124 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Good morning all

 

I have recently taken delivery of a fellow TMF'rs Mini Cooper RSP for a bodyshell restoration.

 

It arrived to me as a stripped shell and I understand that he purchased it as an unfinished project so some of it has been cut away

Plan is to restore to original.

 

Here are some photos of it as it arrived with me

 

 

 

 

 

I made a start yesterday afternoon 

 

 

It needs a fair amount of panel work and to give you an idea, here are the panels that will be fitted

 

 

I always like to start with the back end

 

 

Looks pretty good overall but there is quite a lot of corrosion and holes in and around the seams so I shall be replacing most of the back end

 

 

First, I cut off the back panel

 

 

Then drilled and split the seat pan section from the heelboard

 

 

Cut the floor from the companion bins

 

 

Cut around the radius of each arch tub close to the arches lip

 

 

Cut the tack welds holding the waist rails to the rear bulkhead

 

 

And then drilled the spot welds holding the rear shelf to the seat belt anchorage plates

 

 

This then enabled me to remove the bootflloor along with the arch tubs and bulkhead in one

 

 

 

 

Doing it like this means that I can remove the parts I intend to reuse with relative ease before building it all back up

 

I've got some panel edges to remove now and then I can start putting metal back

 

Cheers

Ben

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[colinf1]

Thats a whole lot of panels! Getting stuck in straight away with the back panel! 

[cooperd70]

Another car to be rescued by an expert 👍👍

That will keep you out if mischief for a while Ben 🙂

[eric67]

Good to see you back with another epic project Ben

[Crazy]

looking forward to following this thread, interesting to always see updates on any project Ben has in.

[Ben_O]

All the remains of the removed panels have now been removed from the seams in preparation for the new panels

 

I started with the left side.

 

 

I shall be fitting a new quarter panel this side because of excessive rust making it more economical to replace

 

 

 

So this side realy just needed the remaining flanges of the arch tub and back panel roughly grinding back to giveme something to clamp the new panels too.

 

The other quarter panel was quoted to be repaired due to corrosion along the bottom edge where it meets the sill.

However,once I started cleaning back the edges, I found some issues

 

 

There are 3 skins there on the arch lip following a historic repair which has left the arch lip I need to keep in a state 

 

 

Also, the outside of the panel has a lot of filler In it which I hadn't noticed when preparing the estimate for the work

 

 

So now, a new quarter panel this side will need to be considered.

 

I removedthe remains of the old panels from that side too and I'm now ready to start putting new metal back

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben 

[JXC Mini GT]

Good to see yet another Mini getting your expert attention Ben, has the floor been replaced previously and is this just body work or a complete rebuild.

[Ben_O]

Good to see yet another Mini getting your expert attention Ben, has the floor been replaced previously and is this just body work or a complete rebuild.

The floor is original and requires repair that I will outline later

this one will be going back as a rolling shell and I shall be fitting a headliner and glazing it

 

Cheers

Ben 

[Ben_O]

Ok, time to start putting metal back 

Back panel clamped on first

 

 

And then once adjusted for height, I scribed the cut lines on the C posts

 

 

Then removed the panel and made my cuts

 

 

 

Then I refitted the panel and measured up to make sure it's in the correct position and then tacked both joins

 

 

 

Then slipped the boot floor in to check it goes

 

 

 

Looks good 

 

Now it's time to assemble the boot floor

 

 

More on that tomorrow

 

Cheers

Ben

[jamesquintin]

God damn I know this is going to be a good thread! 

[Fred&Rex]

Oooh another exciting thread to read through

Hmm reminds me of how mine looked 😁

Great work Ben as usual

[jim5570]

Excellent work Ben. I’m so glad I chose you to restore my pride and joy. I can’t believe how much you’ve achieved already. Look forward to seeing more updates.

[Chris1275gt]

Didn’t realise how much I’ve missed these builds Ben it’s been a while since the last, I dream of you doing mine one day I’m only a lottery win away. Great consistent work.

[Fred&Rex]

Ben is the man, you are in safe hands…
Great guy and attention to detail is outstanding 👍

[Ben_O]

Didn’t realise how much I’ve missed these builds Ben it’s been a while since the last, I dream of you doing mine one day I’m only a lottery win away. Great consistent work.

Cheers, that means a lot

 

I haven't been away from the minis, I have been doing a body resto on a 1976 shell for fred&rex above.

We agreed not to post the progress on that one here but I've now been given permission to share so will pop some photos up on the main Mill Road thread once it's finished which it very nearly is

 

Cheers 

Ben 

Edited by Ben_O, 15 December 2022 - 10:09 PM.