195 replies to this topic

[minimuk]

Doing a great job there Adam, keep it going

[BusheyTrader]

Thanks, the milder temperatures make my garage less dauntings now.

I drilled many holes in my r/h heel panel for plug welding. There's probably many more than you experienced people out there and it's certainly more welding points than were originally spot welded by the factory.



and after measuring lots of times to make sure that that the r/h end of the heel panel was exactly where it should be (centre of the sub frame mounting holes exactly 50 1/2 inches apart from the l/h holes, as per the whole heel panel), I plug welded the panel into place after preparing the panels with Bilthamber weldthru etch primer where necessary



and then ground down my welding. Neater welding means less time grinding. I'll get there eventually, but welding on your back doesn't help much.

I then sprayed some red primer to protect the metal until it's time to prepare and paint the underside properly. I'll be glad when I can start on some mechanical stuff. I won't have the room for that until the bodywork's back together again. Just got to sweep more rust and rubbish off the garage floor...........

Edited by BusheyTrader, 04 March 2012 - 08:02 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

Got distracted by Top Gear so edit mode timed out.

Last picture.


More plug welds per inch hopefully makes for a stronger shell. Just got to seam weld across the top of the heel panel, under the companion bin as per the factory.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 04 March 2012 - 08:18 PM.

[Hikari Warrior]

Looking really good Adam! Your welding is really good - I hate welding 'upside down' and that looks really, really good.

[BusheyTrader]

I got a few days to myself dedicated to making some progress on the Mini. It's not much fun welding the underside of the car in a small single garage with next to no room around it. Much respect to those who work outside in the elements.

After fitting the outer sill with Cleco pins I aligned the rear 1/4 repair panel, tacked it in place and then butt welded it whilst moving the welds around to minimise any distortion.



Not a chance. My limited welding skills all but disappeared whilst working on an outer panel and I made a mess of it. I recovered most of the shape but it'll need some hammer and dolly work later on and maybe some lead loading practice as I've always wanted to try it.



The outer sill is now plug welded to the doorstep section and needs plug welding to the floor to finish it off. The inside was zinc primered and top coated before fitting up.



I sprayed some red primer on to the bare metal sections to give some protection until the whole body is prepared for paint

Edited by BusheyTrader, 01 April 2012 - 11:43 PM.

[hughJ]

Adam - you are moving along. I know what you mean about awkward welding. I'm impressed you are doing it upsides down. I do all in my power to do it the right way up!! Keep up your good work.

Hugh

[BusheyTrader]

Ha Ha.....

My long sleeve T shirt that I wore inside my fire retardent overalls (Bargain - NEC classic show last year for £15) had multiple burn holes from the cuffs to the elbows as the sparks enter the sleeves. A nasty bit of spatter peppered my left ear whilst another bit burnt the back of my head as it bounced off the garage wall and got me from behind. My 10L gas bottle had emptied earlier than I thought it would........

Adam

[grahama]

Nice repair, certainly looks strong enough with all those plugs!! Have you tried the subby back in to check things, but looks good.

Graham

[BusheyTrader]

Thanks Graham,

The L/H end of the heel panel is next up for replacement. Once that's tack welded in place I'll trial fit the stripped subframe (with new bushes) before welding it in for good.

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

Spent several hours grinding down all those plug welds down both sides of the outer sill and all from underneath. At least the neighbours were all indoors behind closed windows because of the rain.

I'm now wondering if I should seam weld the bottom edged of the outer sill to the floorpan for extra strength and to waterproof the joint.............

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

I didn't get much time over the weekend to work on Spike and after spending hours plug welding then grinding underneath the car previously I fancied doing something different topside for a while............so I started drilling out the spotwelds on the boot hinge panel..............and ended up underneath Spike again drilling out the rear valance spot welds.

It was in very good shape so thought I'd try to remove it carefully and maybe resuse it. It doesn't look like it'll work.

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

I might as well buy a new valence as there's too many holes in what came off. The boot floor isn't looking too clever where it's reinforced by two extra layers of sheet metal spot welded to the underside with only paint for protection. No wonder it's gone crusty.



The 3 layer sandwich where the rear bumper attaches was just a mess. The valance was fine, the floor a bit crusty and the top layer from the boot hinge panel missing in places.

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

I had a quick trip to MiniSpares this morning to pick up some fresh metal to repair the boot floor etc. There was a super smart 1275S K reg Cooper near their counter in a red / orange colour all over....... Looked like a Cinnobar red colour from the 80's but what do I know.......

I've always thought I'd paint Spike Flame red, WP arches over 165 / 12 tyres complete with a white roof and bonnet stripes. Now I'm thinking of Flame red all over without the white bits...........but that seems like years away as I sweep yet more rust and rubbish from the garage floor.

Maybe a picture of that Cooper on the garage wall will keep me incentivised?

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

No wonder the boot floor rusted around the rearmost subframe mounts. There's a 4 layer sheet metal sandwich just above the trunnions, only paint to protect it, without any of that white mastic stuff to keep the crud out. The heelboard was coated in up to 10mm thick in it.............

I'm keeping the floor to wheel arch brackets in place so I don't lose the subframe mounting points whilst I cut the rear of the floor out.

[BusheyTrader]

Got the first chance today to work on Spike for a few weeks. I cut out the boot floor around the rear subframe mounts and from the boot hinge panel. The hinge panel will stay in place until the floor's sorted. Then I'll work out if I can get away with a patch repair or replace it.

Hopefully the repair panel's profile will be someway close to the original and butt up nicely to the spare wheel well.




Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 27 May 2012 - 08:47 PM.