9 replies to this topic

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi,

I'm putting a removable Clubman front on the mini, it consists of an original clubman bonnet with heritage wings and front panel. At the moment I can't get the gap between the wings and the bonnet right. It starts of okay at the front but ends up really wide towards the scuttle. Any ideas as to where I should be trimming? I've trimmed as much as I can at the scuttle end, I might go over it once again.














Cheers

[panelbeaterpeter]

Tops of the wings need pulling further in. Self tapper it further in, the wing will then sit higher up and nearer to the scuttle, it's too low atm. Then clamp and self tapper it together and it'll be amazing. Then get out your No More Nails.

[Tupers]

As Peter said it looks like the wings need to come in and up.


It'd also be worth seeing if you can close the gap between the O/S wing and scuttle a bit as there's a good 4MM to be gained there.

[GreaseMonkey]

Cheers guys, the drivers side wing is a right pig, there's nothing stopping it going back, maybe bringing the front up as suggested will help but it sits nowhere as close as the passenger side does, as if the wing has been shaped a bit iffy bit it could be my poor skills

[olds_kool_lews]

if it was me, to get a nice panel gap on the wing, id get the wing as perfect as i could for as much as i could up the wing, and then the rear half of the wing where it joins the inner wing seam by the scuttle, id slit it with a thin cutting disc, and readjust the gap and then weld the slit up once the desired panel gap was reached, i know it seems drastic, but it gives a better overall fit and finish (if done correctly with little heat distortion from welding the wing up) if you pull the wings to much, they can distort/flatten at the top of the wing if pushed/pulled to far.

[GreaseMonkey]

Oki doki, been playing again and your suggestions have helped thanks. I noticed a part where the wing was touching the scuttle and trimmed it off which means the passenger side sits more or less perfect to me now



Drivers side still being a pig, its not touching anywhere at the scuttle end which is odd,



Bonnet gaps better, but its still too wide at the scuttle end









Any quick suggestions as I want to weld this up this evening before it starts driving me crazy

Nearly there though!

Cheers

[GreaseMonkey]

Also what bonnet gap should I be aiming for?

[Tupers]

Ideally it should be around 5MM or less.

[sonikk4]

It does look like the gap at the rear of the wing to scuttle gap is too big, you may have to press a little harder to close this up and in doing so should close the bonnet gap as well.

I know on the other halve's mini years ago the wing to scuttle fit was really bad so i had to press harder than i liked but it did close up and a small amount of filler was needed to sort the small dent in the wing.

Now this is a bit drastic but you could put a small cut in the wing to relieve the curve allowing you to close the gap but it will not close the bonnet to wing gap. It does look like something is fouling preventing the wing from moving across, maybe a bit more hammer work on the wing flange where it contacts (or not as the case maybe) the scuttle lower flange.

[Puddings]

just remember its a race part and might not fit perfectly, the old front end took ages to fit and then didn't evenly sit up to the scuttle on the drivers side but it was the best it could be