625 replies to this topic

[Jase]

Best rust proofer I ever used was Finnegans No1, put it on the inside of my rear Spitfire wings 30 years ago and no problems at all. Unfortunately I think they have changed the 'ingredients' these days.

[rich2]

Hi James / F-bot! Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate it :) 

 

POR 15: Seems to be decent! The subframes and suspension were the main things I used it on, and they look absolutely fine at the moment. No signs of rust at all. I did find however that it was not as successful on some smaller bits which I hadn't bothered to treat first with their 'metal prep' product. The top coat did not stick anything like as well as when I had followed the proper process with the subframes. 

 

Things I would do differently? Oh my god the list is long but hey, it was a learning experience so no regrets. Anyway, easy ones:

 

-  I went for a pair of bare metal floor panels which came pre-spotwelded to the sills. Did not do anything at the time to treat the bare metal inside and have worried ever since about the impending rust time bomb. Should have bought heritage e-coated ones.

- Should have just bought hi-los and decent adjustable dampers at the outset because getting the correct ride height and balance is essential. 

- Definitely should have done a dry build before paint to avoid finding out I needed to drill holes in fresh paintwork for various things when putting it all together.

- Should not have bothered trying to recondition the old hydraulics. The old brake and clutch master cylinders both failed pretty quickly and I had to replace all with new anyway.

- Should have made sure the sump plug thread in the gearbox casing was decent during the gearbox build. Of course it is not and I am now faced with having to tap it out with the engine in the car!

 

 

On a bigger 'whole-project' philosophy level, knowing what I know now I would think twice about the following: 

 

- I spent quite a lot rebuilding a not-very-powerful 1100 engine. OK its 'original', but in hindsight would probably have made more sense to bin it, source a 1275 and build into a 1380.

- I also spent quite a lot on the paint job which is not brilliant. Some microblistering has appeared on some panels which is really disappointing. Struggled to find a painter at the time, but should have looked further afield and got recommendations.

- Should have had a clearer vision or plan of what I wanted the car to be. It has turned out to be a quite faithful resto with a few mods sort of 'by default' without me giving it too much thought, but I do sort of regret sometimes not building it to be a bit more track / fast road focused. 

 

I'm not sure if any of the above is really useful information! I think, to be honest, putting a car together like this should be a bit of a journey of discovery and getting it wrong and then fixing it is half the fun. :) 

[rich2]

I do keep meaning to post more about the work I've been doing to the car lately, but never get around to it - so instead here are some photos of me lurking around in an empty carpark.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh - one more thing I would do differently - get Yokohama A032r tyres because they look much cooler than the A008s I'm running at the moment!

[skoughi]

Great to see all your hard work being enjoyed, she does look fantastic! I've learned that these Mini's tend to "develop" as it were once you get them on the road. I would imagine they mostly all get modified in some way from what they are/were when their owners first get them back on the road. Your build was on the go about the same time as I was doing my Clubman and I took some inspiration from the way you did things. Even down to taking the supporting rib off the bonnet to clean the inside! Maybe I could've simply just bought a new one and saved a ton of work. Good to see you doing updates, keep them coming!

[bobcrumble888]

I do keep meaning to post more about the work I've been doing to the car lately, but never get around to it - so instead here are some photos of me lurking around in an empty carpark.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh - one more thing I would do differently - get Yokohama A032r tyres because they look much cooler than the A008s I'm running at the moment!

 

 

This has to be one of, if not my favorite car/build. The colour is stunning and looks so neat and tidy. Well done sir!

[F_bot]

Apologies for the delayed response on this one all. 

@Alice Dooper thanks for your response, good to hear its still working well. I know exactly what you mean re the double lip on the pot, the pot I have been using looks absolutely destroyed because, like you said, its an absolute nightmare to get off. 
 

@Jase, thanks for the heads up.

 

 

@Rich no problem, she is looking stunning in those latest pictures.

 

Re the POR15, I haven't actually tried using it using the proper method of using the metal prep prior to use, will certainly look further into this. I have been simply rubbing down components then giving it a spray of UPOL etch primer then applying POR15 ontop. Hasn't been sticking 100% well (which follows what you said), but applying a second coat and it seems to be OK. Will definitely look into the metal prep, from recollection its applied to bare metal before painting (rather than applying a primer)? 

