5 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

Model: Austin Saloon
Year: 1982

OK in the absence of a step by step guide I thought I'd have a bash at putting this one together, I needed to do so as I need to give it to my welder who has never done one before and I wont be there to offer any advice, for what its worth.

Here are the steps that I think need to be followed and the guide I have done has loads of pictures from various projects off of the net.

The main part that I am completely unsure about is the Stiffener Assembly listed very vaguely at point 4 in my guide, the part is from Somerford Part Number ALA6472, its listed in their catalogue item 54 in the same section as the A Panel but I cannot for the life of me work out where it goes? Does it fit in the inside of the car.

Anyway, here is my guide, please please pick it apart and steer me in the right direction where required.

MINI REPAIRS - A PANEL

1. Remove the door by undoing all four nuts holding on the Door hinges, support the door before removing the nuts. N.B. The nuts will more than likely be severely corroded so use a liberal amount of WD40 or equivalent over a period of a couple of days or hours to penetrated the threads and loosen and tighten gradually until able to be removed. If this is unsuccessful or you have already sheared the bolts you may have to cut them off with an angle grinder. If so you will also have to grind of the locking tack weld on the back of the hinge and weld in equivalent size replacement bolts.

2. Gradually grind / cut away the damaged A Panel to expose the door post and the inner wing.

3. Remove any rusted metal from the inner wing trying to leave as much in place to prevent undue body distortion.

4. If required fit an A Post Stiffener to the inner side of the A Post.

5. Tack and seam weld as required the new inner wing or parts thereof onto the door post, Notice the bottom of the Inner Wing sits inside the Sill, if not replacing the Sill trim inner wing as required.

6. When fitting the new A Panel it may not meet up with the wing if so fix it to the wing with mole grips or clamps to draw the pieces together or alternatively use several small bolts.

7. Tack weld the A Panel in place, some people opt to seam weld in place for additional strength but it is not necessary. If Seam welding ensure this is done in small parts and stopping frequently to allow the panel to cool to prevent distortion.

8. Grind and treat and apply Seam Sealer to all seams.

9. Treat any remaining rusted parts with KURUST.

10. Prime and Paint.

Many thanks for your help

[mk1leg]

Model: Austin Saloon
Year: 1982

OK in the absence of a step by step guide I thought I'd have a bash at putting this one together, I needed to do so as I need to give it to my welder who has never done one before and I wont be there to offer any advice, for what its worth.

Here are the steps that I think need to be followed and the guide I have done has loads of pictures from various projects off of the net.

The main part that I am completely unsure about is the Stiffener Assembly listed very vaguely at point 4 in my guide, the part is from Somerford Part Number ALA6472, its listed in their catalogue item 54 in the same section as the A Panel but I cannot for the life of me work out where it goes? Does it fit in the inside of the car.

Anyway, here is my guide, please please pick it apart and steer me in the right direction where required.

MINI REPAIRS - A PANEL

1. Remove the door by undoing all four nuts holding on the Door hinges, support the door before removing the nuts. N.B. The nuts will more than likely be severely corroded so use a liberal amount of WD40 or equivalent over a period of a couple of days or hours to penetrated the threads and loosen and tighten gradually until able to be removed. If this is unsuccessful or you have already sheared the bolts you may have to cut them off with an angle grinder. If so you will also have to grind of the locking tack weld on the back of the hinge and weld in equivalent size replacement bolts.
1A remove seam cover bead and clips................
2. Gradually grind / cut away the damaged A Panel to expose the door post and the inner wing.

3. Remove any rusted metal from the inner wing trying to leave as much in place to prevent undue body distortion.

4. If required fit an A Post Stiffener to the inner side of the A Post.

5. Tack and seam weld as required the new inner wing or parts thereof onto the door post, Notice the bottom of the Inner Wing sits inside the Sill, if not replacing the Sill trim inner wing as required.

6. When fitting the new A Panel it may not meet up with the wing if so fix it to the wing with mole grips or clamps to draw the pieces together or alternatively use several small bolts.

7. Tack weld the A Panel in place, some people opt to seam weld in place for additional strength but it is not necessary. If Seam welding ensure this is done in small parts and stopping frequently to allow the panel to cool to prevent distortion.

8. Grind and treat and apply Seam Sealer to all seams.

9. Treat any remaining rusted parts with KURUST.

10. Prime and Paint.

Many thanks for your help

remove seam seal bead............

[JonnyAlpha]

8. Grind and treat and apply Seam Sealer to all seams.

Do you mean point 8 - so no Seam Sealer

[sonikk4]

Yes do seam seal especially where the A panel meets the wing and where the A panel meets the flitch panel as all of this is in the inner wheel arch area so prone to all sorts of nasties. (Obviously not on the outside although if very careful you could run a very small bead of sealant on the A panel to wing flange edge but this is being really picky and fussy.)

I think mk1leg may mean the ridge of sealant formed when you smooth it over after application, in your case inside the wheel arch this will not have any detrimental effect on the overall finish as you will not see it.

If i was you use Zinc rich primer on all of the flanges as you can weld through this and it will add another layer of protection.
As a another level of protection before seam sealing try and force as much primer and paint into the flanges after welding, every little bit helps.

Also inside the arch area you should spray in stone chip after sealing especially on the new A panel and the flitch panel or anywhere you have repaired. Once fully dry you can spray over this if you want your inner arches to match the outer paint work.

[JonnyAlpha]

OK;

The lad doing the welding keeps getting dragged of on other jobs but we have got the A Panel completed and considering neither he or I have ever done one before it didn't turn out too bad.
The "How to bend an A Panel" on this forum came in really handy.
We had to take away part of the Flitch Panel and the door post was pretty bad but in order to avoid removing the door post we trimmed up a new door post stiffener Assy R/H and butted it up to the existing one and welded it in place from the inside.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2hnqa2g.jpg

We have had a couple of problems that I need help with:

1. The panel came from Somerford Mini primed in a black paint, do I need to sand the panel down before priming and painting.

2. We spot welded the join on the inside of the wheel arch where the A Panel panel meets the Flitch Panel, probably should not have done this and now have lumps that show on the outside of the A Panel, should I grind / sand these down if so what with, I don't want to go through the panel. If you can see the pic i have linked to you can just make them out as grey spots, I could supply a close up picture if you need.

3. When the door is open and you are looking at the face of the old door post I.E. you can see the door hinges, you can see where the old door post sits on top of the new stiffener post, this area was not welded but needs to be sealed or covered? Should I use filler but it will be a pain to sand? Again when I can get back at the mini I'll take a photo to better explain.

Ta

[pikey7]

1. yes. it can be ok, and it can not be. best not to risk it.

2. grind em smooth, and skim them with filler. no harm done.

3. not quite sure what you mean.