749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

3rd update
the floorpan is now almost completly welded in and parts ground down

im going to be painting the inside floor and inside the sill with my por15 one i get paid and they are delivered (tomorow is pay day! )
my next plan is to finish working on repairing the doorstep in 3 places and then ive not decided
is it easier to start on the boot or remove the wing?
hope you like
Lawrence

[lawrence]

4th update
ive now finished off the pasengers side doorstep and it just needs a small sand and paint


i have also removed the drivers side wing

and found my shock absorber mounting is very bad

ive also taken part of the flitch panel off

however there has been a repair on the bottom of the scuttle and it appears to be sound

ive also taken the paint from the front of the wing and cut out where the washer bottle mounting is as this area was corroded

ive also tidied up and zinc primered some of the wing lip which also needs some repairs

i have also worked on the drivers side doorstep

and that just needed a small grind down to show a large patch is needed


ive also taken part of the drivers sill off to see the damage and i found that there are 3 sills!

this cross section shows the 3 sills and 2 doorsteps the car has in one place

lastly ive welded up the grill screw holes on the slam panel and given it a repaint

and ive topped up on paint and the like and some por15 for the inner wing. this picture also shows the washer bottle bracket which i have yet to weld back on

[lawrence]

sooooooooo, its been a while since ive done an update. many many reasons for this and they are
1. Had a holiday to italy
2. Split up from a serious relationship which hurt my enthusiasm for the project
3. Ran out of money for panels!
4. Decided i need to find a proper job and cant stay at tesco forever!

i have however continued and done some work
ive dropped the rear subframe

and welded a few holes up

however i have now decided to get a new one mainly on saftey advice from a mechanic

the view underneath of the floor isnt too bad accept for some sealent bodging that needs repairs

and my passengers side healboad mount is shot!

ive since striped the rear subframe and painted bits up (will add some more photos soon)

this is a nice view from inside the boot

and the underside

also this is my intended mod for the steering wheel

Edited by lawrence, 12 May 2011 - 01:52 PM.

[lawrence]

so back to the boot, well it needed work so i made a patch for the wheel arch to keep stuff tidy,

and then welded in the next panel

followed by the top panel and the subframe reinforcement mount and gave it a lovely coat of paint

then following advice from my dad and that much of the rear seam was corroded i decided deseaming was in the agenda so this is the first half completed

i was now waiting for money for panels (heelboad etc) so made a start on the front drivers side, cleaned up the wing and welded the water bottle bracket back on
moving to the drivers side i began grinding down surface rust which brought me to a section of filler

which once removed revealed this. so i decided to remove the wing as there was rust in the seams anyways

the front panel lip needed some work

and so do the shock mounts (but i got all the bolts out!!)

i then lost the camera charger for a few days so pictures are missing as i continued work. 3 patches were need, 1 by the scuttle closing panel, 1 new scuttle closing panel and one patch for the air vent hole

close up of scuttle minus the top part

the partly cleaned and partly painted drivers side innner wing

scuttle panel end rewelded on, took my time to avoid distortion, now just needs a slight skim of filler to be loverly

the hole in the roof has been filled with weld too and now just needs a skim of filler to be loverly also

passengers side inner wing now painted, just shock mount needs finishing to be ready for new wing

and a picture showing the doorstep all painted and the floor and crossmember completed.

and so thats pretty much bang up to date, current work is the shock mount which is partly done and then starting work on the drivers side wing
hope you like this update, comments would be nice too
Lawrence

[darky32]

Keep going Lawrence you seem to be knocking it on the head one job at a time ...it will soon be back on the road



Mark

[lawrence]

thanks darky
so done a bit more work since my last update
built up one of my radius arms ready for the new subframe

welded and ground back my shock absorber mount

decided this problem had to go

made a new panel (getting quicker and better at making them now)

welded, ground flush and painted (almost ready for the new wing!)

then ive done some work on the passengers side rear quarter

it needs a new waist rail and 2 other sections so i need to go panel shopping

thats all for now
Lawrence

[lawrence]

so then, i havent exactly updated this project in a while however i have been doing work on her.
i decided that i really needed to get the passengers side heelboard mount but coulnt afford to buy the panel so fixed the problem in a way i saw panelbeaterpeater succeeed (thanks for the inspiration)

before that i fixed two holes in the rear of the passengers side inner sill

and cut out the rot fron the rear heelboard mount,

the working progress pictures were not taken as the camera was borrowed hoever there is one of the almost finsished product comprising of lots of patches and i even cut out part of the rear bin for access

i then painted the outer sill

drilled holes for plug welding

clamped the sill on

and welded it in place (with the jacking point removed and blanked over)

