764 replies to this topic

[grahama]

great work as usual. Are the holes on the subframe just to lighten it up or is it 'looks' you are after??

[Tupers]

the grinder: a mini owners most loved and used possession!

looks like all is going well chris, keep it up

Thanks Ben, the grinder is indeed a Mini owners best friend even if they do try chopping your fingers off from time to time.

great work as usual. Are the holes on the subframe just to lighten it up or is it 'looks' you are after??

They're more of a styling thing than anything else, I could probably save more weight by not eating my co co pops in the morning.


I grabbed a pair of hubs this afternoon and after stripping the studs and bearings out I gave them a scrub in the safety clean, went over them on the wire wheel and flicked some primer over them.





I also went over the radius arms again with the die grinder a cleaned up the harder to reach areas, now I just need make new hose mounts and spray them.

[skyblueads]

Been a little while since I've got back to check this thread, once again the work looks superb! So many amazing little bits of detailing, love it!

[Tupers]

Been a little while since I've got back to check this thread, once again the work looks superb! So many amazing little bits of detailing, love it!

Thanks Adam, I think in the end the little details will really make it but for now they're killing me.

After sitting and looking at the engine bay I decided I wanted to smooth off the seam between the crossmember and the bulk head.

After using the Oxy torch and multiple wire brushed I managed to get the seam sealer out of the joint and then welded it up and made a start on grinding it back down smooth.


We've also been talking a lot about different cooling options and I've decided/been coerced into using a front mounted alloy MGF rad. With that in mind I drilled out the welds holding the old rad shroud on and will be filling in the old slats.


I also put my shrinker stretcher into action making the right angled sections that will join my rear quarters to my inner arches when the gets around to tubbing the rear.
I started out with two 1M folded lengths of steel and ran them back and forth through the stretcher to curve them to match the radius of a wheel arch tub.






This is what it looked like after running through the stretcher twice.


And after a bit more tweaking I got it to match almost perfectly.

Edited by Tupers, 20 September 2011 - 07:30 PM.

[jagman.2003]

Some great ideas & attention to detail here, well done, keep up the good work.

[Tupers]

I got the other arch curve knocked out this morning so now I'm all really to start tubbing the arches.


With all this talk of front mounted rads I though I'd better make a mock up the same size as the alloy MGF unit to check the size. I think I'm going to go with something slightly shorter and narrower to leave some room for an oil cooler and of course air to the carb.




After lunch I turned my attention to making a new N/S flitch to get rid of the original slats.
I started out by going over the different angle changes in the O/S flitch with a marker pen and then copying those lines onto several sheets of A4.




I then taped the sheets together, flipped them over and traced over the lines to create a mirror image of the O/S flitch.


Before committing to big sheet of steel I did a small test piece to see if my proposed method of forming would work. The basic idea is to chase over the markings with a hammer and chisel to form lines in a similar way to a press break.




When I was happy that this method would work I set about creating the new flitch. All in it's got 13 angle changes and took me about 3 hours to beat out.


It still needs a little tweaking but with any luck it'll be all welded in by lunch tomorrow.


From the top the original flitch and my one look pretty close although it's a little hard to see it without paint.

Edited by Tupers, 22 September 2011 - 09:52 PM.

[bcjames]

Impressive as ever! Nice work on that inner wing. Good to see the Eastwoods being put to use too.

[grahama]

Blimey, you are turning into a legend !! You must have the patience of a Man City fan before the cash !! Really impressive work.

Graham

[DaveJH]

More great work, any more updates?

[Tupers]

Thanks Dave. I wont have any more pics for you guys until Thursday night, bit busy on my other job at the moment.

[benjy_18]

pretty shoddy if im honest, look at the size of that gap at the top!

PFT as if i can call that bad, looks awesome! worthwhile 3 hours i think.

keep it up chris

[Tupers]

I really should try harder shouldn't I Ben.

[madboy]

just read this from start to finish , excellent

[Tupers]

Thanks madboy it's been a bit of a journey.

The flitch on the O/S has a brace that comes off the front panel to reinforce it but due to the placement of the rad on the N/S it's not there.




So I made one.




I also finished trimming the new N/S flitch and welded it in.

[rich2]

I cannot believe you beat that complicated shape out of a sheet of metal. Kudos! My hat off to you sir!