195 replies to this topic

[BusheyTrader]

Spike was bought for me as Christmas present project last year. We bought it off Ebay last December. He's a one owner 88,000 mile 1994 Spi Cooper that was taken off the road in 2003 and spent the last few years out in the open. It took about 2 months to get him home due to pre-Christmas snow, Christmas holidays, then the transporter driver suffering a mini heart attack followed by a bout of post Christmas snow. Eventually we got him home on a transporter after dragging him up the ramp with 3 x seized wheels. Then a loft conversion and lots of decorating put off all work on him until now......

 DSC01262.JPG   3.31MB   79 downloads

The PO swore blind it was a Monte Carlo but he's in green with a standard Lightning Black interior so I think not. Spike's missing his w/screen wiper motor and rocker assembly but came with a bill for a complete engine rebuild done about 2 years before he was taken off the road. Many of the engine bay's electrical connectors were replaced with crimped items and the in line fuse holders have been replaced with a blade fuse block so there's going to be a lot of soldered replacements taking their place.

 DSC01290.JPG   1.03MB   48 downloads

The engine / gearbox will be lifted out in the next few days. All the fastenings are putting up lots of rusty resistance. The scuttle panel, both front wings, front panel and A panels will have to be replaced, then it'll be the turn of the sills and floorpan. I've welded up the floorpans and rear bulkhead of my TR7V8 before but they're all hidden from view.

 DSC01300.JPG   860.2K   43 downloads

The thermostat cover was full of white jelly whilst the radiator was almost empty. The engine stripdown could prove interesting...............

Edited by BusheyTrader, 14 December 2010 - 12:21 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

After hours of spraying WD40 to free off lots of rusty nuts, the engine and gearbox are finally out.

 DSC01318.JPG   1.48MB   56 downloads

The 3 nuts holding the downpipe onto the exhaust manifold weren't moving for anyone. I cut the downpipe off with a grinder. It wasn't in great shape and needed replacing.

The captive bolt holding the brake servo frame sheared off without much persuasion so that'll need attention later.

About 1/4 pint of clear liquid came out of the sump before the oil followed. The rad was virtually empty. I hate to think it's water? Then again the car was left in the open for several years......

The driveshafts just fell out of the inner housings when I pulled the hubs away from the upper suspension arms, exposing the large ball bearings. One of the rubber boots was full of grease, the other dripping with black oil.

 DSC01322.JPG   1.37MB   33 downloads  DSC01320.JPG   1.09MB   24 downloads

Attached Files

•  DSC01324.JPG   819.27K   15 downloads

[BusheyTrader]

After several days of sub zero temperatures keeping me out of the garage I removed the nearside front wing today, drilling through the spotwelds up top and cutting with an angle grinder just above the front panel.

Both of the inner wings have vertical splits / tears just in front of the shock absorber mountings as per the photos.




Apart from the tears the inner wing doesn't look too bad so I may get away with cutting out the rusty split and butt welding a repair strip whilst it's still attached to the front panel to keep it in shape. The area beneath the scuttle corner may be patchable. The windscreen and scuttle will be removed next to have a look.

[charie t]

After several days of sub zero temperatures keeping me out of the garage I removed the nearside front wing today, drilling through the spotwelds up top and cutting with an angle grinder just above the front panel.

Both of the inner wings have vertical splits / tears just in front of the shock absorber mountings as per the photos.




Apart from the tears the inner wing doesn't look too bad so I may get away with cutting out the rusty split and butt welding a repair strip whilst it's still attached to the front panel to keep it in shape. The area beneath the scuttle corner may be patchable. The windscreen and scuttle will be removed next to have a look.

Are any of the subframe bushes shagged by any chance?

[BusheyTrader]

Hi,

The bushes look in good nick. There's no signs of accident damage or repairs either. One of our first cars back in the mid 1980's was a '78 Mini Club and it had a similar split about an inch up from the bottom on the nearside inner wing.

Adam

[trouble]

How bad is the body?
Mind me asking how much you paid for the car?

[BusheyTrader]

£500 for a one family 80,000 mile car. Last on the road in 2003 and out in the elements for at least the last 3 years.

Outer sills, front end, scuttle, jacking points and A panels very rusty. Doors and boot look suprisingly sound.

