49 replies to this topic

[mini_mad69]

Click Here!





3rd Link!

[Shifty]

What does "cut and shut" mean then?

A cut and shut is where 2 halves of a car have been welded together to make 1 good one!!

Usually crooks will find cars of the same model, 1 with rear damage an 1 with front damage. Weld the undamaged 1/2's together and then you have one good car!!

Or they may even steal the vehicle which will supply the undamaged parts.

Usually they join them at the windscreen pillar, if you've got 2 halves that are the same colour then this means you don't even have to repaint the new parts, just give the join a quick rattle can spray and job done!!

The floor are cut along the width and then welded back together, bit of underseal/shutz and its ready for sale!!

[minidaves]

rover used to sell a front end, as in toe board bulkhead screen surround inner wings with the front wings and front panel attached. problem more is with peoples welding or gorrila snot , if you drive a mini with some welly you can tell if the sills need doing, or if it has cover sills when driving it down the road because they twist. and thats before a poor two part weld up job

dave

[miniman24]

Err, not normally no! They tend to be spot welded.

Jaguar actually glue their cars together now Went on a tech trip there about a month ago, and there were two spot welders in the whole factory, something like 5 spot welds on each car! They use a special glue that melts the metal, then hardens the joint into fresh metal.

Edited by miniman24, 29 April 2010 - 06:56 AM.

[mab01uk]

Err, not normally no! They tend to be spot welded.

Jaguar actually glue their cars together now Went on a tech trip there about a month ago, and there were two spot welders in the whole factory, something like 5 spot welds on each car! They use a special glue that melts the metal, then hardens the joint into fresh metal.

They use a very similar method on the new MINI bodyshell production line at the factory in Oxford. The glue adds strength and rigidity to to the body and also prevents water getting in between any spot welded seams so stopping rust forming or water leaks. The glue is applied by robots like the spot welds.............should anyone be interested in seeing this the MINI factory do tours for clubs and individuals in groups of about 25 for a small donation to charity.......about £12 when I went last year but well worth seeing.

[Sammy D]

[cambiker71]

That's a very, very well engineered car, it looks like two halves but really isnt, I know the chap who built it and he really knows his stuff, thi s how to do it properly plenty of stitching in new panels so they overlap in a similar way to an original build.

[cambiker71]

Looks fairly mad following it on the motorway!!

[midridge2]

The thing to check first is that it is a cojoined shell and not just fresh panels welded in.
I assume you think its 2 halfs because you can see weld right across the floor and inner sills and weld on the screen aperture panel, take a good look at the floor, is the weld right across the tunnel? is the screen aperture welded right round? if it is it most likely is 2 halfs, if not it may have just had a floor section and front part screen aperture welded in.

Being in a position of actualy joining 2 halfs of minis (and others) on many occasions i feel i can speak with experiance, not like some who have never done it but feel they can comment, the normal practice is not to butt weld the floor but overlap it and weld both edges, regards the screen aperture and A post they are butt welded and the weld sank in, not ground down, the sills are removed and the floor and inner sill section welded up and then a new sill welded on.
Regards loosing strength, in my younger days i use to join mk1 escorts and minis for members of the local rally club and never had a one show signs of broken welds, a good weld will brake away either side of the weld before the actual weld breaks.

[Shifty]

Is that Garrets double ended mini?

[mike.]

lol that looks crazy!

[cambiker71]

Is that Garrets double ended mini?

That's the one

[Shifty]

The thing to check first is that it is a cojoined shell and not just fresh panels welded in.
I assume you think its 2 halfs because you can see weld right across the floor and inner sills and weld on the screen aperture panel, take a good look at the floor, is the weld right across the tunnel? is the screen aperture welded right round? if it is it most likely is 2 halfs, if not it may have just had a floor section and front part screen aperture welded in.

Being in a position of actualy joining 2 halfs of minis (and others) on many occasions i feel i can speak with experiance, not like some who have never done it but feel they can comment, the normal practice is not to butt weld the floor but overlap it and weld both edges, regards the screen aperture and A post they are butt welded and the weld sank in, not ground down, the sills are removed and the floor and inner sill section welded up and then a new sill welded on.
Regards loosing strength, in my younger days i use to join mk1 escorts and minis for members of the local rally club and never had a one show signs of broken welds, a good weld will brake away either side of the weld before the actual weld breaks.

I'm assuming that those rally cars also had roll cages fitted as well as being seam welded, also in the event of an accident the driver would be wearing a helmet and harness??

Not a fair comparison in my book.

A job that is done properly and by someone who is competant can be fine(hence my roof chop comments)

In 99.9999999999% of cut and shuts this simply isn't the case. I wouldn't want to think that my 17year old son was driving round in such a vehicle.

In the (likely) event of an accident I'd want him to be as protected as possible, this is one of the reasons that I'd discourage the poster from buying it.

Also, what happens if he gets it all done, painted up nice and it goes down the road sideways?

Not a good purchase in my opinion.

[midridge2]

The threads assume that its a "cut and shut" lets wait before we condem it.
The threads assume its been done badly if it is a "cut and shut".
((A job that is done properly and by someone who is competant can be fine(hence my roof chop comments))) so why should he not buy it?

(Also, what happens if he gets it all done, painted up nice and it goes down the road sideways?) as can be the case when people weld in new floors, boot floors etc with out measuring before and after.

[Shifty]

The threads assume that its a "cut and shut" lets wait before we condem it.
The threads assume its been done badly if it is a "cut and shut".
((A job that is done properly and by someone who is competant can be fine(hence my roof chop comments))) so why should he not buy it?

(Also, what happens if he gets it all done, painted up nice and it goes down the road sideways?) as can be the case when people weld in new floors, boot floors etc with out measuring before and after.

People who weld in floors/heelboards etc without measuring or bracing don't get my sympathy. Not doing this is just asking for trouble.

Fair enough, the job could have been done properly, measured correctly, welded properly and done so it was a nice virtually invisible repair. The fact that its already been highlighted as a "Cut and Shut" rings alarm bells with me. How do they know its a cut and shut?

Either they know the person who did the work or theres some visible signs of the work having been carried out.

I won't give out advice that I wouldn't take myself, I stand fully by my comments not to proceed with the purchase.