148 replies to this topic

[Magnetagz]

She's officially a van again! The weld work was finished Friday and I can start prepping the body for priming, by the end of next week she should be all one colour! :)

The mystery surrounding the van's shape and body work has been solved. We've come to the conclusion that at one point in it's life its been in a fairly substantial crash as the majority of the drivers side was actually pushed backwards, the inner A-panel/Fletch was back a whole 2 inches!
We found out Wednesday when the brand new door wouldn't line up, so the van was jigged up and pulled back square, to say I was nervous was an understatement. After that everything went on fairly quickly.
So I finally have an explanation on why they bonnet didn't fit, why the doors had weird brackets, why the inner wing was crumpled and why there was so much shoddy work and filler.

I can see the end of the tunnel now and the fun part of the isn't too far away.

[Magnetagz]

This week I whipped out the subframes to clean and paint them.
As I took the rear sub off I found a bit of hidden rust in a mid-box section, luckily it doesn't require any major work or new panels, it's been cut out and some new pieces have been made.
The subframes are wax oil free ( covering me in the process resulting in a 2 hour shower) and I started painting them today.
On another note, I have White walled my wheels! I found a place that does the white wall inserts for Lambretta scooters, They have 10" wheels same as my steelies, worked a treat :).

[spike 25]

Looking good

[liam-ds]

looking good cant believe it was that bad,it looked half decent when it came to our club meet just needed front doing etc. I never knew it had that much filler in it, keep up the good work

Liam

[Magnetagz]

Cheers guys.
Yeah it looked ok at a glance, I could tell it needed work when I bought it but once I uncovered the mounds of filler the many horrors became apparent, it was hiding a twisted body from a crash, poorly re-skinned doors, ruined rear quarters and bodge after bodge after bodge. Now it has been done right and is on it's way back up.
I've come to realise that most of the commercial Minis were never looked after well hence a lot of the resto. involves pulling out years of quick fixes.

[SAL 821X]

Tell me more about these inserts?

How do they fit and such would love to do white walls with my reverse rims.

[Magnetagz]

Tell me more about these inserts?

How do they fit and such would love to do white walls with my reverse rims.

They are fantastic mate, all you do is deflate your tyres, I'd say take your wheels off as your need to manoeuvre it a bit, then you squeeze the inner lip of the insert in between the wheel and the tyre. Then you just inflate your tyre again it pulls the insert tight to your wheel, Job done. :)
It is a little bit fiddly and I degreased my tyres to stop one slipping back out but it's a much better solution to painting.
I got mine off Ebay for £9.99 per set (you need two sets) which is the best price I found: http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_1204wt_1166

Here's another pic for you:

Edited by MagnetizedMINI, 10 June 2012 - 10:32 AM.

[Minuki]

I thought my car had a lot of filler! But wow, that's ridiculous.

Glad to see you've sorted it now. Going to be a cracker when it's finished.

[SAL 821X]

They sound pretty good cheers.

Think they would go well with my black rims.

[Magnetagz]

I have been experimenting with acid this week.... paint stripping acid of course. ;)
All the blue paint has been stripped off using a mix of DA-ing and wire wheeling then for the doors and roof a nice thick coat of paint stripper.
I would seem that the nasty surprises are all out now (touch wood) as nothing else has been found and the metal is in good shape.

Yet another panels has been ordered in, we found my bonnet to be warped thanks to a weak frame and broken weld.
Next step: Primer!

[mk1leg]

thats some stirling work done on that van...............keep the pics comming..................

[Magnetagz]

Well it's been a while since I've updated this thread and the reason for this to be honest is that not a huge amount has happened. With work and some issues with equipment at the garage the project came grinding to a halt for a few weeks, but I have been busy with bits at home, cleaning up and repairing parts and even building the load bay shelves and racks.
Now it's time to get back on track with the van and today I got the wheels turning again (metaphorical wheels of course, the van has no wheels yet )

All the weld work is now done, she is completely solid. A few plates had to be put in but they have been done very well and are getting the proper treatment to irradiate any chance of rusting. All filler work on one side has been done and looks great, the other side has been left on purpose for reasons that will become clear next.
Today has probably been the most nerve racking part of the project so far. We took the van off the ramps, into a bay and flipped her onto her side cushioned by some tyres and many many layers of old towels, curtains, rags, bubble rap and anything else soft I could find. Seeing my pride and joy land on her brand new panels gave me a sickening feeling but all went well and she is well supported with no damage.
The next step is sealing all the floor's old welds and panel joints, etch priming, stone chipping, painting and a good coating up of wax oil.
I have dedicated this weekend to the van so expect some more updates soon :).






The custom heater front, I intend to fit a remote in the middle to control the hidden cd player unit

Edited by MagnetizedMINI, 31 August 2012 - 06:47 PM.

[Magnetagz]

A bit more done this weekend, and finally theres some primer going on!





Excuse the small pictures.

[leadly]

Top work there matey. Loving the white walls!

[Magnetagz]

A little bit more done this weekend though I forgot to get pictures on bits.
The rear quarters are completely finished and ready for paint now. They were coated in a filling/smoothing substance... stuff (I forget the name of it) and sanded done to enhance the curve and suage line.
I've cleaned off the cab floor and smooth stone chipped it and I'm really chuffed with how it has come out.
The major step made in my eyes this weekend was the custom dash that has been started. the bracket and rocker switches have been chucked and replaced with a smoothed off full panel with 5 holes drilled for my new brushed steel push buttons, one of which can be seen in the last picture. This is probably the biggest modification on the van, I'm not a fan taking away features of cars but I think this is an improvement both in aesthetics and reliability and will be inkeeping with the retro look that I'm going for.

I will be sure to get more pictures soon. :)