 

Understood re the panel issue, I was looking at magnum or something similar but painting inside the sill then applying a load of wax (can't remember the name of the stuff), and hopefully that will be OK, but will cross that bridge when I come to it. Hi-lo's definitely the way forwards from what I've seen. I was thinking about the engine side myself (again, a long way off), I would definitely like to have something a little quicker in there, the 998cc is fine with one of you in the car but two... oh no. Again, I was thinking along the same lines of doing mod's to the 998 but like you said, it might just be worth scrapping that in for a 1275cc and doing something bit more racey with that, so that's useful info. Ideally I'm going for fast (ish) road focussed, just something I send into corners and have a bit of fun in. The paint job is definitely an area that concerns me, I'm likely going to take it to the guys that do Owen's Fabrications mini's, he seems to rave about them all the time and he's a man who knows whats what. 

 

Did you ever have any troubles with the boot floor correctly fitting ? Mine's put me in a bit of a pickle for a while as the indented sections at the front of the boot floor for the seats is ever so slightly coming into contact with the top of the heel board. I think it probably just needs a bit of muscle to push the heelboard forwards to fit properly, but has been a right pain in the ass ! 

 

 

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond, this is all really useful info and very much appricated.  

 

 

 

Hi James / F-bot! Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate it :) 

 

POR 15: Seems to be decent! The subframes and suspension were the main things I used it on, and they look absolutely fine at the moment. No signs of rust at all. I did find however that it was not as successful on some smaller bits which I hadn't bothered to treat first with their 'metal prep' product. The top coat did not stick anything like as well as when I had followed the proper process with the subframes. 

 

Things I would do differently? Oh my god the list is long but hey, it was a learning experience so no regrets. Anyway, easy ones:

 

-  I went for a pair of bare metal floor panels which came pre-spotwelded to the sills. Did not do anything at the time to treat the bare metal inside and have worried ever since about the impending rust time bomb. Should have bought heritage e-coated ones.

- Should have just bought hi-los and decent adjustable dampers at the outset because getting the correct ride height and balance is essential. 

- Definitely should have done a dry build before paint to avoid finding out I needed to drill holes in fresh paintwork for various things when putting it all together.

- Should not have bothered trying to recondition the old hydraulics. The old brake and clutch master cylinders both failed pretty quickly and I had to replace all with new anyway.

- Should have made sure the sump plug thread in the gearbox casing was decent during the gearbox build. Of course it is not and I am now faced with having to tap it out with the engine in the car!

 

 

On a bigger 'whole-project' philosophy level, knowing what I know now I would think twice about the following: 

 

- I spent quite a lot rebuilding a not-very-powerful 1100 engine. OK its 'original', but in hindsight would probably have made more sense to bin it, source a 1275 and build into a 1380.

- I also spent quite a lot on the paint job which is not brilliant. Some microblistering has appeared on some panels which is really disappointing. Struggled to find a painter at the time, but should have looked further afield and got recommendations.

- Should have had a clearer vision or plan of what I wanted the car to be. It has turned out to be a quite faithful resto with a few mods sort of 'by default' without me giving it too much thought, but I do sort of regret sometimes not building it to be a bit more track / fast road focused. 

 

I'm not sure if any of the above is really useful information! I think, to be honest, putting a car together like this should be a bit of a journey of discovery and getting it wrong and then fixing it is half the fun. :) 

 

Edited by F_bot, 21 October 2020 - 08:40 PM.

[rich2]

@F_Bot - yeah from what I remember POR15 shouldn't be applied over primer. I think it really needs to go onto 'bare' metal - ie metal that has been treated with their prep stuff. That provides the etch for it to cling to.

 

Re. boot floor fitting correctly: to be honest I had problems getting every single panel to fit correctly. In some cases they needed extra persuasion as you suggest, but I quite often needed to make adjustments even to heritage panels to get them in nicely.

[F_bot]

@Rich2. Great stuff, good to hear you had as much trouble as me haha. Will need to get some metal prep ordered, crazy how expensive it is. Suppose its imported from 'merica so understandable. 

 

What's next for the Clubman ? 

[Chris1275gt]

Rich2 just gone through from 1-42 if their was a forum award for resto of the decade, for perseverance, skill and finished car you'll get my vote hands down and that colour is just superb.

[Jase]

Any updates on your car?

[rich2]

Currently sat in the garage awaiting some attention when I get a free minute over christmas. Suspected blown head gasket, suspected caused due to running too hot over the summer. Hopefully will be back better than ever soon!