9 replies to this topic

[laki]

Hello everyone i have a 1994 1275i mini cooper, this the first mini i habe ever owned, and the body has alot of rust on it and someone told me it might be easier to just remove the whole body.
i would like to know would this be the best move and how would i do this. or if there is an easier way of repairing the body work.

[Bungle]

a mini is a monocoque and doesn't have a chassis you can remove the body from

[laki]

How would you go ahead and separate the body is it an easy job or apain to do?

[Dan]

I would imagine the person who has advised you to do this is more used to dealing with Beetles or American metal. As said above the Mini does not have a separate body. If you want to replace the whole shell, you need to remove all the mechanical components from it and swap them to a new shell. Most parts are on the two subframes but it's not as simple to do as with cars that have a separate chassis carrying all the mechanicals. Incidentally to do this legally in the UK it must be a completely new and unused bodyshell which cost several thousand pounds unpainted. If you use a second hand shell the car will have to go through a VIC check and will probably be given a new identity, reg and VIN number. If you aren't in the UK you should check there aren't similar local rules to comply with.

Moved to technical section - please don't start project threads if you don't have a project to discuss or show off.

[laki]

Im not going to be replacing body im planning on removing it working on it and reassembling it. would this be advised?

[v21ash]

Maybe re-read the second and third posts again depending on how far gone the bodywork is would determine how far to strip the car down, pitures of the affected areas would be a good start so people can advise on the best course of action.

[lrostoke]

You can pretty much strip a mini into a bare enough shell to perform major bodywork in a day. 2 people working on it.

Just done it on a 1970 auto, did my 1984 last year.

Look up spit roasting, basically once stripped you mount the mini on a spit, lets you spin the car into all sorts of positions, makes welding so much easier.

[Ethel]

It depends what you are replacing, the subframes can make handy jigs to keep the car's geometry straight.

If you have the time and the space a full strip down might be worth it. Have a look through the projects section for some ideas of how others went about it.

[mk1leg]

Obviously this person needs to read Lindsay Porters DIY restoration book so they understand the mini.............

[joe90gt]

looking at your previous pics you have got a hell of a lot of work on your hands, that is some serious rust, are you sure you want to keep going because it will take you a lot of time, effort and money to sort that out, as mk1 said buy that book and see what your getting yourself into, many here including myself have restored basket cases but its taken years and endless hours in the garage, it can be a great hobby but there are times when you just want to give up. So read the book and make the decision, if your not up for spending many many hours working on it cut your losses now and sell it, if you still want a mini, start looking for another much better one and get some advice from here on what to look for