[lawrence]

i then decided that i needed to turn the car around but before i did that i decided to paint the brake calipars white and red


with the car now turned round ive now paid attention to the drivers side which needs a front floor, both innner and outer sills and the flitch panel to be repaired

first a small hole needed fixing on the flitch

then i decided that the front floor and doorstep needed attention too, the floor in the bottom of the photo shows how bad it was


photo down the doorstep showing corrosion of the jacking point (which wont be replaced) and the 3 sills


work needed on the bottom of whre the a panel goes

panel made using blue peter skills

and welded and finished relatively well


i have then cut out the jacking point, some of the doorstep and part of the crossmember as it was all rather corroded

i then made a panel for the doostep and made a start on the front floorpan

part of the floorpan in now welded in and part of the flitch panel is tacked on

the floorpan and flitch are now both welded and painted with a slight grind down

a view fron the inner wing showing metal as opposed to rust!!


i am now finishing off the front floor pan around the front subframe rear mount where there were many holes


this is now up to date
hope you all like the progress, comments are nice too
Lawrence

[minimuk]

It has been a while Lawrence, I am impressed with your confident bit of welding there, and the speed. Just make sure you get rid of all the rusty bits b4 you close all up again and gallond of zinc primer needed too. I can sense the passion and pride in your story, all good that is.
keep it going.
My first one is nearly done, can't wait to continiue with my second one, I will try and catch up.

good luck

[lawrence]

yh im certainly trying to remove as much as i can and i do love my zinc primer . i cant wait to get her finished now tho!
a little update from this morning is needed
ive finished the patch around the subframe mount

and started work on the flitch panel hole

more to come either tomorrow or early next week
Lawrence

[lawrence]

so ive been working on her still. not done much work this month due to buying a new surfboard and enjoying that!
so ive finished off the flitch welding

just need to weld the other skin part but waiting for the apanel first to check gaps
ive also taken off part of the rear Quater panel

view from the inside showing the hole

[lawrence]

2nd half of the update.
got another new thing thats distracting me from the mini very well

ive also tidyed up the shock absorer mount ready for the new patches. it was rather corroded

welded one patch in the inner sill

filled the drain holes just behind the crossmember

removed and repaired the waist rail (just needs finishing off)

welded another patch in the rear bin

primed the floor

i now need to make a new sill strengthener as the old one is rather corroded


in the next few days ill be finishing off the floor and crossmember hole

hope you all enjoy

[lawrence]

had some time in the garage this afternoon and got a few things done
made the new sill stengthener, just need to make it fit once the new heelboard panel comes

started to sort this hole

few panels made and partly welded in

seatbelt strengthener panel made

good penetration on the back


plans for tommorow after work and after picking up roof bars for the mini are:
>finish and tidy inner sill ds + prime
>weld in crossmember end ds + prime
>make second panel for shock absorber mount
>weld and tidy the shock mount + prime
>weld patch for hole by the heater duct next to shock mount + tidy + prime

thats all for today
Lawrence

[minimuk]

so ive been working on her still. not done much work this month due to buying a new surfboard and enjoying that!
so ive finished off the flitch welding

just need to weld the other skin part but waiting for the apanel first to check gaps
ive also taken off part of the rear Quater panel

view from the inside showing the hole

Lawreance, what can I say, you have become a minimad kinda guy, plan of attack great, keep it to one section at the time, one observation, the driver side door hinge panel,....will you weld a flitch edge to the door hinge panel as you need that to attach the A-panel later on.

[lawrence]

(will edit this post to include pictures when photobucket woks for me again)
hey minimuk, thanks for the comment. I am intending to weld that section on however im waiting for my a panels so i can make sure its aligned correctly.

New update for today>
identified the area by the heater vent that needed patching

cut out and made patch

welded, ground and primed


i then moved on the the shock mount
bottom bolts aligned and first patch made

first patch welded in

second patch made with holes drilled for plug welding, first patch also ground flush and zinc primed

second patch fully welded

second patch ground down (looks alot more standard than the other side did, my patch making is definately improving)



Aims for the next few days are:
> Finish inner sill (40% done already)
>weld on crossmember end
>finish painting ds floor
>purchase both a panels and passengers side wing but if anyone in the Norfolk/Norwich area has these panels for sale cheap please message me
>purchase ds heelboard end, new ds sill and a straight doorstep panel

Edited by lawrence, 06 August 2011 - 10:10 AM.