572 replies to this topic

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Not had much time recently but got some time today.



Cut everything old out and then primed, drilled and punched holes in the scuttle.



Then welded it in which went nice and quick.



Since the scuttle was welded in, it left all of my clamps free do tested the fit of all the front panels. The pattern front panel lined up really wel with the genuine wings so don't have any worries about fitting it.



Test fitted the A panel and will need to fettle the wing a little but it will fit easily enough. The part that is stopping it is where it folds down and wraps around the scuttle panel.
Before I can get on with any more mini stuff I had to move stuff out of the back of the garage in order to sell and create more space, hopefully it won't take long and I can get all the front panels on. All for now

[Ben_O]

I hope the bonnet fits. they are usually rubbish and require a lot of cutting and shutting to get a decent fit.

 

Front end looks good though James. Makes me realize how far behind i am..

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Been busy getting the garage cleared out which was not fun what so ever but at least I have loads of room.



Everything all piled up in front of the mini.



Tonnes of space in front of the car now all the golf GTI parts have been moved out.



Test fitted all of the panels at the front and drilled a few holes in the wings to bolt them in position. Refitted the front panel and now all I have to do is do my best to get rid of a big gap on the passenger front corner then make holes and weld all the panels in. Then sort out fitting the A panels

[James_eaton_thewholething]

No picture update but an update.

Currently been refitting the front subframe in order to get the panels to line up better, just struggling with the wings and A-panels as I wasn't 100% sure on how the A-panels fit but managed to find a picture of someone that had fitted the inner wings with the panels attached so should be ok with getting all the front end lined up and then set about welding it on will be a huge step forward to it looking like a mini again

[James_eaton_thewholething]

So not been able to get much done, well it doesn't feel like much and doesn't feel like any progress is being made.



Obviously with the subframe on I needed to re align all the front panels wich I have been doing then I thought I would test the door with the A-panel which after changing the shims the drivers door clears with a decent gap it will be better once the A-panel is folded round properley. Other than that I have welded in the drivers side scuttle closing panel and that's it. Feel a little disheartened with the progress but I think I'm just putting to much stress on my self. Going to drill all the holes needed to attach the front panel to the inner wings over the next few days so hopefully that will make it feel like I'm getting stuff done.

All for now

[Chappers]

Just read through your thread James, your doing a great job, I like your thoroughness and quality of workmanship.

I'm getting ready to do a similar rebuild on my Mk1, and it needs all the same parts as yours.
If you don't mind I have a couple questions about your build.
Are all your panels Heritage?
Have you kept a tab on the total cost of the panels so far?

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Just read through your thread James, your doing a great job, I like your thoroughness and quality of workmanship.
I'm getting ready to do a similar rebuild on my Mk1, and it needs all the same parts as yours.
If you don't mind I have a couple questions about your build.
Are all your panels Heritage?
Have you kept a tab on the total cost of the panels so far?

Thank you for reading through.

Not all of the panels are heritage not because I was trying to keep cost down, but more because a good friend of mine that has been working on minis for years let me know what I could and couldn't get away with using. Most things are though especially the important parts like the inner wings, floor, heel board, sills, wings, doorsteps and hinge panels, front scuttle, boot hinge panel and a lot of the closing panels. Things that aren't heritage are rear quarters, wheel arches, front panel, boot floor repair, floor crossmember, boot floor repair and rear valance. I did want to you all heritage but my friend said I didn't need to for those things and they haven't been any harder to make fit.
Buy the time I will have finished the shell I will have probably spent about £1200-£1300 on panels alone. I would say with everything I have left to do after I have finished the whole car will have probably spent £3000-£4000 but it's because I'm doing other things which are expensive. Hope that's what you were after

Cheers James

[Chappers]

Hey James that's great info to know thanks, I've used some heritage and some pattern parts on mini projects before and definitely noticed the difference.

I'm looking at the whole floor assembly from M machine and it's £780 just for that, plus shipping to the US might be expensive.

Noticed you drill out the old spot welds, I'm planning to do that, what's your preferred spot weld drill bit?

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Hey James that's great info to know thanks, I've used some heritage and some pattern parts on mini projects before and definitely noticed the difference.

I'm looking at the whole floor assembly from M machine and it's £780 just for that, plus shipping to the US might be expensive.

Noticed you drill out the old spot welds, I'm planning to do that, what's your preferred spot weld drill bit?

