327 replies to this topic

[DaveJH]

Ah, I see. That will have to be done later, for now I need to sort the worst of the leaks and use him to get back and for to my new job. Got the call today, I start on Thursday

Also, I fixed the astra with some help from my Dad, I'm now much more confident that it will pass the MOT and hopefully this time tomorrow she'll all be sorted and sold and I'll be £550 less in debt. Fingers crossed!

[DaveJH]

Seems my confidence was misplaced, I'm awaiting a bill from the garage for the work required to pass the astra so I can sell her on. Massive blow considering how my finances stand at the moment! But on the way back from the garage in my mini, he decided to cheer me up a little by sorting out his own indicator issues. My driver's side rear indicator didn't have enough current getting to the bulb and I had no idea what was wrong but now it works again.

Working 10 hour night shifts at the moment to pay off my bills so there is no change to the mini, but a box of goodies from minispares turned up the other day and the boot will painted by wednesday now.

[DaveJH]

I ran out of petrol by accident on the way to work on Saturday, had a can in the boot and refilled her but after 30 seconds she stalled again and wouldn't start. I was quite worried I might have blocked up some fuel lines or something but today my miracle mini fixed himself again. I'd left him for a few days while I had other things to do around the house and decided to try and start him again and he coughed into life all on his own. Now if he could just sort his own rust and exhaust out I'll be laughing!

I'm off work Thu-Sunday I think so hopefully I can get some work done to him.

[bamby]

looking good - Ah ive done that once or twice in my mini when it comes to fuel!

[sonikk4]

Nice little car you have got there. I would totally agree with what Rickspi said (i did his welding) chip the sound proofing off especially in the front footwell as it does look a tad suspect there. It does come off quite easily using a good scraper and hammer.

Ricks car did not look too bad until i got the outer sills off then there was all sorts of nasties lurking. I would recommend using a grinder and wire cup once the sound proofing is off to see how bad things are as this is less destructive than using a grinding disc.

Good luck with your car.

[DaveJH]

Thanks for the comments, I'm trying to think of a welder I know who will help me for free as I have no funds, got one idea so I'll see what he says. But today my car refused to start again! Just as I was leaving for work. I ended up having to cycle in and was an hour late

[DaveJH]

More progress, no work today so a cracking day to work on the mini, I decided to whip out the fuel tank and finish red oxiding the boot and spray it up ready for my new boot lid. But removing the fuel tank revealed a great big rust hole in the arch! Further poking revealed a second hole, and then a third...

So much for red oxide!


So this is an apeal, is there anyone in south wales with mini knowledge and welding knowledge who would be willing to help me sort my poor car out?











This is only a small crack:

[Miniowner123]

if the rear section of the boot is that gone i'd say you're on your way to a rear end overhaul, it don't look good to say the least, good luck.

[DaveJH]

Well those are the only holes, do you think they can be patched? There is surface rust around these spots but they are still solid and I will wire brush them down and red oxide the whole thing. Would patches be strong enough and cost effective? I'm going to have to pay someone to do the work for me as I can't find myself a welder that is willing to help for nothing.

[Miniowner123]

if you're willing to learn i'd buy a welder, pick up something from clarke for around £200 and then you'll never have bills for repair work again, most cost effective way and if you are planning on keeping the car its a wise decision. i bought a clarke 135te a little while back and so glad i did, best buy yet

as for the repairs it all depends on what you plan on doing with the car, if you want to keep it and don't mind it being off the road, i'd say make sure the rear bumper lip is solid because the boot floor forms one of the layers which will probably be rusted, if that the case then remove valance, repair the boot floor by putting new pieces in (not patching) then new valance back on.

for the arch, wheel off, cut the rusted section out and replace with new metal. harder route is to remove the whole arch but then that means lots of paintwork to do after which is a bit overkill unless you want it spotless, i'd go for just cutting the rust out and putting a piece in

[DaveJH]

The boot floor really isn't that bad, its just the arch which will need a plate, as you say, the floor around the mount for the fuel tank strap and the small hole I made in the spare wheel well, I imagine they could all be patched?

I do want to buy a welder but we have no garage and I'm not sure where I'd keep it or where I'd use it. Are they big and are they expensive to run or not?

Also, I can't start him still, I'm going to try and fit a new fuel filter in the hope that it is blocked up with 14 years of gunk from the tank but I have no idea if that is the problem or not, but the problem started when I ran out of fuel once.

[Miniowner123]

just repairing the panel will be fine, just cut right back to clean metal and weld a piece in, don't patch over rust or it will come back even worse.

as for the welder they're not that big, about 12 inches wide, 18 inches long and 18inches tall. for small work just use the disposable gas cylinders which you can get from machine mart for about £11 each, they last long enough. make sure you get a gas welder, gasless are pretty s**t

[DaveJH]

Thanks for the advice mate, I might have a lead for a welder who might be willing to help me out. Lots of mights, but worth waiting to see if he will. Also, I still can't start my mini.

[DaveJH]

No change to my mini, I've almost forgotten that I own him. He won't start and of course, with this rain about and the holes in the boot, I wouldn't drive him anyway. My new boot lock turned up the other day (thanks to a member on here, brand new) but the sprayers told me today they had forgotten about my boot and will do it tomorrow, so that isn't even done yet!

But today I've had a better day with other things, firstly I got around to paying the £560 pounds into my bank (mainly from my car sale) and the banker miscounted and put £600 in my account, then I rang the insurers to discuss my no claims bonus and it turns out that I have three years not two (not bad for a 20 year old who passed his test at 18) That makes a massive 80p reduction on my monthly payments, now its just under £35 a month (which again is pretty good for a 20 year old on a cooper 1.3, AND two months are free).

Work have offered me 6 shifts in the next 6 days which will earn me just over £250 hopefully so I am climbing my way out of debt slowly. Just another £1000 to go.

[Miniowner123]

following your find, i found rust in my boot today aswell

at first i thought it was just the nearside rear section of the floor but its also worked its way up the rear panel right by one of the boot hinge mounts so i got to cut that out as well

so i'd get proper digging into that rust mate, just in case you find more, not something to be overlooked either so bets catch it while you can, hopefully you have more luck than me