625 replies to this topic

[rich2]

It's a bank holiday so fingers crossed we might get an update :)

 

Nope! Still no progress! Babies eh!?!

 

Really wanted to go to Thoresby Classic Car show today to see the minis, but ended up at a baby sign language class instead! (It was quite good though).

 

I haven't given up! The mini is sitting patiently in the garage!

[ger]

Great rebuild. I've been planning the resto of my 1980 GT which I'm going to start in  October and your thread has given me help as I've not tackled anything like this before.

[BusheyTrader]

Hi Rich,

 

Life can get in the way of a restoration, not just new arrivals.............  As long as there's nothing lying around unprotected (bare steel panels or parts etc) it'll be there waiting for you when you get back to it.

 

It'll be good to see your pages when things get going again.

 

Adam

[josh.goddard]

Can i ask what you use to paint the black bits up (hubs etc) be great to see the car done !
Josh

[rich2]

Hello Mini Lovers! It feels like I've been away forever, but I'm back on the project! 

That is - my wife has permitted me to spend a couple of hours a week in the garage. Whoop!

So, to pick up where I left off (over 18 months ago)... I started having a look at fitting up the doors.
 


Passenger side not too bad. I dug out the smiffy's bits door mounting gear I bought which is very nice to work with when you have to take the door off and on again 100 times.



Bottom edge needs a little trim.



Then laid the skin on but didn't want to embark on such a scary job on day 1, so left it there for now. :)



Will put the skin on this door as my next job. Have been looking around for tips but I guess its just a case of gently hammering the edges around the frame? Any words of wisdom much appreciated. :)

[sonikk4]

Rich your back. You can use a lip folder which i did try once but ti marked the metal so resorted to just using a hammer and block.

[rich2]

Neil! That was quick off the blocks! Almost like you've been waiting here all this time for me to post something ;)

Yes I may just try tapping it over very carefully and see where that gets me.

Paddy is looking great by the way!

[rally515]

My god has it really been this long   I remembered the front panel rust and rot you've dealt with as soon as I saw the title  .

 

Glad to see you're back at it Rich and quite a nice little clean job to get going at full tilt poker.com again :)

 

P.S. Don't listen to those wife people, they only slow progress down ;)

 

Cliff

[sonikk4]

Neil! That was quick off the blocks! Almost like you've been waiting here all this time for me to post something ;)

Yes I may just try tapping it over very carefully and see where that gets me.

Paddy is looking great by the way!

 

Nah not lurking but it pinged up you posted. There is a tool you can buy that is used with a rivet gun, i'm waiting for one after being told about it by a chap called Dave at Rutland mini's.

http://www.eastwood....nning-tool.html

[Ben_O]

Good to see you back Rich.

 

Best method for skinning the door in my opinion is to lay the frame onto the skin so you have the whole lot skin side down on your bench (use blankets to cushion it) and then hold a large flat dolly tightly against the front edge of the skin with one hand and then tap the edge over with a panel hammer with the other hand.

You need to turn the edge over about halfway to start with moving  your dolly along as you go obviously and then once one side is half over, repeat to fold the rest of the way.

 

What i like to do is fold the corners first then you can pop the door back on and check for alignment whilst you still have some movement and then you can adjust the skin if you need to before fully folding it.

 

The skinning tools are better used to squeeze up the edges nice and tight once the initial folding has been done with the hammer and dolly.

I don't believe they are designed to fold the skin completely on their own as they will just give you a ripply edge.

 

Ben 

[Daviewonder]

Good to see you're back at it Rich. I only thought about this project yesterday and wondered if you still had it.

 

How has it held up over the months, any rust starting to show through or is it all ok?

 

 

 

Looking forward to more updates  

[Jase]

Seconded, good to see some progress. I'm in the same boat, trying to find the time is difficult.

[skoughi]

Good to see you back at the coal face rich! It's not easy balancing family life with a project that needs all your time just to move ahead slowly! Another slight variation on fitting a door skin ( I only used this because I nearly destroyed every skin I used to try and fit!), I bend the lip over about two thirds the way with dolly and hammer then use the largest pair of vice grips I have that have big wide jaws, place a bit of about 10mm ply on the outside of the skin so that it's between the skin and vice grip jaw and close over the lip bit by bit with the grips. Bend it a little and move along a jaw width and bend again. The vice grip will bend the lip the exact same amount each time so reducing any streaching and the ply on the outside of the skin will minimise damage. Keep tightening up the vice grip each time you go the whole way around the skin until it nips up the lip nice and tight. I also laid on a bead of adhesive in the fold to seal and glue the join and felt it was enough so didn't do any spot welds as this will burn any paint in the lap join.

[rich2]

Thanks for the advice everyone! All being well I'll be able to give it a shot this weekend.

 

 

How has it held up over the months, any rust starting to show through or is it all ok?

 

The floors are definitely showing some surface rust through the primer. Worrying. And thats just the bit you can see clearly. I'm giving serious thought to chemical dipping before paint.

 

vice grips... 10mm ply ...

 

Yeah I like the sound of this because its the same way I got the A Panel on, and that didn't go too badly. Personally I'll probably prefer to steer clear of adhesives though because if it does end up needing a bit of welding I don't want to risk welding anywhere near that nasty stuff.

[skoughi]

I know what you mean regarding burning adhesive, I used pro stick which I felt would be more than enough to keep the skin in position and the only spot that needs a weld is at the top of the skin at the window frames are where there is no adhesive . Slowly bending the lip with the wide jawed grips meant it was very controlled and minimised any hassle with the door moving about whilst knocking over the lip with a hammer. Those with the skill earned through practice can do it no problem but since it's been over twenty years since I did it for a job, and I wasn't very good at it then as well, I felt more confident doing it this way.