30 replies to this topic

[tiger99]

The lip is structurally necessary to provide stiffness. If you are cutting it, the wing will become rather flexible, and with the dynamic load from the front teardrop mounts being taken by the wing and inner wing, something will start to crack.

 

The correct way to do this is to get the Sports Pack reinforcers and template (try Somerford Mini, item 11 in link below), cut the wing away according to the template, and weld in the reinforcers, which replace the lip.

 

http://www.somerford...&id=6&chapter=1

 

Or, if you don't need to remove so much metal, make a new lip to the dimensions needed and weld it in, or form a new lip, without cuts in it, from the existing wing, e.g. by using an arch roller.

 

You might get away with fitting a new lip with a proper structural adhesive, but the conditions needed to apply such adhesives, a fantastic degree of cleanliness, controlled environment, etc, make them rather difficult to use at home. But as this is for stiffening, rather than carrying primary structural loads, it may be viable to use an adhesive.

Edited by tiger99, 11 September 2013 - 09:31 AM.

[A-Cell]

Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?

[Yams]

Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?

 

Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.

[tomtaylor1994]

Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?

 
Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.

I don't have the time, my car is my daily driver.
I'm also incredibly busy at the moment sorting out things for university etc, so thanks for backing me up :)
I took an angle grinder to part of the lip, cut it pack and formed a new lip by hammering the metal edge, obviously after dressing it to get rid of sharp edges.
My wheels now don't catch when stationary at all, but I am yet to take it out for a drive.
Thanks to everyone who has helped!
P.S: Also my first time using an angle grinder.

[Yams]

 

 

Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?

 
Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.

I don't have the time, my car is my daily driver.
I'm also incredibly busy at the moment sorting out things for university etc, so thanks for backing me up :)
I took an angle grinder to part of the lip, cut it pack and formed a new lip by hammering the metal edge, obviously after dressing it to get rid of sharp edges.
My wheels now don't catch when stationary at all, but I am yet to take it out for a drive.
Thanks to everyone who has helped!
P.S: Also my first time using an angle grinder.

 

 

Sounds text book to me. Just make sure you 'shape' the grind so it looks natural. A lot of people just go at it with an angle grinder and it looks aweful. As long as it's a nice neat cut, (Some shaping is usually required with a grinding disk) Then it's all good.

[tiger99]

Well done. You have retained a lip, albeit in a different place, so there will be minimal loss of stiffness.

[A-Cell]

Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?

 
Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.

Yams read my original helpful (I thought) quote. I just said to inspect the car, to find the root cause of the lack of clearance. Takes 5 mins to see if front teardrop mtgs are in place and if the tie bars are standard and not bent or adjustable and not the correct length.

[A-Cell]

[quote name="tomtaylor1994" post="2893765" timestamp="1378904180"][quote name="Yams" post="2893701" timestamp="1378897149"][quote name="A-Cell" post="2893675" timestamp="1378893337"]
Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?[/quote]
 
Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.[/quote]
I don't have the time, my car is my daily driver.
I'm also incredibly busy at the moment sorting out things for university etc, so thanks for backing me up :)
I took an angle grinder to part of the lip, cut it pack and formed a new lip by hammering the metal edge, obviously after dressing it to get rid of sharp edges.
My wheels now don't catch when stationary at all, but I am yet to take it out for a drive.
Thanks to everyone who has helped!
P.S: Also my first time using an angle grinder.[/

Hope it is sorted and does not foul when you do drive it. A good test is to turn onto a drive of a house. the car will be on full lock going down the camber of the road and then up the slope of the dropped kerb as it crosses the footpath. try this from both directions to test it. I would still check that the tie bars are straight as this can affect the handling. Also are there tear drop front mountings fitted. I have seen cars with these removed and the front valance bolted solidly to the front of the front subframe.

