6 replies to this topic

[Wildman10]

I am renovating a relative's a 1991 Mini 1000 in IIRC Caribbean Blue metallic.  After ill health stopped me from doing anything on it for over a year I've now got some capacity back.  I'm keen to get it through an MOT so I can get it off my drive (my relative has no off-street parking and I have no garage). Both he and I want him to drive it for at least a short time and are loathe to sell it as it is.  I have no-one here knowledgeable enough to bounce ideas off.

 

I'd sorted all the rust on the main shell and had broken the back of the electrics and mechanicals. I'm therefore not expecting any great difficulty in finishing those.  However, I'm in a quandary over what to do with the rust on the doors.  The offside door, the one still on the car, has mainly fillable holes, the nearside door, the one off the car, has more serious rust and the bottom of the front panel has a lot of rust damage.  If I can help it I don't want to chuck loads of my relative's money at new doors or replacing panels with the attendant paintwork.  Better, perhaps, to put off the decision on spending loads of money by using lots of Belzona Liquid Metal and body filler to get it done with the least cost and effort now.

 

My understanding of how the MOT Manual applies is as follows:

• Appendix A: Structural Integrity and Corrosion: the doors are not in a prescribed area so defects should only be rejected if either braking or steering is adversely affected due to structural misalignment or the strength or continuity of the overall vehicle structure is significantly reduced.  I think this won't be an issue.
• Section 6. A body panel or body component damaged or corroded and likely to cause injury when grazed or contacted, or insecure is a Major (ie MOT failure).  This is will dictate the rust be repaired to avoid injury.

• Section 6.2.3.  Security and opening.  Both doors lock and open as advertised so this should not be an issue.

I attach some images of the doors and sills.

 

Please can someone advise me on what may be the best things to do?

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[crossthread]

For a permanent repair obviously both doors need frame repairs and skins. A cheaper and easier alternative would be to find second hand doors. A quick bodge with filler would get them through an MOT.     The front panel is a different problem , that definitely needs welding for the MOT. Either a quality patch weld ,or a new panel complete. I suspect the corrosion on the front goes into the box section as well, that part comes pre welded to the new front panel, making it a relatively easy job.

[sonscar]

Front panel is structural so needs welding,filler in door perhaps with fiberglass paste.You understand the temporary nature of this approach but it will get you mobile at lowest cost.fix it and enjoy it.Steve..

[mab01uk]

As said the rust in the doors should not fail an MOT.

I had a Mini with similar rust in the bottom of the door panels, while waiting for time to reskin or replace the doors with new or secondhand replacements, the Mini passed a couple of MOT's with just waterproof 'Gaffa/Duct Tape' stuck over the holes just to stop the ingress of rain water and to ensure there were no sharp edges for the MOT tester to fail it on. I also found some blue Duct Tape which almost matched the paint colour! 

 

Not sure about the front sill panel, bearing in mind some Minis have been modified with a complete removable fibreglass (or steel) front end, (although not so common as it once was) and I presume pass an MOT?

I think some members of the forum are MOT testers and should be able to confirm one way or the other, welded repair patches could sort rather than replace the full front panel, especially if only the outer part of the front sill box section is affected.

Edited by mab01uk, Yesterday, 06:53 PM.

[Wildman10]

Thank you, all, that's very useful.

 

However, my reading of the MOT manual is that the front lip is not a structural part. Any box section is sound. IMO the lip is not shown as a structural item in the 4 diagrams and the text of Appendix A Section 2 doesn't apply:

"Certain areas of the vehicle structure are particularly important for the safety of a vehicle and you must pay particular attention to these areas during an inspection. These areas are:

• load-bearing parts of the vehicle to which testable items are mounted – these items are in Sections 1 (brakes), 2 (steering), 5 (axles, wheels, tyres and suspension) and 7 (other equipment) of the inspection manual
• any load-bearing or supporting structure or supporting panelling within 30cm of the mounting location."

I stand to be corrected though.

[68+86auto]

Basically all panels on a mini are structural and if it was up to me, that would 100% fail.

 

Over here, our inspection guidelines go into detail on the level of rust and where it can be located. The fact that there is rust near the hinges would definitely be a fail.

 

I don't care if it would pass an MOT, it is unsafe. In my opinion it needs to be fixed properly by welding in new steel or else the whole car should go as scrap metal.

Edited by 68+86auto, Today, 03:24 AM.

[slidehammer]

If it were me and my intention was to get it on the road to enjoy cheaply and safley, I would repair the doors with cure rust and fibre glass reinforced filler and weld patches on the front panel or if possible cut the old rust out and fabricate repairs sections. If you start to change the front panel you will end up going down a rabbits warren and will probably end up replacing the whole front end.