10 replies to this topic

[YaYA]

Hi All,

 

I have a 1999 Mini John Cooper. It is in fairly good condition but has developed rust in the sills and the boot floor. I am looking for advice to get a rough estimate of how much I should expect to pay for a repair to these areas. Both areas have physical holes through them (sills just have one or two very small holes, the boot floor has one hole a few inches across). Sorry for the vagueness, I am not particularly mechanically minded so I am not really sure where to begin. I have tried to do some research over various websites and in this forum, and it seems like going down the route of welding into place new panels would be the best option. And then painting to match the rest of the body.

 

If I can supply any further information that would aid someone in giving me advice, please let me know and I will try to expand.

 

Many thanks

[cal844]

M Machine will give you a price on panels, they have a downloadable catalogue with all years of panels.

Bear in mind that the bumper lip is where the rear panel, boot floor and rear valence panels meet so will probably cost more in labour to strip it all out.

[YaYA]

M Machine will give you a price on panels, they have a downloadable catalogue with all years of panels.

Bear in mind that the bumper lip is where the rear panel, boot floor and rear valence panels meet so will probably cost more in labour to strip it all out.

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

How much labour time would you expect a job like that to take?

[cal844]

M Machine will give you a price on panels, they have a downloadable catalogue with all years of panels.

Bear in mind that the bumper lip is where the rear panel, boot floor and rear valence panels meet so will probably cost more in labour to strip it all out.

Thanks a lot for your help.

How much labour time would you expect a job like that to take?

I don't run a business, so won't comment on cost. We Do all our own work, my dad does my welding and spray painting, I do the mechanical work. It will save you alot of money to learn how to do it all, it isn't easy!

[YaYA]

 

 

M Machine will give you a price on panels, they have a downloadable catalogue with all years of panels.

Bear in mind that the bumper lip is where the rear panel, boot floor and rear valence panels meet so will probably cost more in labour to strip it all out.

Thanks a lot for your help.

How much labour time would you expect a job like that to take?

I don't run a business, so won't comment on cost. We Do all our own work, my dad does my welding and spray painting, I do the mechanical work. It will save you alot of money to learn how to do it all, it isn't easy!

 

Yeh, this is something that I will definitely be taking to a garage to complete the work. I definitely do not have the skills or tools to do so. Thanks a lot for your help

[Icey]

I don't run a garage either but we can help work out a ROM.

 

The thing with Minis is that they tend to rust from the inside-out. That's to say water works its way into places and the first you see is when it bursts through the outer panel. The only exception tends to be the boot floor where water gets trapped above the subframe and bulkhead where brake fluid eats the paint.

 

So, the sills. If they are original and haven't been bodged before it should be possible to remove and refit new in a day for a competent panel beater. If there is lots of grot then the time (and therefore cost) will go up. Two ways it can go wrong - first is if you have to pick apart previous bodges, this can easily add another day to the work cutting out old welds and snot. The second is if the inner sills, jacking point, cross-member and/or main floor panel have rotted as well. Each will add time and it's quite difficult to work out how much until you start but it could be as little as an extra day for just inner sills or a week if everything has rotted out.

 

For the boot floor, that's the same sort of story but the main reason for extra time will be if the subframe needs to be removed. You may get away with a neat patch in the floor done from above (it's a boot floor, as long as the rot is cut out, appearance isn't quite so important) but if the subframe needs to come out you have the risk of snapping bolts and the hassle of disconnecting/removing fuel and brake lines, handbrake cables and the exhaust. So lots of fiddling about before you can get to the metal work.

 

I would say a save lower limit of 2 days effort (sills, boot floor plus some small unknowns) with an upper limit of a couple of weeks if everything behind those small holes is rotted out.

 

The only way to help you make that estimate more accurate is to see pictures of the affected areas. Regardless, be very wary of anyone that says it can be done in a few hours for £100, I can guarantee the result will be less than stellar.

[cal844]

As a guide, my 1275 sprite failed on inner and outer sill holed and corroded OSR (at the subframe mount) and yes when I'd went along it with the finger and thumb technique, then tapped with a screwdriver handle it didn't hole....

However it ended up:
Inner sill repairs
Outer sill(including plate to connect it to the floor where the sill wasn't wide enough)
Door step
Rear quarter bottom
Heel board end plus various small plates

Oh and 2 front floor repair sections

Total cost for all them plus a sheet of repair steel was £400, paint was 250.... as I'd said above we done all the work, calling in a couple of hours from a family friend and fellow mini nut.... a few hours during the year sorts us all out, plus im due my mate a few beer tokens for IMM as a thanks for all the work over the years

[YaYA]

I don't run a garage either but we can help work out a ROM.

 

The thing with Minis is that they tend to rust from the inside-out. That's to say water works its way into places and the first you see is when it bursts through the outer panel. The only exception tends to be the boot floor where water gets trapped above the subframe and bulkhead where brake fluid eats the paint.

 

So, the sills. If they are original and haven't been bodged before it should be possible to remove and refit new in a day for a competent panel beater. If there is lots of grot then the time (and therefore cost) will go up. Two ways it can go wrong - first is if you have to pick apart previous bodges, this can easily add another day to the work cutting out old welds and snot. The second is if the inner sills, jacking point, cross-member and/or main floor panel have rotted as well. Each will add time and it's quite difficult to work out how much until you start but it could be as little as an extra day for just inner sills or a week if everything has rotted out.

 

For the boot floor, that's the same sort of story but the main reason for extra time will be if the subframe needs to be removed. You may get away with a neat patch in the floor done from above (it's a boot floor, as long as the rot is cut out, appearance isn't quite so important) but if the subframe needs to come out you have the risk of snapping bolts and the hassle of disconnecting/removing fuel and brake lines, handbrake cables and the exhaust. So lots of fiddling about before you can get to the metal work.

 

I would say a save lower limit of 2 days effort (sills, boot floor plus some small unknowns) with an upper limit of a couple of weeks if everything behind those small holes is rotted out.

 

The only way to help you make that estimate more accurate is to see pictures of the affected areas. Regardless, be very wary of anyone that says it can be done in a few hours for £100, I can guarantee the result will be less than stellar.

Thank so much. This was very detailed and very useful.

 

Yeh, I appreciate it is impossible to tell exactly without having completed a full inspection on the areas. Just wanted a rough guide to know how much and how long to budget for.

[Pete - W.Sussex]

I feel for you YaYA. Your position doesn’t sound dissimilar to what I faced with my 2000 Cooper - the sills we’re looking a bit dodgy but otherwise on the surface the rest of the car looked good. I wanted to take the engine out to have the gearbox fixed (usual second gear synchro issue) and thought I would do a bit of body work at the same time. I don’t want to scare you with where this plan has ended 12 months on - probably enough to say that economically the right decision would have been to scrap it if and when it failed the MOT. But it was a Mini, I had the time, wanted a project and had the facilities....but not the knowledge and experience. I have learned a lot!

You might be lucky but all I would say is be careful what you wish for. Don’t be at all surprised if when you or a pro scratches the surface you walk into a load more pain if you want it done properly. As a rough guide I would say it might be wise to double any quote you get for the work before you start then you will only be surprised on the upside. And then the trap is always.....’well whilst it is apart we might as well do/replace that as well’ - that one gets me every time!

Good luck.

[62S]

Any business/garage that suggests oversills as a cheap and quick option should be avoided.

[cal844]

Any business/garage that suggests oversills as a cheap and quick option should be avoided.

I agree, also whilst the car is in bits it would be best to replace wear items, like rear radius arm pins, wheel cylinders and also brake shoes