195 replies to this topic

[BusheyTrader]

Even though they were Heritage items with E coat on them, I sanded back to bare metal and painted the "rear valance closing and subframe mount panels" with Bilthamber etch weld thru primer. Originally these were amongst the most rotten parts of the car so I wanted more protection than the factory gave them. I used polyurethane seam sealer similar to Tigerseal on the open seams then applied several coats of topcoat. Don't smooth PU sealer down with your fingers as it's a pig to remove afterwards...............



I also welded extra strips of metal to the top outside corners of the closing panels to close off the rear valance they are welded to. Otherwise there will be gaps for waterspray from the wheels to enter. I ckecked an unrestored Minis on the street and it had 20 x 2mm gaps on both sides. I'll be leaving a drain area for any moisture that forms inside the void though

I found a small refinishing supplier very close to me that stocks the Upol range of fillers and primers and much more etc. Unlike Halfords they know what's inside the tins........

[BusheyTrader]

I cut away the rusty metal underneath both the rear light holes and set about making 2 x repair panels. That was short lived as the repair panels are fairly cheap and I wasn't overly confident of achieving a great finish on an external panel.............

I plug welded the horizontal lip to the boot floor whilst I had the valence clamped underneath. This kept the welded edge straight and I got good penetration through the top two layers.



I'll hopefully get the valence plug welded all around in the next few days and make a start on the battery box.

Adam

[n1tr0_9]

Good work. Just read the whole project thread.

[BusheyTrader]

Just noticecd on ebay, a 1.3i Spi boot badge is bid up to £19 inc p&p. I won't be throwing mine away with the boot skin when its renewed.................

Edited by BusheyTrader, 06 October 2012 - 07:27 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

Thanks Nitro9, your progress looks a lot faster than mine.....

The rear valance is now on the back of the Mini. A heritage item so it fitted well. I can appreciate why some of us hire / buy a spot welder after making all those plug welds from underneath. The Mig's power setting had to be cranked up higher since the heat dissapates quickly into the triple metal layer. It wasn't a quick process either as I'd made the plugs at fairly short intervals = loads of plugs. Cleco pins are great for positioning the panels for welding but lots of clamps were needed to keep the sheet metal tight enough for successful welding.

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 10 October 2012 - 10:14 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

Lots of plug welds = time with an angle grinder.

The flap discs that I ordered on the 4th over the net still hadn't turned up so I took it easy with my last one this morning. The plugs on the top were ground down then covered in red primer to stop the metal oxidising until I start looking at the body preparation. If those flap discs don't turn up soon the neighbours will be listening to noisy old style grinding discs as I've still got the underside of the rear valance and both closing panels to go. That spot welder is looking more attractive.......

The rear end is now sound compared to the perforated mess from a few months ago. The rear subframe will have something solid to bolt on to when its refurbished.





Before welding inside the boot many weeks ago I removed these sad pieces of sponge stuffed in the top corners of the boot between parcel shelf and rear panel. They're probably better at promoting rust than cutting down road noise, fuel pump noise or whatever else these stupid things were for. Luckily there's only light surface rust on the rear panel and parcel shelf even though the sponges look far worse and turd like.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 13 October 2012 - 10:44 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

And a corner of the rear valence, plug welds to the closing panel ground down.

[BusheyTrader]

I finally got some time on Spike this weekend.........The flap discs I ordered a whole month ago from a midlands tool supply company on ebay finally arrived. A Black & Decker Powerfile from another supplier arrived in 2 days. As recommended on the forum I bought it to grind down welds in tight places. It does the job if quality belts are fitted as the cheap stuff doesn't last long.

It worked well on the bottom corner of the rear quarter panels. A few minutes with a carbide burr takes the last bit of weld off.



I drilled out the spot welds around the battery box. The factory had decided the box needed four times the welds than were holding the top of the front wings to the flitch panel and 4 times the white rust proofing gunk.



There were 4 small L shaped pieces of sheet metal spot welded under the floor at the corners to strengthen it. There was more rust inbetween these pieces and the floor just for fun.

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 04 November 2012 - 10:59 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

The pattern battery box needs some adjustment to fit the hole in the boot floor. The L/H and R/H flanges line up fine. The front and back flanges fit where they touch. On the left where they're lower they fit fine but are far too high on the right and need fettling to bring the flange down by 1/2". (Did the boot floor change shape through the ages?) Now I know why the pattern part was £27.00 cheaper than the genuine article.



Thinners wouldn't remove the black storage paint (is it water based?) so it was sanded off with flap wheels and by hand in the corners. I'll coat the inside with zinc rich primer which will be forced inside the spot welded seams as well. The original box must have had rusty seams before it found its way to the production line. They were coated with masses of seam sealer on both sides but were blowing apart underneath it.

Not a good day yesterday, rant over

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

At least 8 of the spot welds at one end of the box hadn't fused the seams together at all. I drilled out the remaining spot welds, cleaned back to bare metal, applied weld thru primer and plug welded it back together. I hadn't realised I'd bought the box as a self assembly kit.

[BusheyTrader]

The flap discs I ordered a whole month ago from a midlands tool supply company on ebay finally arrived.

The discs took a month to appear since the originals were lost in the post and the supplier had to send replacements. Well, the originals turned up this weekend, a whole 6 weeks after they were ordered.......... I must be too honest as I've asked the seller to bill me for them.

Adam

[charie t]

You paid twice for the same thing you only got one lot of?
Made some cracking progress though since i last saw this thread

[BusheyTrader]

Thanks, progress feels very slow at times bit hopefully I've got a clear couple of days this weekend.

I got 2 x lots of grinding discs. The originals took 6 weeks to appear so claimed them as lost in the post. I've got enough gas, migwire weld thru primer flapwheels and panels to keep me going for several weekends in the garage. Brrrrrrrr, on with thermals ...........

[charie t]

get more welding done, you'll be plenty warm enough then

[BusheyTrader]

The floor was perforated where the battery box sits on it. Instead of welding in a number small pieces I cut out a 1" strip all the way round and butt welded in 4 new strips. Then 4 L shaped pieces were plug welded underneath the floor to reinforce the corners.

The box cleco pinned into place. Weld thru primer used on the mating surfaces prior to plug welding.



Just needs plug welding all round

Adam