Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

1997 Mpi Cooper - Full Restoration @classic & Sport


  • Please log in to reply
29 replies to this topic

#1 Classic & Sport

Classic & Sport

    Passed Test

  • Traders
  • PipPip
  • 33 posts
  • Location: Atherstone

Posted 09 January 2020 - 01:29 PM

So, New year, New business (see my post in the traders section) New start, Lets get cracking!

 

My first willing patient is this mpi cooper, found on ebay, languishing in a damp garage with its engine bay partially stripped. Its as rotten as most mpi's seem to be with the added bonus of damp storage just adding a little extra terror to the equation. The good thing is that although rotten, its not been patched up and bodged in the past, which makes my life easier!

 

Its one of my own cars and it will hopefully become a self drive hire vehicle (once i have fully looked into the idea and worked out if its worth persuing or not!)

 

Plans are for just a nice standard(ish) rebuild with the usual tweaks, an exhaust, well sorted suspension etc

 

glQXjEa.jpg

 

xfGrzE4.jpg

 

9StdhIC.jpg

 

EUKxT7w.jpg

 

2b7WDFc.jpg

 

SkMuRhf.jpg

 

5fAlOzf.jpg

 

6JdN3wt.jpg

 

3axEup7.jpg

 

 

Chances of this being a runner?  ;-)

 

678xND2.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



#2 Harryrothers93

Harryrothers93

    Mini Mad

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 229 posts
  • Location: cumbria

Posted 09 January 2020 - 01:55 PM

good luck bud, going to be following this one!



#3 pete l

pete l

    One Carb Or Two?

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,355 posts
  • Location: East of France

Posted 09 January 2020 - 02:32 PM

wow, a rusty front subframe, don't remember ever seeing one as bad as that !



#4 nicnoo

nicnoo

    Mini Mad

  • Just Joined
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 212 posts
  • Location: Leamington Spa
  • Local Club: south warwickshire minis

Posted 09 January 2020 - 02:52 PM

Good luck with that, maybe order a couple of reels of welding wire, just in case  :-)



#5 Classic & Sport

Classic & Sport

    Passed Test

  • Traders
  • PipPip
  • 33 posts
  • Location: Atherstone

Posted 09 January 2020 - 03:19 PM

wow, a rusty front subframe, don't remember ever seeing one as bad as that !

hopefully just surface, will see what its like when its off and been to the blasters, ive never had to replace a front due to rust yet!



#6 bartman

bartman

    Mini Mad

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 265 posts
  • Location: Cornwall
  • Local Club: cornish mini club

Posted 09 January 2020 - 08:48 PM

WOW  did they pull that thing out the sea  :gimme:



#7 panky

panky

    Camshaft & Stage Two Head

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,776 posts
  • Location: Cheshire
  • Local Club: Northwest Casual Classics

Posted 09 January 2020 - 10:21 PM

Looks very dry, oil leaks do have their advantages ;D



#8 Bdshim

Bdshim

    Mini Mad

  • Just Joined
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 196 posts
  • Location: Suffolk

Posted 10 January 2020 - 05:48 AM

Look forward to the progress ?

#9 Ben Rose

Ben Rose

    Mini Mad

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 210 posts
  • Location: Preston, Lancashire

Posted 11 January 2020 - 09:14 AM

Definitely following this. Good luck! Finally an MPI which rivals mine for rust.

#10 Classic & Sport

Classic & Sport

    Passed Test

  • Traders
  • PipPip
  • 33 posts
  • Location: Atherstone

Posted 13 January 2020 - 05:20 PM

Stripdown 99% complete, took me a couple of days fitting it in around other work but probably only 5 or 6 hours altogether, I was amazed at how many bolts DIDNT snap! including all 8 door hinge studs, which I think has got to be a first! considering how long its been standing I didn't really have to get the grinder out for many bolts, not for anything I wouldn't replace as a matter of course anyway.

 

Initial impression is its not as bad as it could have been, in many places its actually reasonably solid considering, But then, in some weird and wonderful places, its not so solid....

 

 

sV0aA4b.jpg

 

 

IEbdTC1.jpg

 

 

pXaJWXs.jpg

 

Toeboards gone

 

TFSbSHn.jpg

 

NoCAKNM.jpg

 

Top of n/s a post 

 

nWi5KcL.jpg

 

NvlQ5wm.jpg

 

Top rail rotten, along with lower shelf, Inner wings / flitches are actually really solid and will just need localised repairs which was a big surprise

 

y7qpUi0.jpg

 

Thought I might get away with inner and outer sills but there are lots of little areas of corrosion like this which means it might be better putting in a complete floorpan for a neater job, Not sure yet, will clean up any suspect areas and see what im left with, the perfectionist in me says just bang a complete pan in there!

