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Jq's '98 Mpi Mini Cooper


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#31 jamesquintin

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 08:20 AM

Carrying on with prepping the boot floor, I noticed these plates on either side on my original floor. No idea why they are there, maybe something to do with strengthening the seatbelt mount which is above it?

 

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Anyway I decided to put them back, so made some new ones using the old seat base

 

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zinc primed

 

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Welded on:

 

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Penetration was ok, not bad for my first bit of 'rea' welding on a panel

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then zinc primed again

 

WP_20161226_17_25_14_Pro_zps7f1wc432.jpg



#32 MacGyver

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 09:59 AM

Nice work! Not jealous of your spot welder at all... 😒
I think those plates where for hydrolastic bump stops...

#33 Alice Dooper

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 10:37 AM

Time to prep for the MOT!
 
Got a few bits to sort out, first off was the headlights. Since the car was in for damage to the wing, the headlights have been pointing all over the place, and the levelling motors were working but the lights didn't move. Time for a trip to Mini Spares!
 
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The headlights were starting to go a bit rusty, so time for a change.
 
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Here's where I work my magic...
 
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First job was the levellers. The left hand one wasn't doing anything. I swapped with the right one and it was fine. I traced the problem to the earth lead, which is in the pain in the butt earth connector behind the expansion tank
 
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the earth lead for the motor is very thin, and it had snapped at the connector end.
 
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The cable wasn't long enough so I had to make up a little extention
 
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I didn't take a picture of it in place, but I was hoping I could stuff it into the back of the metal connector and fold the clamp shut, but I couldn't get any purchase on it. I ended up just stuffing the cable as far in as I could. Tested it and it was all ok, hopefully it'll stay put!



I had a similar problem with the levellers but it was one of those pain in the hole jobs where loads of stuff came and all just before an mot!!

Had a knackered earth on both motors, the main earth under the coolant reservoir had seen better days and the hazard light switch was causing a few issues. All took ages to trace. Ended up needing new motors. eBay worked out well, courtesy of a search for MG F parts.

#34 jamesquintin

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Posted 02 January 2017 - 07:04 PM

More progress, slow, but getting there...

 

More prep on the boot floor, clamped on:

 

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A few spot welds later:

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then primed:

 

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I'll do the other side tomorrow!

 



#35 jamesquintin

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Posted 03 January 2017 - 09:01 PM

Still more boot floor prep, almost there now!

Got the fuel tank bracket spot welded on:
 

WP_20170103_16_54_38_Pro_zpshjjgagp7.jpg

 

 

and then after lots of spot welds, the other bracket:

 

WP_20170103_18_54_11_Pro_zps0g8yfxbg.jpg

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All I need to do now is add the weld bolt for the fuel line clip and then this panel is complete!

Next job will be rebuilding the bumper lip at the bottom of the rear panel. Not looking forward to that :(



#36 jamesquintin

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Posted 04 January 2017 - 09:18 PM

More bits done. finally got most of the old boot floor out:

 

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WP_20170104_20_49_13_Rich_zpssxhllnzt.jp

 

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and then i started to make the bits that i need to rebuild the rear bumper lip:

 

WP_20170104_20_49_50_Rich_zpsf8dpxmnz.jp

 

 

Will do some more tomorrow!
 



#37 jamesquintin

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Posted 05 January 2017 - 04:02 PM

Actually made some progress today and did some proper welding on the shell for the first time! Quite nerve-wracking as this is the first time doing welding to the car that will actually be seen! Turns out i'm actually ok at doing welding and blending it it..

So todays task was to reinstate the sections rear bumper lip that I had to cut out due to excess rust:

WP_20170105_10_26_39_Pro_zpseugtnatg.jpg

 

Quite a few patches!

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The first section in. I used a thick copper plate underneath to keep it tidy

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then all ground down, pretty pleased with it!

WP_20170105_10_34_43_Pro_zpsdhuzclwy.jpg

 

then did the other missing sections

 

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I did give it a coat of zinc primer to keep it covered up.

