99 replies to this topic

[n1tr0_9]

Thanks guys. Buying a welder was the best thing i ever did. Its so useful to have around, and buying one and playing with it is the best way to learn. Plus if you like 1980's british leyland scrap its imperative you can weld.

Once the mini is done, ill be starting on this...

[n1tr0_9]

While it was dry outside, i prepped the new sill. I cut down the oversill so it looks like an original. Drilled teh holes for plug spot welds, then wire brushed all the ******* black paint.



Degreased, and masking tape on spot weld areas



Acid etch primer



Gloss black and masking tape peeled off before......



...you guessed it, zinc weld through primer



Then i turned my attention to the door step. Ive 'massaged' the original flange back so the first 90 degree flange sits properly. Then ill tack it in and adjust the rest on the car.







Prepped with holes and zinc



Rust treated the last surface rust around the jacking point and sill sides

[n1tr0_9]

Annoyingly the rear end of the door step where it sweeps up had a bit of grot. So i cut it out and welded a new section in. Ive made it with a 90 degree flange on it so its neat.



Next i tacked it in along with the door step.



The doorstep wanted to sit too high, so i offered up the outer sill to see how it would all look. I actually tacked the outer sill on now so i could be sure it would all work. I had to give it a bit of further adjustment but it all ligned up well. So i plug welded it in.





So its in and welded up. I just need to dress the welds and then replace the rear lower quarter same as on the other side.

[n1tr0_9]

I cut out the rear quarter. There was quite a bit of filler all across this panel, and extending up the rear wing.

Front



Lots of the rust on the back!



Evidently had a dent and been pulled out, then toshed full of filler



I gave the area behind a tickle with the sander and found a few holes so i cut all the frilly metal out.




I made and welded on a new flange that covered the side of the subframe captive nuts, then sanded the welds smooth



I remade the missing metal



And welded it in





Then i remade the flange for the quarter panel to be spot welded too and i welded on the panel reinforcer that i had previously bent away for access



Last thing i tacked started welding on the new lower quarter

[grahama]

Hi,

I am loving your fabrication and welding, coming along nicely. Almost makes me want to tackle some of the brown stuff again myself !!

Graham

[n1tr0_9]

Thanks. Yeah its really satisfying cutting out grot and replacing it with new metal. But once this is done im going to take a break from welding before i start on the Rover.

Ive now welded in the repair panel properly. With a skim of filler this repair will hopefully be invisible



I also welded up the rivet holes from the old arches as this car will have the larger sports pack arches

[n1tr0_9]

I welded flanges to the rear of the sills both sides to replicate how it should be originally. I seam welded down the back to the heel board and spot welded to the floor





I then did a final rust treatment, then on with the red oxide, followed by seam sealer. Its covered some of the detail that i worked hard to replicate, but nevermind





I removed the fuel filter and took a look at the condition of the steel pipes. They were a bit crappy so i rust treated them.

[minimikej]

Some really nice work there, keep going!

[Minidarren83]

very quickly becoming one of my favourite builds at the moment there is some lovely work going on here keep it up

darren

[n1tr0_9]

Thanks guys

[n1tr0_9]

Late last night i gave all the red oxide and sealed areas a quick coat of gloss black. Then this morning i painted over with Waxoyl black underseal. It has rust inhibitors in it, its water tight and it remains flexible, so im hoping this will keep the rust away for some time. I made sure i got it right into the top of the rear valance. I didnt bother doing the whole under floor as the original stuff still looks good in most places and has some sort of wax stuff applied on top, so the new stuff would just peel off.

[n1tr0_9]

Ive been busy the last few days so not done much on the mini. Today i ran a tap through the subframe captive nuts to clear any paint and underseal out. Although i bought a rear subframe bolt kit, im actually going too reuse the 4 bolts that go in the captive nuts as they are in good order and they have a spiral cut into them so they should come out easier than the replacements. I wire brushed them then gave them a dusting of zinc.



I then refitted the subframe. But i had to take it back out again as i had forgotton to seal up the subframe properly. These opening were originally covered with gaffa tape but ive used ally sheet and bonded it on, so it should be good for a long time.



Subfame back in i reconnected the brake line. Then i gave the rear drums a spin. But where the subframe had been on the floor, the back plate was rubbing. I freed that off but they were still a bit stiff. So i wound off the adjusters, took the drums off and cleaned out all the rust and brake dust. Readjusted and they are good, but they will need checking again when its on the road and done some miles.



Then i sealed around the boot and the subframe bolts

[g111mds]

really nice work on this, with a very thorough and detailed approach. Look forward to seeing the project develop further :)

[n1tr0_9]

Thanks!

Started working on the dash today. I wasnt sure if the car would move while i did this so i welded a bar from a post to a post before cutting the old dash out. I also measured the distance between the top and bottom of the windscreen aperture as i dont want to weld all this back together to find the screen doesnt fit anymore!





This exposed a couple of areas of rot, so i cut those out and made some repair patches and butt welded them in.









It was a bit of a puzzle to proceed now, as i didnt want to weld the dash in properly as i have to cut the rusty scuttle off the out side. So i tacked it in in a few places so if it got in the way it could come out again. Its a pain as the lower screen flange is a sandwich of 3 pieces. The scuttle, the bulkhead and the dash panel.

If i had realised the top of the scuttle and dash was rusty when i first began the project, i would have tackled them first, and removed and replaced the complete scuttle panel. But all the interior the screen and the paint was on so i couldnt see it and i have already repaired the scuttle ends and closing panels. So im just replacing the rear flange. This also means that the wings have an original panel to align against, not a pattern and it will be in the right place.

So i cut out the rusty bit and starting prepping the repair panel. I should weld this all up tomorrow after a bit more fettling.

[BusheyTrader]

Nice progress there......what measurements did you get for your windscreen aperture? I don't have mine to hand right now but I think they were around 411 - 415mm

Adam