41 replies to this topic

[bloomers]

Hello,

 

Some of you may remember my build thread from when I was younger..If not, have a look at this to get up to date - http://www.theminifo...-7?hl= bloomers

 

Skip this next bit unless you want to know a bit more about the story of the mini and me..

So things have changed over the last few years. I completed the mini's first rebuild in June 2008 as I needed a vehicle to get to my new job and college. For the next 4 years I completed an apprentaship as a coach builder/welder and fabricator. Unfortunately due to work commitments the mini only lasted 1.5/2 years of this when I then fancied a motorbike.

The mini got put on the back burner and stored in the garage as I pursued my career and of course..girls

Once completing my apprentaship in 2012 I went to work in Greece as a skipper on yachts and there gained much needed experience.

I now run a workshop with my business partner in the centre of Ipswich as a welder and fabricator focusing mainly on marine and car performance parts. For those interested we are called East Coast Stainless Ltd, and we don't just weld stainless steel. We also fabricate and weld aluminium and mild steel.

 

Enough of work! On with the mini.

 

Obviously, with running our workshop we now have a fair bit of room and facilities and more importantly, a lot more skills. Now the business is starting to pick up I have taken the time to transport the mini from the garage where it was stored to the workshop and work like mad to get it back on the road. There are many reasons for this which I won't bore you with, mostly to do with work vehicles etc.

 

When I took the mini off the road in 2009 she was in a sorry state after being driven hard and not very well looked after.

This is a photo of her back in summer 2008

 

When she went into the garage for storage I decided to rebuild her with my new found knowledge.

 

She then sat for 2 years with very little work being done other than buying and selling a few parts and tinkering.

 

This is her loaded up ready to make the big move to the new workshop..

 

 

 

Safely in our workshop for the speedy rebuild.

 

 

First thing to sort was the nearside shock mount. It has deteriorated during its short time on the road in 2008 and I had done a school boy repair that looked like pigeon poop.

 

A quick mask up and spot prime with UPOL Acid 8 and it's ready for schutz. For those who don't know Schutz, it's a great product made by various companies. I used the 3M product which you can buy at Machine Mart or I'm sure many other stores. Again, UPOL Acid 8 is a brilliant etch primer that will prepare the surface for further coatings. I try and use this wherever possible where surfaces are back to bare metal.

 

 

Schutz applied

 

 

 

As you can see from the photo's I've masked off the bulkhead panel ready for stone chip to be applied.

 

 

 

With walk in jobs coming and going it was clear that the mini had to be mobile to make space when needed. This also helped me pull my finger out and build the front end back up. 

I know the first question will be about the condition of the subframe and why haven't I cleaned it up etc..This is all in the plan as I need the mini back on the road ASAP for a day-to-day car.

 

 

The next day we hit the paint prep hard and got it right back to where we wanted. We went for 80 Grit disc's on an air palm DA to get the job done as there will be plenty of paint going on.

When I previously had sportspak arches they were fibreglass after market one's which had bolt holes exposed. These fitted the look I was going for but unfortunately after my year and a bit of neglect they suffered numerous damages.

The new arches didn't line up with the holes at all so this meant the welder came out.

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick clean up and sand they needed filling. Sorry I didn't take any photo's of the filling and final sand.

 

 

This photo shows the new arches fitted and the filled areas. If they need any more filling this will show up later in the paint process.

 

 

I'm quite pleased with the fit so will continue to fit the others once I have the fibreglass front.

 

Thats all for today folks! This should be quite a fast moving thread so keep and eye out and fire me questions or put me right when wrong!

 

Thanks!

Bloomers

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy!]

Nice looking mini! i'm located in ipswich too! looking for an apprenticeship and starting my vehicle maintenance and accident repair course at college :) looks like a good start, but i suppose it would be with all your experience!

[bloomers]

Good to hear you're local. Always keen to meet up with like minded people. GIve me a PM sometime.

 

Hope your search for an apprentaship goes well. It was the best thing I ever did.

 

Bloomers

[bloomers]

Quick update...

 

Went to pick up a 1275 GT engine on Friday and a few other bits..Took a trip over to Mini Spares to collect the flip front and exhaust, odd gaskets and nuts etc.

 

A few pictures..

 

1275 engine ready for clean up and build

 

Flip Front ready for mocking up on Monday morning.

 

 

Sorry its only a short update. Will be cracking on this week so will have many pictures and explanations of my how-to's.

 

Cheers! Bloomers

[bloomers]

Hello,

 

Today I fitted the front end. To start with it looked like it was going to be a right pig to fit but after a little while of looking at it I worked out which bits to cut and sand into shape.

 

This picture shows the front end held in place with clamps to give me a better idea of what and where I was going to mount it too.

 

 

 

On the A panels I decided to weld a plate on which hung out by 25mm or so. Then I welded on 2 M6 nuts both sides to act as captive nuts for the fitting.

 

 

I had these thumb screws left over from a job so decided to use them..

 

 

Once I'd offered the front end up and drilled a pilot hole I opened the fibreglass out to 8.5 to allow for some clearance

 

 

 

Next on the list was to finish fitting the arches.

As you can see from the pictures the fit at the front wasn't ideal so needed some dressing.

 

 

 

After a few trial fits I was happy with the final fit. This didn't take too long but just a bit of faffing taking the arch off and putting back on etc.

