3 replies to this topic

[Pavel]

Just found a very mint mk3 body shell which I can have for nothing or like a tenner... only problem is that the roof skin is cracked from the roof gutter in many places (angry football fans) and the roof is therefore no good.

I'm considering getting this and making it into either a shorty or a convertible.

I have an arc welder and can tack with it, I can also make up some sort of strengthening bars and brackets and tack them into place as well. I cannot weld the body panels together and will tack them good enough to get on a trailer and get them to a friend who can weld it properly.

Is it really as easy as many say to make a shorty which is the exact length so that the rear door posts come in contact with the a panel post? That way the rear pocket bins themselves become sill-strengthening, which I would have to weld in myself if I was doing a convertible...

If I do the shorty, I'll remove the doors, chop out that section of the car (angle grinder), move the two parts together measuring so that everything is straight, then tack the floor panels (front and rear) together (i'll put some sheet metal (probably which I'll get from the cut out floor) over where the two join and tack that to them...I'll also tack the pillars together and remove the top of the car, etc. Then get it on a trailer and to my MIG- weldor who will finish it off.

I'm a bit more lost with the convertible. I'll have to attempt to tack in box section or diagonals from inside before removing the top half, I don't want the rear seats so behind hte front seats I'll have a cross bar at window level for some rigidity...

I think by now you get the drift, and would like your input.

Cheers

[Bungle]

Have a go if it goes wrong its only cost you a tener

[Pavel]

Would cost more than a tenner. To have the car trailered about 50 miles to my other house where I can work on it won't be very cheap

[ed4ran]

Do you know of any sites that show the process of shortening a mini?
Would quite like to give it a go.

Then image it with a huge engine in the front!!!!