188 replies to this topic

[edi57]

Hi Ed
Nice to see you back again, excellent job on removing the wheel arch, I had to remove both of mine and they are a pain, you think you've drilled all the spots but theres always one that you miss, glad to see your using heritage arches. First ones I bought were patent ones and they didn't fit well at all, took them back in the end and got heritage ones , look forward to more updates soon

Andy

Thanks Andy

I'm glad to hear that it's not just me who struggled with getting out the arches! Yes it was tricky... I still have the other one to do too! These things are always quicker on the second try tho.

Ed

[edi57]

Nice work as usual Ed, wondered where this project went!

Thanks mate... it's still alive and kicking.. it was just summer hibernating!

Ed

[edi57]

So I got a little time in the garage tonight. No major progress.. but I'm posting this just to prove that the work I did on Sunday was not just a one-off!

I removed the e-coat where I'm going to need to weld.




Then clamped the arch into place.




Putting my guide in place, I found that the top of the arch was out by about 4-5mm. I needed to pull the arch in.




After a moment of thinking, I found a rachet strap. This pulled the arch in just perfectly.




I readjusted the clamps, so it's now perfectly positioned for welding. That's it for tonight!

[mk1john]

Great work mate, fully agree with keeping repairs invisible, makes for a nice clean look and shows great pride in your work.
keep it up

[edi57]

A couple of long overdue updates...

With the arch nicely positioned I got it welded securely in place. It was spot welded on the outer edge and all the inside welds were plug welded.

Where the metal was a little thin I had to get the mig welder out. Weld then grind back. Thankfully this only happen in a few places.






With that arch done I got started on the other arch... well actually my good friend David was keen to help me drill out quite a few of those spot welds.. he did a great job which was very much appeciated!




Old arch gone!




New arch clamped into place. This makes it look so quick and easy. But clamping this arch in place and getting it positioned just perfectly took about an hour.



That arch has now been fully welded in place.

Which takes me onto....


The complete boot floor/rear seat panel! I was quite exciting about getting started on this panel because it's probably going to be the biggest panel I replace (lots less metal to worry about after I've finished) and I had in mind that it was going to be quick and easy.

I thought it would definitely be quick to remove because it's not secured to the rear panel (that's been replaced), it's not secured to the arches (they've been replaced) so it's not attached to all that much! Anyway... it ended up taking me about 4 hours last Saturday and probably a further 5 hours on Sunday! I was so pleased when I finally got it out that I lit the BBQ... even though it was cold and dark and roasted some marshmallows with a few friends to celebrate!









I hope to be able to spend a decent amount of time on the mini over the weekend. This weekend will consist of:

- Prepping the body to accept the new boot floor (cutting off any left over bits, fixing areas etc etc)
- Prepping new boot floor (adding space wheel retaining clamp and other bits)

I doubt I'll get as far as fitting the panel... but I'll be please if I manage to get to the position where I am ready to fit it.

That actually reminds me. When fitting the panel, I'm going to need to bolt on the subframe to get alignment right... which means I'm going to need to order a rear subframe bush and bolt set MS44..

[HARBER07]

Brilliant work Ed!!! How are you finishing your welds? Just the usual flap discs in a grinder, or something else? Really top notch job though

[Mini Basher]

HI Edd

Nice job of doing the arches, suprising how difficult it is to remove the boot floor though, it took me a lot longer than anticipated when I did mine. If your using a heritage boot floor panel you will find that to keep it as the original one is that you will need to modify a few bits on the panel, namely the fuel and cable holes and also the battery cable hole as these are not the same on the newer floor pans, another tip is to fit the battery box before you fit the floor panel, it makes life so much easier, good luck and keep up the good work

Cheers

Andy

[deemo]

Really nice
Love this thread, Keep it up.

[edi57]

Hi All,

Not much progress has been made really. I've been busy enjoying Christmas/New year and all that. Today I finally got in the garage for a couple of hours.

It was freezing outside and snowed for a while. Luckily I had the space heater going so it was toastily warm.

My buddy Pete stopped by which really helped with progress. Here he is copping out the "difficult" bits left of the boot floor.





The spare wheel clamp and fuel tank rest were salvaged from the old floor. Unfortunately I didn't make note of exactly where the fuel tank rest should be positioned. Has anyone got anything that could help me here?

Spare wheel clamp bracket was plug welded in today.

[Hassan23]

Hi Ed just read your thread from the beginning and i am blown away by your attention to detail, really fantastic work would you consider showing this at concours shows because i am positive i would destroy most minis.

Hassan

[1964Woody]

Beautiful work- am just starting a complete resto (my first) on a Countryman. Your work is inspiring (and some great teaching).

A question- what is the reasoning behind clamping copper sheet behind a hole before you fill it? I havent seen that done before- I see that it works but does the copper stay there or is it simply to hold the weld material in place until it cools? Thanks.

[GreaseMonkey]

A question- what is the reasoning behind clamping copper sheet behind a hole before you fill it? I havent seen that done before- I see that it works but does the copper stay there or is it simply to hold the weld material in place until it cools? Thanks.

It lets you build up the weld without it falling through, till it cools as you said

[Scallywag630]

Looks great, but obviously a lot of work. Well done, another mini saved.

[analogue_radio]

Fantastic work, really inspiring.

Guessing you are around my age, 19? & I'm hoping over easter to get started on the boot.. like you, I will be replacing the full boot floor. You've made it look bloody easy

What size spot weld drill are you using?

[tedmcedd]

Any more happening on this Ed? looking fab as usual!