17 replies to this topic

[Tubby1987]

Bought my mini 3 weeks ago, a 1985 998 mayfair, looks good, drives well but failed m.o.t :/ Doesn't bother me too much because i love mini's and i always wanted one as a kid! I've bought this one because my old car ran out of insurance, and decided that £870 insurance is too much! I'm 26 not 18! Got fully comp insurance for £200 on my mini! 

Anyway enough moaning :) my mini failed on quite a few things, shock absorber, top and bottom ball joints and a cv gaitor. That's the easy bits, the main worry was the drivers side floor pan, underneath was a gap between the floor pan and engine bulk head. M.o.t guy said get a plate welded over it to pass m.o.t. Took the car to a mini specialist and he said NO, not welding on the outside, but will weld a plate from inside. So then i took it for a second opinion to a guy who does custom american cars, and he said the same, refused to weld from the outside! The mini is under sealed so i think this is the reason? Just want to know if anyone else has been through the same situation? I hope he doesn't fail it because it's solid as a rock now! Will be getting full floors done after Xmas, so i'm not leaving a bodge!

 

Cheers

 

Tubby :) 

[Domneon]

Bought my mini 3 weeks ago, a 1985 998 mayfair, looks good, drives well but failed m.o.t :/ Doesn't bother me too much because i love mini's and i always wanted one as a kid! I've bought this one because my old car ran out of insurance, and decided that £870 insurance is too much! I'm 26 not 18! Got fully comp insurance for £200 on my mini! 

Anyway enough moaning :) my mini failed on quite a few things, shock absorber, top and bottom ball joints and a cv gaitor. That's the easy bits, the main worry was the drivers side floor pan, underneath was a gap between the floor pan and engine bulk head. M.o.t guy said get a plate welded over it to pass m.o.t. Took the car to a mini specialist and he said NO, not welding on the outside, but will weld a plate from inside. So then i took it for a second opinion to a guy who does custom american cars, and he said the same, refused to weld from the outside! The mini is under sealed so i think this is the reason? Just want to know if anyone else has been through the same situation? I hope he doesn't fail it because it's solid as a rock now! Will be getting full floors done after Xmas, so i'm not leaving a bodge!

 

Cheers

 

Tubby :) 

Welcome to TMF :) post some pictures (we all love pictures on here)

[Carlos W]

Welcome to TMF 

 

A new floor repair panel like this http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

is the way to go! As above, put some pictures up!

[Tamworthbay]

You need to cut out the grot and weld on new metal. Plates, whether on the inside or outside are just a quick fix to get through the mot. Do it right, do it once. Get some pics up on here and there are lots of people who can help.

No relevance whatsoever but my first mini was written off in Leeds, I was turning right when a muppet in a mk3 escort decided to overtake. It was a gorgeous 1100 clubman. I still have the clocks from it on a shelf in my garage.

[Tubby1987]

Cheers for the replies :) I tried uploading some photo's last night domneon but it said the photo's were too large... I'll try again later today though.
I want a new floor pan putting in Carlos this was just a quick bodge that'll hopefully see it through the retest, had to act quick because my tax runs out in a week and can't be putting it on a trailer to get it to and from places, easier to drive it to have the work done :)
Tamworthbaby it's not really that rotten, looks to me like the previous owner had a bad welding job done to it and its just come away down the seam. I'll be getting a proper job done after Xmas without a doubt, don't want any shoddy work leaving :). Where in leeds did you have the crash? Bet you were wounded!

[Carlos W]

Set yourself up a photobucket account and upload the pictures to there, then copy the IMG code into your replies and the pictures will magically appear

[Tamworthbay]

It was around where the prison is, I can't remember the name of the road. My then girlfriend lived in scholes and I was driving to her dad's factory where I was due to start a summer job that day. I ended up with the escorts indicator and headlight glass in the car because it rode up the door. He braked so hard he blew out a tyre. I had to kick the door out because it wedged the steering wheel. The sill was buckled up to the first ridge. I walked away very shocked but with only a small cut on my finger. I still have the pictures, it looked ok from one side bit was trashed on the other. I was very very lucky but never got paid out on it because I had third party only insurance and he was fully comp. I wrote to the insurers but they effectively told me to sue or shut up. I was 19 and a student so had no chance.

[Tubby1987]

Jeez doesn't sound good! At least you walked away from it! I know where you mean near armley prison, always some idiots flying about there! I'm well alert when I'm driving my mini, seem a bit vulnerable in it lol :) just gotta guess what other drivers are gonna do!
I'll try that later then Carlos cheers :)

[Devo]

Hello Tubby and welcome, I had the same thing as this the only reason they wont weld from the outside is because the under seal will catch fire, I experienced this on my mini!

[Tamworthbay]

Hello Tubby and welcome, I had the same thing as this the only reason they wont weld from the outside is because the under seal will catch fire, I experienced this on my mini!

That's strange, if the weld penetrates as it should then it doesn't make any difference whatsoever which side you weld on. The underseal has to be cleaned back to weld anyway so it wouldn't matter.

[Devo]

 

Hello Tubby and welcome, I had the same thing as this the only reason they wont weld from the outside is because the under seal will catch fire, I experienced this on my mini!

That's strange, if the weld penetrates as it should then it doesn't make any difference whatsoever which side you weld on. The underseal has to be cleaned back to weld anyway so it wouldn't matter.

 

I may have got the wrong idea of it, but here's some of the issues we had when we welded on the outside, once it lit up did it from the inside, but if your supposed to clear back the under seal maybe that's where we went wrong?!

 

[Tubby1987]

Hiya devo, that's the impression I got as to why they refused to weld from the outside. The guy who did the welding for me asked me to keep an eye out underneath the car incase anything set on fire! I think its a safer job from the inside what he's done, at least nothing can fall off :) but it's only temporary so should be fine till I can get the whole floor pan replaced after Christmas :)
Just realised in one of my replies I called you Tamworthbaby lol! Sorry :)

[Tamworthbay]

Hiya devo, that's the impression I got as to why they refused to weld from the outside. The guy who did the welding for me asked me to keep an eye out underneath the car incase anything set on fire! I think its a safer job from the inside what he's done, at least nothing can fall off :) but it's only temporary so should be fine till I can get the whole floor pan replaced after Christmas :)
Just realised in one of my replies I called you Tamworthbaby lol! Sorry :)

No worries, I have been called a lot worse! I always try to have a fire spotter when I weld, but in the case above, if you are welding from the outside you can spot any small fires as they start. I then whack them with a welding glove and that usually does the trick. The first time I welded I tried blowing it out, took a few second to realise that the mask was still down and that was why it wasn't going out!

[AVV IT]

As above, underseal will catch fire regardless of which side of the panel you weld on, which is why you need to remove it from the surrounding area before you start welding. If anything I'd always weld on the same side as any underseal, at least that way you're more likely to notice it if it does catch light, and be able to do something about it before it's too late!

[Tubby1987]

Haha something I'd do Tamworth! Anyway I'll post back and let ya's know if she passes, fingers crossed :)