 

d27xW6S.jpg


Edited by Classic & Sport, 13 January 2020 - 05:21 PM.


#11 jamesquintin

jamesquintin

    One Carb Or Two?

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,016 posts
  • Location: Harlow

Posted 14 January 2020 - 03:23 PM

defo go for a whole floor. The ones from Heritage include the studs for the fuel lines I think...

Q



#12 Classic & Sport

Classic & Sport

    Passed Test

  • Traders
  • PipPip
  • 33 posts
  • Location: Atherstone

Posted 21 May 2020 - 09:37 AM

Apologies for lack of updates on this, what with working on other (none mini) projects, sorting out bits and pieces in my unit (including my spraybooth being condemned and having to be replaced) and then lockdown slowing panel deliverys down progress has been slower than i would have liked but im back on it now.

 

My initial thoughts on some parts of the shell not being so bad and being saveable very quickly changed as I looked closer, I thought I might get away with localised repairs to the boot floor, inner wings, bulkhead, rear panel and heelboard but the more I poked the clearer it became that localised repairs were just not going to cut it and it would never be a nice job, so I bit the bullet and ordered pretty much everything heritage make, or at least that's how it feels, its possibly an overused exaggeration but honestly the only original panel is going to be the roof skin pretty much! 

 

Why not reshell? This would have been the sensible option and had this been a customers car would have been my advised route, im halfway into the cost of a heritage shell in panels alone and if I was having to pay my labour on top it would easily exceed the cost of a new shell.... But its my own car, and reshelling wouldn't be as much fun or provide a story now would it?

 

anyway, you want pictures....

 

8lmT1AD.jpg

 

PgRqR3K.jpg

 

Knowing that I would be cutting quite a lot of the structure away at any one time I wanted to get it on a jig to hold everything straight, I have been on the lookout for a proper cellette accident repair type jig for a while now but nothing has come up at the right price, So using some hefty box section racking I had knocking about I created a simple frame, the front picks up on the tower bolts using some round tube that is an exact fit through the tower bolt holes, the rear frame uses the shock absorber top mounts, once both frames are bolted together and the usual strengthening added inside the shell it keeps everything in the right place, there is enough room to get round everything to drop the floor out and its at a comfortable height to work. It helps that I know the floor where my ramp is is absolutely level, I know this because a previous (precision engineering company) tenant of my unit years ago spent quite a sizeable amount of money to make sure this was so! Ideally it would have pick up points for subframe mounts and I will look at designing a better version in the future if I still cant find a cellette but for now its more than good enough using existing reference points and measurments as normal.

 

Lb0LNBW.jpg

 

boEbGoF.jpg

 

so with the shell on the jig I started chopping! main floor was first out, I would normally have left the steps in one piece to add a little extra bracing and give an alignment point but the passenger side had pretty much already dissapeared before starting

 

I removed the toeboard because at this point I had only planned on replacing the toeboard panel, this has now turned into a full bulkhead replacement so had I realised this at the time I would have just cut through it to save time

 

I had to make some small repairs to the rear bins,pictured one side but both were the same

 

 

VNBuWxy.jpg

 

KdlkVnJ.jpg

 

(I did do a little more reshaping to this repair after this pic)

 

I left the main part of the boot floor and some of the rear seat base in place while replacing the main floor and heelboard to help keep everything straight and to give me the rear subframe rear mounts as a reference (using a dummy rear subframe jig I made years ago) once the main floor and heelboard was in I then removed the rest of the boot floor  

 

hAnbTE7.jpg

 

Once this was in lining up the new boot floor was simple enough

 

LwRQ2UO.jpg

 

its been fully welded to the rear seat backrest and the heelboard / rear bins but only tack welded to the rear subframe mounts / arches just to keep everything straight, these are on the list to be replaced so no point welding them up fully

 

so this is where we are now

 

r5Qr5r3.jpg

 

orMu0u4.jpg

 

 

Next job is the inner wings and bulkhead, this will require more bracing and jiggery, more on this later

 

on a side note I have made an investment to make my life easier and quicker

 

ykMndZ4.jpg

 

I have always been an avid plug welder, out of both neccessity (Budget) and being put off by the only other spot welder ive ever owned (which was crap) , however this thing is in a different league! it also has a single sided gun which means I can put a spot weld in places where im forced to plug weld due to lack of access (the single sided weld isnt strong enough for structural stuff on its own, or at least from my test pieces anyway, I possibly need to play a bit more) as well as pull dents, repair plastic bumpers on the modern stuff, weld studs on etc so well happy with it.

