363 replies to this topic

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

worst day ever.

[MiniJosh92]

Have you had a better look underneath yet?

[RawlinsGTR]

Thanks for all the concern..

Have you had a better look underneath yet?

Yeah we got it up on the jacks and it's as you guessed it would be to be honest... the whole suspension geometry on the affected side is skew, the subframe has folded close to the floor mount, and the floor has been pushed upwards at the floor mount. As you can see on the picture I have of the alignment between the subframe and the inner wing, the subframe is all skew on the affected side too.

Basically, it's pretty badly damaged, and after inspecting it with Craig in the light, we sorta came to the conclusion that it's not really worth attempting to fix. I'll keep you updated with what I decide to do with it Josh, because it might be coming your way in the future ^^

Thanks again for coming to have a look though, much appreciated.. was good to see you again too

[Alex_B]

I can see a bidding war happening here as it looks like a nice car just needs some front end work, keep people posted on how much you want for it ;)

[RawlinsGTR]

I can see a bidding war happening here as it looks like a nice car just needs some front end work, keep people posted on how much you want for it ;)

It needs more than some front end work, the warping has gone further than just the front end.. passenger door doesn't shut properly and the windscreen pillar has shifted which has caused the windscreen to crack. It'd take a lot of time and money etc. Still not too sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

[Alex_B]

Yeah I can see that, theoretically if you had access to decent equipment (jig and porta power) you could probably reverse the accident, and in pulling out in the right direction pull out most of the damage then either replace panels if they are too distorted or just brace anywhere that cracked.

Did this at college last year to a car in a similar state and got the shell to within +/- 1mm tolerance but that was with a universal jig and equipment (dont know how much it would cost to get done but might be worth enquiring at a local college which does motor vehicle body repair operations and se if they will do it for a small fee so the students can see how its done)

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Aside from what it looks I dont think the pictures stress enough exactly how badly distorted the shell is. It's had a concertina effect through the whole front end and has bent the floor inwards where the subframe mounts, even with a straight subframe the floor will have to be jigged out, and we dont know the extent of the distortion to the windscreen surround and baulkhead either, that also looks bent. If you stood from the front the Left hand wheel (from inside the car) had completely disapeared under the arch and the right hand wheels tread was exposed by 2". It's a shame because it's such an awesome little car, especially given the fact that it almost looks fine apart from a small bit of damage. It holds lots of sentimental value for both me and Simon and I'm sure he will do everything in his power to save it, and do right by this amazing little Mini. It's amazing how quickly something can go from fine to terrible, about 5 seconds in our case

[Alex_B]

I still think with the right tools it wouldnt be impossible to put right, and yeah can see its a well loved little car, its a shame you arnt closer to Eastbourne, i could have had a word with the college I used to go to and see if they could help put it right, good luck on your quest anyway!

[RawlinsGTR]

You're only about 1 hour away from me mate?

[Alex_B]

Oh I had ideas that you were further away! I will see about popping in tuesday when I have some time see if they would be able to do anything, you never know! is this declared on insurance? if not then its defo worth trying to fix as it wont have a record of being catagorised

[RawlinsGTR]

You have a PM ^^

[leaky]

Balls man! Glad your both ok! If theres anything I can do let me know! Might be worth going through the insurance though and getting them to pay up for it other wise you are gonna be out of pocket big time man!

[jb93]

Oh no! Glad you're both fine!

[RawlinsGTR]

For old times sake, 'because I miss her:

A picture from all the main events me and Craig have done with minbin:











(Not including Bingley, don't have a picture of it there)

And just because, it's a cool picture:

[leaky]

So what are you going to do with her then? Fix or you getting another mini?