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Project Gladys


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#1 Tony75

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Posted 20 October 2017 - 02:58 PM

Afternoon all

 

As I said in my introduction, I am currently building a classic from what is basically a new shell.  So here goes with the pics and details

 

For my 40th a couple of years ago, I got myself a butchered shell, it was a 1275 Mayfair from 82.  This has sat in my drive since then and done nothing, except rot away more.  There's no doors or front end and the previous owner had cut away big chunks of the floor and sills, but never braced it.  It's hopefully going to a new home soon.  But not long after I got it I spotted a shell on Gumtree that was almost complete, every panel was brand new heritage except from the roof, b-pillars and c-pillars.  Unfortunately at the time I just couldn't lay my hands on spare funds so I missed out.

 

Roll on a year later (May this year) and I'm busy browsing a local VW forum and one of the guy mentions he has this shell just sitting doing nothing, all he wants is what he paid, it was the very same one.  Now I thought to myself, even if this thing has been put together really badly I could remove the panels I need and fit them to the shell I have in the drive.  1 week later and this.....

 

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My boss said I could use the shed at work for as long as I needed it and that I could hook up power. Like I'm going to turn that down, free garage and free power.

 

Sadly, about a week later my 97 year old gran passed away, hence why this is Project Gladys.

 

Now I don't do electrics, so I was at the mercy of my workmates to wire up the shed.  I've got a couple of sockets and 2 strip lights, but only 1 light wired up.  This took a good while of nagging and moaning.  They eventually got it done, now I was ready to start.....

 

Now I've loved Mini's since I was old enough to know what they are, but I have absolutely no clue on how to build one.  So bear with me, this is gonna take a while

 

First up, I decided to flip her on her side and get the underside primed to prevent any chance of rust as in the heavy rain the water just pours through the shed

 

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I used scotchbrite all over the underside so the primer could get some bite then gave her 2 good coatings of etch primer

 

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As you can see she is lying on a couple of motorbike tyres we had in the scrap pile

 

I also primed the OSF wheel arch

 

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And the lower part of the front panel

 

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It was at this point it dawned on me......I think I should have seam sealed her first

 

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I've had that tub of brush on seam sealer for about 20 years, horrible stuff to work with but hopefully it will do the job.  Now I know the sealer looks a mess, but I will get it all tidied up before any paint touches her.

 

 

That'll do for now, I have many more pictures and post to make, but I need to wait for my approval before I can add to this thread.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 



#2 Tony75

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Posted 20 October 2017 - 05:05 PM

There were a few panels still needing fitted when I got her, OSR quarter, companion bins, rear valance and closing panels, but I also needed to get the gussets for the scuttle.

 

Now to give you a bit of history with my welding ability, I've done it twice before, the first time I ended up in hospital with serious welders flash and burnt skin and the second time I welded about half an inch on a couple of bits of scrap metal while I was visiting BPirie.  That's it, nothing else, and now I'm away to attempt to weld a perfectly good shell with brand new expensive panels!!!

 

Forunately for me, BPirie has been a good friend for about 20 years and he knows how to do all this restoration malarkey.  Unfortunately for me, I have a bad habit of not listening

 

I trial fitted the OS companion bin, as there is no quarter fitted I thought I'd try the easy one first

 

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As luck would have it, I have no pictures of my welding, but it's in and it's solid.

 

I did the same on the other side, it was a good bit more difficult

 

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Again, in and solid.  All checked over by BPirie and he's happy they're in and good.

 

This was the point that my hearing failed me, Brian had said "fit the rear valance closing panels and then the rear valance", I heard "fit the rear valance"

 

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Now the embarrassing bit (you'll see my shoddy welding), I then tried to fit the closing panel on the OS

 

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Yeah, that's not happening

 

 

I tried some gentle persuasion but still can't get things to line up.  I've walked away from it for now, but I think I'm going to have to remove the valance which will be hell as I went daft with the spot welder.

 

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So I moved up to the front to have a go at the scuttle closing panels, I think it was on here I read that they are nigh on impossible to do with the wings in place.......not a good omen

 

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More atrocious welding, but hey ho

 

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All primed up.

 

Next episode, the doors

 

P.S. for anyone else that a newbie at welding, make sure you wear the correct PPE, including gloves

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Cheers

 

T


Edited by Tony75, 20 October 2017 - 05:07 PM.


#3 Tony75

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Posted 22 October 2017 - 02:33 PM

Right, so onto the doors.

 

Bit of a health warning here, if you're in Aberdeen at any point and I happen to be trying to get my OS door to fit, you may becoma victim of an explosion or nuclear fallout.

 

So, if you haven't figured out from that, it's not going very well

 

I got a couple of doors from a fellow AMOC member, at an amazingly cheap price.  They've been reskinned and are perfectly straight, one of them needs a new weld at the front top, but other than that they're perfect.  I took them back to the shed, along with a bonnet, and my whole world was rosey.

 

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Off I went for the day thinking "Tomorrow I'll fit the doors and I can finally get the rear quarter fitted", the day was going to be legendary.

