15 replies to this topic

[jabos7]

Hey gang!   I'm in re-assemble mode on my Mk3 and came across a possible problem as I began fitting interior bits.

 

I noticed some lower dash rail flex from any up/down pressure on the steering column, and the flexing all seem to be

in the "flat" area under where the binnacle mounts, the plate that runs from behind top of center switch mounts opening

back to the firewall.

 

At first it appears the area has a bend/bevel to allow fitment of the binnacle, but now I'm worried it's just bent and

weak.   -Should that area be flat, front to back?   Any ideas on strengthening?   Dash cards and vinyl won't have

any "meat" to them to stop this.  I'm considering making aluminum plates to fill the openings, and maybe

2 small strips of angle iron under that flat area.

 

Your thoughts and recommendations would be appreciated--

[waddle]

They always seem to flex there,

 

If its excessive i'd chop the front rail and weld a bit of tube in 

[Ethel]

It's probably as intended, too solid wouldn't be good if you made contact with it in a hefty smash. The pedal box adds a fair bit of stiffness for the steering column.

[jabos7]

Should the area be flat, straight from rail to firewall?

[Rapidmini59]

Hi dude
The area in question has always been like that.
I had a similar concern when i started to re-build mine.
After i installed the lower dash rail padding and the steering coloum it was better, i then installed a 3 clock burr wallnut dash and it was realy good.
I have a 1977 clubman with three clock binnacle behind the wheel and not a centre binnacle.
Do you have the cardboard that goes on top of the area, if so you could use it to make a template and cut some fresh out of thick ply.
This is then covered in black felt or cloth and then lay it down on the area. You would need to have cut outs for the heater hoses and heater to windscreen vent tubes but it works in mine.
Plus it acts as a shelf for the lower dash rail to put things on.

[tiger99]

The parcel shelf was intentionally weakened a long while ago to make it safer for the passenger in the event of a crash. You should not stiffen it up or use sheet metal or plywood, just the standard soft lining, and certainly no angle iron.

 

However it is usually flat from front to back, and if yours is bent it suggests that the car has been crashed at some time, or someone has applied too much force somehow. Straighten it out if you can, to keep things tidy.

 

As already said, the bit that really matters is the pedal box/column mount structure. That is braced laterally by the shelf and lower rail to add stability, but the pedal box takes the more important loads directly into the bulkhead crossmember.

[jabos7]

Makes good sense.   -To verify, as I've seen confusion on this, the fork on the pedal box rests up against the bottom of the dash rail,

then the column bolts straddle one of them as they hold the column bracket?

 

I'm going for a stripped finish look, as everything got painted in and out.  -Just this side of a plain race interior.  I think I'll go with some

thin aluminum to complete the shelf area, which should give way easily in an accident.  Yet that center portion is bent at the slotted hole

3/4 of the way back (where the least metal exists, of course)   I'd really like to add something there to take the play out of the steering, as it's excessive.

 

Thanks to all for the input!  -More thoughts are welcome

[tiger99]

Play in the steering related to a bent shelf? I think you need to take a close look at what is broken or missing, as it is a serious safety related problem. There must not be significant lateral or vertical movement of the column or it will put the spline coupling to the rack at risk of failure. It seems to me that your pedal box may not be installed correctly.

If it needs Ali sheet to fix it, there is something very wrong with the structure.

[jabos7]

I have yet to get any definitive answer on how the pedal box meets the dash rail.  -Does it just rest up underneath, snug, once the

firewall bolts are tight?  Or should it go into the back of the bottom dash rail and sandwich the dash as the steering column  and/or its backing

plate gets tightened?

 

All the play I find shows up in the bent center portion of the dash,under where the binnacle mounts.  The stamping of that piece leaves

it vulnerable at the areas where the least metal exists.

[Ethel]

There are bolts on a Mk3. 

 

Among the changes that accompanied the big bolt subframe and dual circuit brakes, the pedal box got the forked end that's clamped by the steering column bracket.

[jabos7]

Okay--still begging the question:  does the forked end go into the back of the lower dash rail, held down against it by the column bracket

 or

does it brace up against the bottom of that rail as the firewall bolts tighten, and then the column bracket tightens it as those bolts are in place?

 

Thanks for the input--keep 'em coming

[tiger99]

It will only fit one way if you have the correct set of parts. Maybe you have odd bits from different models of Mini?

 

Check the following links to see which parts you should have:

 

http://www.somerford...page=page&id=50

http://www.somerford...page=page&id=57

 

Check in particular that you have Item 12 in the second link and 47 or 57 and 58 in the first.

[jabos7]

Okay, I've got 58 from the first link.  Pic appears to show that plate mounting in the dash rail, with 57 mounting up to it, mine seems to fit

with one side of 57 between the forks of the pedal box.  breakaway bolts with washers going up through all this to welded nuts in 57.

 

The washer on the bolt nestles right between the forks of the pedal box as it comes up against the dash rail.   Does that sound about right?

I'd take a pic but failed to get one in my post last time I tried.

There just seems to be a lack of symmetry in all this, and your question on odd bits is very possible as it has reared up in several other areas.

(I can hardly wait for my engine rebuild...)   thanks again--

[tiger99]

Last time I had one apart, there was a positive connection between the end of the pedal box and the stiffner for holding the steering column bracket. The pedal box obviously was under the shelf and therefore under the lower dash rail, and it bolted through to something above, one of the several types of upper plate, which was hidden from view behind the lower dash rail. I thought that the same bolts passed through the forked column bracket.

 

It am sure it had 53, 57 and 58 on the steering columns page, but I can't remember how it clamped the end of the pedal box. It ought, logically, to have had 11 or 12 on the brake controls page, but according to Somerford, not in 1984.

 

Unfortunately the various Rover manuals do not describe removal and refitting of the pedal box, and the steering column is covered, but not showing how the mount fixes to the pedal box. I can only assume that the tail end of the pedal box is just clamped between surfaces.

 

What I am very sure of is that the area is usually stiff, not floppy. I assume that yours is left hand drive, which should not make much difference except to minor details of the parts.

 

Maybe someone will be along who has one apart at the moment and can take some pictures?

[jabos7]

Hopefully so --I greatly appreciate your input.

 I had an epiphany this weekend, when I finally realized the reason my center dash portion has play in it and a bend, - because the heater box is no longer a part of the structure.  I do not intend to re-install it as this will be a stripped-but-clean interior for mostly fun and autocross.

 I'm going with some 1/8" ABS textured plastic sheets, cut to the pattern from my old dash cards, to help get some integrity in the dash while filling the holes.  These and some 1/8" aluminum to help the area under the binnacle should get me where I need to be, without going overboard. 

 

I now have the column/dash/pedal box forks in the arrangement you described and all appears to look proper, nothing binding or stressed.

 

As soon as I figure how much play/throw my newly re-bent for LHD accel pedal needs I'll be back in business!