118 replies to this topic

[minisam1275]

i used a couple of coats of anti rust primer stuff from halfords just for the extra protection and i had the hammered finish hammerite lying round so just used that.

[leaky]

WOW great project their. That such a good price for all the bits that came with it. Gonna watch this project.

[deemo]

I allways get carried away and forget to take photos.
I used rustoleum paint, very similar to hamerite
you can use hammerite without a primer as long as your going direct to a rough but sound surface (ie direct to rust)
but like mini sam said, I'd neutralize the rust first with something like jenolite, or even better hydrate 80.

great progress so far.

[tomgale]

update!

ouch fourth page! i havent done much untill recently.

so today me my mate matt my dad (his angle grinder) and my little brother started to remove things from the shell, starting with the doors...

so from :


to:


and the doors:


they aren't to rusty the skins look fine even at the bottom, bit orange inside and some small paint bubbling though

so having done that and having daylight left we cracked on with removing the scrap front panel and passenger wing (the black drivers side wing and bonnet in earlier images were just balanced on as there was nowhere for them to be stored)

so after the surgery:


the wing and front panel were ground off and i drilled out the spotwelds on the small section of remaining wing lip

after that we continued to remove inside-type stuff like soundproofing and steering columns and all that manky foam stuff inside the dashboard:




(matt spent half an hour undoing one stubborn bolt on the bottom of the steering column he was dissapionted when it did not simply slide out! later it turned out it just needed more 'persuasion' to be removed and he hadent wasted his time )

after that and after some blokes in a van thought i was breaking the car ( does it really look that bad?) and offered me money for bits for their minis we removed the glass. All came out quite easilly no breaks and was added to my spares shed (which looks a bit like an auto jumble now.)





so the mini is not far from a bare shell now nearly ready for welding!!

[Jamez26]

just so you know, you dont need to prime before painting on hammerite, you can buy direct to metal hammerite paint, and i used it on the underside of my boot floor, subframes, inner arches, and my sills.
Good luck with your project. looks awesome for the money. your working really quick.

[tomgale]

thanks!!!! yeah ive got some black hammerite, brushes and wire wheels now so im going to have a go at the subframes soon. and im not going to be working that fast soon what with coursework and exams and rubbish. and ive never welded before so could take a while to learn that but il give it a go!

Edited by tomgale, 30 June 2009 - 10:15 PM.

[tomgale]

mini update

stripping the subframes today, everything's off no pics because its not very interesting front seems fine and is still black in places but the rear is flakey and has holes so its of to the scrappy with the front panel and wings. the heater matrix and gear change has also been removed from the car.

tom

[tomgale]

update!

today we cleaned the spare rear subframe and painted it. this is the one which will be used on the car as the one we removed was scrap

so before:



after being attacked by a wire wheel-equiped angle grinder(part of which broke off and became embedded in my arm it looked cool! ):


my not serious but cool lookin injury:


and with one coat of black hammerite


will probably do more coats over the weekend

tom.

[tomgale]

update!

ok i know i havent posted for a while but ive been in america for a month and then ive had loads of course work.

but: i have managed to finish stripping it, loom is out and everything. (no pics but im sure you know what a naked mini looks like ) and have made a list of the rust/welding jobs which is working back to front:

rear valance has holes

boot floor is full of holes (i have a repair panel for this now so can fix it)

under the rear bench where the subframe mounts- large hole on both sides into the door bins

sills have holes, drivers side has an oversill

drivers door step has a big hole in the middle

both footwells have holes and need attention ( pasengers side has a replacment panel on top of the rot held in place by wood screws to be welded by a previous owner)

drivers side fresh air vent has been badly repaired at some point

front bulkhead has many holes of various sizes

a-panels need to be welded on

drivers side inner wing is a bit dodgy (the lip on the top looks hand beaten)

wings and front panel need to be welded on

getting a welder soon so going to have a go at the weekend, never done it before so could be interesting...

[analogue_radio]

I tried welding for the first time a few days ago! It's not as scary as you think it is actually really looking forward to practicing some more.

How are you gonna go about the bodywork? front to back, back to front?

[tomgale]

yeah im really looking forward to having a go!

im probably going to go back to front as the only panel i have is the boot repair and the front end, and ive got to sort the inner wing before it goes on.

[tomgale]

ok so, last weekend we borrowed my mate ben's welder (hes restoring a beetle cars are pretty much all we talk about in school, our teachers get annoyed frequently) and cracked on a scrap wing:





didnt go well, kept blowing through and making holes (although we did invent a nifty ventilated wing )

so, this weekend we swapped the wire to 0.6 (from 0.8) and practiced on an oversill that came with the car:

this went better! shocked how much of a difference this makes, really cheered us up as the whole project depends on us being able to weld.

so at uttoxeter the other weekend i bought a boot repair panel, we started to cut out the rotty section at the back of the boot for the panel only to discover that the rear valance closing plates and lower parts of the wheel arch were rusted through so after we cut everything out we were left with:







so today we cut the repair panel to fit and used the leftover metal to patch the arches:

clamped in:



and seam welded in from both sides:



will flap disk it and do some more welding next weekend (unless ben wants his welder back)

[stevede]

Not too bad for first welding attempts Tom. I found practice, practice and more practice was the way to go. As long as you have good penetration for a solid weld the grinder will always hide your mishaps.

Worked for me!!

Regards

Steve

[tomgale]

thanks steve, im really happy with the progress, i know its not much but its so nice to be going forwards instead of just taking stuff off and cutting things out!

tom

[tomgale]

right, didnt get much done this weekend was out then and my dad was busy so only one set of hands.

so, finished patching the wheelarch and flap disc'd it:



and then degreased and given a few layers of etch primer:



had to be careful not to upset the new dog, 7 week old cocker spaniel *woman of ill repute* edit:(that was supposed to be 'lady dog' the forum wont let me say the 'b' word even in the correct and legitimate context )

thats all for now, tom.

Edited by tomgale, 27 September 2009 - 08:47 PM.