 

I tried fitting the OS door to start, immediately I noticed that it was sitting very squint. The gap seemed perfect with the a-panel, but at the front upper corner......

 

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The back wasn't looking too great either....

 

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A quick word with Brian about shims and I thought I'd just make my own

 

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So I tried fitting them and all this did was make the bottom rear even worse.  I tried a little gentle persuasion at the point where the top hinge bolts on, but because the gap with the a-panel had been perfect, all this did was make the door catch the a-panel.

 

At this point I was losing the will to live, so I decided to remove the hinges and see how it fitted.  I thought "the hole is door shaped, the door will fit", how wrong was I.

 

Either the front of the car has been pranged, I doubt this as it's all brand new, or the OSF has been put together badly.  In my mind it was a case of I'm just going to tear the whole front end off and start again, but I decided to try the NS door.  This was being done just to confirm the apocalyptic rage that was starting.

 

I popped the door in without any shims, tightened it up and........

 

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Not quite perfect, but compared to the other side it's amazing.  Only problem is that the a-panel on the NS isn't sitting right, I'll have to remove it and refit.  Delighted with the NS though.

 

When I arrived to work on her yesterday, one of my work mates popped his head in to have a look, he reckons I need a body jack to realign the OS door frame so he's going to borrow one for me.

 

I don't think anything has ever made me so angry in my entire life, how unbelievably infuriating, I think I ended up sending messages to about half of AMOC.

 

Anyhoo, that's it for now. Doubt I'll get any time on her during the week but I'll get more time next weekend, hopefully to get the doors fitted properly.

 

Any comments, hints, tips or spare Prozac are always welcomed

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

 



#4 sonikk4

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Posted 22 October 2017 - 03:18 PM

What you have to remember is each door on a mini is tweaked, bent etc to suit the individual car when it was built. Buying second hand doors is like having a punt on the lotto.

 

My lads car had second hand doors when we bought it. After i re skinned and repaired them they were still a crap fit. in the end i cut and sectioned the window frames and added 1/4" section to get the fit spot on. The rest of the door edges i used 3.4mm welding filler rod and welded these on then trimmed back where required.

 

My doors on Paddy are the original but were a crap fit from new, BUT that could have been down to the poor skins fitted by the previous owner. Now they fit correctly and yes i did use my welding rods to gap the doors correctly. 



#5 Tony75

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 06:54 PM

Just want to say I've had to put this on hold just now, might get to do little bits but I've been told my mum has just a few months due to cancer so she is taking priority. If there are updates I'll post them up

Cheers

T

#6 MasterD78

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 07:45 PM

Looks like a great project, and sorry to hear about your mother.  



#7 Marco1972

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Posted 19 November 2017 - 08:49 PM


Nice project

Yes the doors are a pain and yes welding rod will sort out your gapping issues plus lots of bending and tweaking
Slotting the hinge holes will give you a lot of extra movement well worth a try
Lots of patience needed with doors especially if you’ve had them from another car
ive done a few now and they take up a lot of time
Stick at it

Mark

#8 Tony75

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Posted 13 November 2018 - 07:51 PM

Ok, time to drag this back up again.....

 

Just after my last post above we found out my mother was ill so this put a stop to any interest I had in the Mini.  The old dear passed away on Christmas eve last year, my eldests birthday too, and it's taken me until very recently before my head was in the right place.  I also recently quit my job with nothing lined up, but realised if I didn't do something pretty quickly I was going to suffer either a stroke or a heart attack.  So we're now on week no.2 of unemployment and I have spent my time stripping the bike down and have started work on the Mini again.

 

First up the bike.  I bought this in April last year, came in to my work for an MOT from Freebird Motorcycles.  It had come in to them as a trade in and it was going cheap.  Passed it's test with just an advisory on the noisey cans, they're standard but have been completely gutted.  This gave me a gee up to pull my finger out and do my test, which I passed on the 28th June.  Had the bike taxed and insured straight after work that night.  Have only done about 1k miles since then, but have loved every bit.  There are several things that I noticed the bike needed, the wheels need refurbed, the chain and sprockets need replaced, discs and pads need done etc etc

 

Here she is when I got her

 

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Now she's off the road I decided to start the work, wheels off to be painted but have decided to change the colour of the bike.  For no particular reason I am painting the bike white, rear wheel done but I have rubbed through on a couple of points so it will be done again

 

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So my front paddock stand arrived today so the front got lifted and this is how she's currently sitting

 

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The parts list ordered so far is, EBC discs and pads front and rear, new wheel bearings for front and rear, HEL braided brake and clutch lines and DID gold chain and sprockets kit.  Think that's it so far...….

 

On to the Mini, not much has really happened.  After last year I left the Mini while I was completely baffled as to why the drivers door wouldn't fit, no matter what I tried the ******* thing would not line up.  At the weekend, myself and BPirie went into the shed of doom for a tidy up and have a look at the door.  Firstly we found that there were 2 cracks round the upper hinge on the door and secondly that the a-panel wasn't welded to the inner panel to give some support to the door

 

Oh, but first of all, I've moved from the shed I was in to a shared garage.....

