124 replies to this topic

[Homersimpson]

What it really shows me is that if you are serious about rebuilding a Mini a spot welder is almost essential.The speed and neatness is a joy to behold and it probably reduces greatly the amount of bodywork later.Great tutorial,and free.Thanks,Steve..

You can do it without but a spotwelder speeds up the process greatly and reduces the amount of grinding up afterwards.  It also leaves the nice factory finish which can't really be rectified by plug welding.

 

The problem i've found is that you need so many different arms to do different bits of the car and differerent cars that it starts getting expensive and I still use the trusty MIG for a lot of work that I do.

[Ben_O]

 

What it really shows me is that if you are serious about rebuilding a Mini a spot welder is almost essential.The speed and neatness is a joy to behold and it probably reduces greatly the amount of bodywork later.Great tutorial,and free.Thanks,Steve..

You can do it without but a spotwelder speeds up the process greatly and reduces the amount of grinding up afterwards.  It also leaves the nice factory finish which can't really be rectified by plug welding.

 

The problem i've found is that you need so many different arms to do different bits of the car and differerent cars that it starts getting expensive and I still use the trusty MIG for a lot of work that I do.

 

It certainly is much more efficient to use the spot welder not only for time but also for savings on consumables.

 

That said, my spot welder can't get everywhere so I'm still fairly limited using it and use mig plugging for quite a lot of the rebuilds still.

 

Cheers

Ben 

[floormanager]

Ahh a year ago my mini had Christmas in Ben's workshop!

[Viktor]

Hi Ben, may I ask for the approx dimensions of the wiring harness tabs?  I will be doing mine very soon...

 

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

[Gilles1000]

Victor, 

 

I can measure them as they were on my 1979 Mini (they are ready to be welded, albeit I am not by this time), they looked a little bit more complex than simple rectangles.

 

Will try to look at this tomorrow evening.

 

Ben, you are making every big bodywork looking so easy... But I am always looking forward to your new posts :)

[Fred&Rex]

He certainly is
I’m blown away with my shell repairs..
I think he likes them bad so he can put it right once again

Thanks
Daz

[absx2]

 

Why did you fold the ends of the bumper lip over..? I've not seen that done before, was it a factory thing?

To be honest, it's only something I have recently discovered myself 

Most of the cars I've had in have either had replacement valances in the past or are corroded enough that you can't see that it was folded.

I had a car in this year that had it's original factory valance in good condition and you could see that it was folded which to me is much neater  and I believe to be factory.

Whether this was done on every Mini, I don't know but I'm going to do it from now on.

 

Cheers

Ben 

 

 

Just looked at my totally original, rot free 1990 Cooper that I`ve owned from 3 years old and the fold is there 

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben, may I ask for the approx dimensions of the wiring harness tabs?  I will be doing mine very soon...

 

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

They are approx 12mm wide but the end that welds to the floor is a few mm wider as a square and the tab from there is narrower if that makes sense but there isn't necessarily a reason to recreate this, you can simply cut 12mm wide by 45mm long strips and then fold one end 10mm from the edge 90 degrees, flatten it back out again and then fold it 45 degrees the other way to create a crease which will be easier to bend round to secure the loom later

[Viktor]

Thanks Ben, appreciate the swift response and the detail! 

 

Victor.

[Gilles1000]

Sorry, I've been a little late on this...

 

here is a picture of one I recreated according to the original ones which were in good condition. Everything according to what ben said. I made the smaller side using a file and removing a bit on each side. That went quickly.

The width are 15 and 12mm one this one, and a bit over 60mm length.

 

 

Cheers

Gilles

Edited by Gilles1000, 21 December 2022 - 02:21 PM.

[Viktor]

Fantastic Gilles, that is very helpful!  Cheers mate.

 

Victor.

[Ben_O]

Been cracking on the past 2 days 

 

With the boot floor installed, it was time for the arch tubs and closers to be fitted

 

I started off with the closers

 

 

 

And then the arch tubs went in

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is the rear bulkhead which needs to be liberated from the old rear end

After Some cutting, I ended up with this

 

 

And then some more cleaning up and designing left this

 

 

Which went in using the new parcel shelf to aid alignment

 

 

Next, it was plug welded to the boot floor and arch tubs

 

 

Then the stiffeners were welded back

 

 

 

Then prep was carried out for the new parcel shelf

 

 

 

And it was welded in

 

 

 

Next I cut off the NS quarter panel

 

 

Before the new one goes on, I had a clean up and finished some welding

 

 

Fitted the closing panel 

 

 

And welded the reinforcer to the arch tub

 

 

With that done, I could trial fit the new quarter

 

 

And once happy, I scribed my cut in lines

 

 

 

Then I prepped and welded on the quarter

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also welded up the c post join this side

 

 

That brings us up to date

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

The other quarter panel is now off

 

 

And I've cleaned up I'm the companion bins and welded the closing panels 

 

 

Few more bits to do before the quarter can go on but these are just repeats of the other side

 

Cheers

Ben

[Viktor]

Excellent work Ben. I have a question about the quarter panel. I guess it is spot welded along the wheel arch, outter sill, window and against the rear panel along the seam. However, how is it fixed to the B pillar where the quarter panel folds into the door? Is that plug welded?

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

[Ben_O]

Excellent work Ben. I have a question about the quarter panel. I guess it is spot welded along the wheel arch, outter sill, window and against the rear panel along the seam. However, how is it fixed to the B pillar where the quarter panel folds into the door? Is that plug welded?

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

Cheers Victor

 

Yes, that's right.

I drilled 6mm holes every 1.5" and then plug welded and ground back

 

Cheers

Ben