Petal
Started by
Guess-Works.com
, Sep 24 2004 01:06 PM
34 replies to this topic
#1
Posted 24 September 2004 - 01:06 PM
Hi y'all...
For those I have spoken to, and those which have heard off.. Petal is my ongoing project, which I hope, is nearing completion...
A potted history is, she was found languishing on someones fron garden, one sill removed, and grass upto her doors.. a quick note through the letter box with "Do ya want to sell it" on, prompted a phone call a day later.. Money changed hands, and Petal was being towed back to a new home for some TLC... Also turned out to be my learn to weld project !!
This was in May this year...
Here's Petal ( as she was )
A few days later....
The quick amongst you will notice that a Flip Front is on the adgenda, and also some serious panel replacement because of rot... A home made jig (bit of wood ) to hold the hinge panel in place while trying to rebuild the door step and floor, fortunately the other side was not as bad ( didn't have to replace the doorstep !! )
Which brings us closer to September, where three weeks holiday saw the finishing of all major welding ( floor pan, rear arches, boot and valance )
We're pretty much upto date here, with almost all the suspension rebuilt and back in place, and just to re-pipe the brakes, then she should be back down on her wheels.. This'll then allow me to get on with prepping the interior for spraying and fitting. Seats have been aquired from an Alfa 146, which, if I do say so myself, fit in rather nicely. You may also notice the colour, yes that is it , on the inside too !!! :saywhat:
There are more photos on Petal's web page >>> Here
but I post some more here, as I take them.... :grin:
For those I have spoken to, and those which have heard off.. Petal is my ongoing project, which I hope, is nearing completion...
A potted history is, she was found languishing on someones fron garden, one sill removed, and grass upto her doors.. a quick note through the letter box with "Do ya want to sell it" on, prompted a phone call a day later.. Money changed hands, and Petal was being towed back to a new home for some TLC... Also turned out to be my learn to weld project !!
This was in May this year...
Here's Petal ( as she was )
A few days later....
The quick amongst you will notice that a Flip Front is on the adgenda, and also some serious panel replacement because of rot... A home made jig (bit of wood ) to hold the hinge panel in place while trying to rebuild the door step and floor, fortunately the other side was not as bad ( didn't have to replace the doorstep !! )
Which brings us closer to September, where three weeks holiday saw the finishing of all major welding ( floor pan, rear arches, boot and valance )
We're pretty much upto date here, with almost all the suspension rebuilt and back in place, and just to re-pipe the brakes, then she should be back down on her wheels.. This'll then allow me to get on with prepping the interior for spraying and fitting. Seats have been aquired from an Alfa 146, which, if I do say so myself, fit in rather nicely. You may also notice the colour, yes that is it , on the inside too !!! :saywhat:
There are more photos on Petal's web page >>> Here
but I post some more here, as I take them.... :grin:
#2
Posted 24 September 2004 - 01:10 PM
Hey thats really really cool, MINE NEXT? LOL
#3
Posted 01 October 2004 - 02:51 PM
Now in October, a full month and a half behind schedule :sad:
But....
Rebuilt suspension and brakes nearly in...
And, best of all... I've found the garage floor !!!
Having another bash tomorrow ( Saturday ) so may even be down on her wheels then.... :grin:
But....
Rebuilt suspension and brakes nearly in...
And, best of all... I've found the garage floor !!!
Having another bash tomorrow ( Saturday ) so may even be down on her wheels then.... :grin:
#4
Posted 01 October 2004 - 03:51 PM
See your nearly finished then you can buy my city and give her the same love lol ! :smartass:
#5
Posted 03 October 2004 - 12:48 PM
Excellent work! So you can rebuild a mini with a gasless MIG..... Tell me, how long roughly in terms of welding hours, did it take you to get from the "blowing holes in everything and bird poo" stage to pretty damn good welding? And what sort of costage are you upto now?
#6
Posted 04 October 2004 - 10:37 AM
ooh... the 6 million dollar question !!.... well fortunately it has not cost that much otherwise I would not be doing it on me drive... :grin:
The Gasless, ( if you spying my welder ) is actually a Dual Gas or NoGas, and I did it all with Gas ( started on those throw away bottles but moved over to Sealey 1kg refillable which are much more ecomomical )...
Cost wise, if we're just looking at the welding and ignoring the mechanical bits of the project..
