362 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

Righto so the new valence and recessed fog light (round 2)

 

traced out the curve using the closing panel (which I hoped wasn't too far off despite having magnum written on it ..)

 

 

checked it, good enough for this purpose at least

 

 

worked out the depth of recess I want as a cross section

 

 

plotted that out as a box (allowing some extra and knowing I only needed 3 sides

 

 

cut that out and folded it

 

 

then obviously weld that up

 

 

 

mark up where the closing panel ends

 

 

use template to mark out top and bottom points of cutout

 

 

plot that out to the right width

 

 

nervously cut the bottom half first so I can slowly work the piece in and check the top positioning, turns out it was spot on, bonus

 

 

 

 

check position overall from the other side, happy with that

 

 

do what I probably should have done first and check subframe clearance (loads of room, I thought there would be)

 

 

mark up the box ready to trim down and weld in

 

 

part 2 to follow hopefully not making a total mess of the new valance

 

leaving top edge on for now to assist with rigidity during careful slow welding.  trim off after leaving just the very ends as previously mentioned

Edited by stuart bowes, 14 December 2023 - 07:13 PM.

[stuart bowes]

trimmed to size, cleaned up all edges and tacked in

 

 

welded in, 3 sides match up nicely one side has a bit of a wonky gap, needed some lumpy welding to fill 

 

 

 

 

 

used closing panel to check the curve is still ok

 

 

smoothed outside edges 

 

 

gave it a dash of etch prime just to cover it for now

 

 

 

outside needs a bit more work with the power file (When the new one gets here, old one died) and then possibly a couple of small smears of filler to finish.   Inside will just be covered with seam sealer anyway like everything around it, so not a lot of point wasting time trying to smooth it out, and it's not that bad anyway

 

much much better than first attempt that's for sure

Edited by stuart bowes, 02 December 2023 - 01:26 PM.

[stuart bowes]

welded in the rear subby fixing holes and redrilled in the right location.  Heelboard is unchanged so that's my fixed point of reference that I'm calling 'correct' (or as close as their tolerances were in those days) so the rear holes being wrong must be due to whatever I did to the boot floor

 

drilling was extra hard work due to those big old 1.5mm strengthening plates (2 layers) but got through with a bit of persistance

 

 

on the passenger / fuel tank side the new holes are still fairly central on the wheel arch bracket and happy to leave them.  on the drivers side the holes are now off centre to the point where one is nearly off the bracket and the other you can't get the head of the bolt all the way down from above.  so that bracket obviously has to come out again, I'll probably just order a new one instead of trying to repair it, they're not expensive

 

anyway the main thing is I can now get all 8 bolts in at the same time which I'm calling progress

 

also, cut off the first of the slinger brackets and looked underneath, some minor welding to repair cutting marks and 3 spot weld holes but nothing problematic

 

 

I'll make that the next job

Edited by stuart bowes, 03 December 2023 - 08:31 PM.

[stuart bowes]

only getting short bursts of work in at the moment, cold outside / work / kids etc

 

but every little helps

 

trimmed down this corner that was annoying me every time I looked at it

 

 

(a little note to self in case I forget to weld up that seam.. and yes I will definitely be tidying up welds before paint. still haven't mastered getting it on neatly yet)

 

then chopped out the bit that needs replacing 

 

Edited by stuart bowes, 05 December 2023 - 08:23 PM.

[Be87n]

trimmed to size, cleaned up all edges and tacked in

 

 

 

welded in, 3 sides match up nicely one side has a bit of a wonky gap, needed some lumpy welding to fill 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

used closing panel to check the curve is still ok

 

 

 

smoothed outside edges 

 

 

 

gave it a dash of etch prime just to cover it for now

 

 

 

 

 

outside needs a bit more work with the power file (When the new one gets here, old one died) and then possibly a couple of small smears of filler to finish.   Inside will just be covered with seam sealer anyway like everything around it, so not a lot of point wasting time trying to smooth it out, and it's not that bad anyway

 

much much better than first attempt that's for sure

Nice solution! Just deleted fog lights and reverse light on mine but like your approach if you don't want the rather ugly lights hanging about below the bumper.

Edited by Be87n, 08 December 2023 - 09:10 PM.

[stuart bowes]

cheers yeah I always thought the fog light looked like a total afterthought, recessed into the curve like this it sort of matches the style of the other rear lights doesn't it, or that's the idea anyway

 

someone should do that as a pre made type of valance I reckon it would sell. I would have bought one anyway

Edited by stuart bowes, 08 December 2023 - 09:21 PM.

[Designer]

Stuart I fully appreciate that in your project, which is amazing work and a joy to follow that you are not going for originality but certainly safety.

To me the placing of the rear fog light, as it is, is part of the time line of the Mini, meeting the regulations at the minimum of cost.

