40 replies to this topic

[sonikk4]

Talking of pattern panels, does anyone have experience of these? Are they Magnum?
 
https://www.carbodyp...1970-2000-mkiii
 
I have my suspicions. And just look at those bodger's floor panels, trimmed to fit around the bins, leaving the rusty bits in place
 
Of how about those on Fleabay?
 
http://www.ebay.co.u...0910&rmvSB=true
 
They do not look very good.
 
Sadly there is a lot of junk out there. I saw another site a while back which had quite a range of panels at lower prices than we might expect, who apparently sell to the "trade", meaning anyone including the very worst back street garages but probably not the best, who have standards to uphold. Those are likely to be what you get if you put a Mini in to an average body repairer, unless you specify otherwise.
 
There is cheap stuff out there. Buy cheap, buy twice....
 
Caveat emptor. And best wishes to everyone who wants to do the job properly.

All Magnum. The thing is as much as we hate them being half arsed they will have got people out of the poo using these.

Yes in the long term not good but if it's your only mode of transport and you are on a limited budget then you make the most of what you can get.

A lot of minis are owned by newbie drivers, students etc, people on a limited budget who are not lucky enough to have spare cash or time so something that can be thrown in on a weekend will keep them on the road.

It's alright for the likes of myself who has the time and the money plus other cars to use.

[feybrand]

i used magnum door skins ...they were crap i cut them off and binned them and brought heritage ..they were spot on.........i also used magnum sills they may still end up coming off again and going in the bin.and magnum door steps ...one is awaiting modification the other i hammered flat and redid it so may aswell of just brought a sheet of steel lol

 

To be fair i do lack the patience needed for magnum ....i also used m machine floors and they had a double bend at the base of the inner sill ..kindaa like the bend was made then it was wrong so they re bent it ..i corrected it for the second floor pan but i didnt spot it on the first one till it was welded in.

 

I've also found that some of the magnum stuff..in particular the sills the bends arent very crisp and as a result the panel can be a mm or 2 out ...but when u get a hammer and dolly on the bends and sharpen them up the panels fit perfect.

[tiger99]

Just like the dangerous bodger's inner sills that go around the crossmember. Such stuff should not be made, far less sold or fitted to a car. The MOT needs to be tighter where structural repairs are concerned.

[minidaves]

the mot needs to be tighter full stop till then people on forums have to pave the way

[tiger99]

Agreed! Let us continually show good work here! Some of the restorations are magnificent. There is no reason why everyone can't learn to achieve at least an adequate standard, sometimes with orofessional help. It is much cheaper in the long run. We are talking of the Mini as a true classic car nowadays, not a cheap runabout.

We may have to suggest to some people that a Mini is not for them yet, until they have sufficient money, and in the meantime find a cheap old disposable thing to get them around. But I will stop short of recommending a Hyundai Getz. Dreadful car! Imagine the noise of a MK 1 Mini, with slightly less interior room, possibly even smaller boot (or was that the Kia Picanto?), gutless performance, similar economy, and stodgy handling that Alec would have been truly ashamed of... Like throwback to the early 1950s era which inspired Leonard Lord to intruct Alec to produce something better.

[neal]

I did mine in Heritage parts, I did buy some panels from the other companies mentioned earlier and sold them on.

Don't get me wrong, you still will have to do a little fettling with Heritage and they are a little pricey but comparing and trial fitting made my mind up.

Best of luck

[tiger99]

A wise decision. You have to speculate to accumulate, and that means putting sufficient money and resources into anything to make a success of it, or waiting and saving till you can. Like most of us, I never have enough money, but I don't waste it on cheap junk these days. Not that I am good at financial planning, but after 66 years I am beginning to learn... No more cheap, trashy tools, for instance. Actually cheap spanners and screwdrivers were the first things I learned to avoid, a long time ago. First rusty bolt, and they fail. But my thing about cheap body panels is just the HUGE amount of work that they require, and quite frankly, unless you do it every day, reshaping sheet metal is challenging.

 

On the other hand, I am all for finding bargains, good stuff at knockdown prices. And Aldi sometimes have useful tools. If only they sold Mini panels...

 

Happy fettling!

[neal]

A wise decision. You have to speculate to accumulate, and that means putting sufficient money and resources into anything to make a success of it, or waiting and saving till you can. Like most of us, I never have enough money, but I don't waste it on cheap junk these days. Not that I am good at financial planning, but after 66 years I am beginning to learn... No more cheap, trashy tools, for instance. Actually cheap spanners and screwdrivers were the first things I learned to avoid, a long time ago. First rusty bolt, and they fail. But my thing about cheap body panels is just the HUGE amount of work that they require, and quite frankly, unless you do it every day, reshaping sheet metal is challenging.

 

On the other hand, I am all for finding bargains, good stuff at knockdown prices. And Aldi sometimes have useful tools. If only they sold Mini panels...

 

Happy fettling!

Wise words!

 

I drew up a sizeable list of Heritage panels, if I remember it was nearly everything short of the bulkhead and roof and was way over £2500, (I think a Heritage shell was around £4500 back then) then I contacted all of the major suppliers and asked them if they would do me a discount if I bought all items on the list from them only and played them off from each other.

 

The outcome was a good saving, a big learning curve and a lot of fun getting the shell just right.

 

The only thing is that I didn't let my standards drop and I'm still building it after eight years, I'm enjoying building it and I think that's what it's all about.

 

Have fun!!!

[sonikk4]

While Minispeed was open we had a really good discount with them which took the sting out of the bill for my Clubby resto. Just a shame it all went belly up for them.

 

At least we still get a reasonable discount with Minispares and M Machine.

[pete l]

I've never used them, but I heard M Machine panels are very good, especially their door steps.

 

Anyone used them ?

[Van13]

I've never used them, but I heard M Machine panels are very good, especially their door steps.
 
Anyone used them ?

just fitted both door steps from mm to both vans profiles not perfect but waaaaay better than anything else on the market

[neal]

 

I've never used them, but I heard M Machine panels are very good, especially their door steps.
 
Anyone used them ?

just fitted both door steps from mm to both vans profiles not perfect but waaaaay better than anything else on the market

 

I've been told this several times by friends who have used them

[Daz1968]

I have used m machine, heritage and magnum panels on my cars and although I have a personal preference for each area of the car, I can honestly say I have had no more problems fitting a magnum front end compared to heritage.
you can get a very acceptable result using a combination of panels, as an example I used magnum rear quarters and doorskins on my mk2 and found them very good, especially considering the saving.

[sledgehammer]

I had to laugh on project binky - a heritage wing had the repeater hole in the wrong place

 

price doesn't always equal quality

 

some good bit's are cheap , some £xpensive parts are carp - it's all a gamble now a day's

[elf66]

I have always wondered why TMF have not setup a trusted parts list with a list of all the common body panels and something like a score for the fit and quality of parts from the major suppliers.