 

 

some panels need more persuasion with a hammer than others but still not too much. my heritage inner wings needed quite a lot of persuasion to fit but they eventually did. just had a look at M-Machine could you not use the complete round tunnel mk1 which is £130 cheaper i couldn't see what the difference could be. its a shame you can't get mk1 floor panels separate. i got my floor as the main panel, heel board, crossmember and outer sills separate. probably cost me about £400. but then again i do get a little discount cause of my friend and because when i used to drive the car i was in Moss-europe way to much

 

ive drilled out some of the old spot welds some i have just cut the lip off like i did when replacing the rear arch as was re making the lip. when i used to cut out the spot welds i used a special spot weld drill bit but it was a bit useless and was hard to use. now what i do is take a 6mm drill bit for the smaller spot welds and a 7mm for the bigger ones. then centre punch the spot weld and drill just enough to get through the first layer of metal and then split the seam with a chisel. just takes a bit longer and a bit of getting used to but its also not a problem if you drill right through the odd weld just weld the hole up grind flat and go from there.

 

i would say i really hate drilling holes and it is very time consuming but this whole project has been but at least it will be worth it when its finished.

anything else i can help you with ?

[James_eaton_thewholething]

So I'm back to feeling like progress is being made although it's slow it's better than none. I got all the panels lined up today and retest fitted the bonnet and I've got equal gaps either side and I got the A panels in the right place.



Pic of the drivers side scuttle closing panel which I put in yesterday.



Drilled all the holes and covered in zinc primer ready to weld onto the inner wings.



Front panel welded on. First of the front panels and it's good to know that it is beautifully straight since using the subframe. My next plan of attack is to fit the passenger side scuttle closing panel and then fit the A panels before fitting the wings. But before I do that I need to grind some welds back on the plates I welded in to block off the air vents and also seam seal everything while I have a lot better access. Hopefully by the end of next week it will have the whole front end on and will look like a mini again. Then all I will need to sort is the passenger rear quarter and rear wheel arch. That will be the last of the rust removed

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Have managed to get so really decent amount of time in the garage this morning before having to get to work.

First of all I cleaned up loads of welds which I should of done ages ago and then set about having fun with a paint brush.

















So since everything was covered in seam sealer including over all of the plug welds.



The biggest achievement of today was getting the wing, A panel welded in and the wing welded to the front panel. With the front panel I did a few plug welds and then seam welded in one inch sections along the lip. The plan for tomorrow is finish off a few welds to finish off the A panel to the inner wing and then to attach the other wing and A panel so tomorrow it should have a full front end and look like a mini again. I'm feeling excited

[James_eaton_thewholething]

I got up this morning raring to go. I put on my welding suit and proceeded to the garage. I punched all the holes in the wing cleaned back the paint on the lips and covered it in zinc primer. Waiting for that to dry I fitted the A panel. After about an hour well I shall let the pictures do the rest.





So it now officially looks like a mini again. I just need to grind down the welds and then spray some zinc primer. Let that dry then apply some seam sealer down the water channel. The bonnet has be cent gaps either side. Not show quality but then again it's going to be driven daily. The bonnet will need a bit of fettleing to get it to fit right in the middle but it will with some persuasion and definitely will once the bonnet pins are fitted.



The last bits of rot in the car are this rear quarter, wheel arch and a patch on the boot floor. Will just need to fit the outer sills after this and then just a matter of fitting the rear valance and closing panels so the shell is complete. I think my aim for starting paint next month isn't going to be a problem.

All for now

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Got home from work and got a couple of hours on the garage didn't want to spend all night in there so just did a few things.



First thing was to cut the rear quarter back then remove the old rusted wheel arch. I also cut out the last two parts of the boot floor that were horrible.





This is why I have to replace the waist rail but atleast it's easy enough.



Small part of the roof gutter that has rusted through I'm probably just going to put a bit of weld in there to seal it up then grind it back and fill over it and you would never know.

When I get time within the next few days I shall put the boot floor sections, make new lips up so I can weld the arch in place. I shall then fit all the closing panels then make a start on the rear quarter. Wish I hadn't had to of gone to work today I would have probably got the rear arch in and be ever closer to having a solid shell again

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Got plenty done over the past two days.



Cut out what was left of the lip and made a new one up just like the drivers side. Also fitted in the patches that were required







Welded up the new arch so it's stronger for fitting coilovers. Left it at that and went to bed

Got up this morning and well I let the pictures do the talking



Drilled all the holes in the closing panel and strengtheners.





Welded everything in. Made sure it was solid by lifting the car off the jack stands with the edge of the arch.



Cut what was left of the old rear quarter out and clamped the quarter panel in place. Hopefully I will try and get this in tomorrow and then fit the waist rail.

[Ben_O]

lightning progress!