3 replies to this topic

[Minime998]

Hi All,

 

Car: '88 Mini Designer (all original trim) - Rust bucket but using for learning and to keep another that should be scrapped on the road.

 

I have just bought a heritage bulkhead cross member as it was cheaper (was on sale) than buying the repair ends / half's. Since I have bought the entire cross member I am trying to decide to replace the entire cross member or chop it up for the ends. The middle bit on mine isnt great so its probably sensible to replace the entire cross member, but is it easy enough to replace? Or should I stick to just the ends? I don't have a jig, but it looks like there are bolt holes which will aid in lining up too. I am also replacing both inner wings.

 

Am I right in thinking this is just spot welded to the bulkhead too, so plug weld would be ok for the replacement?

 

I'm just worried If i get it wrong it could cause the car to crab etc 

 

Any advice or help is appreciated,

 

thanks

 

Michael

[stumpy75]

Why dont you make a jig i did this for my spit to mount the mini but you could do something similaire if your worried

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[Retroman]

mmm however you do it its not a small job

 

its easier and more accurate to do it with the one piece

 

    Not sure if it has the shocker bracket bolt pieces in the ends if it has use the old shocker brackets as a mounting jig at each end by making them mount to the inner wing / flitch panel...you then have 8 mounting bolt holes to work to

Otherwise its down to the tower bolts...again you could use the front subframe as a jig with some box section bracing from the front mounts back up to the scuttle area, mounted in a strong area that does not flex and bolted solid to the floor.

       When cutting, drilling, pulling and grinding the old one out do not cut / tear out any of the other panels the crossmember is welded too, otherwise you will have nothing to weld to at that point. It has to be done carefully. Its all spot welded in, you will end up plug welding it all back in unless you have a fancy spot welder with some exotic long arms. Every single old spot weld will have to be flat, to get a perfect fit, it will take some doing, best of luck.

[Minime998]

Cheers guys, completed the removal today, went for one piece removal and replacement . When I was looking there are bolts under the cross member either side as well as the cable holes. These seemed tight and have used these for the alignment and has worked great and aligns to the marks we put in, inner wings, etc.

Needs more cleanup with the flappy pad, and yeah will be plug welds unfortunately and I would definitely agree it’s a canny big job, took 5 hrs just to remove it correctly. The bulkhead needs unrelated patches before it goes back in though.

Thanks for your help,