7 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Ive got a question or two for the bodywork inclined people on here
Basically I've got cracking seams all on my front end, I'm intending to repaint her again in the summer but don't want to go through all that to have her start to crack again I've also got an issue with the metal ripping on the front panel and am unsure how to fix it!

Scuttle panel to wing crack

My issue here is that the scuttle to wing seam underneath is seam welded together, I did this back when I restored her to prevent this exact problem from happening. Top of the seam is filled with tigerseal

Off side front wing to seam joint

Again this is fully welded at the rear then seam sealed at the front with a skim of filler to smooth it all off

And nearside front wing to front panel seam

Again same process as the off side joint

And this is the metal tearing issue I've been having



Hopefully somebody can shed some light on this annoying situation!

Many thanks
Lawrence

[sonikk4]

Judging by your pictures of the front end you have cut the wing and front panel arch lip off?? This will cause a lot of flexing and i believe causing your issues there. To get around that you will need to seam weld the front of the seam if you are going for the flush look.

 

The actual crack i can see in the scuttle could be anything but has there been a repair there before??? The Tiger seal cracking is the paint on the surface not the Tiger seal itself.

[lawrence]

Personally I haven't cut the panel, however when I fitted the new wings a while ago I made a blending panel to blend the bent lip of the wing to the front panel. Maybe the fix will be to make a new lip to prevent future cracking. I don't want to fully weld the outer seam as it'll make panel replacement in the future a difficult fix, I may fit some tack welds tho to prevent flexing as that's easier to remove.

There has been a previous repair to the scuttle area by the old owner hower it was solid and there's no filler in that area, it's seam sealer and paint. Again I may drop some tack welds in to stop the flexing.
Cheers bud
Lawrence

[Carlos W]

What kind of subframe mounts are you running?

[Guess-Works.com]

The issue is the bits you highlight are not actually filled with anything from the factory, if you look at a stock factory mini you'll see gaps

 

The front of a mini will flex, and correct me if I'm wrong but the wing is not actually attached to the scuttle with anything other than a couple of token spots.

[lawrence]

Top tower mounts are rubber on the bottom half and solid aluminium at the top
Toeboard are bonded metal/rubber type
Front panel are solid aluminium

I originally fitted a full solid mount kit however there was a lot of toeboard road noise/vibration so changed to the bonded type

Tower bolt choice was to give some movement

does that help?

And that was what I suspected, the cracks are due to filler used on an area under tension. The scuttle on mine is fully welded to try and weatherproof her somewhat more than standard

Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 15 April 2015 - 10:02 PM.

[Ben_O]

I can't see how seam welding the seams from the front would make panels replacement any more difficult than with it just seam welded from the rear?

 

As Neil has said, the missing arch lip towards the front could be the cause of that cracking.

 

The sealer in the join between the wing and scuttle could be the type of sealer used? personally, i'm going to not seal that join on mine as i also believe they were not sealed at the factory. What i might do is run a bead of sealant along the piece of scuttle that sits behind the top of the wing so the sealant is not seen but will prevent water getting though but ill have to think on it as i don't want it to become a water trap.

 

What you could try is welding the external seam up where the top of the a panel/wing seam meets the windscreen frame seam to stop movement there and then a tack weld on the other end of the seam by the back corner of the bonnet which can then be ground back and shaped into the seam. That would reduce movement.

[lawrence]

Well seam welding the front will take the option I have at the moment of showing the seam off, fully welding it will take that option away.

I used tiger seal at the time as that's what research led me to believe as the best option, I did buy the equipment to lead load the joint so I have that choice also but chose against lead loading at the time due to not wanting to excessively heat the scuttle area and wing.

In conclusion I think when I prep her for more paint I shall investigate if the sealer has degraded in any way, and may consider some tack welds and lead loading the joint but that will be a bigger job as I shall then need to reaseal and paint inside the wing area.

I shall also remake the lip that my mini is missing, may also make the front panel the old type without the cutouts at the ends

Cheers for your advice guys, I'll update my blog when I get around to bodywork
Lawrence