51 replies to this topic

[Hexxeh]

So this arrived yesterday:

 

 

Had a hell of a time getting it out of the van and into the house, even with the doors/bonnet/boot removed it's a heavy bastard to lift with three people!

 

 

Massive drips and runs in the primer everywhere, bloody lazy for £11k!

 

Whipped the doors/boot/bonnet off along with the front shock mounts. Bare metal behind these and the door/boot hinges so I'll give them a quick blast of Electrox aerosol to stop the tinworm trying to start...

 

Bought myself a new sandblasting cabinet to refurb some of the smaller bits, starting with these top arms, which have just had their second coat of Electrox:

 

 

Still getting the hang of the gun, so best to start with a bit that won't be massively on show.

 

Finally, subframes came back from the blasters:

 

 

I cocked up with this really, should have gotten the front subframe top towers seam welded up first. Ah well - I'll do that then wire brush them back before they get the same electrox treatment.

 

The plan now is to dry-fit everything to the shell and drill any holes/fit any rivnuts needed before the shell goes off for paint. I really want to get cracking with this, but after spending so much money on the shell I'm wary about every time I need to cut/drill it!

[Hexxeh]

Drilled out the headlight holes, fitted rivnuts (M4, zinc plated mild steel, wet with Electrox) to hold the front headlight bowls:

 

 

I'd like to do the same for the indicators, but the holes on the car are open edged so it doesn't seem like a good idea. I don't particularly want to use the nasty clips that dig into the paint though. The indicators I bought use the three open-holes. What are the two holes either side used for? Is there a style of indicator that uses those that can be used with rivnuts?

Edited by Hexxeh, 21 May 2023 - 09:27 PM.

[Hexxeh]

Next job, speakers. I'm keeping them in the rear parcel shelf rather than under-dash pods to keep the already limited room for my legs. Not fussed about mega sound, just want to stick Bluetooth on my phone for longer drives.

 

Picked up a set of Pioneer TS-G570 6.5" speakers which are slightly larger than the holes in the parcel shelf. I don't want to modify the shell here really in case I end up swapping them out, so I modded the speakers themselves:

 

 

I re-drilled the faces to match the bolt pattern on the parcel shelf and used some M5 5mm nylon spacers to lift them up slightly so the speaker body clears the aperture on the parcel shelf. Looks pretty neat fitted:

 

 

I'm not sure about the covers, so I might replace them with something plain black later. This'll do for now for the purposes of figuring the wiring out.

 

Went to modify the parcel shelf trim and realised the kit I bought (almost two years ago now!) doesn't fit - it's for a shell without the C-panel plates for the seatbelt mounts (which the Mk4 heritage shells have). After figuring out what MiniSpares sell (but don't tell you) is actually Newton Commercial, I've ordered the right trim - to keep the material matching. I'll use this old panel for the material if I want to cover anything else rather than waste it.

Edited by Hexxeh, 21 May 2023 - 09:33 PM.

[Hexxeh]

Thinking about what to do toeboard reinforcement wise, don't want it cracking. At the moment I'm thinking I'll go for solid mounts everywhere on the front subframe except the teardrops at the front which will be rubber, the hope being that it'll let the front end flex slightly (rather than cracking?).

 

I found these, not sure if they're worthwhile? https://classicminis...loor-plate-kit/

Edited by Hexxeh, 22 May 2023 - 08:47 PM.

[Hexxeh]

Bit more progress...

 

Last night I stripped down the old doors to get the lock mechanisms and window regulators out, think that's the last of the parts I need off the old shell removed.

 

Tonight I finished off the practice paint run I started at the weekend by spraying the top arms in Bilt Hamber epoxy mastic. Blocked my gun the first time I mixed to the ratio recommended, had to thin it quite a bit to get it to spray ok. I think it looks okay for a first go, have to see how it looks once it's fully dry:

 

 

I also did a massive parts order from MiniSpares yesterday which showed up today - tried to order everything that needs to be bolted on to check fit (and then some...). One thing I wasn't sure about was bumpers, I fancied new stainless ones but I'd heard the fit can be poor. Decided to roll the dice and... they fit perfectly...

 

 

Went a bit mad with the stainless in general, so tried to source stainless everything in terms of fittings...

 

The indicators I originally bought from MiniMine are the older style where the chrome ring and lens kinda pops into a rubber seal. Ordered some MiniSpares ones that use the two screw fitting thinking I can modify them to use rivnut fittings to the shell rather than the nasty spire clips they normally use.

[Hexxeh]

Poor quality new mini parts strike again...

 

Unpacked the order and checking bits over, when I noticed the indicator icons in the dashboard have been glued in completely wonky. Don't think they can be removed without cracking them or the wood itself:

 

 

I bought a genuine number plate light for the rear to be painted body colour whilst the rest of the car is being painted incase I decide I prefer that look later. They sell the plastic inserts for the lights themselves separately (minispares branded). Of course, the holes don't line up so they won't screw in...

[Hexxeh]

Bit of an update on this. I ended up buying another Mini to drive and experiment with a bit to try to get the plan for this shell right. It needed a bit of work doing on it which I've been slowly working through, but in doing so I decided I'd rather work on a car that's mostly running rather than a very very long project.

 

So, the Heritage shell is up for sale (https://www.theminif...hell-brand-new/) and I'll start a new thread for the new car.

Edited by Hexxeh, 13 October 2023 - 10:22 AM.