11 replies to this topic

[E.L.M.O]

How easy is it to remove the lip from a mk3 onwards mini for a mk1 style look. I have had a mk1 grille and mustache for a while and never got round to fitting it. Any tips on removing the lip off the mk3 style bonnet?

Is it as simple as drill out the spot welds or will i still need to cut and or use the pliers afterwards? Anyone got any tips on making it easier like "just use the angle grinder in the first place to cut the whole thing off?!

I guess I will need to spray or protect the raw edge with paint and sealant after any cutting and drilling? The bonnet needs a respray anyway so i might just cut the lip off and get the whole thing painted.

I also have bonnet stripes. I want to remove these and add longer ones to cover the gap that will be left by the lack of metal mk3 lip. What the best way to remove the bonnet stripes? I dont think its as easy as peeling them off is it? Whats best, peeling, chemicals or machinery to get them off? Again, i dont care about damaging the paint as it will be painted after wards anyway.

And finally, is there anyone who sells longer extended bonnet stripes to go with mk1 grilles?


Thanks!

[mini93]

drill it out, grind it out, break the spot welds with a chissle...all works a better way would indeed to be drilling the welds, but sometimes it easier just to chissle (iv been doing it fair bit recently to the old cr*p behind my dash)

yeah you will need to paint the un protected metal but should be alright

the stripes might be easy enough just to pull off bt iv never had to do it, if i does work and there sticky residue left over wd40 works quite well apparently

and as for re- striping...how about masking up n spraying them?

[mike.]

I just drilled the welds out with a standard drill bit, didn't take much.

Leaves you with these holes:



So had them welded up and smoothed off:



End result:

[E.L.M.O]

That looks really nice!

[mike.]

Thanks, Its got black & silver plates now too

[E.L.M.O]

Thanks, Its got black & silver plates now too

ohh nawty!

[Spitz]

Planning on doing this myself shortly  ( by the way...it is MkII on onwards that had the lip, only diff being the hinge point )/

 

So when the spots are drilled out...it is drilled right the way through?  Would a grinder not grind the spot weld flush with surrounding area...then a little filler to smooth things out?

[bluemini1979]

If you use a spot weld drill it has a flat cutting edge so can only go through the top layer. Usually a bit of dust (rust colour) let's you know when you've gone through one layer

[ChopperHarris]

Shouldn't be necessary to drill all the way through.
If in doubt use a Drelel or powerfile to eat away the surrounding metal, rip the strip off with pliers and dress back the welds

[matt050990]

+1 for Dremel tool. Can get a feel fine edge with that!
Just make sure your bonnet is solid as I found with mine it was rather rotten and that lip was holding it all together.

[AVV IT]

I planned to do mine by drilling out the spot welds but couldn't find my spot weld drill bit. In the end, I managed to get a thin cutting disc between the bonnet and the lip and just cut them away from each other with an angle grinder.

[johnR]

I used a spotweld drill bit to remove my lip, then found the bonnet had rusted away behind the lip so had to buy a new bonnet (van type - no lip) 

JohnR