Here's the breakdown... ( which is actually tru to the penny as I just worked it out last week )
Welding consumables... £125
includes, tips, sheilds, wire ( 5kg 8mm x 2 ), gas ( co2/argon ) disposable waste of money x 3, Outright purchase of Sealey 1kg refillable bottle, and 3 refils ( 7 quid a time for 1kg co2, last 3times aslong as those disposable bottles )
Panels..£125 ( that's a coincidence !! )
includes A panels, Fitch repair x 2,Door Step,Inner Sills,Outer Sills,Rear Valance, Boot floor both, Subframe reinforcements ( front mounts ), Scuttle Closing panels.
I also had Rear arches which I got off a mate cheap and A sill in the garage, so add another, 40 quid or so to the final price...
The otherthings which I had was the roof of another mini which supplied alot of metal for patches etc...
So all in all about 300 quid to stick the car back together...
Time wise... bearing in mind at the start I had never held a mig welder in my hand... It's taken probably 5 or 6 weeks of solid welding ( and re-welding in some cases ), but alot of that time is also spent grinding, cutting and fabricating metal for patches, reinforcement etc..
To get past Pigeon sh*t welding took the majority of the drivers side sill doorsetep and flitch... it was not so much the practicallity of welding but knowing when to increase the current and slow the wire feed down and and vice versa which took the time to understand... cause and effect.
Buy the time I did the passenger side, and Boot it was quite evident to me that the welder I had bought was only just upto the job, as the more profficient you get the closer you get to the duty limit of the unit... I was beginning to have to wait half way through a weld for the mig to have a rest !
Welder used, Clarke 105EN ( 100 amps ), which is adequate for general welding, but I if do another project like this, I'll be out for a new Mig probably 150 amp plus, so I can run a longer duty cycle.
The Gasless, ( if you spying my welder ) is actually a Dual Gas or NoGas, and I did it all with Gas ( started on those throw away bottles but moved over to Sealey 1kg refillable which are much more ecomomical )...
Cost wise, if we're just looking at the welding and ignoring the mechanical bits of the project..
Here's the breakdown... ( which is actually tru to the penny as I just worked it out last week )
Welding consumables... £125
includes, tips, sheilds, wire ( 5kg 8mm x 2 ), gas ( co2/argon ) disposable waste of money x 3, Outright purchase of Sealey 1kg refillable bottle, and 3 refils ( 7 quid a time for 1kg co2, last 3times aslong as those disposable bottles )
Panels..£125 ( that's a coincidence !! )
includes A panels, Fitch repair x 2,Door Step,Inner Sills,Outer Sills,Rear Valance, Boot floor both, Subframe reinforcements ( front mounts ), Scuttle Closing panels.
I also had Rear arches which I got off a mate cheap and A sill in the garage, so add another, 40 quid or so to the final price...
The otherthings which I had was the roof of another mini which supplied alot of metal for patches etc...
So all in all about 300 quid to stick the car back together...
Time wise... bearing in mind at the start I had never held a mig welder in my hand... It's taken probably 5 or 6 weeks of solid welding ( and re-welding in some cases ), but alot of that time is also spent grinding, cutting and fabricating metal for patches, reinforcement etc..
To get past Pigeon sh*t welding took the majority of the drivers side sill doorsetep and flitch... it was not so much the practicallity of welding but knowing when to increase the current and slow the wire feed down and and vice versa which took the time to understand... cause and effect.
Buy the time I did the passenger side, and Boot it was quite evident to me that the welder I had bought was only just upto the job, as the more profficient you get the closer you get to the duty limit of the unit... I was beginning to have to wait half way through a weld for the mig to have a rest !
Welder used, Clarke 105EN ( 100 amps ), which is adequate for general welding, but I if do another project like this, I'll be out for a new Mig probably 150 amp plus, so I can run a longer duty cycle.
#7
Posted 05 October 2004 - 05:43 PM
Ive got a Clarke 155 turbo mig and its good enough for some really thick stuff but you can still turn it down for mini stuff, pretty good really. Nice work by the way!
#8
Posted 05 October 2004 - 07:29 PM
Anymore pics Guess Works?
#9
Posted 05 October 2004 - 07:46 PM
Follow the Guessworks link on me footer, and then select Petal... full gallery of work to date...
#10
Posted 05 October 2004 - 07:48 PM
I'd like to get a TIG, those are great fun, and easy, too, just cost da bomb.
#11
Posted 09 October 2004 - 07:32 PM
HOT NEWS...
Petal's back on all fours...
More tomorrow....
Petal's back on all fours...
More tomorrow....
#12
Posted 09 October 2004 - 07:33 PM
Wow bak on fours nice work keep it up
#13
Posted 09 October 2004 - 08:01 PM
way to go john she's looking better eveyday
#14
Posted 09 October 2004 - 08:22 PM
looking good, good luck
#15
Posted 10 October 2004 - 12:05 AM
A step in the right direction.
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