1146 replies to this topic

[hughJ]

Thanks Graham and pinhead. I did a few more footery repairs.

I had kept part of the old boot I had cut out as it had the tank bracket on it. I hoped to use it to position the bracket but that was a no goer.



So removed the bracket and then had to repair my enthusiastic use of the grinder earlier in the year. That has to be strength of character - unthinking get stuck in use of the grinder.







After putting tank out and in a few times I decided on this being a suitable position



Seems to work





Then did the wee clips to retain the wiring loom





And did various plug welds, redid some poor welds, ground back welds, wire brushed. I'm moving on to start sealing and painting. Looking forward to a change.

Footering along

Hugh

[hughJ]

I'm still tidying up, going over old disasters and trying to get sealed before winter. Its all dull but I've put these up to show I'm still keeping my hand in.

Deathrow had pointed this out to me before



So redid. Also did the other side and one or two other weakish looking welds



Not great welds - I just rushed it

I had left this as I had repaired from the other side of the roof gutter







The welds at this corner were poor so - had ground too thin





And had left this corner for welding at a better angle







Now here's a disaster from early on. I wish I could do the whole thing again but I can't. Its at the front roof gutter from when I welded in the new front windscreen surround




The welds were too thin and ground right through. I was too scared then to go for enough penetration. This was terribly hard to weld and grind







The plug welds are awful and I just can't get at them. I had advised before - if doing get the Mini upsides down, drill the screen surround and plug weld onto the lip of the roof - easier to weld easier to grind!

Hadn't got at these seams as I had welded the sills in when the car was upsides down







Terribly boring but all needs to be done

Boring along

Hugh

[grahama]

It is indeed the worst thing, re doing old work. Have had to do this a time or two myself and clean and prime over surface rust when not done right, frustrating !! The plugs are visible, but only just, if in doubt put a little filler in there and sand down to hide, but really it's not the first place people look when driving so I wouldn't worry.

Seams looking good though, smoothe curves and straight lines, nice.

Graham

[hughJ]

Graham, thanks again, you are a decent bloke with all your kind words.

Its still the same - wire brushing, grinding, cleaning, rust treating, sealing, etc

Bit of work in the boot





Bit of paint just to seal from the damp - this is going to be the colour





And turned over again to deal with this



Daylight showing through!



Put in a wee patch



Used Jenolite on the rust. I had some Marine Clean and Metal Prep so also used them. Then put some Etch Primer on



I'm just going to Stonechip over this and then paint over the Stonechip. I want to get the underneath done so can put it on its subframes. Its a change from welding. Is it better? I don't know.

Pochling along

Hugh

[CLM]

Looking great Hugh you are doing a wonderfull job, however you might want to paint the bottom, then stoanchip so the stonechip isn't directly against the primer. I have seen stonechip split more then once as it aged and if that happened it would leave moisture a direct path to your floor. Best bet probably for longevity would be to seal the floor with a decent paint then stonechip to protect the paint then paint over the stonechip your final color.

Chris

[grahama]

Good idea, never thought of that Chris, also doesn't matter if only brushed on underneath so a quickish job too. Hugh, thought you had done the boot floor before, or is this the dreaded rust comming back after time left?? I lather on the seam sealer, not going for concours so not really bothered, it's nice to be doing a 'finishing' bit too that's not welding.

Graham

Edited by grahama, 22 October 2011 - 09:44 AM.

[hughJ]

Thanks for the advice gents - I will paint first, then Stonechip. I've used up all my etch primer and have to buy some Rustoleum. I'll have to wait till the end of the month. I have three children in Edinburgh all in further education so I limit myself to a small budget on the Mini each month. The joy of being a parent!

So a wee break

Hugh

Edited by hughJ, 22 October 2011 - 12:20 PM.

[panelbeaterpeter]

Looking great, been a while since I last checked in! Regarding the stonechip, DON'T apply it over paint. Etch prime very lightly, then stonechip, then paint. You can prime before paint if you wish. Stonechip only cracks if it is applied over paint or primer, it softens it and then cracks because the soft paint moves about. Etch primer doesn't soften if you apply it very thin and dusty like, as you're meant to.

[hughJ]

Thanks panelbeaterpeter, your advice has always been sound. Now I don't know what to do. Everyone seems so knowledgeable.
I have Stonechip and would love just to get it on. Sorry to all parties for not taking advice instantly!!
If you read this Neil, what would you do?

All I've done today is a little seam sealing so if I put a up a few photos it will seem as if I've done a lot!









That's all. If Niel sees this he will be horrified - the care he took when seam sealing - he masked it all! I just glooped it on with a brush.

Glooping along

Hugh

[sonikk4]

Hugh do what Panelbeaterpeter says. I went down that route with the stonechip thing and i so wish i had heeded Peters warning.

It really does need to be the lightest of touches with the etch primer as well. I wasted a lot of my time and stone chip before i got it just right.

Panelbeaterpeters words were ringing in my head along with a few choice swear words when i had to strip everything back to bare metal to start again. When the stonechip reacts it looks like crazy paving and you can watch the cracks form. Very dis heartening.

Still its a lesson learned and one i will not be repeating. I used the Gravitex stonechip and i have to say its very good.

And Hugh i'm not horrified with what you have done with the seam sealer. I do what i do mainly because its what i do on aircraft repairs and so it becomes a normal way of doing it. Hah just looked at my last sentence how many do's and doing it did i fit in there.

[panelbeaterpeter]

What is the coating on the bare metal there? looks like etch or zinc primer. So long as the seam sealer is totally dry, you could stonechip safely over that, just apply it in thinnish layers, letting each coat flash off before re-applying.

[hughJ]

Thank you so much, both of you. That's what I'll do. Neil, it shows what faith I have in your knowledge!!

Panelbeaterpeter it is etch primer that has been sprayed on.

So Monday I'll start on the Stonechip. It's Finnigan's stuff I have. I hope it will be OK. And I'm not really a Hammerite enthusiast. Every time I use it it chips eventually. So let's hope their Stonechip is fine.

Then later in the week I'll order paint. I can move onto cleaning the whole underneath now. The real painting I'm leaving till Spring when the weather starts warming up. Hopefully I'll get the subframes in, the front on and maybe the engine back in by then. Must stop my excitement!

All of you, thanks for advice. I do appreciate. Sorry when I lean away from your advice.

Learning on

Hugh

[Shifty]

Nice work Hugh.

Its a a good sign when you look at the stuff you did at the start and think about ripping it out and doing it again!!

That shows how you've progressed and how your standards have changed.

My advice is that if you see something now that annoys you, re-do it. Once the cars in paint that annoying bit will just bug you even more.

[hughJ]

Hello Shifty and nice to hear from you, I do appreciate your comments.

Not much to show tonight. I started this Stonechipping, something I've never done before. I was getting scared with all the worrying stories about paint reaction but it seems to have gone on OK. It is quite a smooth surface. I thought it should be a sort of stippled bumpy surface! I put on two coats using about 2/3rds of a 600ml rattle can. Is that enough or does it need lots of coats?



Stonechipping away

Hugh

[hughJ]

Today I tackled cleaning the underside. I took off a layer of waxoil or underseal. It was fairly dry. Under the boot I had cleaned with white spirit but it made an awful mess, then wire brushed with the grinder. This time I took the wire brush straight at it. Made me filthy. Then cleaned with white spirit, then with Marine Clean and here is this where I have put on Kurust.



And later etch primed - looks better.



Will seam seal and stonechip next week.

Cleaning along

Hugh