5 replies to this topic

[tony kenobi]

Hi all, my bare shell 98 mpi is now primed and ready for spray. its been sat in my garage for a few months now and not one sign of any rust even with just primer (tho i hve POR15 the whole shell). but what i have noticed is in the seem between the scuttle and wing, well, there is a crack. The scuttle and wing have both been replaced with genuine ones and it seems like the filler the guy has put between the 2 has a small crack. i can imagine that if you paint over this, the paint will also crack, thus a nightmare!

So what are my options? Im bringing the shell to a different guy to spray. Ive spent £850 on the guy to rub down, fit whole new front end and prime the whole car, rubbing down again in prep for spray having sandblasted most of the rust and underside and then POR15, now she sits with 2 new front wings, a panels and scuttle, but this crack could be a problem.I guess a more flexible sealer should have been used.

any advice would be great. Ive 2 weeks untill spray time, while im waiting im POR15 every seem underneath, then stonechipping with Wurth to be painted over.

[jack_marshall]

If its a genuine wing and scuttle the panel seams should have nice enough gaps to not have to filler.

Personally Id be digging out the filler in the seam and either leave the seam open or run a bead of seam sealer in the gap and leave it a few days to harden, and reprime the area.

[panelbeaterpeter]

Yeah ideally the wing to scuttle seam shouldn't be sealed at all. If you fill it it cracks, and if you sealer it the paint will crack after time, even if you use wet on wet primer. I know because I used that method on mine and it cracked. If the gap's ok, I'd dig it out and paint it, if you want to seal it, push the sealer right down into the gap so it's not poking you in the eye.

[tony kenobi]

hey, thanx for the replys, so im posting a few pics and you can tell me what you think.

there is some splashed up muck etc on the front of the shell at the mo, so please excuess.
the first photo you can see that the left wing is slightly higher than the right on the scuttle. I dunno if im being picky but......
Next photo is of the higher side, you can see how the gap is filled.
And last photo is of the other side,where the crack has appeared.

So am i to take it all apart again? I know that before it was cut part, the scuttle and wings where about level, but the reason he told me the scuttle is slightly lower than than one wing is so it lined up with the bonnet.
Really dunno what to do.

Attached Files

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•  P1020570.JPG   2.15MB   22 downloads

[jack_marshall]

That just looks as if its been filled to be honest.

The panel/seam gaps look as if they are good, so I'd dig it out and just reprime the area (or im sure the bodyshop who are painting it will do this if you ask them)

Regaring the wing/scuttle being at slightly different levels, I wouldnt worry. Ive seen quite a few minis with original panels like this. As long as theres not a huge heigh difference, Id leave well alone or you will be removing wings and filling panels that really dont need it!

[jonny d]

I agree with Jack Marshall your being a bit picky with the wing heights leave as is. The wing joints are something that bugs us all they all seem to crack after time, thats why
rover left a gap between the two and sealed it down deeper in the void I think.