This seeming to be the Mantra of BL, BMC or Rover, whichever, that helped to make the Mini so quirky and lovable.

Looking forward to your next update.

 

Paddy

[stuart bowes]

Yeah i can appreciate the preference for originality even though its not for me really, I'm sort of halfway with it, I don't like the fully deseamed look and I wouldn't do any sort of max power crazy spaceship looking interior or anything but I won't shy away from minor 'improvements' (IMHO anyway) like the flush door handles, trying to get the bonnet to open to a normal height, putting anything chrome firmly in the bin where it belongs lol and this flushed in fog, the de seamed front and back (bumpers can easily be retro fitted with a few brackets) and probably a tastefully done dash with touchscreen infotainment.. remote central locking just because convenience..

I suppose in a way the mini was victim of its own popularity, because everyone loved the simplicity and quirky cute styling bmc / rover etc were scared to change anything dramatically (and/or unwilling to spend money) so it kept a lot of its foibles (including let's be honest a long overdue engine upgrade)

Whereas the fiestas and corsas for example being in competition for sales and no one being particularly tied down to one style meant they got endless revisions and improvements

Having said that I do love a mk1 fiesta. Can't take the dagenham out the boy etc

Edited by stuart bowes, 09 December 2023 - 10:55 AM.

[stuart bowes]

slightly longer update today

 

cut the piece to replace below rear left light cluster

 

 

put the fold in one end then realised I didn't cut quite wide enough due to curvature.  oops.  never mind, make in 2 parts and weld back together:

 

 

 

plug weld at seam and weld along top edge, flush off and prime

 

 

 

 

top corner looks a little off but that's actually where I cut the floor piece back too far, the important thing is it aligns well with the quarter panel (checked from behind as well) I did also straighten out that little kink right by the seam

 

so I flap disked back the edge until I had a reasonably straight even gap (maybe a little too much actually but no problem)

 

 

welded the top and ground off nice and flat from both sides to keep a nice sharp edge 

 

 

got the bottom lined up right and then welded in all round including to the new hinge panel which was sitting there just tacked for ages

 

 

 

it's not exactly beautiful but it's solid, some dremmelling and fine sanding later to finish that off (And obviously as with the rest some tidying up on the inside)

 

tacked the rest and checked alignment

 

 

all good, welded up and smoothed off, primed and done (for now..)

 

 

then I sorted out this bit where I'd removed the slinger bracket.  Welded in that circular hole because I'm going to be reinforcing the 4 corners of the floor pan as jacking / 2 post lifting points

 

 

 

and that's it for today

 

next up, same side front slinger bracket removal and tidy up, then sorting out behind the front suspension bracket point as is tradition

Edited by stuart bowes, 12 December 2023 - 10:06 PM.

[stuart bowes]

removed outer layer of front near side shock mount

 

 

made sure to only cut through in one place and the rest was just deeply scored, such that I peeled it out like opening a tin of spam.. that way I knew I hadn't gone through to the layer below apart from in one place.  when I weld in the new bit I'll turn up the welder and make sure I penetrate right through

 

anyway the layer below looked like this so I was happy

 

 

soaked it with Jenolite and just lobbed on some primer for now

 

 

will be painted, then the new piece bolted in, then wire brushed just around the edges and welded, best I can really do for protection I guess

 

next up removed the front slinger bracket and cleaned up, more Jenolite and then primered temporarily 

 

 

 

last pic showing side angle as you can see it's suffered from the classic 'jacking in the wrong place' syndrome and needs some hammering to flatten out as much as possible

Edited by stuart bowes, 13 December 2023 - 06:59 PM.

[stuart bowes]

made piece to replace cut out in front arch

 

 

primed and painted the inner faces, left overnight, only had black at this point but makes no odds I guess

 

 

 

following morning bolted into place and tapped down the edges a bit, make sure all flush.  wire-brushed good and hard right into the gaps to ensure bare metal for welds (minimum possible left unpainted)

 

 

welded in and linished back

 

 

in the process I actually got one of the bottom bolts stuck in and snapped the head on removal but as it turns out, when working out how to deal with that I realised I can cut out the bottom retaining threaded bar (underside) and also get to clean up better behind it anyway, two birds one stone (the area does need some attention)

 

 

primered to check progress and marked off / ground back areas that need a bit of extra weld (top bolts left in a little to protect those threads from weld splatter)

 

 

linished and primered end result, that'll do nicely for an area that will be permanently hidden by a big bracket and all surrounding areas covered with stonechip and paint anyway (arguably I put too much time and effort in all things considered)

 

 

and finished off the afternoon's work by cleaning back to bare metal, kusrusting and primering this section.  including what isn't obvious from the picture, grinding and filing off those captive nuts around the air intake of which 3 had snapped off bolts stuck in 

 

 

eagle eyed may also spot a patch of primer to the underside of the wing, that's where I'd welded in the aerial hole.  already smoothed over the top side, now also done the underside

 

nearly ready to flip it over to the other side now just a bit more cleaning up to do which is easier from this angle

Edited by stuart bowes, 17 December 2023 - 07:16 PM.

