22 replies to this topic

[DoubleEh]

Do you have any better pictures of the ends of the subframe (from an angle) so we an see what is on the end, the pictyure looks odd as the holes are at an angle and appear to be threaded.

 

You should also have a big hole in the subframe where the trunnion shaft passes through which seems to be missing.  A better picture would help understand what you have but it should look like this:

 

http://farm6.static...._6383ef9bcb.jpg

 

Homersimpson, I never noticed your reply between my posts, my apologies, thank you for chiming in! 

These pictures are of the Heritage Heelboard Replacement panel and not the subframe. I carefully laid out a centerline on the heelboard and measured to the outer ends, 25.25" (641.35mm) each side, I then used a square registered on the upper side of the heelboard to draw my centerlines shown in the photos I posted. At this point I'm not concerned with my subframe, I just want to make sure that all the measurements are correct and I will be installing the heelboard into the car that's dimensionally correct and in the correct place. 

[DoubleEh]

I have been steadily making progress on the car when I have free time. Most of this has been focused on the rear quarter panels around the wheel arches. You may have noticed that I posted a picture with the entire rear end of the car cut out, including the rear wheel arches I said I was going to attempt to patch. I decided in a moment of financial carelessness to purchase new wheel arches to make sure that I eliminated any possibility of hidden rust and I'm glad I did. 

 

After carefully removing the remnants of the wheel arches I identified areas with pitting that needed to be removed.

 

I fabricated a repair section and used the new wheel arch panels to verify shape and fit before tacking into place.

 

 

Same process on the LH side of the car, but two repair sections this time. I failed to clean and inspect the inside close enough before cutting away the first section, otherwise I would have done one complete repair piece.

 

 

 

 

The TIG welder sure has been getting a workout and I'm extremely pleased with the result so far. This bodywork has all been out of my comfort zone so it's extremely rewarding as I keep pushing forward and getting reasonable results.

I now need to repair the bottom rear sections of the quarter where they meet the rear panel. I purchased the repair sections and will fit those soon, at that point the rear section will be about ready for the floor and wheel arch installation.

 

As I have been flipping the car around doing all this work I have noticed the inside of the rear panel has some surface rust where the paint application from the factory was very thin as it would have been hard to apply. I do need to clean all that back and plan to completely prime it all while I have access before the floor is finally welded into the car. 

[bpirie1000]

Great work... all the time now pays off.... promise...

[DoubleEh]

Great work... all the time now pays off.... promise...

 

Thank you! I keep telling myself this...I hope you're right! I'd like to drive it in this lifetime.

[DoubleEh]

It's been far too long since my last update. Summer arrived, we went on a delayed honeymoon to Europe, work trips, mountain bikes, trials motorcycles...the list of excuses goes on. Here's the condensed version of work to-date since last update.

 

I *mostly* completed repairs to the bottom of the rear bulkhead panel. I have some trimming and tidying before final attachment of the boot floor. Progress picture of the first side being completed.

 

I positioned the boot and heelboard in the upside down car, installed the heelboard in place and even tried a wheel to see if it looks like it's in the right place.

 

It certainly looks right to me. The subframe location in the car just didn't feel good to me. The heelboard won't sit quite perpendicular to the seat base portion of the floor, which is pushing the subframe tight against the rear valence closers. The problem seems to be the location of the tunnel in the car. 

 

I finally returned to my heelboard issues and made a jig to help me relocate the brackets.

Once I was satisfied with the jig, I drilled out the spotwelds and removed the brackets.

Once they were welded back on, who would have guessed, it fits the subframe finally!

 

Once I was at this stage I hit a roadblock because I just was not convinced about the heelboard placement as described earlier. I knew the tunnel was holding it back from where I was confident it should be. A visit from a local British car enthusiast with incredible talents helped me identify that I could not rely on the tunnel location being correct in the car with all the work that was completed previously. With this cleared up, the grinder made an appearance again after some additional bracing and now the shell looks like this:

 

I re-checked my heelboard / floor / subframe alignment and clecoed it back in place. I have then re-installed everything into the shell and I'm very glad I removed the rest of the floor, now I have a clean slate to work with.

 

This last weekend I spent considerable time levelling the car, clamping it in place and using plumb bobs to carefully measure the new panel alignments to the factory manual dimensions.

I have managed to get the heelboard in the car perfectly square to the front tower locations. According to the manual I should be getting 1624mm between the heelboard mounting face and the front towers. My measurements are coming in at 1614mm. I am puzzled. The floor is in the car in the exact same position as the above photo with the wheel on, therefore the subframe looks like it's in the right spot. The heelboard is located on the boot floor based on the subframe. The companion bins clamp in perfectly and align exactly as expected with the heelboard. The only thing I can think of is, maybe the dimensions I've used to calculate my check distance were actually referring to the face of the trunnion, where the bottom bolt goes because that trunnion ear is 10mm.

Does anyone have any insights? Am I overthinking this?? I look forward to any feedback!

[DoubleEh]

Although my previous post tells me that I haven't posted in ages, it feels like it was just yesterday. Boy does this metalwork take time! I have completed the rear bulkhead repairs, replaced the entirety of both wheelarch lips (decided that was best after the previous repairs), welded the heelboard to the boot floor and even epoxy primed the hard to reach areas in the boot / rear bulkhead. After that there were no excuses and the boot floor has been welded into the car!! There was even a full gut and remodel of our main bathroom here at home somewhere in there too. 

Since my last update I also made a big change in the driveway here at home, I sold my pride and joy Chevy Astro cargo van so I could afford more Mini parts. It just wasn't getting used enough to justify keeping it (it stayed parked during salty road season here, so ~6 months a year). I know I'll miss it when trials season rolls around again but it did allow me to purchase 2 giant boxes of parts from Somerford!

 

This post would be lovely if I could share photos but Imgur has managed to completely confuse my aging and increasingly computer illiterate brain and I can't find my existing images. I'll revisit this and edit my post if I can figure it out later. 

 

It's a low snow day here in the cold north so the furnace is on in the garage and I'm off to make more progress, let's hope I have more exciting updates to post later!

[Sir_Swish!]

Fantastic work, seeing the shell with absolutely no floor looks so intimidating (especially as my project is yet to see it's first angle grinder) but seeing the progress you're making must be a huge confidence boost. This car has definitely fallen into the right hands.

 

Also I can't help but feel envious as a fellow mountain biker about you living in Canada, have you been to Whistler Park?

Edited by Sir_Swish!, 08 February 2024 - 11:29 AM.

[DoubleEh]

Thanks for the kind words Sir_Swish. I sure hope the hard work pays off in the end because it seems like 1 step forward and 4 steps back at all times. I was afraid to take the grinder to mine for a long time until a friend reminded me that "it's only metal, if you screw it up you can just weld it back together!", he finally wore me down as you can probably tell!

 

I lived about a ~2hr drive from Whistler for 10 years but never did make it there to ride mountain bikes. I always spent my free time making the best of the year round trials motorcycle season in the Vancouver area. I did spend some quality time up there on skis and in the adjacent mountains on the trials bike. Certainly is a beautiful place of the country to be, I recommend a visit there one day. Just don't be like me and forget to ride at Whistler while you're there!