14 replies to this topic

[Mini-Mouse]

So I'm looking at yet another car and it has got a few patches of rust bubbling through the paint on the lower sides of the body, just above the sills. Each patch is no larger than a couple of centimeters wide.

As I haven't got the skills or facilities to repair rust myself, I would need to take it to a mechanic I know to have this repaired.

I was wondering how easy the repair job would be: could it be a simple case of rubbing down/welding/painting or is the rust likely to be further spread under the sills and be much worse than it appears?

The car does not have oversills, but has high mileage at 107,000. 

 

Thanks for your help.

[Carlos W]

Are you sure it doesn't have oversills?

 

It's hard to tell from the picture.

 

There is a specific repair panel for this area.

[Rob Gavin]

there is a repair panel as mentioned above for it.  I'd expect the closer panel at the subframe mount will be gone too.  As for the rest, its hard to tell what condition the sills are in from the photos

[Mini-Mouse]

Admittedly the photos are not great, but they're what the seller sent me. These may be slightly better photos for looking at the sills. I'm pretty sure they're not

oversills as the backs of the bulges look open. Do you know the name of the repair panel, and how likely is it that it will need a new panel?

Edited by Mini-Mouse, 09 November 2016 - 01:42 PM.

[Ethel]

The mileage may be high for a Mini, but not outlandish for any car that's 15+ years old.

 

It might be cosmetic, but the rust near the door suggests the join with the door step is rotten. Have you had the rubber trim off? It may the the rot has come from a blown (expanded by rust) seam.

[dasupersprint]

You are looking into a panel like this:

http://minispares.co...px|Back to shop

 

So, cutting, welding and painting are involved. But keep in mind that we always find more work underneath when we cut. A common offender would be the part of the heelboard where the subframe bolts in

[Mini-Mouse]

The mileage may be high for a Mini, but not outlandish for any car that's 15+ years old.

 

It might be cosmetic, but the rust near the door suggests the join with the door step is rotten. Have you had the rubber trim off? It may the the rot has come from a blown (expanded by rust) seam.

I was thinking that if it has a high mileage and is still running chances are it has been looked after.

I haven't been to view the car yet as I wanted to ask some opinions before I pushed the boat out. Would you be able to tell from looking under the trim whether the seam had blown?

[dyshipfakta]

Trim needs to come off. Needs new quarter bottoms atleast. My money is on the seam being shot too umfortunatly

[brownspeed]

mine didn't look as bad as that until I started cutting out rust.......

doorsteps, sills, heelboard, subby, closing panels, etc etc later................... and it was ready for more work to be done

[dyshipfakta]

mine didn't look as bad as that until I started cutting out rust.......
doorsteps, sills, heelboard, subby, closing panels, etc etc later................... and it was ready for more work to be done

Yup same here

[mab01uk]

Once you start digging it nearly always results in even more rust than you can see being revealed behind and below.......even a local repair of the side panels will need a large area repainting to look good. Are you sure you are the kind of person with the money and skills to buy a Mini on a tight budget. Sadly if you don't have the skills for DIY repairs or a large budget to pay someone for the work or to buy a mint car, then a classic Mini is not really an ideal choice. Good luck and always check first for lots of good advice here on TMF if you need it.

Edited by mab01uk, 09 November 2016 - 08:52 PM.

[lawrence]

In this day and age it's hard to hide things like this now. If I was you and they guy is reasonable ask for photo of just the black part of the lower sill to see if it's an oversill as even if it has open vents it can still be the first stage of oversills. And if the owner is willing ask him to take the trim off that goes over the seam. If he refuses then he is most likely trying to hide the crustiness as any reasonable person who is truthful would take the trim off to show the state of it, especially if your visiting from far away.
L
(Ps just realised I refer to the seller as a guy throughout that, they may of course be female too haha)

[Deathrow]

Looking at those pictures I am 90% certain that car has oversills fitted to it.

If I'm correct and those are oversills then the rear quarters bubbling suggests to me whoever did the sill work recently wasn't interested in getting rid of the rust.

This would be a red flag for me.

[Ethel]

I dunno, touching the paintwork above seam trim adds a lot of work and cost, a reasonable structural repair could have been done avoiding that. It's still short of what you'd want on a car that's a keeper.

 

As always it comes down to the asking price and what you're prepared to pay afterwards.

[Compdoc]

My car had less visible rust than the OP's but with oversills it's all inside.