141 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

good project ,keep up the good work and keep us informed :cheese:

[stormduck]

Cheers peeps :grin:

Lovely weather for it today, and i got done all i wanted to get done, a part from one piece that i'll tell you about.

I done some work on the car on Friday after purchasing a backing pad and sanding discs for the grinder. I set to work removing paint and rust from the crossmember and finished it a lot quicker than using the wire brush, just using it to finish it off.



It was tricky getting into the corners, particularly to remove the Rover seam sealer, but used a chisel and sandpaper to do it. Here it is covered in metal ready.



From this point i got to work with the tube of Frost seam sealer, and spent about half an hour to an hour squeezing my way around all the metal on metal seams.





I completed all i wanted, except for the seam in this pic here, that runs along the top of the crossmember against the bulkhead, purely because i ran out! It doesn't take long to get through it, so i'm going to order another two/three tubes tonight as i've got plenty left to do throughout the car.



Here's from underneath



The black muck comes in a metal tube so every muscle in my hands is aching and shaking after squeezing so hard for so long

I'm dead chuffed with how it's come out. I need to leave it for four days for it cure properly, then i can paint over it. Underneath the crossmember is getting coated in POR-15, which is the next step on the front, along with finishing the top of the cross once the new tubes arrive.

mmm, roast diner's ready..ta tar!

[stormduck]

HOW cold is it!!! Managed to get outside in the dark one evening this week when me chum Darren came round to take a look at the wiring loom. There was one nasty looking wire that had burnt out and left it's remains throughout the loom. Strangely, we found that it started nowhere and ended nowhere - just kind of disintigrated! Repaired another dodgy piece, all that's left is to purchase some in-line fuse holders to replace the old ones, then it's all ready for when re-fitting time comes.

Also got in the garage and stripped most of the 12G295, looking good so far.

Today was the biggest job, and dirtyest. I sanded down as much as i could on the passenger arch:



And the drivers arch:



Also hand sanded the top of the bulkhead just to key the surface as there's no rust up there. Then marine cleaned the lot, then coated it all in metal ready:



This took me from 9am to 4pm in the stupid cold to complete...AGES! Still, i sold the old interior for a tenna today :grin:

I'm going to use the dremmel to sand down the holes in the arch for the rad, which i may do tomorrow. Once the new mask turnes up i can finish the front end welding, then i can finish the seam sealing, then get painting! And then it will really look like i'm getting somewhere!!

[stormduck]

I'm Back! December was a non-eventful month for the min, mainly because of christmas and illness - usuall stuff. Anyway, January has hit off with a bang as i've got a chunk done in the past few days.

I made up the plates, then Kenny spent the best part of a day welding away. The new mask made an amazing difference to being able to weld properly, and Kenny has re-gained the nack of it after many years away from it and the quality of the welds have become excellent. The whole inside boot floor is now finished:



And the rusty hole on the 3/4 has been filled in with weld to give the filler something to bite to:



An A-Panel has been fitted!! With a perfect fit around the door, we were very pleased with that!



That gaping hole in the front arch has been plated up lovely, along with the hole in the sill.



And then i spent a few hours today seam sealing everything new



It doesn't look very pretty but i'm hoping that it will work and the car will be rust free in 10 years time....what do you think!? It will all get covered in paint so shouldn't be that significant.

Ignore the surface rust across the front, it's because i took it to bare metal and left it over december. Once the sealer has cured i'll take off the rust and paint it with POR-15, and primer the whole lot. Which is the next job on the list, and that'll have to be at the weekend at the earliest.

After that she's going to get lifted onto her side while on the boards so her belly's facing outwards. Then the welding underneath the boot can take place, and i'll be able to remove all traces of dirt, sealent, and paint a lot easier....and then re-paint the lot. The condition of the sills can also be checked as i realised they've been replaced before and wasn't a brilliant job.

It's going well for 2006!

[STEVEBLACKER1960]

DOING A GREAT JOB!!
keep us informed, by the way , where in essex r u?
steve

[stormduck]

cheers fella, i'm in Hornchurch. Hopefully be belting about in it this year.

[Bluemini]

Hey SD, what welder are you using there? Great progress on the bodywork, keep it up.

[Ollie180]

Hey very nice project you have there :cheese: Looking good

just pointing out seem to be very sunny all the time? :tongue:

[Mr Sam]

wowsers, jus been through the whole thread, nice work and glad theres plenty of pictures to look at :grin:

[g111mds]

just read through the full thread as well - excellent!!

keep up the good work!

[stormduck]

cheers people! Lovin every minute, apart from when i lose feeling in my toes from the cold!

ollie - it's funny that, as every time i step outside - the sun comes out! How bizzare! :grin:

blue - using one i bought off ebay for £70 - powermax i think it's called, seems like good quality kit for the price of it. 120amps (supposedly), a no gas one so i buy 0.8mm flux cored wire for £10 a roll. It uses quite a lot to get a good weld so we're on our 3rd roll of the stuff! Altough i did waste a roll practising, then i gave up and let Kenny do it!


The first steps towards the engine will take place today - cleaning it up and hopefully getting it in the boot of the car to take round Kenny's, so that my garage can be used for me to strip and re-paint the subframes, Kenny's gona inspect and strip the 998 in his.

[foster]

good luck with the min mate ,good to see someones not afraid of a bit of work!

Looks like its goind too be a real showpeice if you keep this level of work up!! nice one

[Bluemini]

blue - using one i bought off ebay for £70 - powermax i think it's called, seems like good quality kit for the price of it. 120amps (supposedly), a no gas one so i buy 0.8mm flux cored wire for £10 a roll. It uses quite a lot to get a good weld so we're on our 3rd roll of the stuff! Altough i did waste a roll practising, then i gave up and let Kenny do it!

Powershack? I got the 135amp version off ebay, good to see I'm not the only cheapskate out there. And it just goes to show that you can get get good results from a cheap welder with a brand name no one has ever heard of too.

[stormduck]

foster - cheers fella, working outside doesn't help in the quality department but it'll be as good as it can be in that respect.

blue - that's it, you must have the slightly larger version. Brilliant red it is, had no problems with it, i bought it for this mini and its doing just what i wanted it to, so at the mo i'm well chuffed.



998 is now out of my hands for the time being, delivered it last night. Going to ring up the insurance and find out the better option - modded 998, standard 1275, or modded 1275 if the insurance is kind to me! My 'thing' about keeping the 998 in it is slowly fading at the possibility i may be disapointed with it after all the work i've put in. Nothing beats displacement after all. The 87k 998 is going to be stripped, cleaned, painted, a decision made about keeping it, then rebuilt dependent on that. If i don't want it it'll be sold as rebuilt engine - new shells, seals, rings etc. Get some money back for the mini fund!

[THedooBZ]

wow what a good read, u dont hang about do you.
look forward to see the end result