[tomtaylor1994]

[quote name="Yams" post="2893701" timestamp="1378897149"][quote name="A-Cell" post="2893675" timestamp="1378893337"]
Why would you want to cut anyway when you could probably gain the necessary clearance by carrying out the checks / adjustments I suggested before. Why not do some checks before resorted to major bodywork modifications?[/quote]
 
Some people either don't have the time or ability to take the car off the road for a few days to start doing work to the sub frame and suspension. Let alone the funding. Grinding arches is nothing new, and for this job it wouldnt have to be ground out much, so standard arches could obviously still be fitted.

I don't have the time, my car is my daily driver.
I'm also incredibly busy at the moment sorting out things for university etc, so thanks for backing me up :)
I took an angle grinder to part of the lip, cut it pack and formed a new lip by hammering the metal edge, obviously after dressing it to get rid of sharp edges.
My wheels now don't catch when stationary at all, but I am yet to take it out for a drive.
Thanks to everyone who has helped!
P.S: Also my first time using an angle grinder.[/

Hope it is sorted and does not foul when you do drive it. A good test is to turn onto a drive of a house. the car will be on full lock going down the camber of the road and then up the slope of the dropped kerb as it crosses the footpath. try this from both directions to test it. I would still check that the tie bars are straight as this can affect the handling. Also are there tear drop front mountings fitted. I have seen cars with these removed and the front valance bolted solidly to the front of the front subframe.

Took it for a drive and upon leaving and entering the property I did what you suggested, and no rubbing occurred! The next place I'm going to try it is in a multi storey car park in Derby which has a spiral road up to one of the levels...

Tie bars are all straight, and my mini belonged to an old lady who had it from new so can't imagine anything important like that will have been removed.

 

Thanks all for your help again, and my problem is as good as solved until I test it on the spiral car park road :)

[A-Cell]

Great stuff. Glad it's sorted. Yep spiral car park is a good test!

[tiger99]

Be aware that if it is sitting low it is probably going to need new knuckle joints, or even cones, fairly soon. The knuckles are not a job that can be postponed if they are worn, because it gets rather expensive, and in the end dangerous, if the balls start grinding through the top arms. Knuckles are not expensive, but you will need a cone compressor and some time, so I suggest some forward planning to make time for it.

[A-Cell]

As Tiger says, it is worth having a check. Looking at the RH Front side on view in post #6 it does not look as though it has a problem with the knuckle joint. The trim height is not too low. Probably caused by normal ageing of the rubber cones.

[tomtaylor1994]

I had new cones put in two years ago, although it has been used every day ever since. They were genuine cones, but how long should I expect them to last?
Wouldn't have thought I'd have needed to change them yet, but I'll hear your views on this (:

EDIT: went for a drive and the wheels catch when reversing >.<

Edited by tomtaylor1994, 12 September 2013 - 11:20 AM.

[A-Cell]

Re the rubber cones. As I said the height looks ok, the cones should be fine if only 2 yrs old. I assume the ride comfort is good, old cones have no compliance and jar over bumps.

Do the wheels catch on straight reverse or just when on lock? Is it rubbing all the time or just when you pull away in reverse? What I am thinking is the tie bar rubbers might be worn a bit, meaning the wheel moves forward a little when you you reverse, making it rub. Well maybe.

Maybe live with it and try to avoid too much reversing! When you can maybe have a look at putting a couple of packing shims each side to move the valance forward a bit and give you some additional clearance.
Edit :- these are the packers, easy to fit just slacken the bolts, no need to take them out, ease the valance away with a lover and slip them in. Re tighten the bolts. You might find he valance springs forward when you slacken the bolts making it easy to slip the packers in.
http://www.minispare...sic/2a4292.aspx

Edited by A-Cell, 12 September 2013 - 10:14 PM.

[tomtaylor1994]

The wheels only catch when moving (reversing) and turning, would that suggest a bit of play in the tie rods?
When I cut the lip a couple of days ago, I sprayed on some hammerite under seal, and part of it has come off from where the wheel has rubbed. Surprisingly, it has rubbed off somewhere where I didn't cut any lip off, so I'm going to have a go at trying to hammer/cut where it is catching now.