51 replies to this topic

[analogue_radio]

I've owned my mini for about a month now, after getting to grips with her and changing small things, I've decided it's time to conquer all of the rust so I can be satisfied that anything I do after that won't be compromised by the awful stuff.

I'd happily strip her down , and then go from there, but my Mini is a daily drive and I rely heavily upon her! so I can only afford to be days without her.

I've just been out and taken photographs of all the obvious spots, but I'm probably missing some, where else should I check?

These are the ones I've noticed,

(uploading photographs now, whilst I'm waiting for that, where else should I check for obvious rust spots?)























Go

I was considering a front flip which would cue some of the problems above ^ but then I'd need to sort the Skuttle, the doors and everything else.

Edited by theIMAGE, 21 April 2008 - 04:42 PM.

[jack_marshall]

Boot floor corners, rear valance closing panels, outer sills, inner sills, inside the rear door pockets, floor panels, bottom of doors, bottom of quarters, rear subframe mounts, inside rear quarter window frames, corners of the roof, around the windscreen, scuttle, a panels, wings, inner wings, front panel, around air vent holes in bulkhead.

Im sure theres some more!

Pretty much everywhere!

[analogue_radio]

Oh god I've missed plenty then..

Pictures added though.

[edi57]

Mate,

Not trying to get you down or anything, but you're driving what's technically known as a "rust bucket"!

As with all minis, perfectly possible to repair, but it's certainly not going to be a weekend job.

I'd say it would be very difficult indeed to continue using as a daily driver and do all the necessary repairs properly.

Hope that doesn't hurt too much, just giving my honest and realistic view on it all!

Ed.

Edited by edi57, 21 April 2008 - 06:08 PM.

[analogue_radio]

No worries! I didn't think it was bad as some peoples out there, but it seems to be spreading quite fast.. how fast does rust spread though..? I mean when I picked her up it wasn't that bad around the Scuttle at all..

I haven't even taken pictures of the boot or the passenger foot wells yet .

[Bungle]

its not worth rubbing down and treating rust that bad

you need to cut out the rot and replace panels


buy your self a welder and learn how to us it

[analogue_radio]

Cheers Bungle.

Are you talking about everything?

Can't the door be treated then? (right hand one)

[Ro8bieg]

Looks to me like u will be needing a new rear subframe soon aswel!

[analogue_radio]

According to the chap I brought it from the Subframe was last replaced in 1999, I've got no idea how long they're supposed to last though.

This is becoming more and more expensive .

[dezshearer]

Don't get downheartened by it!

But it does look like you'll need some new panels!

Def check the footwells and sills!

If you're gonna get new panels, i strongly advice getting a full scuttle from heritage, they fit like a glove once you cut the old one out!

However, before you even think about tackling it, think about doing a welding course if you don't already know how!


And again, don't worry theres always something worse..

Here's one i saw the other day:

Edited by dezshearer, 21 April 2008 - 07:06 PM.

[analogue_radio]

I'd do anything to keep her alive .

I'll have a chat about this with my Dad, as he's pretty sure we can simply grind down and smooth over the rust.. are any of you lads going to Himley Hall in May?

I could do with getting one of you to take a look at her, with my Dad present.. so he knows I've had a second opinion on this.

[lrostoke]

The only real way to find out how bad rust is, is to poke it with screwdriver, looking at yours I would say you will end up with a lot of big holes..

There's plenty of projects in the project section on here,

this link http://www.orrp.com/...p?topic=34555.0 will show you the bits we had to fix on a £200 ebay special ..we did actually buy it as a project so there were no real suprises and no rush to get it on the road..

[Pauly]

What ive found out about doing bodywork is that you can start cutting out rust, only to find more underneath.

For example, the scuttle, you could cut out the scuttle panel then find the whole corner underneath it is rotten.

You could do with a little run around in the mean time.

I would guess theres a few months work there.

Paul.

[analogue_radio]

A rough estimate, am I looking at about a grand? rear subframe included, argh and what about spraying? that's even more then..

I know it's hard to judge how much work needs doing, but a rough estimate around any amount would greatly help get my head around how I'm going to do this.

[lrostoke]

You really need to find out what panels need replacing, and what can be repaired..

On the link I posted, we brought that one in at around £1500 including cost of the car, but we did all the work ourselves including spraying..