764 replies to this topic

[Tupers]

loving this project i want them wheels for my estate how much did they set you back if you dont mind me asking

dan

They're not mine unfortunately they're owned by one of my mates at work. I know he bought them off eBay a while ago but I don't know what he paid for 'em.

[Tupers]

I've always thought the engine steady bracket looked untidy on Minis so this afternoon I took mine off.






Obviously I still need an engine steady so I did a rough cut in some 4MM steel and left a long tail on it.


Then I took another piece of 4MM steel and cut a slot in the centre of it allowing me to insert the steady bracket through it.




Here's another shot, the two piece will be welded together with the vertical section inside the bulk head.


And the horizontal piece will come through this slot.



I also decided I didn't want to have a plate over these holes on the bulkhead so I cut the whole lot out.




Made a plate to fill the hole.


Checked the fit.


Welded it in.


Ground down with a flap disc and primed.

[CaptainBland08]

top work!

... now do mine

[Tupers]

top work!

... now do mine

Cheers Captain, next wednesday good for you?


On another note I just had a chat with my mate that owns the black Weller reverse rims and as of monday they'll be all mine.

[Tupers]

As part of my continued effort to clean up the bulkhead I decided that I wanted to move the wiper motor from the engine bay to behind the dash.




Obviously there's no point putting the motor inside and leaving a bumpy bulkhead so I chopped the area out and test fitted the motor.


It was sitting lower than I really wanted it so I cut down the first section of rack shroud to bring the motor up a little.




Here it is now sitting above the bottom dash rail. Now I just need to make a mount for it and make a blanking plate for the big hole.

[olds_kool_lews]

how do you find time to do all this work? lol i struggle as it is, but then again i only have a gravel drive to work from!

top work as always!

[Tupers]

how do you find time to do all this work? lol i struggle as it is, but then again i only have a gravel drive to work from!

That's a trade secret.


Now that the 6x10 Wellers are mine I thought should actually check to make sure they'd fit a Mini without arches.




It's pretty close but the estate will be a lot lower and on neg camber so I'll be OK.





Moving the wiper motor behind the bulkhead left me with a recess on each flitch so I set about deleting them.


Made a little template.


Transfered it onto the steel and added an extra 4MM around the edge just in case.


Cut the recess out with the angle grinder.


Fitted the plate to check the fit and tack welded it in. These 'U' shaped magnets are great for blind plates because you can use them as a handle when you can't get to them from behind.




And fully welded up.



I also made a start on the plate to sit infront of the wiper motor.


I started beating a dome into the top clear the top of the motor.




Obviously it will sit right up to the top and still needs a but more work but it's going in the right direction.

[CaptainBland08]

amazing work again... you seem to have a knack for fixing the small problems in the mini design...

and yes this wednesday is fine ill be welding various bits of mine anyways:P

Chris

[Tupers]

amazing work again... you seem to have a knack for fixing the small problems in the mini design...

It's not so much fixing problems in the design more regigging things in a way that wouldn't be viable for production.


I didn't need this recess on the bulkhead either so today I roughly marked it out and got to chopping.




Made the plate and tacked it in.


Once I was happy with the fit I welded it in doing the bottom section from outside and the top from inside.





After beating a bit more of a dome into the wiper side bulkhead plate I decided to to do something about it's somewhat golfball like finish.


With a mushroom dolly, a planishing hammer and a vice to keep the late steady.


After a few minutes of work I managed to get it nice and smooth.


And I tacked it in to check it still fitted.


I also had a play with the wiper motor to see if I could fit it in upside down. I think this setup should allow for a bit more room in the glove box.

[Tupers]

Not a big update today bit something none the less.

This afternoon and welded in the plate over the wiper motor doing the bottom from outside and top from inside.


I thought I should probably do something about the engine steady as well so I popped out the pedal box and started lining things up.


I decided it would be best to bolt up the master cylinder tray and I also drilled out the hole for the clutch hose union.


Once I was happy with everything in the engine bay I lined up the reinforcing plate in the bulkhead and tacked the two pieces together.




After checking that every thing was straight I whacked the heat up on the mig and ran the few chunky welds down each side of the joint.



So all I need to do now is weld it into the car.

[Tupers]

As you can see in the pic bellow welding the engine steady on at an angle to match the original meant the side where not symmetrical.


To rectify this I added about 3MM of weld onto the edge and then ground it back to match the over side.




While I had it in the vice I also cut the tail off the back to clear the pedal box.


Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough so I went back and ground it right down with a flap disc.


Now that the steady fitted I drilled some holes to plug weld it to the bulkhead. It will also be weld in from the inside and gas welded where it comes through the bulkhead.


I bet none of you have ever done this drill bit.


Got the new engine steady welded on, one of them went a bit nasty but the others where good.



As I was working on the front end I decided I'd replicate the hole in the bottom of the N/S fitch of the O/S to make getting at the brake pipe easier.
I started out by making a template.




Traced it onto the other side.


I used a step drill to take most of the meat out of the hole and then trimmed the rest of with tin snips.

[Tupers]

I've been busy over the last couple of days but today I managed to get it and do some more work on FOM.

This morning I moved our Oxy Acetylene gear over to the Estate and got dad to gas weld the top of the new engine steady to the bulkhead. When the shell is next of the rotisserie or on it's side I'll get him to do the bottom as well.




Now for something that should upset some of the purists.

After being mocked for not wanting to de seam the Estate on my own Matt said he'd weld the seams up if I did the grinding.


We started out with three sections.


Then worked our way up to the whole lot.


Matt got me the clean the seam on the inside of the 'A' panels and then welded them up.



Once it had cooled down I ground the seam off and Matt welded it again from the outside.


We also did the top of the drivers side seem but didn't get around to doing the bottom.


How about some nice over all shots. Not only do I think it looks really cool but it's also more aerodynamically efficient now.

[mentalmini89]

that looks awesome tupers im lovin the deseamed look
dean

[lewis]

amazing absolutley amazing, being midly jealous is an understatement!

are you guys in newton abbot? i used to go to newton abbot alot for paintball at UCZ paintball park, if only i knew that you guys were there at the time then i would of visited mintec.

looking forward to the next update

[Tupers]

that looks awesome tupers im lovin the deseamed look
dean

Cheers Dean, I think de seaming the front of an estate works really well as it helps balance the lack of seams on the rear.

amazing absolutley amazing, being midly jealous is an understatement!

are you guys in newton abbot? i used to go to newton abbot alot for paintball at UCZ paintball park, if only i knew that you guys were there at the time then i would of visited mintec.

looking forward to the next update

Thanks for the kind words Lewis, you've gotta love the instant feedback forums provide.

Yes we're in Newton Abbot in the Brunel industrial estate near the train station. If you're ever about feel free to pop in and say hello.