301 replies to this topic

[1984mini25]

your doing a really good job mate, where abouts did you get the sliding windows from for a mk3 door?? and how much did it cost?? keep up the good work

Simple answer is i made them myself after collecting all the various needed bits from shows and then buying a sheet of polycarbonate from screw fix and carefully cutting my windows with a straight edge and a jigsaw.

And going from my spreadsheet they have cost me a total for both doors...

Pair of Mk1 sliding window channels £15.00 (second hand)
W Shaped Window Seal (5 meters) new £20.00
A handful of crappy window catches to which i then later played with to make up a good set £6.00

And the my 610x1220x4mm sheet (pack of 2 but only used 1) of polycarbonate for £55.29

So in total and considering i still have a spare sheet of the polycarb it's cost me to do both doors, £96.29

Although one thing i will say is i might consider changing and remaking my windows at a later date in possibly 6mm polycarb, but the 4mm is perfectly fine for road use.

[beaubrad]

the mk1 sliding window channel did you have to weld anything to the door to keep them in place??

[1984mini25]

Nope just drill a hole at each end and screw in place

[1984mini25]

More progress, as while i was sorting out the brakes on the 25 (it does help to have decent brakes Lol) it decided to properly *yellow human water* it down and in the mean time, as I had to finish it as I’d only done once side. I made a start on making a mould and extending the drivers side front arch by about 2 and a bit inches.

Edited by 1984mini25, 24 March 2010 - 11:05 PM.

[mighty mini jack]

Good idea that, pulled it off well!

[1984mini25]

My new welding contact tips and shroud turned up today, unfortunately they didn’t fit the welder I had bought them for. But as it turns out the tips fit the other welder I have, which just so happened to be missing its tip.

So I dug that one out, as it’s a little bit more powerful and welded up the seat frame I was making for the seats, just have the other side to cut and weld now.

The only problem is I’m still after some new welding tips and shroud for the other welder, just can’t seam to find the Clarke part no for the 1.0mm tips.

[1984mini25]

I’ve finished welding up my seat frames and drilled them so I’m able to bolt them to the seats and also started to paint them up. I did also notice I’d welded one of the cross braces slightly on the *male chicken*, but the rest of the frame is square. So I might if it really bugs me chop it out and re-weld in a new section, but it’s fine as it is.

All that’s left for me to do regarding the frames is buying a couple of pairs of those alloy seat adjustment brackets and drilling my frames to bolt them into the car. As I’ll use the plates for my adjustment of the seat forwards and back, it will only be me driving so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem of having them fixed anyways.

And then it’s just a case of making up the new covers for them and finding out how good or bad my stitching is before I persuade someone else to do it for me Lol.

[mighty mini jack]

Nice work, get some pictures if you can.

[tedmcedd]

nice project you have here, not sure about the bootlid, looks like its just on upside down! lol

i like the mk1 style doors and the splitter looks great too.

[1984mini25]

to be honest i'm not fully taken by the upside down mk1 boot, but it is something different and was worth a try to see what it would turn out like. And no mk1 boot lids were harmed in the making of it lol, so i still have a mk1 boot thats the right way up to go back on if I chose.

[1984mini25]

Not done much, other than finally finish off cleaning up with the grinder and painting the last 3 remaining 10" Wellers, But I now have a set of 5 nicely painted 10” Wellers just awaiting tyres.

And i'm working on picks.

[miniallsort]

sounds good mate get the pictures up

[1984mini25]

Bit of an update:

I’ve finally got round to sorting out the garage and have already thrown out 5 black bags of rubbish, put all the stuff I will need for the Mayfair to one side and the rest will be flogged off to raise some much needed funds.

I’ve also ripped off that extended arch, as I wasn’t happy with the way the lower edge was blending into the splitter. So have fibreglassed back on the bit of the old group 2 arch that I chopped off.

And I ordered some alloy seat adjustment brackets so I can mount my home made seat frames, after a bit of playing around and a slight modification to the alloy brackets I’ve pretty much got the drivers seat exactly were I want it, just have to do the same for the passenger side one now.

And I’ve also ordered the fabric I need to recover the seats; I went for a light fleecy sort of stuff in black in the end.

I’ve also been spending the evenings ripping apart one of the covers (the seats really don’t look comfy with the covers off Lol) and laying them out on lining paper and making patterns up for them.
All I have to do now is transfer them to the fabric and run them up on the sewing machine.

Ah and I’ve also finally got the drivers door fitting exactly the way I’d like it too, for once something good came out of me getting very shitty with it Lol.

Basically because the top hinge has had it, and even with an m10 nut n bolt through it there’s a still load of play so the door has to be lifted to shut properly.

The top hinge with the bolt through it was only ever meant to be a temporary solution, but my replacement hinge I bought has decided to go walkies without any signs of returning.

But after getting a bit too shity over it not closing properly and I’m still not sure quite how I did it. But it fits and the gaps are now perfect all the way round when shut, just the hinge problem to sort out now.

Edited by 1984mini25, 23 March 2010 - 10:16 PM.

[1984mini25]

I’d found some proper seat frames on e-bay so decided to give them a try even tough I’ve gone to the trouble of making up my own and getting the seat exactly how I like it.

So I bolted one of the frames up to the seat and into the car as standard, but same problem as before. The seat is too far over towards the door in relation to the steering wheel, which is too far left.

Move the frame over on spacers and rear section fouls the hoop on the floor and doesn’t sit on the floor at the rear of the frame.

So as a last resort I tried unbolting the floor hoop and bolting in trough the rear of the seat frame, which has appeared to work.

It does mean than even still with the proper frames the seats won’t tilt forwards, but I don’t plan on having any rear seats so that shouldn’t be a problem.


But while messing around with the seat I’ve noticed the hinge panel area behind the a panel looks unfinished now I’m no longer using the internal hinges. So have come up with the idea of boxing in off and blending the pillar into the back of the a panel.

[1984mini25]

Firstly a job that didn’t really need doing, but one I thought would make the project look more finished.

As I’m using the external hinges the area behind the a panels were the internal hinges would bolt up is now wasted space. So what I had as an idea was to plate this area over and fill so the a pillar flowed into the a panels.

I’ve only tacked it in place and filled, even though in doing so has meant I’ve got to go back and fill the a panel.











And secondly a job that I’ve been meaning to since I first got this mini and found what a mess the rear shelf was in.
Old shelf marked out for removal.




New replacement shelf section trimmed and read to be welded in thanks to The Matt to which I had this off many moons ago.




And tacked and welded in place, well one half fully welded at least, the other side is just tacked as something else came up and my welder of late has been a *male chicken*.