[stuart bowes]

sorting out the bottom bolts.. decided I wanted to do a little better than just welding a little blob on the side to hold the threaded bar in 

 

so..

 

 

 

 

 

2 holes for the bolts and two to plug weld from behind like so:

 

 

4 holes to plug weld to body, and painted the back sides before fitting

 

 

 

cleaned up / jenolite / trial fitted, marked positioning

 

 

all good, tiny bit more fettling needed to get the right bend angle etc but good enough for now

 

 

cleaned out plug weld positions only with a little screwdriver (so the inner faces are still painted as much as possible) 

 

 

and welded that, linished and a dash of paint again.  actually not fitted to car yet will do that when it's the other way up 

 

whether that actually adds any strength or not really is probably arguable, I'm sure it probably doesn't need it.. but an extra layer of steel can't hurt I guess and to me it just seems a bit neater 

 

obviously in the end it will all just be body coloured the black was just what I had to hand

 

in the mean time the car's back down flat again and I can remove this bracket where the holes got welded up and re-drilled

 

 

bit of a mess at that point, taking time to remove carefully and not do any damage, but you can see where the new hole positions would have been no good .. also when I put the new one in, having had a bit more practise now I can do a neater job seeing as this is the really visible side

 

gonna refit the subframe as well to be doubly sure before welding in again, not making that error twice lol

 

couple of spots of welding probably required on the arch you can see at least one place I've dug in too much

 

tidying up other welds in same area a bit as well although that's really a finishing up job for later 

Edited by stuart bowes, 23 December 2023 - 08:14 PM.

[stuart bowes]

some further detail on the bracket removal, not massively exciting just taking time over doing it as carefully as possible

 

 

what I've found as a useful method for grinding accurately is to occasionally spray over with some primer 

 

 

that way you cover up all the existing tool marks and can use the new ones to aim accurately (even more relevant when working in an awkward corner at weird tool angles)

 

 

and that stops me from grinding in the wrong place too much and thinning out good metal

 

then every now and then another spray over.  which also helps to make the remaining work easier to judge

 

 

the bracket itself is pretty much gone now it's mostly just weld around the edges to remove now, nearly there 

 

when I did try the new bracket pushed up to the wheel arch correctly I found a good position where the front/back alignment is ok, but left/right needs the holes welding up and redrilling which I'm fine with (subject to refitting subframe first and double checking before doing any work on it)

 

Edited by stuart bowes, 24 December 2023 - 11:58 PM.

[stuart bowes]

subframe fitted again and double checked all the holes align correctly .. they do

 

 

showing alignment of left side bracket holes after redrilling.  as you can see they did end up slightly off centre from original, but perfectly functional no need to replace on that side:

 

 

Still a lot of weld tidying to do there I know (you can clearly see the penetration from those big plates on the underneath as well which is pleasing)

 

so, right side bracket, welded up the holes after checking centres (57mm in case anyone wanted to know) and primered, and then marked up the floor hole positions for ease of locating with some degree of accuracy (as you can see this isn't a micrometre job lol)

 

 

 

used those marks to find a good position and mark the bracket

 

 

redrilled holes (8.5mm in new money) and trial fitted, happy with that, again they're not perfectly centered but they will be perfectly functional and what part on a mini ever was aligned correctly, call it an homage to originality

 

 

a bit more fettling and slight reshaping of edges required, and finishing off on the removal of old weld on the floor and arch, then can fit it

 

painted the inside as well (black again not that it matters) as a layer of protection

 

 

looking forward to making progress again instead of two steps backwards correcting a mistake .. doh

Edited by stuart bowes, 26 December 2023 - 09:29 PM.

[stuart bowes]

finished off grinding back the old mess, went a bit overboard with the paint for some reason and then fitted bracket

 

 

wirebrushed all around area with bracket in place, did a bit of tapping into shape to make sure edges all meeting up with arch

 

 

welded and primered again

 

 

still not the prettiest of welding, it's just such an awkward angle to get in at, will have to just grind back when I get to that point doing the rest of the boot floor 

 

anyway, now that's done I can take subframe back off and get it back over on the other side to start making progress again

 

 

beginning with tidying up the plug welds on that side of the outer sill, a few little dabs of filler required there from when I was trying to plug weld upside down .. or i might go over it again with the welder I suppose, structurally I'm sure it'll make zero difference

 

Edited by stuart bowes, 27 December 2023 - 05:16 PM.