This is the picture story of the part restoration of our MP2 Mini which we have owned from new since 1998.
I began the post in the "Introduce Yourself" section, so you can see the first part there if you want to. All of the work is being done by Richard at RJM Minis.
One of the first areas on the car to show signs of rust (over 10 years ago) was the scuttle panel below the windscreen. A far from perfect seal on the windscreen rubber was allowing water to seep behind it and rust bubbles were beginning to appear in the paintwork. Actually, the first sign of trouble (although I didn't know it at the time) was that the radio stopped working......I later realised that this was because water drops were falling from the bottom of the windscreen behind the dash and onto the top of the radio. The water drops were entering the radio and corroding the circuit boards within. It wasn't until the replacement radio (a Mini original bought on Ebay) suffered the same fate that the penny finally dropped.
03-Windscreen-scuttle-removed.jpg 59.88K
1 downloads
This picture shows the windscreen scuttle removed - the replacement panel (non-original) can be seen where it has been offered up for fit. It turned out to be just about perfect!
At this point, it was possible to have a good look at the dash rail panel. Although not bad, there was some signs of rust in the panel and in the joint where the three panels come together - all caused by the poor seal around the windscreen! You can see the result quite clearly in the picture below.
04-Dash-rail-rust.jpg 62.37K
0 downloads
We decided that it was best to fit a new one, so the dash panel came out too. You can see where the rust is that any water ingress is directly above the radio position.
08 Dash-panel-removed.jpg 73K
1 downloads
09-Dash-panel-removed.jpg 58.5K
2 downloads
Ever since the first signs of rust appeared some 10 years ago (A panels, scuttle and front panel) I have worried about the condition behind the panels....the hidden rust that couldn't be seen. Now, with the panels removed it was possible to have a good look at what was underneath. It was a very pleasant surprise to see that my worst fears had not been realised and the door hinge panels, inner wings, bulkhead were all remarkably good.
05-Door-hinge-panels.jpg 43.66K
2 downloads
The same couldn't be said for the window support rails in the doors. These disintegrated as the glass came out.
06-window support rails rust.jpg 57.08K
0 downloads
07-window-support-rail.jpg 59.97K
0 downloads
More to follow in my next post.
Peter.
