589 replies to this topic

[jamesquintin]

hurrah! Finaly got a companion bin. I had to make a long trip to Somerford Mini to pick up one of the MPI fuel lines (I cut through mine, d'oh!) so grabbed a bin and a couple of other bits.

 

​Cracking on with the build then! There were a couple of nicks in the B post where I cut through the quarter panel. They won't be seen, but I wanted to tidy them up

 

 

 

Its not perfect, but better. Will give the top one a skim of filler as I think it might 'just' be visible behind the companion bin box

 

After a bit of jiggling, I got the companion bin in, and welded it all up!

 

 

I'll tidy the edge up a bit after the strengthening panel goes in

 

 

 

 

Thank god for the spot welder!

​I had to plug weld the bin to the floor

 

 

I then added the strengthening panel in. Will dress the ends tomorrow

 

 

I added a couple of blobs of weld to the nuts, just in case they want to spin round in the future...

 

 

 

 

 

[jamesquintin]

Not got much doen recently as I've done my back in putting new suspension arms on the Ford Focus!

​Anyway, prepped most of the quarter panel and got that clamped in ready for drilling and welding:

 

 

As my Jack Bag was pretty crusty, I've decided to remake them! After a lot of research and prototypes, they are finally ready 

 

 

 

 

(will look nicer when the car is done..)

​If you want one, I'm selling them on my site:

 

JQ's Garage - Jack Bags

 

Q

[jamesquintin]

Back to the welding, the quarter panel is finnaly on!

 

 

 

 

Got the spot welder out and got the flanges together

 

 

 

Starting to feel like a car again...

 

Q

[jamesquintin]

So onto the sill! Seems to be one of the most common bits of bodywork done to a mini, but I have yet to do one!

 

Prepped the panel with 8mm plug holes

 

 

 

Sprayed a load of zinc primer inside the sill box

 

Then plug/spot welded the bugger in!

 

 

Got some good penetration:

 

 

 

Now to the grinding and doing the other side...

Edited by jamesquintin, 07 June 2017 - 11:57 AM.

[Steve220]

Good progress! What have you left to do metalwork wise?

[jamesquintin]

Good progress! What have you left to do metalwork wise?

 

The whole front end, and the rear panel... The corners under the rear lights are toast (got hit up the bum a few times, so its mostly filler) and there is a lot of rot between the rear window, parcel shelf seam. The only way to get rid of it is to cut the back off... The half back panel is only £30 more than just the lower back hinge panel

[jamesquintin]

With one side done I whacked the rear subframe back on and got the car spun around (difficult, but not impossible to do on your own on a sloping driveway...)

 

 

 

And after lots of buggering about, I got the other sill on!

 

 

Will get some more of the floor welded to the toe board and will take the bracing out....

[jamesquintin]

Little bit of an annoying setback today... Wheeled the car back out into the sunshine to give me some room and noticed the passenger side quarter panel is slightly bowed at the bottom! Its where I've pushed the spot welder on to get the arms over the flange. Luckily I only did 3 welds, so I'll drill them out and plug weld them, and use my other arms to finish it off

 

 

 

Hard to see, but the spirit levels shows it up!

I started to strip the front of the car out. I've never removed an engine before, so will be an experience...

 

 

Will try and get some more off tomorrow!

 

[jamesquintin]

Hmmm, I hope photobucket hasn;t screwd up all my old photos!

​Anyway...Crackgin on with stripping the engine bay down. Founs lots of rust ont eh crossmember   

 

 

 

 

Q

[MacGyver]

The more you look, the more you will find...
M'y 'quick fix and drive' is now a complete nut and bolt rebuild and complete trip down!

[jamesquintin]

Soooo, I've run out of money and can't get any more done on the bodywork, so I've switched attention to the things that don't cost me anything, Mainly stripping and cleaning everything!

First up, the heater:

 

 

 

I started to strip it down and clean it up. The matrix was working fine, but I 'may' replace it as it has some gunky/rusty stuff in the corner. Is it salvageable?

 

 

Will be able to finish welding the floor now the heater is out of the way

 

 

I finished stripping the engine bay, look more like my old city E now!

 

I ended up chopping the clutch pipes off as they were too far gone

 

Gave the bulkhead a quick spin with the wire wheel. Will probably have to replace this part

 

 

I then stripped the fresh air boxes out

 

and found the retaining ring not eh big one was completely gone! Will have to make my own as they are no longer available

 

Thats it for now
 

 

[jamesquintin]

The winf is pretty rusty, but after wire burshing the servo down and seeing how good it was underneath, I was hoping that would be the same for the wing. Wasn't quite as good as I hoped! 

​The bonnet fit was never great (big gaps either side) and have now discovered why! The wing isn't far enough over, as you can see from the big gap in the seam

 

 

The wing isn't original, and the scuttle gap was too big, so decided to take it off!

 

Obviously I was hoping the metal under the shock mount would be perfect...

 

 

But as you can see from the crack at the front, it wasn't...

 

So I'll have to cut it out and see what's what...

[MiniBob12]

Hi James, I have a 98 MPi too but thankfully wasn't too rusty. Great respect for you doing all that bodywork, and in a single garage too!!

Some free advice. Having taken all this trouble you should Waxoyl the little beast to ensure it's longevity.

Well done mate. 

[jamesquintin]

Hi James, I have a 98 MPi too but thankfully wasn't too rusty. Great respect for you doing all that bodywork, and in a single garage too!!

Some free advice. Having taken all this trouble you should Waxoyl the little beast to ensure it's longevity.

Well done mate. 

 

Oh I am going to wax the hell out of this when its done!

 

Q
 

[ckneller321]

Waxoyl for cavity protection, not wax for paint protection. Just in case there was any confusion and you didn't protect your car as well as you could do!