285 replies to this topic

[Marco1972]

Haven't posted for a while as I've been busy working with my son on his mini

We only went out to paint the door and A panel and ended up with this ! !!!!!!

 image.jpg   39.5K   40 downloads

Guy we brought it off had been bodging we knew it was a bit rough but when we started chipping away it revealed all the horrors
After much chopping and grinding we ended up with this

 image.jpg   25.92K   36 downloads

I have to laugh my sons car needs more work than mine now !!!
My mini is well and truly on the back burner for a while but its nice to pass on some skills to my lad and I know it's being done properly and the car will be a lot safer
Got a bit more patching up to do and with any luck we should have all the new panels by the weekend
New wing, A panel , outer sill, inner sill ,front floor pan ,cross member repair section, scuttle closing panel and rear 1/4 lower repair panel.

His thread is Tue-le My first car

[Marco1972]

Not much of an update as I've been up to my neck in work with my lads mini

But as it was peeing down Sunday I had the chance to fit my suede top dash cover which I got from Andy at optimise automotive

Took a few dozen bull dog clips some evo stick glue and a few hours and I ended up with this





Very happy with it should look nice in the finished car as I'm going to keep it as original as possible and you don't see many dashes in suede
Just got the bottom dash cover to fit ( which is a bit more tricky ) but that's still fitted to the car

[Ben_O]

Hi!

i started to read this months ago and then forgot about it.

Just caught up and want to say well done. Very good quality repairs.

 

Cheers

Ben

[Marco1972]

Cheers Ben_O

I've been that busy with the lads mini I haven't touched my own car for months ( kids for ya ! )

Thanks for your comments

Mark

[Ben_O]

Yeah i just read his thread from start to end. Looking cracking!!

 

Ben

[Marco1972]

Cheers Ben

Be back at it this weekend hope to get the outer sill on and a small patch on the rear seat pan that's that one side finished then
Putting in a whole new floor on the other side so should be easier ( fingers crossed )
Then it's back to my car. .

[Marco1972]

Update time

Seems like an age since I last updated this thread as I've been busy helping my lad with his mini so as he's waiting for panels and his new engine I've managed to have a crack at mine

The boot corners were a bit crusty so I removed the old valance which was full of filler and fibre glass !! All nicely covered in stone chip and blue paint
Chopped out the corner with closing panel attached



I also replaced the floor to arch strengthener before I removed the floor corner just to help line up the new panel it's just tacked in at this point

The repair panel is from M Machine good quality panels this was trimmed to size and trial fitted and just to make sure I bolted the subframe back on so I know it will fit !!
I will have to trim it back a bit when it's welded in place and I have a small section of the old floor left to chop out next to it but I'm fairly happy with it.




As you can see the section below the rear light aperture was toast so I also cut this out and repaired it with another M Machine panel after a bit of fettling it's fitting reasonably well


I've took it all off and given it a coat of etch primer if all goes well I should be welding it in tomorrow

[Ben_O]

Nice repairs Mark.

 

Good idea with the floor to arch strengthener 

 

Ben

[Marco1972]

Cheers Ben

Got to admit I will be glad when it's finished it was only meant to be a quick tidy up job minis for ya !!

Anyway got the repair sections welded in today fairly happy with the way it's turning out the bit under the light will just need a skim of filler to finish
Just need to re attach the stiffener bracket and then the closing panel followed by a couple of little patches bit of paint and sealer then that's one side of the boot done




Any things got to look better than the crusty mess I cut out.



As you can see the other side is nice and crusty too so that's the next job but that may be a couple of weeks off as it's Himley next weekend for me and Jay and we might be picking up his new engine too.
Going to tackle that side slightly differently by leaving the stiffener in place
I will just drill out the spot welds and remove the crusty bit I've had enough issues with lineing up the subframe so doing it this way will hopefully save me having and issues when I finally put the subbie back on for good

[Marco1972]

Went to Himley today ( didn't win the mini) but got relieved of a few pounds for this lot

New front screen head lamp bowl new alloy rocker cover ,tank neck rubber , hinge gaskets , check strap seals and some rear light gaskets.

That's a few bits off my list.




Should be cracking on with the boot floor next weekend

[Marco1972]

Finally managed to find a bit of spare time so cracked on with the other side of the boot floor corner
Following on from this

Marked out the area needed and carefully cut it out with a 1mm cutting disc

Drilled out the spot-welds on the floor stiffener and removed the rotten corner

All the rot laid out in all it's brown glory


This is an M Machine repair panel very good quality and comes with the strengthening plate attached
I just measured and cut it down to size

Fits pretty good I've still got to remove the section under the rear light this will be repaired first before I weld the floor repair in


The lads cars nearly finished now so when it goes off for paint I'm going to knuckle down and get this thing finished it's been an ornament on the drive for far to long

[Ben_O]

Lovely fit with that boot floor repair Mark.

 

Very neat and tidy. You must have a steady grinder hand.

 

Ben

[Marco1972]

Thanks Ben

I'd not been drinking then lol

Mark...

[Ben_O]

[jc82]

just read all your stuff, good job. welding skills coming on nice. I am stripping my mini out just now, companion bins are rotten   i'll have a look at what you've done to help me