64 replies to this topic

[zero_wlv]

I remember when I was little my mates Dad had a Metro that was probably about 10 years old at the time. The rust on that was horrific.

 

My mum bought a 1983 Y-reg Metro,  brand new,  and I don't remember a time when that wasn't rusty.     There were large bubbling patches dotted over the paintwork in many places,  and the sills were rusty.    This must have begun no later than 2 years (max) after the car was new,  as I don't really remember it being any other way.     I remember asking her about the rust and she just said "cars do tend to rust lots" and explained that's why she'd bought one in the horrible colour Gusset Brown.

 

In fact that Metro rusted far more quickly from new than any Mini I've seen.

 

This being despite the fact that Metros had "Comprehensive anti-corrosion treatment" with "cathodic electrocoat primer" and "wax injection" and all the rest of it.

Edited by zero_wlv, 27 August 2018 - 09:21 PM.

[zero_wlv]

 .. appears earlier generation panels were marginally thicker too......

 

This could make sense,   as the mid 80s might have been the point at which metric steel began to get easier to get hold of than SWG sized steel.

For example,   let's say the panels used to be made of SWG21,  this is equivalent to 0.8mm,    but in metric sizes the nearest sizes available are 0.7 and 0.9,   so it's quite possible they began using 0.7.

This could have quite an impact on the structural strength of the body in critical parts though,  so I wouldn't have thought the decision would have been taken lightly.

For most other SWG sizes there is actually a very close metric equivalent.

[Ethel]

I'd have thought a customer as big as Austin Rover would have been able to specify exactly what thickness they wanted the rollers set at. There'd have been an appreciable weight difference too.

 

Metros had some weak points: the bolt on wings were like tin foil, I even wondered if they were aluminium they seemed so light when we got our first stocks in. The front valances rotted badly because the seam was the lowest point,well spaced spot welds with drainage points didn't help either. 

 

I'n not sure I've noticed that much difference in the rot rate over the years, but I don't have close up experience of any from the last decade.

We've had more variation in winter weather I reckon. All those Mk1's must've taken a hammering in the winter of '63.

 

MPI's did have their inner sills punched and grommeted for body wax spraying.

[CityEPete]

Shame they didn't use them and actually put some wax in them, lol.

Edited by CityEPete, 27 August 2018 - 09:19 PM.

[CityEPete]

Mercedes appear to be the best at rusting these days, Vito vans could give an mpi a run for their money.

[mab01uk]

Ford had a very bad rust period around 1987 D reg, Ford replaced some XR3i's under warranty due to severe rust within a couple of years.....some Ford enthusiasts put this down to Ford using cheap re-cycled steel for a time.....

[wile e coyote]

Just to add an oddball one...I grew up a stone's throw from Cowley...and complete cars used to sit in Lyehill quarry awaiting distribution....
Disused quarries not exactly prime storage locations... Distinctly remember one spring seeing 50 or so new itals sat up to their sills in water....
Hopefully the same scenario didn't play out around Longbridge...

But it did go a long way towards explaining why the old man always drove German....

[Cooperman]

I bought a 1971 Cortina GT 2000 for my wife in early 1974. Within 6 months it needed one new front wing due to rust. The bronze metallic paint never matched.
Otherwise it was a great car.
At the time I had a 1972 Rover 3500 Auto and that had no corrosion at all.

[miniQ]

Rover's are the worst they rust from the inside out. The panels were rusting before paint went on you'd think. 

Edited by miniQ, 29 August 2018 - 06:45 PM.

[mab01uk]

Just to add an oddball one...I grew up a stone's throw from Cowley...and complete cars used to sit in Lyehill quarry awaiting distribution....
Disused quarries not exactly prime storage locations... Distinctly remember one spring seeing 50 or so new itals sat up to their sills in water....
Hopefully the same scenario didn't play out around Longbridge...

But it did go a long way towards explaining why the old man always drove German....

 

 

An ex-BL marketing employee (1969-80) is on record saying she once needed the basic totals of cars produced and sold each week to make sales projections, etc. Before computerisation this was worked out by hand on a paper spreadsheet. What was built on plant versus what was out at the dealerships and what was sold proved impossible to find out as there was a discrepancy of at least 20% a month. No one knew exactly where all the cars were or how many there were. She found the guy responsible for the figures only to find this had been the case for 12 years! It seems every Friday night a man went out with a torch and wandered round the Longbridge plant counting cars. It turned out the cars were being moved around to make space for more, the paperwork stuck to windscreens often got blown away and once lost mean't the now unidentified cars stood for months on end effectively lost in the system (or lack of one). She says that before 1969 the volumes of Minis, etc, produced were still small enough to keep control of with the old system but from 1969 until about 1978 the explosion in volume plus labour disputes, supplier disputes and lack of enough car parking, along with the workers holidays coinciding with the August registration suffix sales boom compounded the problems.

[Cooperman]

I wonder how many 'disappeared' and ended up as 'new' spares.

I believe several Metro 6R4's went, er, missing.

[mab01uk]

I wonder how many 'disappeared' and ended up as 'new' spares.

I believe several Metro 6R4's went, er, missing.

 

The same ex-employee did mention in an article for MiniWorld mag that there were cases of organised stealing from the plants uncovered.....

"There was actually a price list of parts for every car that was produced in Longbridge that anybody could buy at a discount. It was eventually traced to a man with a garage better stocked out than our stores. The filching was co-ordinated, it had to be, it had to be done in collaboration with so many people in production control or the stores."

Edited by mab01uk, 29 August 2018 - 10:47 PM.

[MikeRotherham]

Reminds me of that Johnny Cash song 'One piece at a time'

[greenwheels]

Reading through this thread we seem to more or less agree that the design and production methods of car bodies has certainly advanced greatly since Minis were designed in the 50's.

So should we be looking, as a group of restoration enthusiasts, how we can incorporate some of the ideas from modern car production in the methods we use to restore our rusty Minis. (I can hear some saying 'I do that already').

Chapter 7 of Geoff Davies book 'Materials for Automobile Bodies' might be a starting point to understand what is causing the rust.

[mab01uk]

Plastic arch liners and undershields are a part of modern car protection, I have removed the black plastic inner wheel arch liners on my modern BMW MINI (2002) for work access occasionally and the original factory red paint in the wheelarches behind is still clean, rust free and as new.

 

Front plastic wheel arch liners are available for classic Minis from Minispares:-

http://www.minispare...sic/CAMLO1.aspx

Edited by mab01uk, 30 August 2018 - 11:38 AM.