10 replies to this topic

[lewiskestell]

hey guys, I'm deciding on putting a fibreglass front end on my mini and having a bit of trouble with the hinges.
I'm going for a smooth look with the one piece front end with bonded a panels and bonded wide arches on.
I'm kinda stuck on how to hinge the whole thing because the a panels are attached everything i think of will involve the a panels hitting things

also how does one bond parts to the inner fibreglass eg. locks and hinges, without it showing on the outside?

many thanks in advance
lewis

[donjarr]

Hi m8

Bonding the a-panels on a flip front is not such a good idea, as the angle it comes down at as you say they nit on everything, where if there separate the two angles meet perfectly.

Mines a removable front and I kept the steel a-panels then fixed locating brackets on the back of both those and the front so there would be no visible fixings on the outside.

As for fixing stuff to them, being fibreglass your best bet would buy some carbon fibre cloth or tape and epoxy resin to make reinforcing areas where you want to attach things to. As for hinges you're better off fixing the hinge to a larger alloy plate flat or curved pending where it's going with alloy rivets then stick that on using epoxy resin and a filler powder which makes a super strong glue, then when cured apply carbon cloth over the alloy plate to bond it further to the original front. For things like the main front hinges it would be better as the fibreglass flip fronts you buy are a bit flimsy to add two long lengths of matting to make a reinforced section that they both attach to. Its also worth reinforcing the edges with 50mm carbon fibre tape as this really does stiffen it up.

All said and done different people do stuff different ways, so I'm sure you will get other people's opinions, but I prefer to overdo stuff than under do, so pending how you decide to go if you want any more detailed instructions let me know.

:)

[lewiskestell]

thank you so much!! much appreciated, i wanted the a panels just to make it smooth with the bonded arches but its causing too many headaches cheers again
lewis

[Tomm]

I think it takes a bit of creativity to get it all to work but I am sure there is a way you around it.

My mini currently has a 1pc "Lift Up" style flip front like this...



Problem is all of the fixings are visible from the outside and i can't open just the bonnet which is sort of annoying when all you want to do is fill the washer bottle up!

I have bought a 2pc front end which I am going to fit but it will not be a flip front. The bonnet will open as normal and the front will be removable for when I need to work on the engine and like you plan, all of my fixings will not be visible from the outside.

The areas which i have attached fixings to I have done along the basis of...

I have built the area up with a few layers of fiberglass (on the inside) i have then drilled holes in the fibreglass and in the fitting (which is fitted to the inside of the flip front).

i have then countersunk the holes which I have drilled (Hence having to build the F/G up on the inside for extra support) and pop riveted the fixings in place)

Having countersunk the holes allows me to fill the rivet holes with resin and prep these areas, primer and paint over them with them not being visible.

Applying the fixings to the inside of the flip front with some tiger seal, resin and sheet fiberglass also adds to their rigidity.

hopefully some of that above makes some sort of sense, if not i will get some photos for you, although what I am trying to get at is you will be able to fix your front end with no effect to the nose of your mini.

As for having the A-Panel built into your flip front I am not to sure how you will be able to make that flip because as you say, it will catch everything on the way up.

I hope that in all of that text up there some of it helps you out in some way!

Good luck!

[c00mes30]

im in the process of fitting one my self and i dont want any bolts showing, so i am using tiger seal to attach all the items i need then fibreglassing over the top of it,once the fibreglass sets nothing will move it! :)

[donjarr]

You can also get proper fibreglass insertion fittings, which are like nuts and bolts plates with holes in them ( http://www.ecfibregl...-fasteners.aspx ) which are great for fitting to stuff. Best way to mount them is to apply a square of fibreglass cloth the same size as the fixing plate to the item, then stick the plate on then cut several squares of matting each one about an inch bigger than the last with a hole in the middle and apply those starting with the smallest first working out. Also best to roughly sand the area first so the resin keys better to it.

I used to make loads of stuff in fibreglass and the key to attaching fixings is spreading the load out. Also pending how rigid the area you're fixing to is, it might want a couple of extra layers of matting applied first to strengthen it up. I was taught the fibreglass the fixing is being mounted to, wanted to be three times thicker than the metal plate your fixing on, and the covering layer needs to be the same.

[lewiskestell]

thank you all guys i have many things to ponder now i am thinking bmw e36 hinges could do the job? only one way to find out i guess?

[c00mes30]

they are what im using

[Tomm]

E36 hinges? From a E36 BMW?

How does that work? what sort of hinges?

[c00mes30]

rear boot hinges, the front will go up instead of forward

[Neildanks]

I think it takes a bit of creativity to get it all to work but I am sure there is a way you around it.

My mini currently has a 1pc "Lift Up" style flip front like this...



Problem is all of the fixings are visible from the outside and i can't open just the bonnet which is sort of annoying when all you want to do is fill the washer bottle up!

I have bought a 2pc front end which I am going to fit but it will not be a flip front. The bonnet will open as normal and the front will be removable for when I need to work on the engine and like you plan, all of my fixings will not be visible from the outside.

The areas which i have attached fixings to I have done along the basis of...

I have built the area up with a few layers of fiberglass (on the inside) i have then drilled holes in the fibreglass and in the fitting (which is fitted to the inside of the flip front).

i have then countersunk the holes which I have drilled (Hence having to build the F/G up on the inside for extra support) and pop riveted the fixings in place)

Having countersunk the holes allows me to fill the rivet holes with resin and prep these areas, primer and paint over them with them not being visible.

Applying the fixings to the inside of the flip front with some tiger seal, resin and sheet fiberglass also adds to their rigidity.

hopefully some of that above makes some sort of sense, if not i will get some photos for you, although what I am trying to get at is you will be able to fix your front end with no effect to the nose of your mini.

As for having the A-Panel built into your flip front I am not to sure how you will be able to make that flip because as you say, it will catch everything on the way up.

I hope that in all of that text up there some of it helps you out in some way!

Good luck!

I bought the 2 piece but ended up bonding the bonnet in place as when it flipped up it was to flimsy and could have easily cracked the fibre glass so just to let you know. you could always add brace bars and then the bonnet thou