 

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Currently there are 5 Mini's and my bike in the garage

 

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So I start my new job on the 3rd of December so I have a couple more weeks of tinkering and painting etc.  But with working on the bike and the Mini, the daily Bini has been a bit neglected......

 

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Updates should be a bit more regular

 

Cheers

 

Tony



#9 Tony75

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Posted 15 November 2018 - 05:29 PM

Nothing too exciting today, I bought myself an orbital sander the other day and ordered a load of discs from Amazon which arrived yesterday.  So today I got round to sanding and priming the bike fuel tank.  The orbital zipped through the paint so easily with a 120 grit disc.  I tac ragged the tank and then went over it with panel wipe thoroughly.  I then applied 2 coats of etch primer and then 2 coats of high build primer

 

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Surprisingly I only got 2 runs in the paint but they should be easy enough to sand out.  Not going to be applying any base coat until all parts are ready, then I'll do them all at once.

 

Onto the Mini...…

 

When Brian and I were at the Mini over the weekend, as already said, we found that the inner wing wasn't welded to the a-panel on the offside but also noticed the same on the nearside.  Brian sorted the offside on Sunday so today I did the nearside.  Now Brian can weld, me however...…..

 

Before

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After

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Now I'm pretty sure I'll need to stitch it a hell of a lot more, but I can do that tomorrow once I've had it confirmed that I haven't made a complete **** of it

 

Also welded the nearside on the inside

 

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I'm well aware my welding is ****, so please don't ask me about settings etc, all I know is "point in general direction, pull trigger, resist dancing to flashy lights"default_laugh.png

 

Will see what I get done tomorrow

 

Cheers

 

Tony



#10 Magneto

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Posted 16 November 2018 - 03:46 AM

Are you using a flux core wire, or is this a stick welder?



#11 Tony75

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Posted 16 November 2018 - 07:23 AM

Gasless mig

#12 Magneto

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Posted 16 November 2018 - 04:24 PM

It would really improve your welding, make your welds cleaner and easier to grind, as well as faster and easier for you to learn proper technique and penetration if you invest in a gas Mig, maybe you can borrow one ffrom one of your garage mates?



#13 Tony75

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Posted 10 April 2019 - 02:45 PM

So, months have now passed but I have been quite busy on both the Mini and the bike

 

I'll start with the Mini, forgive me for the amount of pictures

 

I decided to buy myself a rollover jig, but as my welding is poop I got Brian to do most of the welding, I did do a couple of bits but it took 4 or 5 attempts before I could get the welds strong enough

 

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The master at work

 

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The results of my attempts

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Anyhoo, this eventually got her up in the air and spinning, total bliss being able to work on the underside without have to lie on the ground or crouch

 

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I then went on a little spending spree...….

 

KAD rear hubs

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Group 2 arches

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Fixtures and fittings

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GAZ shocks

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Red dot suspension cones

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Heritage rear subframe

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Minifin rear drums

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Complete rear brake setup

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Mk1 tail lights

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KAD alloy radius arms

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7.5" 4pot caliper brake setup

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I also bought all the fully adjustable bits for the suspension, but don't seem to have pictures, so everything will be able to be set up perfectly

 

So the bank balance took a big hit buying all that lot and the wife said I needed to slow down with the spending, of course I listened...….



#14 Tony75

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Posted 10 April 2019 - 02:49 PM

I unfortunately didn't manage to get much time in the garage to do anything, but Brian was going in and building things up for me when he had time

 

Front subframe

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Rear subframe

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A few bits were getting done to the shell too.  The wings and rear quarters were predrilled for sportspack arches, now I know everyone has their own taste and opinion but I can't stand Mini's on 13's, so I had to weld the holes that were there.  From some YouTube searching I saw that if you put a bit of brass across the back of the hole you can fill it with weld, the weld doesn't stick to the brass and it also helps cool it.  The only thing I could find in the garage was a brass airline coupling but this worked well......unlike my welding

 

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Some good, some not so good.  But I got it all sorted and coated over with primer

 

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There were a few bits on the shell that were way beyond my welding skill so Brian again came to the rescue and sorted them out

 

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A skim of filler should see them right.

 

I bought myself some Raptor tintable underseal, 4 litres and bought 5 litres of base coat.  Now the initial plan was to replicate my old cherry red Mini 30 that I had 20 odd years ago, but the paint for it is only available in water based, which means you need to bake it etc.  As I don't have access to this sort of equipment I had to have a rethink.....



#15 Tony75

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Posted 10 April 2019 - 02:52 PM

So I decided to go for an early colour and opted for Surf Blue

 

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We also got round to welding in the adaptor plates for the Mk1 rear lights

 

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Brian then also managed to find me a set of 4.75x10 genuine Minilite alloys, they do need a bit of refurb but they are straight and hard to get hold of now

 

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So that's pretty much as far as I have got with the Mini, it's been put on the back burner again while I try to get the bike finished.....






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