561 replies to this topic

[rally515]

Well i'm happy to report that a decent ammount of work has been done today on Project Checkmate, the weathers been perfect and I got the chance to have an early start on it too, which helped alot with progress.

 

First job to tackle was the flitch top for the offside:

 

With that done i moved onto the innerwing panel, now fitting this required me to fit the front panel so got that out of the loft and found some bolts to fit it all up and welded the innerwing in once I was happy with the fit/ alignment

First job was to weld the seam panel i made previously at the frontal area, originaly they were welded in about 60mm runs so thats what i did here:

 

Front panel solid mounted:

 

And the innerwing:

 

Took it all off again after marking and painted the mating surfaces in chassis black brushed on:

 

Then stuck it all back up and welded in joining seam:

 

Whilst letting the weld cool abit i decided that i wasnt happy with the bulkhead metal tabs that hold the wiring loom up in place, i've drilled those out and going to use these much nicer looking P-clips as on my other mini:

 

Found the old grille i made and thought id mock it up to reflect abit on the good old times me and my mum had in the rain with Checmate, safe to say that...water was present in the cabin at every pot hole  

 

Now for abit of dry mocking up of the front panels together, it'll need alot of fetling but not too bad considering:

This area i scribed had to be bent up to the angle of the innerwing flange to fit better:

 

 

big A-panel gaps!:

 

 

Its still a way to go having the front completed but mocking up and having a noticable mini shape back again is a big moral boost to crack on!

 

All comments are welcome and appreciated as always, lets hope for more good weather  ,

Cliff

[Rocket.]

Looking good mate ! out of interest what make are the wings ?

[rally515]

Looking good mate ! out of interest what make are the wings ?

 

Thankyou, the wings, although shiny arn't actualy genuine heritage that i know of, can't recall the sticker brand that they have on..

[Rocket.]

 

Looking good mate ! out of interest what make are the wings ?

 

Thankyou, the wings, although shiny arn't actualy genuine heritage that i know of, can't recall the sticker brand that they have on..

 

Oh right the fit doesn't look to bad, keep up the good work   

[rally515]

 

 

Looking good mate ! out of interest what make are the wings ?

 

Thankyou, the wings, although shiny arn't actualy genuine heritage that i know of, can't recall the sticker brand that they have on..

 

Oh right the fit doesn't look to bad, keep up the good work   

 

 

I wish i could say that myself  , not really happy with the fit in places to be honest, the little "Ear" at the front of the wings stick out about 10-15mm when i mock up the rest and that wheelarch to wheel gap is huge!, it's worth mentioning that the checkmate is stiing on its bumpstops almost at the minute because it needs new cones so that gap in theory should be really tight

 

Thanks Rocket, i shall check the make of the wings for you tomorrow if the weather allows :),

Cliff

[Rocket.]

 

 

 

Looking good mate ! out of interest what make are the wings ?

 

Thankyou, the wings, although shiny arn't actualy genuine heritage that i know of, can't recall the sticker brand that they have on..

 

Oh right the fit doesn't look to bad, keep up the good work   

 

 

I wish i could say that myself  , not really happy with the fit in places to be honest, the little "Ear" at the front of the wings stick out about 10-15mm when i mock up the rest and that wheelarch to wheel gap is huge!, it's worth mentioning that the checkmate is stiing on its bumpstops almost at the minute because it needs new cones so that gap in theory should be really tight

 

Thanks Rocket, i shall check the make of the wings for you tomorrow if the weather allows :),

Cliff

 

you've made it look pretty good for the pictures

[rally515]

Yeah i did use a good few clamps!    . Been and bought 6 more pers of mole grips from B&Q tonight though, it's going to be a fiddly job i know it!. And i wouldn't be suprised if i have to cut the A-panel and wheel arch seams and weld a piece in to bring them out more to fit right, oh the joys .

[Ben_O]

Looking good cliff!

 

Why is that a panel gap so huge? Surely something must be wrong somewhere?

 

Still a man of your means, i'm sure you will have it looking fantastic real soon.

 

nice one

 

Ben

[rally515]

Looking good cliff!

 

Why is that a panel gap so huge? Surely something must be wrong somewhere?

 

Still a man of your means, i'm sure you will have it looking fantastic real soon.

 

nice one

 

Ben

 

Thankyou Ben, not 100% sure as of yet but im going to point the finger at 1. not great presses of the panels and 2. the mis alignment on my part (scuttle is the main factor for the bonnet, wings and therfore front panel too!). So thats what i'm going to delve into tomorrow if the weather allows.

 

After thats sorted and i've got my head around it i'l take the whole lot off again and put back in the loft and carry on repairing bits and bats for now, before any of those panels go on i'l be bracing the A-posts across the screen and removing the top dash rail and then scuttle panel.

 

Cheers,

Cliff

[Ben_O]

Did you replace the inner wings mate?

 

Ben

[pmplovesminis2006]

i had the same problems with my round nose front and in the end i gave up and bought complete heritage front end and they fitted great the saying goes you get what you pay for

[jpw1275]

Top work cliff........ I just can't wait until it's my turn.....pah..... I'm going to go for full heritage inner wings I think

Cheers james

[rally515]

Did you replace the inner wings mate?

 

Ben

 

Hi Ben, i replaced the offside innerwing yes, the channeling along the top is much better that the standard one i must say

 

 

i had the same problems with my round nose front and in the end i gave up and bought complete heritage front end and they fitted great the saying goes you get what you pay for

 

Well its coing on nicely to be honest pmp, the cold night must have jolted the steel about because when i came to it later on today all the gaps were much tighter!!     Weird or what!!!

 

 

Top work cliff........ I just can't wait until it's my turn.....pah..... I'm going to go for full heritage inner wings I think

Cheers james

 

Its not as hard as it looks James, to be honest i enjoy aligning all the front panels up to get them all the same, much nicer than welding repair patches in till your mind goes spongey  .

 

Todays progress is all on my camera but i can't really be bothered in truth ahha, just got in from the garage now and going for a much required bath.

Weather started acting up when i was about to start grinding my welds down on the repair piece behind the master cylinder mounts that i've done today, i'l update tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

Cliff

[jpw1275]

Yea I'm just in the middle of stripping the engine bay out ready to take the engine out....

Cheers james

[rally515]

Pictures from a couple days ago of the reapair on the lower part of the bulkhead and the rest is from today.

 

I braced the window apperture and took the top dash rail out to find abit more depressing rust, although cleaned up well with a wire wheel and i've finished the day with some Nitromos on the bulkhead top area to help next time i need to weld along the top.

 

Also fabed up a repair piece for the inner wing/flitch area as it doesn't exist

 

 

 

Top dash rail mocked up (not being welded in till im happy with the bulkhead):

 

 

Cheers,

Cliff