 

 

I then made a thin slice through where the front end meets the A panel so that the arches will be in 2 parts.

 

 

Finally I fitted the indicator housings.

 

 

 

Thats all for today. More to come tomorrow!

 

Bloomers

[Grilled]

Great work on the fiberglass front end, mine needs some attention as the previous owner has cut too far in at the top corners that match up to the top of the A panel which leaves a gap.

 

I like the way you've created a lip on the back of the A panel to secure the front in place, possibly better then my welding two plates by the top of the bulkhead to secure from above with pins (Or a combination of both maybe to keeps the arches in place).

 

Keep up the good work I'll be following this thread :).

[bloomers]

Hi Grilled.
I did contemplate putting the plates nearer to the top and fit pins like you said but I had seen similar ones like I have done so went ahead with it. Also it made it much cheaper than buying other flush fit items or pins etc although some people prefer that look.

Thanks!
Bloomers

[bloomers]

Sorry for update delay.

 

So I got the mini into the paint shop early last week and gave it a coat of primer. I use Octoral Surfacer which has great coverage and is really easy to spray with. It doesn't really need thinning down but you can if you want. I mixed it 3/1 (3 parts paint / 1 part hardener) 

I did inside and out all at once.

 

 

The inside came up okay so I decided to just flick over it with a scotch brite and some 240grit by hand in areas that were going to be seen etc.

I had gone for a flat green 2k paint which again I mixed 3/1 with 10% thinners.

 

 

I didn't have the gun set up quite right and ended out using a fair bit more paint than I had hoped but I won't do that again! Still, I am quite pleased with the finish..

 

 

 

 

I then left it to go hard over night.

 

Next day - Cracked on with the roof first. I masked off the rest of the car so not to get loads of dust inside..Unfortunately I don't have any prep'd photo's as I was on a bit of a mission. I went over with 240grit to start with to cut it right back and get it all flat. Once I was happy I quickly went over with 400grit foam backed pads to flatten it off a bit more.

 

As you can see I went for a white roof. Again the paint was mixed the same but I had set the gun up a bit better. 3 coats with a few minutes between seemed to work fine. 

 

 

 

Again, I'm quite pleased with the finish although it will need flatting and polishing in a week or so when its completely gone off to get rid of little bits that found there way into the paint. As you can see its not a professional paint shop..

 

Next day - Time to get on with the body.

 

Once I had masked the rest of the windows and doors off I started flatting back in the same way as the roof. 240grit followed buy 400grit. Fortunately the green over spray from painting the inside acted as a bit of a guide coat so I didn't go through the Octoral.

 

 

 

Applied the paint in the same way as the roof with the same mixing ratios and by this point I had the gun set up much better for me. On the last coat I put in a bit more thinners. Some people say this is good and others say its bad. I've always had good results as it gets a much higher gloss IMO. Main thing if you do go thinner is to not get greedy with how much you're putting on!

 

 

 

 

 

And of course..

 

 

At this point I was gagging to see what the green would look like against the white roof but had to contain myself for 24 hours.

 

Next day I went into work to take the tape off and give it a good look over.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures to follow of doors, boot and front end being painted.

 

I also started building the engine up today so will keep it updated on that front.

 

Thanks,

Bloomers

Edited by bloomers, 08 August 2013 - 08:33 PM.

[Jared Mk3]

That sure looks good. I like it.

[bloomers]

Thanks Jared.

I got the head bolted down on the engine last night and roughly set up the clearances. All seems pretty normal although I'm sure I will come across some problems!

Im having a few problems finding out the nut size for the lower arm pin?? Anyone able to shed any light??

Bloomers

[bloomers]

Help please!!

Put the engine in today and the gear linkage I have seems too long...can I just cut it down to fit and re weld???

Bloomers

[mossy2a]

nice colour!!

 

gear linkage too long? ive not heard of that one before.

 

this is a huge forum of knowledge though.  place the problem you have in the problems section.  im sure someone will be able to help.

 

David

[the beasts]

Love the contrast of the two colors , one of my favorites threads, nice one!

[bloomers]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I've now sorted the problem with the gear linkage..It was too long. It was previously from a metro and therefore was too long.

 

A quick cut a weld sorted it..Just made sure I kept it all in line as much as I could.

 

 

Once in position I fitted the KAD quickshift. I did have a few problems getting it to fit but mainly because I wasn't being man enough with it! A good knock in and the nylon ball went into the bottom cup in the linkage box.

 

Engine got a lick of paint ready to fit.

 

 

Didn't take many pictures of the engine going in as I was COVERED in oil and grime. I'm not keeping the engine mount ;)

 

 

Next job was to make up some brace bars. I did think about buying some from Minispares but we had some tube left over from a job and some flat bar so I decided to make some...If you like them, place an order via PM

5mm Stainless Steel Flat bar as the base and top plates.

 

 

Then I bent up some 1" Stainless tube. And fitted the bottom to meet the plate.

 

 

 

Then tacked it in place, removed and fully welded.

 

 

Quick test fit before sorting the top plates.

 

 

Top plates will fit like so and will bolt through the bulkhead to give a strong enough hold.

 

 

Completely Unrelated post but this is what we make..

 

 

Thanks again!

 

Bloomers

[Jared Mk3]

Some good progress there. Your welding looks really good too!