947 replies to this topic

[Dog]

Aye thats kinda the advice Jammy gave me not so long ago, hence why I went into wanting a mini minus mode....

But in some strange, wierd twisted way, i kinda like finding the rust, and actully planning on how to fix it

[biggav]

feeling for you dog!! in march having been miniless for 6 years, i brought a convertible off ebay which looked mint but had a shot engine, my mate has his own garage and said he'd fix the engine up and get it MOT'd.

I got it delivered and he had a fit. new floor panels had been welded straight on to rusty ones, oversills welded on and the convertible roll bar was only spot welded in place... after we stripped back what was C**p, i was left with a rear end and lots of shiny bolt on goodies, alloy wheels, seats etc where the last owner had spent his money in the wrong direction... i was £2500 into the project when i finally scrapped the shell. i managed yo get rustys shell already de-seamed, body kitted, brand new heritage panels and painted for £500 where someone had lost interest in their project. I've spent about £3000 more on her and still no mot but should be here soon. If i'd have done the work myself, i'd have probably rebuilt the shell panel by panel but that said, i would never have finished it and with the money i earn in a day i'm better of paying someone else to do it. there's loads of half finished projects out there if you're looking... i'll ask the bloke who got my shell if he has any more.

[dougie_10 :D]

Gutted for you Dog.

But as the other guys on this topic have been saying I think you should stay with your shell and try and repair it . Minis are unfortunately made for some to bodge and wreck and its upto us mini lovers to sort them out and give them a new lease of life. Hang in there and when you have completed the restoration you will have much more satisfaction from restoring the minis life rather than having a re-shelled mini that was the easy way out!

[mini93]

same thing happened to me friend (BAM) and he bought the car off ebay, looked realy nice but then we stripped it out...then came the "jiggary pokery screwdriver" and revealed lots of holes we still ademently tryed to get the car going but about a year later we decided to angle grind it up and take it for scrap
RIP DCL 36Y
i have to say from sounds of it compaired to my friends its def repairable
good luck with what ever u choose

mini93

[Dog]

Cheers fellas, cheer'd me up a bit

Right I have decided to order the panels I need, inner sills, outter sills, and a new heel board, (all genuine) and try at it.

If it don't work. it don't work. But least I can say I had ago but if it does work, then onto the next rusty hole

[Jammy]

Even if you don't manage to repair this shell (which I'm sure you will), it will give you a wealth of knowledge and experience.

FYI, I believe Woody sold the car to Blackout.

[dougie_10 :D]

Good decision mate! Look forward to hearing how it goes. Good luck

[Frede24]

There are always alot of quite surprising holes every where.
So best be prepared for the worst and then be positively surprised when you find some god bits, eventhough there can be quite far between them.

Theres nothing much to say that we all have to go through that, so its easily said you're not alone.

[Dog]

Well the only update I have is I've bought over £190 worth of panels for the old girl!!

Got my Flip front on its way, and started stipping my enigine.
Got another week off soon, this is when the welding starts

[miniallsort]

vey nice mate keep us updated

[TWICEmonkey]

Poor Sarah, she had a sill almost poking her in the face on the way back from SMD.

Where'd ya order your flippy from? because as you know, I'm after one, but low on the old cash front. I need a better paid job

Good luck with it all, I'm sure it'll look Dog's Danlgies (don't say thank you again )

And I want to see piccies of the welding.

Good luck

That wierd guy

Edited by TWICEmonkey, 10 August 2006 - 10:55 AM.

[Dog]

From someone off here, its a complete front, for £100
Only thing I need to do is make some brace bars!

Welding is being done from Saturday onwards, the missis goes down south with her mates for something, so I'll get some time to do the welding.

[jack_marshall]

Go on son! Fix it!

Make a proper job of it!

Then when its done, you stand back, you'll be 100% confident with the car and be very proud of yourself!

It really doesnt look THAT bad. Mine was 2 or 3 times worse and even I managed to save it!

Go on mate!

[Dog]

Go on son! Fix it!

Make a proper job of it!

Then when its done, you stand back, you'll be 100% confident with the car and be very proud of yourself!

It really doesnt look THAT bad. Mine was 2 or 3 times worse and even I managed to save it!

Go on mate!

Your starting to sound like some american football coach now! lol

I'll fix it, even if it takes me a while, I'll fix it!
Made some new plans for it too, had nothing else to do now TMF is like a tarts knickers (either on or off... off most of the time) these new ideas, I'll be keeping to myself, but if I do it right, I could be sticking to the ground alot more than before.

[Dog]

Ok due to me having problems getting onto TMF, Ive cracked on and almost finished doing the boot welding!!

Finally got my subframe off , man their heavy!!! (Will have to look into getting a lighter one!)

Removed the rear valence... and guess what I found....
Yes yet MORE BLOODY FILLER!!!
Minor draw back.



after it was all off...


found that the corners of the boot, (below the lights) had gone, so cut boths sides out, and trimmed my repair panels to fit, they fit like a glove now

Before:


After:


Its amazing, how just placing the panels in place, make u feel that your almost there!!

Once all nice and trimmed, and "dry" fitted, marked the out side on the boot floor, ground away to get the bare metal, and now it'll sit like that till tomorrow.




But I am finally getting there!!

Oh and thanks to Marc, I got my new toy today

Cheers matey!!

Edited by ÐØGMÁTÌX, 12 August 2006 - 05:09 PM.