13 replies to this topic

[Gaz66]

Ive removed the front shocker mounts so as to repair behind them and 2 bolts have snapped off in the captive plate which sits on the end of the bulkhead box section.
I welded nuts on what was sticking out and got one out but the other just snapped off again so.....
Are these little 1/4 unf tapped plates available to buy?
Ive done a minispares search but drew a blank and to be honest I dont know what they are called so as to do a proper search.
Any ideas?

[nicklouse]

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

[Gaz66]

Cheers Nick

[sonikk4]

Word to the wise here, when welding in place try and make sure they are as central as they can be. 

 

The reason i say this is i have a very slight miss match on mine on one side from the factory. All good for the standard steel mounts, however billet Aluminium not so. I need to carefully ream all of the holes in the mount to allow a degree of movement. Not the end of the world, just something to bear in mind for any potential future mods.

[JDMRoverMini]

Tangent question, but I plan on replacing my front shock mounts with new ones from Minispares. should this be easy as unbolting the old ones, and bolting up the new ones? Or do I need to buy the small plates?

[sonscar]

Saw,saw,drill,drill,tap,tap very easy to make if you do need them.Steve..

[Gaz66]

Saw,saw,drill,drill,tap,tap very easy to make if you do need them.Steve..

Easy albeit time consuming if you have the correct steel stock in. If not its credit card time....which it is in my case.
Its funny how 8 quids worth of shocker plates turned into 60 quids worth of gear by the end!

[Gaz66]

Tangent question, but I plan on replacing my front shock mounts with new ones from Minispares. should this be easy as unbolting the old ones, and bolting up the new ones? Or do I need to buy the small plates?

Yes, its as easy as that till the bolts snap off.
Then its weld nuts onto the broken bolts and try spannering them out.
When that fails its new plates.
2 out of 8 snapped on mine.

[JDMRoverMini]

 

Tangent question, but I plan on replacing my front shock mounts with new ones from Minispares. should this be easy as unbolting the old ones, and bolting up the new ones? Or do I need to buy the small plates?

Yes, its as easy as that till the bolts snap off.
Then its weld nuts onto the broken bolts and try spannering them out.
When that fails its new plates.
2 out of 8 snapped on mine.

 

 

Fine, make me paranoid about doing something I thought would be simple.

[Gaz66]

Tangent question, but I plan on replacing my front shock mounts with new ones from Minispares. should this be easy as unbolting the old ones, and bolting up the new ones? Or do I need to buy the small plates?

Yes, its as easy as that till the bolts snap off.
Then its weld nuts onto the broken bolts and try spannering them out.
When that fails its new plates.
2 out of 8 snapped on mine.

Fine, make me paranoid about doing something I thought would be simple.

Soak the bolts with plus gas for a week then go for it.
The thing with those bolts is you can see the end of the thread on the inner wings so easy to soak from both sides.
Beware that when you do get the shocker mounts off you may find very little metal behind them like I did.
Then a whole new world of hate opens up but thats minis for you!

[JDMRoverMini]

 

 

 

Tangent question, but I plan on replacing my front shock mounts with new ones from Minispares. should this be easy as unbolting the old ones, and bolting up the new ones? Or do I need to buy the small plates?

Yes, its as easy as that till the bolts snap off.
Then its weld nuts onto the broken bolts and try spannering them out.
When that fails its new plates.
2 out of 8 snapped on mine.

Fine, make me paranoid about doing something I thought would be simple.

Soak the bolts with plus gas for a week then go for it.
The thing with those bolts is you can see the end of the thread on the inner wings so easy to soak from both sides.
Beware that when you do get the shocker mounts off you may find very little metal behind them like I did.
Then a whole new world of hate opens up but thats minis for you!

 

 

Was the metal gone form rust? mines a 96 JDM, so hopefully not rested off.

[Gaz66]

Yes, rust. Nothing there at all.
Ive been at it all day plating under scuttle, air vents, end of bulkhead box section, shocker mounts etc

Edited by Gaz66, 17 June 2022 - 09:46 PM.

[sonscar]

As far as challenging Mini based tasks it is one of the easiest.The repairs are straightforward and the supplies needed are nothing specialised.I suggest if you find this challenging your Mini ownership curve may just be changing.Look upon this type of repair as a warmup exercise.Most of all enjoy it,have fun,Steve..

[sonikk4]

The later mini's quality control was poor to say the least and one of the affected areas was behind the front shock mounts. IE NO PAINT.

 

Very prone to corrosion and as alluded to you end up with a rusty mess that is you are welder capable easy to fix. BUT there is easy as in throw a plate over the damage or there is take your time, drill out the spot welds welds that hold the reinforcing plate that sits behind the inner wing, replace, repair inner wing and job done. This is not easy but very doable.