625 replies to this topic

[rich2]

Neil: Cheers! Thats good to know. Its the next job on the list.

BusheyTrader: Oh no! Poor Bruno! I haven't been keeping up with it lately so I didn't know

grahama: Cheers dude! I'll try!

mini_legend: Looks like you got a reasonable deal there. I'm liking the estates more and more lately. +1 for getting almost a whole car too - especially the indicator lights which I have found are pretty rare and expensive! I got a bit of discount on my welder because I had a shopping spree in machine mart that day. Google says they are about £260 now.


Finished off repairing this area today. Trying to keep as much form in the metal as possible to need minimal filler later. We now have a rust-free rear panel.



Also managed to get my home-made lip on.



It doesn't look like much but hopefully this little lot has saved me the cost of a new lower rear panel. Whoop!

[Boycie]

Excellent work

[sonikk4]

That lip has come up really well Rich, be careful grinding back the welds. I used the 1mm Stainless steel cutting discs to grind those welds back on Erm, you have to be very careful but the end results are worth it.

To final finish i polished them back with 80 grit Roloc discs then the Roloc blue scotch discs. Really smooth contour was the final result.

[rich2]

Yes I use stainless cutting discs for grinding too, and then a flap disc. These Roloc discs are for an air powered grinder, right? I would love some kind of variable speed air grinder, but the cost of a compressor would be a splurge too far for me at the moment. I decided to make do with my 25 quid electric angle grinder for the time being, and maybe make the investment at some point in future.

[Sleeping Park Lane]

Fella, you're an inspiration!

Before taking the boot floor out it might be worth bolting a brace in between the damper holes in the tops of the wheel arches - just to stop the arches tipping in or out. Depends how rusty the arches and metal around them are I guess.

Steve

[dougie1142]

Awesome work, i've jsut finished repairing that section too! You'll be on top of it all in no time, dont worry.

[hughJ]

That is the most fantastic repair to the rear panel!! One of the best and most interesting on this forum. I have been hunting in SWRNC (South West Rod 'n' Custom) but cannot find the video of the repair. As you say Pete has some pretty impressive skills. It's best to have your sensitivity to swearing turned off as you watch! I have learned a mass from him. Are you able to show me the name of the video or provide a link to where he goes about the similar repair?

Hugh

[rich2]

Hugh: found it!

Not much to report today, but my inner wing turned up! Whoop! First dry fit wasn't too bad at all. I don't think this side of the car has been fiddled with as much as the other side!



This time around I learnt from my mistakes on the off-side and scribed around the flanges when the panel was clamped up. Now I should be able to mark out and drill my plug weld holes in this panel, and avoid grinding impossible welds inside the dash again. I welded up the holes for the door hinges as they were way off. Also stripped the e-coat in the areas enclosed by the door post and bulkhead ready for a coat of POR15.



Hopefully tomorrow I can get a bit of paint on this and get ready for welding it in!

[sonikk4]

A lesson learnt from experience Rich, it makes your life so much easier when it's grinding down time. Its all looking good.

[hughJ]

Rich, great - that is a most helpful video - thanks for your help.

Hugh

[jbj]

Loving this thread. I really need to get my finger out with my rebuild, even updating the thread seems a chore at the mo.

[rich2]

While waiting for the paint to dry on the new inner wing today, I set about the boot floor. Briefly entertained the thought of trying to repair this panel rather than replacing the whole thing. The more I poked at it though, the more it became clear it was destined for the bin.



From here it is now much easier to assess the state of the heel board. While it looks repairable from the inside, the outside has mostly disintegrated so that will also be getting the chop in the near future.



As I will be also taking out the arches and quarters at some stage, I'm going to invest in some more lengths of steel angle this week to brace the back of the car diagonally. I noticed its not too difficult to flex it around a bit, and the last thing I want is a bent mini!

[Boycie]

Making good progress

[rich2]

Today I got the inner wing welded on and the welds partly ground down. Everything was looking good until a little slip with the grinder resulted in a trip to A+E and two stitches in my knee. DOH! What a moron! Needless to say, I'm not very pleased with myself at all. Work on the mini has now stopped for the rest of this weekend, at least. Boo hiss.

[sonikk4]

Not a good thing to do Rich but these things happen. I managed to chop the end off one of my fingers when i was welding a Beetle many years ago. 5 stitches, steri strips and a large bandage oh and antibiotics which as i found out did not get on to well with alcohol. Happy days but Rich i did go back to welding the Beetle the day after so man up sir your clubman needs you.