17 replies to this topic

[bigjim]

Hey Guys, I know how much we all love photos so i`ve taken loads.

http://members.tripo...gbud78/mini7705

I`ve stripped out all the carpets ect. Thats all i`ve done.

What do you guys think i`ve got to do ??

I`m hoping to do the drivers side floor pan, A panel, door post,do you think the wings are salvageable ??

boot floor needs patching.

I`m not after a show car but I want to get it to a point where I can get rid of the hand paint job and get it done propa.

After some good advice on where to start really. Ohh and p $$ taking is also more than welcome.

Cheers

Jim

[bigjim]

ohh and you can leave comments on the tripod photo page too which is cool.

Jim

[Dom]

nice project you have yourself there, good luck with it

[ed4ran]

Wow that has some bad rust on it!!!!
Suppose none of it has gone through (or appears to),
so you may want to get a grinder with wire wheel and see how bad it actually is.
But i think you will be replacing a "few" panels either way

[bigjim]

I`m thinking work from the back forward, start in the boot then sills ect. Engine bay looks free of rust thou. Need to get my welding upto scratch before I start on the external Panels.

Big project - Was important to me that the car was 1978, hasnt aged as well as me !!

Have to make do with this as my daily drive, bit more room than the mini

http://members.tripod.com/bigbud78/


Jim

[ed4ran]

Thats not as good looking as the mini!!!

Im guessing you were born in 78?
Mine is 1 year older than me and not looking as good as me (i hope)!!!
it makes me feel happier the more progress i make in repairing the rust!!
Just cant wait to start painting and rebuilding it!!


Good luck with it!

[bigjim]

Yeah, I cant wait to get going. Got a two week hol then i`m going to get cracking. Just knowing where to start.

Do you think dropping the rear sub-frame and sorting out the back first is a good way to go ?

[ed4ran]

2 weeks hey?
Ive been on hols since May 10th, and dont go back till Sept 28th!!! :tongue:

Yeah its as good a place as any,
Are you going to strip it completely? or just remove bits, clean it up/repair rust, and reattach the bits?
I find its gets to overwhelming if you try and do every bit at the same time!! (which i have a habbit of doing)

[bigjim]

Not sure yet, I really want to get it resprayed, the hand paint job it driving me nuts. Been poking about and both wings are rotten and the front dont look great. Both A panels are shot and the door posts are gone !! DoH..

On the up side, doors look remarkably good, only a couple of small holes in the boot, valance looks good. The rear floor pans are ok, 1 small hole. (Patch fix needed) and a couple of holes in the inside sills, more patches me thinks.

Not sure on the outside sills, not sure if there over sills or not, any sure fire way of checking if they are anyone ??

With all the above in mind I think i`m gonna go for a flip front inc A-panels, AND if i`m flipping it i might as well sort the engine out with is burning loads of oil !! (MG Metro engine - Rings are gone) The head will go off to my mate who runs his own head recon shop for new extra large valves and pocketing to lower the compression ratio. Got to find some one to over haul the block with new pistons (thicker dishes) Can you guess whats coming ????? Turbo.... Just dont tell the misses. Seriously thou gotta do some major research (www.turbominis.com) and try to strech me budget out without doing it cheaply if you know what i mean. If i got turbo its gonna get exspensive.

Any with all that i`m gonna respray it original inca yellow - Yay

So yeah think i`m gonna strip it all down, soon as I get back off hols.

Oh got me welder and Gas ( Mate who owns a pub) this weekend too, grinder and drill and i`m ready to rock and roll.

Righty, rambled on for long enough, just thought i'd give you guys some idea of what i`m thinking about doing, i`ll keep ya posted.

Big Jim.

[ed4ran]

Sounds fun,

If they are oversills, you will have a constant seam weld where the sill meets the floor, if normal sills there is vents every so often along the sill.

[bigjim]

cheers fella :grin:

[bigjim]

Filla Everywhere. Stripped the grill and light off the front and its full of filler round the head lights, its trapped all the water and has rusted the wings out. On the good side the front panel looks ok.

Thinking of stripping it all down, cutting the wings & A-panels off then getting it sand balsted. As the car has been hand painted this would save me Hours in sripping paint and root out the rest of the evil rot.

Rear sub-frame off at the weekend hopefully, with some photos.

Jim

[ed4ran]

ooo, i dont like filler when it comes to finding it all over your mini,
but then it is good when covering up little dings and dents and surface rust craters.

Depending on the type of sand blasting you get done will depend on what is removed, so i can be a good idea to remove some stuff with a wire wheel and leave the rest for blasting (e.g. seam sealer, and the sound deadening on the floor).

good luck with stripping,
small plastic bags are good (and write on them what are the bits are for), even if you intend on throwing some/most of the stuff away!
I would also recommend (if you can) keeping most of the stuff until you get the replacement parts then you always have that bit (old or new) unless its total busted and useless and some stuff can even be good for an emergency replacement.

[bigjim]

Latest Photos of all the rot.

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00002.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00003.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00004.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00005.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00006.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00007.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00008.JPG

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00009.JPG

And my pratice welding

http://homepage.ntlw...05/DSC00015.JPG

[ed4ran]

eep :saywhat:

that looks bad!!!
your gonna need a whole new A post!!!
it looks like someone has replace the flitch panel before!!

good luck!!!

nice welding!!