 

I'll be tackling the corners tomorrow as that will need some more time and attention to get right and make sure the bumper still fits!



#38 FlyingScot

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Posted 05 January 2017 - 04:22 PM

Looking good, step by step...

FS

#39 jamesquintin

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Posted 05 January 2017 - 07:28 PM

my step drill turned up late this afternoon, so I drilled the four holes in the seat base they used in the factory to score down the Airbag module. 

Obviously completely unneeded, but if I want originality, then these things have to be done!

WP_20170105_18_44_38_Pro_zpsvxh7guy9.jpg

 

WP_20170105_18_44_32_Pro_zpsrrxp97ip.jpg



#40 jamesquintin

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Posted 06 January 2017 - 06:21 PM

Been in the garage ALL DAY, but it looks like if done nothing... Been removing whats left of the boot floor:

WP_20170106_11_48_28_Pro_zpsa3jpqiz4.jpg

 

There are a few factory seam welds here that I'll need to put back like the small blob in the bottom left. I can only assume they tacked the seat base to the boot floor at some point during construction of the body shell

 

WP_20170106_11_48_42_Pro_zps4uwzqvh0.jpg

 

I can't believe how incredibly difficult it is to separate out the 4 layers that make up the boot floor brackets!

 

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Almost finished the other side...

WP_20170106_16_54_08_Pro_zps97mj5pif.jpg

 

The bottom of the seat cleaned up ok

 

WP_20170106_16_55_22_Pro_zps6kfvi7if.jpg

 

Then I had a go at putting one of the weld bolts on to a bit of scrap (eventually these will be for the fuel line). Note to self. DON'T use a spot welder... It just melts the bolts!

Hopefully finish off cleaning up the boot tomorrow and offer up the floor for fitting...



#41 jamesquintin

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Posted 07 January 2017 - 04:42 PM

In the opposite of yesterday, I've done very little but it looks like a lot! Got the final bits of the floor out and roughly ground down all teh edges so I could have a go at fitting the boot floor to see how it looks:

WP_20170107_14_02_25_Pro_zpsdf1wejdn.jpg

 

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As you can see, needs some tweaking. The floor is sitting too low at the moment. Need to finish off making the corners for the bumper lip, clean up all the flanges and they maybe, just maybe, weld the floor in...

 



#42 jamesquintin

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Posted 08 January 2017 - 07:46 PM

Carrying on with making up some templates for the bumper lip edges:

WP_20170108_10_10_44_Pro_zpsukl3msy0.jpg

 

Classic cardboard templates

 

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I clamped together two pieces of old metal from the car (part of the rear seat and the A panel) to make identical pieces

 

WP_20170108_14_46_35_Pro_zpswzyscfnr.jpg

 

Hopefully they'll fit ok

 

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I popped the subframe back in to check alignment, drivers side looks ok...

 

WP_20170108_14_31_18_Pro_zpsq3fe53gl.jpg

 

Not too sure about the other side...

 

Tube strike tomorrow, so an excuse to do some more work on it!



#43 jamesquintin

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Posted 18 January 2017 - 12:39 PM

Havn't been able to get much done, but slowley slowley catchy monkey...

​I ran out of gas so decided to prep the half floor:

WP_20170117_13_29_29_Pro_zpsvpikexvs.jpg

 

​Then spot welded the seat belt anchor on:

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​and the front slinging bracket:

WP_20170117_14_40_08_Pro_zpsyp3b2fit.jpg

 

​Then eventually dragged myself to Halfords to get some co2

 

WP_20170118_12_05_45_Pro_zpshcyygkam.jpg

 

WP_20170118_12_05_58_Pro_zpsfs4qaap7.jpg
 

Just need to dress all the flanges and I could weld the boot floor in... Eeek!

 



#44 minimissions

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Posted 22 January 2017 - 08:57 AM

This is looking great some nice work there, there will be soon a solid shell there. :)



#45 Alice Dooper

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Posted 22 January 2017 - 10:10 AM

Reading this thread, I need a.bigger garage and welding skills. Looks like a really enjoyable project there. Nice work.




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