118 replies to this topic

[tomgale]

right, time to upload last months progress:

firstly the patches on the floor were welded up:


and then a new heelboard was fabricated (the new patch comes just short of the rear subby holes, so hopefully no alignement issues)




mmmmmm, floor...

so the front floorpan, which i completely forgot to take photos of, whoops. had some fun trying to sort out previous owner bodges:


and here is how it looks now:




really solid now, no flex in the whole car!

so then we moved onto the hideously bodged flitch panel, we tried to understand what was going on, but there was so many layers of metal and fiberglass and blu-tac it was a real challange:

dosent look too bad from the outside...


but isnt this a single skin panel?

there everything cut out ready for the new panel.

little patch on the door step, being a huge pain to weld, the metal is very thin here, might have to get a new doorstep.


thanks for looking!
tom

[Sir Cheat]

Any more updates..Do you move to Congleton in the end?

[tomgale]

Any more updates..Do you move to Congleton in the end?

we're building a house near mow cop now, just up the bottom of the hill, the mini has its outer sill now and is the right way up! pics soon

tom

[Sir Cheat]

Any updates yet, Tom

Soon maybe?

[tomgale]

yeah, i couldnt find the camera, i will get some time soon, just got exams at the moment

[tomgale]

finaly, an update!

outer sill on the drivers side goes on:

red oxide and hammerite here, and here:


stick them together:




sorted!

so, the car went the right way round for a bit more welding to the new floorpan (which i forgot to take photos of) and we removed the scuttle to get a look at the rust on the bulkhead:



there is a huge whole on the drivers side which could be fun to fix, but the passengers side is much better:


much the same story with the floor, turned over again and the floor pan, unbolted ( > previous owners) and there looks to be much less rust. one sill:

two sill?

oh look! 29year old original outer sill hiding under the oversill! should have expected this by now knowing the previous owners, restoring it is like a type of automotive archeology, trying to work out where the panels are supposed to meet.

finally all the rust cut back ready to have the floorpan welded back in properly and the outer sill patch put in:

(stupid angle I know but it was all I could do because of the glare from the spotlamp)

in the engine department all my parts are here (nearly), ive got myself a Vizard manual and my desk is nice and clean with the block in the middle. ready to go now!

hopefully some updates at more frequent intervals soon!
thanks for reading, comments welcome, tom.

Edited by tomgale, 27 January 2011 - 07:25 PM.

[Artful Dodger]

Nice project!!! i would invest or think about investing in a complete floor as there isnt any point patching it as it will rust quicker.....all off and new on it:p but thats just me...

[Artful Dodger]

Nice project!!! i would invest or think about investing in a complete floor as there isnt any point patching it as it will rust quicker.....all off and new on it:p but thats just me...

[tomgale]

Nice project!!! i would invest or think about investing in a complete floor as there isnt any point patching it as it will rust quicker.....all off and new on it:p but thats just me...

looking back on it it would have been easier, but when i started cutting i didnt realise how bad it was, just the passengers floorpan and a bit of inner sill left now, so not to bad. there proper expensive as well! its going to have as much rust proofing stuff as i can find on the bottom, this isnt somthing i want to be doing again in a few years!

[grahama]

Great work, showing me the way !!

Graham

[Artful Dodger]

welding gets so much easier as you go along....took me ages:P Good luck again! check my project out its 3 down from yours on the site thing:P

[steve26-2008]

MiniclubmanGT I have to agree welding does get easy after you get the hang of it and a very useful skill to have.

[tomgale]

Thanks guys!

[steve26-2008]

Any updates

[tomgale]

not just yet, waiting on some parts, and my mates got the welder at the mo