drivers floor pan of all the pant and sealant that's been keeping my feet dry.

 

and although the holes are only small the rest of the metal is very heavily pitted. but its also probably not helped by the fact when I first bought the mini in 2005 I wire brushed the lose rust off the floor and painted on a chemical rust converter in the belief that it would kill the rust and stop it from spreading.

 

new panel trimmed roughly for size

 

one rather crusty door step hidden by the door seal

 

shiny new panel ready for once the floors repaired

 

hopefully If the weather holds out I'll have the floor repaired by the weekend. But I need to be careful with my back already playing up, as I have a very busy weekend planed.

Edited by 1984mini25, 12 June 2013 - 09:17 PM.

[1984mini25]

Slow progress, as I'm still a bit tired and sore after spending 10 hours working on another mini yesterday.

 

floor pan cut out.

 

and the new panel trimmed and ready to be welded in,

 

plus while I was do the floor I masked up and repainted 2 of the wheels were the lacquer has started crazing.

Edited by 1984mini25, 28 June 2013 - 11:39 PM.

[1984mini25]

floor pan partly welded as I unfortunately ran out of welding wire half way through.

 

[1984mini25]

Floor pan is now fully welded and painted

 

and while the hammerite was out I gave the rear seat base a second coat.

[1984mini25]

As the floors are now welded and painted I spent the day sticking down my cheap skates (less than a tenners worth) of self-adhesive roofing tape.

 

 

 

 

I've also made up a new section that's next of the repairs list, just haven't taken any picks of it yet.

[1984mini25]

Got round to doing the n/s pot joint boot that I noticed was split a few weeks back from doing the fuel pump, but like most things I've also discovered I've got an oil leak from the radiator side of the engine and the rubber boots on the year old (bought at Gaydon this time last year) need replacing.

 

 

one split pot joint boot and rather annoyingly the cv joint stuck in the wheel bearings

 

 

handy way of wrapping the cage and balls so as not to lose the balls or end up with grease everywhere

 

 

and an overall of how disgusting and crusty the front suspension is looking, with the hi-lows only being a year old

 

[1984mini25]

I finally sold a dash rail and subframe to raze some much needed funs and buy another battery, a £50 Exide excell 063 for £32 delivered off eBay . witch meant I could swap the 075 back onto the green one with all the various messing around getting the batteries to fit etc.  I've also pulled apart and swapped over the carb and fiddled with some of the wiring on the green one, so hopefully I can just add fuel and it'll be running again and the garage free. 

 

So that's just replace the front end, inner wing, door post, door, door step and rear sill/headboard on the 25, tidy up a few lose ends and slap some paint on the green one, mitp and then mot due on the 25.

[Chris99]

Amazing work on a tight budget. A 25 was my 1st mini so I'll always have a soft spot for them. Still missing the quality of the interior trim as well, don't reckon anything beats that fabric for how hard wearing it is.

[Steely]

Really nice looking work so far, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as I own one myself. What are you doing with the original wheels and trims if your not using them? Why aren't you using them, I think they look better than your standard minilite's.

[1984mini25]

Amazing work on a tight budget. A 25 was my 1st mini so I'll always have a soft spot for them. Still missing the quality of the interior trim as well, don't reckon anything beats that fabric for how hard wearing it is.

 

Technically this is still my first car, bought for £900 with an iffy mot (like most minis) way back in 2005 as just a general run a round. It wasn’t until I soon realised at what it actually was, that the plans changed to keep it as standard as possible. As originally the seats were going to join the carpets  that really were past cleaning and replaced.

 

Edited by 1984mini25, 13 July 2013 - 09:34 PM.

[1984mini25]

Really nice looking work so far, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as I own one myself. What are you doing with the original wheels and trims if your not using them? Why aren't you using them, I think they look better than your standard minilite's.

 

As for the original wheel trims, even though I have this pile of ones I’ve cleaned up and refurbed along with a box full or others I haven’t got round to, I don’t have a full set of 12” steelies with matching legal tyres. But given that the front n/s is already starting to wear quite quickly (too many roundabouts) it might not be long till I need a tyre or two anyways.

 

It would be nice though for it to look like it once did again in 2009, even with it's rather rushed paintjob just to make smarten it up a bit for the 50th that didn't sadly really last being left outside all year round. But then I also kind of miss the long summer driving around to and from shows, etc with the now ex gf at the time.