36 replies to this topic

[Coney]

Hi all,

 

Recently became the proud owner of a 1991 mini city. My partner bought me it as a 30th birthday gift.

 

It was sold with a full MOT but unfortunately there is quite a lot of rust to sort. The sills appear ok from the outside but I'm not sure if they have just been covered up with something like wax oil.

Its the inside that looks bad currently. Please see pics.

 

I'm located in West Yorkshire, can anyone recommend any where that could sort this and how much am I looking at? will it be inner and outer sills plus some floor repairs?

 

My dad has a welder but I've never welded in my life.

 

thanks

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[Ben_O]

You can buy an inner sill to first groove panel which can be supplied with or without the outer sill.

This will replace all of the inner sill and floor section that appears rusty in your photographs in one go.

 

at least it has the correct vented sills on it but unfortunately they look old and obviously the rust has taken hold.

 

There are quite a few places around who can tackle this work but it pays to shop around and ask for recommendations before committing to anything.

 

You say you have access to a welder..... if you are a pretty handy person, why not give it a go yourself? Plenty of the members here have carried out complete restoration projects on their cars and not lifted a welding torch once prior to that so it is easily doable. Just practice lots and read up on here in the projects section to see how the repairs is carried out and what's involved.

 

Best of luck

 

Ben

[minimotion]

Hello there I have a 1990 which needs a new boot floor,scuttle panel and a door skin I find it usually easyer and better in the long run to replace a while panel providing they are on the market which with a mini there easy to get and delivered to your door if needed if u can't afford genuine panels there are copy's which not always perfect but some jiggling here and there soon get them to fit not sure on the price round your end but my mates usually fit sills for 20 bucks and a pint if y do decide to tackle it your self practice on some scrap try the welder on different settings and find what works for you also where there's rust there's holes and weak metal so might find yourself burning through with time you can rebud and fill the hole and then dress it all neat after but this is very time consuming the key it's to make sure the metals clean your ready your welders ready and that you ain't in a rush when welding

[KernowCooper]

Well the sills have been painted with underseal and brushed on quite heavy, which means you never know what its hiding, it certainly
has surface rust on the floors and again you wont know how bad it is with a bit of work, were there any advisorys on the MOT? and how
long ago was the MOT

[Coney]

"You can buy an inner sill to first groove panel which can be supplied with or without the outer sill.
This will replace all of the inner sill and floor section that appears rusty in your photographs in one go."
Where is the best place to get this panel?

Thanks I do consider myself quite handy but I'd be concerned about making a real mess of it. I'd need to brace it all it seems like a scary prospect.
MOT was only last month I suspect foul play to be honest. Altho it's worse now than it was then as I've been poking around a bit.

[sonikk4]

It's been messed around with looking at the outer sill pictures.

Now as Ben has said getting replacement panels is easy enough but that particular job is not for the faint hearted as it does require some serious cutting. Done this particular job several times and have replaced both sides on my Clubby ( see the link in my signature Project Paddy)

Judging by the pictures the bitumen soundproofing is still on the floor, remove all of this ( it comes off easily) then you can make a further assessment of what actually needs doing.

I know this is not what you want to hear but better to be blunt than sugar coat it. Time to learn to weld. It's not that difficult but needs to be of a good standard especially for this job.

[62S]

To be fair to the MOT tester, they are not allowed to remove the carpet from the inner sill or start chipping off the floor covering.

[sonikk4]

To be fair to the MOT tester, they are not allowed to remove the carpet from the inner sill or start chipping off the floor covering.

It's a fair point and personally I would be rather hacked off if I saw the tester trying to stab the floor etc. It's easy to hide stuff just to get a ticket. They cannot be blamed for stuff that is hidden whether intentionally or not

[Coney]

It's playing on my mind quite a bit. The mini is at my friends house currently. I will have another look at it at the weekend. The sound proofing you mention is that the carpet like material or blue stuff in 5th pic down (it peels off in my hand but I thought that was part of the floor pan!)?

Edited by Coney, 29 September 2015 - 05:42 PM.

[sonikk4]

It's playing on my mind quite a bit. The mini is at my friends house currently. I will have another look at it at the weekend. The sound proofing you mention is that the blue stuff in 5th pic down?

 

Yes it is. Save quite a lot weight taking that off. Plus its a water trap as well.

[minidaves]

well a positive note no over sills clean it up see what u got :)

[Coney]

thanks for all your responses so far guys, much appreciated, its put my mind at ease a little. I've just been reading Project Paddy thread, very inspirational.

I'm trying to read up as much as I can on how the various panels fit together to understand what to expect.

what would you be removing first based on my photos?

[sonikk4]

First thing is to remove the bitumen off the floor. That way you can get a clearer picture of what is exactly needed.

 

Judging from what i can see you will more than likely need an inner and outer sill to start with. Hopefully that's it. Once the outer sill is off a better assessment can be made.

[Blatherskite]

Thanks I do consider myself quite handy but I'd be concerned about making a real mess of it. I'd need to brace it all it seems like a scary prospect.
MOT was only last month I suspect foul play to be honest. Altho it's worse now than it was then as I've been poking around a bit.

I would recommend you buy a sheet of steel the same thickness as the panels, and practice the welding. Read the welder instructions, get books, but best is to go to classes. Once you can stick two bits of steel together with a good weld profile and minimal distortion, then consider welding the car. Be careful to not cut everything off at once, so the car bends (did that, straightening it is a PIG), and get as much advice as you can from this Forum.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes, with pictures.

[castafiore]

Lots of great info and tutorials on welding on the Mig Forum UK.