948 replies to this topic

[gaspen]

 

Hi Steve, thanks. I need to replace the whole floor as it is gone. The central tunnel and the cross member are fine, but the floors are very rusted. No floor under the driver's seat!

 

Sills and steps are also bad. Can the floors be replaced keeping the central tunnel and the cross member? I saw you can buy the floors with the sills already included, that might be the way to go for me?

 

Absolutely, having fun is the main purpose of doing this!

Thanks.

Victor.

 

 

M-Machine sells half-floors and outer sills are welded to it, so you could keep the tunnel. One of my friend - who restore more Minis a year - said that these panels are very  good. I should have buy these panels but it is very hard to order at M-Machine - especially from Hungary.

 

And I send you some inspiration : there is one year beetween these pictures :) 

 

 IMG_20200407_180404 (1).jpg   47.47K   11 downloads

[Viktor]

You have the correct 1976 doors fitted at the moment, if they're too far gone & you do decide to replace them make sure you don't get later ones by mistake (they have slanted internal door pulls & no indent in the bottom).

Thanks for the advice. The doors will need to be re-skimmed, together with the bottom to be replaced, but the rest is very solid. I would like very much to keep them.

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Victor

[Viktor]

 

 

Hi Steve, thanks. I need to replace the whole floor as it is gone. The central tunnel and the cross member are fine, but the floors are very rusted. No floor under the driver's seat!

 

Sills and steps are also bad. Can the floors be replaced keeping the central tunnel and the cross member? I saw you can buy the floors with the sills already included, that might be the way to go for me?

 

Absolutely, having fun is the main purpose of doing this!

Thanks.

Victor.

 

 

M-Machine sells half-floors and outer sills are welded to it, so you could keep the tunnel. One of my friend - who restore more Minis a year - said that these panels are very  good. I should have buy these panels but it is very hard to order at M-Machine - especially from Hungary.

 

And I send you some inspiration : there is one year beetween these pictures :) 

 

IMG_20200407_180404 (1).jpg

 

Oh wow, that looks fantastic mate! Well done. Yes, M-Machine seems to be good and much more cost effective than Heritage panels. I guess for floors and underneath parts you can use them and perhaps spend a bit more on Heritage panels for the front and wings.

Cheers.

Victor.

[gaspen]

Almost forgot : I am very recommend to purchase a spot welder. There is many places on Mini where you can use it. Very easy to use and it will look like factory made :)

[colinf1]

I think we are both feeling the same Victor, running low on inspiration for my project too, but need to keep at it, just need to do one part that turns out looking good for a good confidence boost...

[Gilles1000]

I can only second that, colinf1. 

I repaired last weekmy front subframe, starting by reinforcing it at the front. Welds were not very pretty, then went on with the upper arms locating hole repairs, which went really good, and I kept a very nice feeling after that but ran out of time...

[Viktor]

Thanks guys, your support is much appreciated! After a bit down moment, I decided to give a lick of paint to the radius arms. Now they are in gloss black as the subframes.

 

 

One step at a time!

 

Cheers.

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

I was halfway writting this post yesterday, when my laptop died! Anyway it is fixed now, so I can report progress...

 

I removed the manifold from the engine, to refurbish it and distract myself from the bodywork.

 

 

I put it in water with citric acid for 2 days and then I let it dry. I used the wire brush to remove the rust.

 

 

It was starting to look better now.

 

 

Then I mask all the holes ready to be painted.

 

 

After a bit of research, I decided to use VHT paint in aluminium finish.

 

 

It looked very smart after the first coat.

 

 

And that is the manifold finished with two coats of VHT paint. I put it in a box, until I start to rebuild the engine.

 

 

 

More progress soon.

 

Cheers.

Victor.

[Viktor]

Okay, this is the third time I'm trying to post this thing. Imgur has changed and it is not allowing me to upload the photos. Final attempt...

 

Progress on my project so far:

 

Removing the windscreen wipers motor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully this will work...

[Viktor]

Okay, it seems to be working now. A bit more on the progress so far...

 

Brake and clutch master cylinders. A bit of a pain due to the reduced space in the pedal's area.

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of dirt and some superficial rust in the area.

 

 

That is now completed.

[Viktor]

Next on the list: the steering rack and column

 

 

A couple of nuts in each side supporting the brackets.

 

 

 

And then the locking nut in the steering wheel column.

 

 

And it is finally out and ready to be refurbished (at some point...)

 

[Viktor]

The steering column was a bit painful to remove, due to the locking nut holding the column to the bracket and to the dash rail. After trying almost everything I just cut it out!

 

 

 

The steering column is out now, but I can't really take the steering wheel out. I tried before removing the steering rack and column, but it was not possible.

 

[Viktor]

I also started sanding down some of the classic rust areas in any Mini, no surprises there...

 

 

 

 

 

The front end seems to be in okay condition, with minor rust. The driver's wing looks really bad and I think it needs replacing. The other wing is a bit better, with some holes at the top and in the lights area.

 

I would like to keep as much as possible of the original panels and try to repair them. I'm concerned about cutting things off and then not being able to align the new panels properly. Let's see what happens.

 

Victor.

[sonscar]

To me it is a question of economics vs effort,the existing wings and scuttle could be repaired in situ with skill and determination.If this was my MGB with wings costing £400 there would be no question,I would repair them.With Mini wings costing £35 I would probably replace them.Your choice.Have fun,Steve..

[Viktor]

To me it is a question of economics vs effort,the existing wings and scuttle could be repaired in situ with skill and determination.If this was my MGB with wings costing £400 there would be no question,I would repair them.With Mini wings costing £35 I would probably replace them.Your choice.Have fun,Steve..

That is a very good point Steve. I'm a beginner and actually just started welding (like yesterday!). Repairing panels seems to be quite difficult, especially if you don't have the right skills (like me). I'm going to do a bit of practise first to see if I can improve my welding  skills and then I guess I will make a decision. Having fun is my main priority