11 replies to this topic

[tom]

Right, today I decided to make a ove on tidying up some of the rust spots on my Mini. Surprise, surprise, I've found some holes. . Bugger.

Right, the hole in in the front wing, just below the windscreen, next to the seam. Make sense? Anyway, the biggest one is about the size of a tuppence. What's the best way to patch it? It looks a bit too big to just slap some filler over it, and I don't have a welder, nor can I weld, so non-welding methods are preffered.

[Woody]

A tempory repair can be done with some fiberglass repair paste ( P40, fibrefill), however the rust will come back and this must not be used in structural panels like sills ,door pillars etc.
grind the paint off from around the afected area , knock the edges of the rust hole inwards so there are no bits sticking up above the profile of the panel ,mix up paste and apply to the hole , after it has set like rock grind it down to the required profile ,apply a skim of filler and block down to the proper shape .
Oh yea , I wouldent use this in my workshop because when the rust comes back people would just call me a bodger , i only use this fiberglass repair paste over welded patches as it is non-pourous and wont crack like filler .
the only way to get rid of rust is to replace the panel .
even welding patches in is only a temopry measure as the rest of the panel is the same age so the rust will apear somewhere else on the panel .

[Pavel]

It's about time someone started making mini panels in stainless, eh? :\ Can't imagine it being too difficult

[philster]

It's about time someone started making mini panels in stainless, eh? :\ Can't imagine it being too difficult

would be a pain to spray though as nothing really sticks to it. They could galvanise them that would be good.

As woody said a good (or reasonable) temporary repair would be to use some fibre glass based body filler. I have used this in the past and if you get the metal as clean as you can then primer it and then filler it it will keep the tin worm from showing through for longer. I did mine on the scuttle panel about 4 year ago and have only just repalced them. plus the weather over there is probably not as wet as the good old uk?

[Dan]

I thought Tom was from the UK?

BMH panels are double galvanised, if they use the same metal as they use in the new shells. And they're phosphated and e-primed. My BMH shell is 5 years old now and immaculate. Just like a modern car.

[philster]

I thought Tom was from the UK?

oh yeh sorry? my mistake, i got confused with pavel haha!

[dklawson]

BMH panels are galvanized? I wasn't aware of that!? I knew the Rover and BMH panels were anodically primed. Generally zinc plating steel creates the same painting problems that you have with stainless. Typically the zinc has to be etched to give the paint a surface to "key" into.

[Zeemax]

Do BMH have a web site?

[miniman5]

Ahh this relates to me slightly :erm: ive got rust apering nothing majour but its comming and im going to try getting rid of it my selff then if it looks bodged then ile get a new front end on her!

[Dan]

BMH

They use modern car steel for their parts and shells. It's double galvanised from the steel mill, but after pressing they phosphate it and e-prime it which is an OE type process. The shells are even dipped just like OE. That's why you can paint them 'because you don't actually have to paint the galv, they are already primed.

That's why they cost a bit more.

[Mini]

Hi Guys,

Corrosion is basically caused by an electrical difference between two areas of metal. Different metals have different "voltages" and where they meet you'll get corrosion. As an example, modern cars don't rust because they are electrically balanced during production, by many methods. Protecting the base metal from the elements essentially preserves its electrical stability.

If you put a galvanised wing on a steel shell, over time the shell will disintegrate around the join.

Galvanising steel adds zinc to the outer shell, zinc corrodes rapidly, but when it corrodes it forms an oxygen barrier that prevents further corrosion - aluminium is the same, and cadmium etc.

So bolting one galvanised bit onto a steel shell can cause more trouble than its worth...

[Dan]

Isn't that what the phosphate is for? I thought it isolated them?