22 replies to this topic

[Tomf]

Does anyone know if its legal to rivet in aluminum floor pans? The question is im looking for ways to save weight and i saw this on ebay and i thought that it would be a good way of saving weight .

Also is it legal to rivet in a boot floor? i think this is, but im not sure about the floor pans. Could someone confirm this?

Also is it legal to remove the rear seat including the heel board top section and rivet in an aluminum panel here?

EDIT: ok whatever i do the link wont work. the ebay item number is: 300184023138

Edited by Tomf, 23 December 2007 - 01:27 AM.

[Ethel]

You'd have to argue that the steel you chopped out wasn't structural and convince your insurers too. I can't really see the weight savings being worth the effort and it would very likely make the shell less rigid. You can cut back the rear seat and bins however.

[Tomf]

yea, i know i can cut back the rear seat and bins, however i dont want to do this as i might want to put the back seat in at some point if i need people in the back.

[Bungle]

with a mini shell being a monocock theres not much you can chop off

[philc]

you would not be able to rivet the boot floor as this is structual, it would have to be seem welded, it would not pass and mot

[oli8925]

you would not be able to rivet the boot floor as this is structual, it would have to be seem welded, it would not pass and mot

bananas!

[oli8925]

(that was BANANAS as i thought it would appear as ive just written but admins been having some fun)

i think a repair section has been riveted onto my boot floor but thinking again that was just to hold it in place. it was then welded. this should be ok shouldnt it?

Edited by Dan, 23 December 2007 - 01:25 PM.
And we'll keep doing it until you stop swearing on our forum, or bananas off. Read the rules.

[Bungle]

as long as its seam welded all the way around pop riviets dont matter

[Tomf]

you would not be able to rivet the boot floor as this is structual, it would have to be seem welded, it would not pass and mot

Mate, the boot floor is the once place, i knew you could rivet in panels, as i was going to fir a Carbon Fiber boot floor and this is just riveted in place. And many people have done this on road legal cars.

[preston-pill]

quckerst way to save weight: dont let people sit in the back

[Dan]

as long as its seam welded all the way around pop riviets dont matter

Going to weld ally to steel then Bungle?

Mate, the boot floor is the once place, i knew you could rivet in panels

Whoever you know has done it may not have done it fully legally. For one thing the entire boot floor is with 300mm of suspension/chassis (meaning subframe) mounting points except for a very small patch in the middle of the wheel well and for another, as above it's structural. Any repair to the boot floor must be at least as good as, if not better than original specification. I believe that bonding in a floor would be acceptable if the right compound was used but not pop rivets.

[Bungle]

as long as its seam welded all the way around pop riviets dont matter

Going to weld ally to steel then Bungle?

i thought he ment steel

[cowboy]

Does anyone know if its legal to rivet in aluminum floor pans? The question is im looking for ways to save weight and i saw this on ebay and i thought that it would be a good way of saving weight .

Also is it legal to rivet in a boot floor? i think this is, but im not sure about the floor pans. Could someone confirm this?

Also is it legal to remove the rear seat including the heel board top section and rivet in an aluminum panel here?

EDIT: ok whatever i do the link wont work. the ebay item number is: 300184023138

No its not legal to rivet a floor pan into your mini, because of the position of
1 the seat belt mount
2 the front subframe rear mounts.

the structure needs to be solid with in 300mm of these points.


i also wouldnt suggest removing th heal board from the rear either because of the structure advantage that you have with it fitted

[cambiker71]

Rivetted floor pans would mean an MOT fail, as would bonded ones. The MOT manual makes this very clear (get youtself a copy or look at it in your local library). The boot floor is structural as mentioned above leaving only a small section more then 30cm away from subframe mounts. The floorpan has several sections that have to be up to original strength as the mounting points for seatbelts, handbrake lever mountings and both subframes have fixings well within 30cm of the front and rear floors and the other items also have to have structurally sound areas within 30cm too, this doesn't leave too much to remove really and would be a waste of your time. As an example next time you have an MOT failure sheet for rusty floors, imagine representing it for retest with rivetted alloy panels as a repair, it wouldn't be acceptable in that case either

[JetBLICK]

I'd be worried about your personal safety aspect as well as the cars rigidity, the rigidity yo u could fix by tying all the structural points together with the rollcage - spaceframe stylee. Aluminium tho is quite soft, if you flick up a sharp stone or drive over one in the middle of the road accidentally it will make a big dent, or if you get youself *god forbid* in a serious accident, it could be easily pierced. Same goes for most composites. The only way it would be safe is if you used a thick sheet of ally - but that'll defy the point, or use proper pre-preg'd composites.