188 replies to this topic

[mk3 Cooper S]

What a strange place to rot on the rear shelf.
Was the rear screen leaking?

[edi57]

This mini has rust absolutely everywhere, hence the reason for me taking it to Surface Processing (not sure if I've actually mentioned this in my topic yet). The reason for it is that it had an absolutely first class restoration in the 80's sometime (I've got lots and lots of pics) but it deteriorated really badly because of a very poor paint job.

All over the shell, you could just flake the paint off with your finger. It had lifted and not stuck to the surface in so many places and then water got underneath and then it rotted.

[mk3 Cooper S]

Will be lovely when it is done. At your purchase price it will always be worth more than it owes you - which is nice!!

[beaubrad]

WOW. . . . . . . what a good job your doing ,i sooooo want a mk1 and to be able to weld like you keep up the good work mate brad

[Goopster]

You are doing a fantastic job Ed, keep up the great work. You clearly have an eye for detail

I've gotta get me one of those little detail cutter thingies that you used on the rear parcel shelf - it looks like a very handy tool to have. I've given up trying to cut small sections out with my 4" angle grinder LOL

Edited by Goopster, 23 December 2008 - 12:08 AM.

[Goopster]

You are doing a fantastic job Ed, keep up the great work. You clearly have an eye for detail

I've gotta get me one of those little detail cutter thingies that you used on the rear parcel shelf - it looks like a very handy tool to have. I've given up trying to cut small sections out with my 4" angle grinder LOL

Edited by Goopster, 23 December 2008 - 12:08 AM.

[buddylove]

Perfect repair jobs... Dremels are very useful tools Keep up the good work!

[feybrand]

like the others said youre welding is top notch do you do it for a living
the cars not that rusty and done properly like you are itl be stunning in the end
oh and worth a fair bit too if you keep it standard

[edi57]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Day job is Commercial banking so this is really quite different. This is my first restoration so I'm pretty much learning it all as I go. I want to do all the welding myself because I don't really trust anyone else to get it as perfect as I want it... maybe I should be more trusting!

Goopster - Yeah those tools are pretty useful but it can take a while to cut things. I actually used my angle grinder with an ultra thin cutting disc to do most of the work, then got into the corners with the dremel tool.

[buddylove]

Wow, from banker to welder. That's pretty impressive, would of never thought welding wasn't your profession.

[EatSleepJDM]

I cant weld yet but even I can see that your welding is bl**dy brilliant!!

Top notch mini as well mate

Edited by 88minicity, 23 December 2008 - 10:34 PM.

[PNL629G]

I know that none of the above are very interesting repairs, but it's all work that needs to be done to get this thing right.

I promise that updates and progress will be much more frequent from now on!

Ed.

.....Now that's where you're wrong! It's the little intricate repairs in that sort of detail that make it so interesting to read! Top work so far - and superb attention to detail, and if you keep that up it'll end up a fantastic car. keep it up and keep the posts coming!

[edi57]

Following on from my last post here is the picture of that repair after grinding. I have actually done more grinding since the picture, but you get the idea...

[edi57]

Starting working in the garage at 10am this morning...pretty good considering I'm on holiday!

I decided that I'd get the other hole on the parcel shelf sorted.. then I'd have that panel done. This repair was more complicated because it had rusted a pressing, not just a flat section. After a bit of head scratching I decided on a method to fabricate a repair for the pressed area.


I cut a piece of sheet and with a hammer and dolly I matched the curve of the original pressings...




I was originally thinking of making a former out of wood, then getting a hammer and beat the piece to the right shape. But I couldn't really be bothered to go to the work of making a former for this job so instead, I cut some V shaped snips in the end of my sheet, placed the piece in one of the good pressings and then started working the shape using a ball pein hammer. That made the shape pretty quickly and accurately. I then marked my piece for a bit of chopping.




Trying it for size...




So, the shape is good. I then decided that now was the time to weld up those snips that I had made.




As it was such a small piece I held it with some mole grips and connected my earth to the grips. I chose to weld to the convex side as that side would be easier to grind back. Now ready for welding...




Welded...




Rubbish photo... just trying to show my grinding that I had done with the air sander.




Now ready to grind the opposite side. Air sander not suitable for this job.




Out comes the dremel tool. Work held neatly in vice...




The finished piece...




Just to see how it looks...




Time to get cutting. Look what Father Christmas (dad!) got me this year (along with the blue overalls!). This was the first time I had tried an air saw. Definitely the perfect tool for this job. It really got into all the little corners.




Hole cut. I decided that it would be better to mark out my sheet now, instead of after I welded in my fabricated curve bit. This enabled me to hold my sheet flat against the hole... made for accurate marking.




Tacked in my smart repair piece.




After some cutting and lots of careful grinding with the air sander I ended up with a 'fits-like-a-glove' repair piece. It takes sooo long.




Tacked in. Time for a cup of tea and some lunch.




Straight back from lunch, straight on the welder...




Looking back at these pics now is really making me think. That last photo was about 2pm ish. The photo below was about 6pm ish. Was I really grinding for 4 hours?! I really don't think so, but I don't know what else happened in that time :S Anyway. End result. The shape isn't perfect, I'll try and get it a bit better tomorrow. It is all very flat though, flatter than it looks in the photo.




The eagle eyed amongst you may have seen another little rust hole, which at one point suddenly became a very neat, but larger hole. I put a dill through the thin area. Clamped a bit of copper to the back... filled the hole with a bit of weld...

Forgot to take a bit of post-grinding result.




There ya go. One whole day gone... another tiny repair sorted! I've got lots more of these type repairs to do until I get to the big stuff. :S I am determined to get them done though!

Ed

[guywithvan]

nice to see someone taking their time with a project and after a top quality finish,earlier in your post you have said about not using filler but coming across areas of pitting where rust has set in quite badly.have you considered using "lead loading" as this will cure these problems very well a stick of lead and a blow torch can work wonders,and being a perfectionist myself is more professional than using filler or fiberglass.

good work so far i hope it inspire's more owners to consider doing the work themselves and doing it right from the start,