 

Ryan



#13 mercenary62

mercenary62

    Speeding Along Now

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 359 posts
  • Location: some where in the 70s
  • Local Club: mini clan

Posted 21 May 2020 - 01:37 PM

nice work mate inspired me to restore my old mk1



#14 Bdshim

Bdshim

    Mini Mad

  • Just Joined
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 196 posts
  • Location: Suffolk

Posted 22 May 2020 - 04:19 AM

Coming on well !

#15 Classic & Sport

Classic & Sport

    Passed Test

  • Traders
  • PipPip
  • 33 posts
  • Location: Atherstone

Posted 09 June 2020 - 09:15 AM

Bit more done over the last couple of weeks , On to the scary stuff!

 

Bulkhead and inner wing replacement

 

asAcx8a.jpg

 

eXCT2Xa.jpg

 

I made a simple square box frame that passed through the door apertures and rested on the jig, I then welded the frame to the jig and the bracing in the car in order to ensure nothing moved when I removed the bulkhead and also to take the weight of the shell as the jig uses the tower bolt holes to support and locate the shell, after that it was a simple case of running a cut up both inner wings and cutting the parcel shelf away inside the car (this was rotten anyway) Leaving part of the inner wings in place to leave some strength in the door post areas.

 

Lining the new bulkhead up was a relatively painless task using the jig and also brackets from the shell bracing to line the steering rack holes up, I then plug welded it to the main floor, These will be tidied up and original spot welds will be replicated at a later date using the single sided spot welder

 

so, one bulkhead fitted

 

8v1yUNJ.jpg

 

next job was the inner wings, and its here I have to apologise for now and in the future as I tend to get carried away doing the job and forget to actually take any pictures as I go! so some of these photos might seem a bit out of sync, with other work having been done as ive gone back and photographed them later

 

iRAPO3M.jpg

 

Drivers side, pretty painless, inner door post was fine so this was cleaned up treated and repainted before plug welding the inner wing on to the car, straightforward job really as floor and bulkhead are both new so welding nice new clean metal, the door post was spot welded as I had the access, again plug welds will be tidied up and spot welds will be replicated in areas where there is no access for the spot welder

 

44U96WP.jpg

 

 

Passenger side was a little more tricky as the door post was rotten and required replacement, luckily it was rotten in one place and was strong enough to retain its position when the remnants of the old inner wing were removed, so the new inner wing was lined up to the existing hinge bolt holes and then welded in as normal everywhere else, but not welded to the door post, instead it was left bolted in place through the hinge bolt holes and then the inner wing was braced from inside to the frame inside the car to keep it in place, This enabled me to spot weld the new inner door post to the inner wing knowing it would be in the right place

 

4ds0lWG.jpg?1

 

once both inner wings were fitted I was able to remove the box frame I had added for the bulkhead replacement which meant I could make a start on the doorsteps

 

Passenger side first 

 

Bjr2i6e.jpg

 

sKLryY3.jpg

 

I had to buy the full door aperture for this side as there was rot in the top corner near the roof but I have not used the full panel as the rest of the panel was fine and it would have meant having to replace the full height rear bodyside as well, rather than just the 1/4 panel, the outer sill was also fitted at this point

 

Drivers side next and this was a more straightforward job using the standard doorstep panel

 

cut out

 

bKw1nTK.jpg

 

Lining up and tack welding in place before checking door fitment

 

yxnLvtG.jpg

 

Looks good, weld it up!

 

MpJMkpG.jpg

 

1w15Nmt.jpg

 

Where I have spoken before about adding spot welds after plug welding when I cant get in with the spot welder, this is a prime example

 

This door post has been plug welded and linished back to a smooth surface, but they are spot welded from the factory

 

cM0nnqz.jpg?1

 

add some single sided spot welds referenced from another shell and voila!

 

jfE1bY1.jpg?1

 

As per the passenger side the outer sill has also been fitted, but better light for photos on the drivers side!

 

4fkhq4n.jpg

 

That's everything up to todays date, total man hours so far 36

 

 

 






1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users