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

but it was bought as a father son project to work on so a basket case wasn't a worry.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 30 December 2010 - 10:43 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

The windscreen came out easily. A run around the rubber with a Stanley knife and it was pushed out from inside. The screen is in good condition (no cloudy water ingress through the laminations) even though the bottom was sitting in a puddle in the rubber, so it'll be reused.

The vinyl covered top dashboard fitting (ash tray) was fun to remove. A lot of fumbling as I didn't have double jointed sockets or fingers to hand and of course both of the plastic fresh air nozzles in the way were stuck fast thanks to all the fixings being rust welded together. Hopefully, removing the scuttle panel won't reveal major rot behind it...........................

I couldn't see any fractures around the rear subframe mountings inside the car - all looks fine so far. I haven't seen any rust on the front subframe yet so maybe it was replaced when the engine had a major rebuild before it was taken off the road?

Pictures to follow shortly

[BusheyTrader]

The offside front wing is off. The top 4 spot welds to the inner wing were already free due to 3mm holes under them. (Nice factory welds?) The rest were fairly easy to drill out. No point drilling out the A panel to outer wing spot welds - a Post It note had more strength - a quick run up the seam with a cold chisel had it free. A cutting disc had the wing cut away from the front panel which stays in place until the inner wings are patched up

The same with the scuttle panel. Half the spot welds were drilled out, the other half with a cold chisel.



The top dash panel is blistering by the winscreen vents..........so that's another panel to be replaced.

Oh Yes, someone had lined the inside of the big fresh air hose from the offside wing with heavy sponge sheeting. It was full of dead bugs and rubbish. Can't figure out why iit was done. Most of the sound deadening behind the dash and under the bonnet has been thrown out - too many mice had made their home there.......

Edited by BusheyTrader, 16 January 2011 - 05:42 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

Spent a while recommissioning my Mig welder as it's not been used for a few years. It's the much maligned SIP 130T.

The welding wire was binned, gone rusty. Liner too, the plastic was clogged with rust and it was binding the wire. The feed wheels just needed a clean to remove more of the brown stuff.

The liner is now steel and I bought one of those metal straps that fits across the top of the feed wheels to keep the tension consistent. It only took a few minutes to fit them but I could have done with 5 hands to rebuild the torch, too fiddly.....

After a bit of practice on some steel sheet my welding is up to scratch again. The metal liner and strap definitely make the SIP more consistent.

I think I've found a local distributor for Adams Gas Co2/Argon 9L bottles. Those disposables don't last that long and the SIP gets temperamental when the pressure drops off.

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 05 February 2011 - 04:52 PM.

[minimuk]

looking forward to see and follow your rebuild project.

[BusheyTrader]

Work, cold temperatures and a bout of Manflu have slowed down progress.

The areas behind both front shock absorbers had rusted from the inside out badly. A nice double skinned rust trap. In an effort to save the inner wing and improve my welding, I cut out the rusted sections and plug and seam welded new sheet metal in the inner wing. The double skinned part had the two sheets plug welded with weld through primer applied first. The box section behind it will have plenty of Waxoyl sprayed in.



Where the inner wing had cracked I tack welded the top and bottom edges into place, then cut out the cracked part and seam welded a new strip in to place. (The front panel is still in place) It's butt welding practice..........There's further repair sections needed at the rear of the wing.



The shiny new metal looks red as I took the photo in red overalls...........

The nearside wing is about 50% worse.

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 27 March 2011 - 09:36 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

I've attacked the rear section of the R/H front inner wing and the Hadrian repair panel is clamped in place. I'm going to be brave and butt weld it. The repair panel wasn't tall enough for the rot in my car so I'm going to add metal to the top of it.

The door hinge holes are aligned spot on with those in the A post but I'm wondering if I'm going to have problems with the door alignment later. The part the A panel wraps around looks like it might be standing a bit proud off the A post.....

Edited by BusheyTrader, 17 April 2011 - 02:00 PM.

[MigliaMayhem]

The door hinge holes are aligned spot on with those in the A post but I'm wondering if I'm going to have problems with the door alignment later. The part the A panel wraps around looks like it might be standing a bit proud off the A post.....

You nailed it, forget the holes in the repair panel, get the panel fitting right down the door hinge support and drill out new correct holes, the panels are great for getting an approximate shape but only resemble the original.

Tack the panel 1st then offer up the a panel and door prior to the seam weld.