1146 replies to this topic

[Miniowner123]

lol i guess but dont let it scare you, its easy, if i can do it anyone can

[minimuk]

looking good your welding Hugh, as for the carpet bit,.......I hope that was a joke,.......if anything they should have put that bit in the boot not underneath,..... nout should be between subby and boot-floor, there should be a 2-4mm gap between it, because of general little subby movement when driving hence the rubber bushes of the 4 trunnions on the subby. I can only assume they might have put it there because the spare wheel and other bits pushed the boot-floor down a bit and might have made some noise/vibrating,rattling or so and had it there as a kinde "noise damper". I would aske them seriously,..even if it is for a laugh.

[Deathrow]

lol i guess but dont let it scare you, its easy, if i can do it anyone can

I've also done it, so it can't be that hard .

Progress is looking great Hugh! You're going to pass me if I don't get a move on, hehe.

Minimuk, those felt pads were there from standard. Although I agree with not putting them back, I've not put any on mine and don't intend to!

[grahama]

great work pal,

bit to put over the top I take it to finish off, neat welding, bloody invisible repair, stop it !!! lol. looking good all round. Have degreased the subbies in work over the weekend, hope to set about the front soon. Can you give me a close up of the stone chip texture hugh ?? Still not sure if going the paint and clear waxoit route !!

Graham

Edited by grahama, 07 November 2011 - 11:19 PM.

[minimuk]

lol i guess but dont let it scare you, its easy, if i can do it anyone can

I've also done it, so it can't be that hard .

Progress is looking great Hugh! You're going to pass me if I don't get a move on, hehe.

Minimuk, those felt pads were there from standard. Although I agree with not putting them back, I've not put any on mine and don't intend to!

Interesting,....bit like those spongi bits in the rear corners between the windees,creating non stop trapped moisture,....bad idea those. Always throw them out,

[hughJ]

Thanks gents for advice encouragement and help.

First couple of pictures are for you Graham - I get the stuff from Amazon about £8 a tin. Hope this helps.





I finished putting the front lip on last nights repair - took ages and did disgusting plug welds - its a bit of steel in place and better than rust.









Another little repair

Inching along

Hugh

[grahama]

That is nice and smooth Hugh, was expecting a ripply type surface, but as long as it works then it's fine. I already have primer on the belly and so think that stonechip is a no no for me going by what the experts say !! So I think I will just top coat and waxoil underneath with some clear stuff.

Only a couple of elephant man plugs pal, lol, but as I repeatedly say on my thread, the grinder is our best friend and as you have done, they look fine now !! Another step closer!

Graham

[minifcd]

Coming along nicely Hugh. Some nice repairs to the toe board there. I'm just doing the toe board repairs on mine. As someone previously advised, it would be best to take off the steering rack bracket to clean behind. I had loads of rust behind mine but its cleaned up really well. Drill out spot welds from the outside but don't drill through floor, remove and clean and when refitting, bolt to floor through the holes for the U clamps and plug weld the holes back up where you drilled the spot welds out.
Stone chip has gone well by the looks of it, gives a nice smooth finish. I had a textured finish done on my first mini, chemically hardens I believe. Anyway, keep at it, your nearly there!

This is the finish on my first mini after paint, the day I got the shell back!

[hughJ]

Graham - yes an elephant would do it better.
Scott - your first Mini looks just stunning - a lovely colour.

All boring

Had to put a wee tab on the boot - caused damage but that's another story had to put wee patch in before tab plug welded. Too guilty to show detail. So fed up didn't take a photo at the time.



Spraying on more tins of Stonechip Shield



Took the rear subframe apart - what a dirty job



That's it

Boring along

Hugh

[minimuk]

subby ok to use or need ditching, give us a few close-ups please

Edited by Deathrow, 15 November 2011 - 11:14 AM.
Text speak is against forum rules.

[hughJ]

Not such a happy week

This is the subframe minimuk. I'm going to ditch it. My Xmas present from Anne will be a new subframe! I had contemplated repairing it but I think its just too far gone!







I started putting colour on the rear. I just brush painted on Rustoleum Combicolor RAL6001 Emerald Green. It doesn't have to be too good underneath! Then the frost came and the paint stayed tacky for days. Condensation dripped off the garage roof onto it and spoiled the surface. The temperature went up, its nice and mild now and the paint went off at last. It was still tacky over areas where there is seam sealant. I put another coat on last night.



To my horror this morning there are rippled areas on it - at least the first coat didn't do that. This photo is meant to show it but its not great



I have now put polythene sheeting under the roof plastic sheets hopefully to channel away the drips



So for something different I stripped the rear radius arms



I had bought some nice wee bits for the rear subframe but they will have to wait till I get my Xmas present!!



Well that's it for this week. Should have been exciting to get colour on but a wee bit depressing. I'll let the paint go off completely and sand the rippled areas a bit and repaint.

Grumping along

Hugh

[Deathrow]

Yeah Rustoleum is a nightmate in the cold Hugh, it can take the stuff weeks to even go hard!

Do you have the means to spray it? I found it dries faster if you spray it becuase it goes on in thinner coats than if you brush it on.

[grahama]

I have thought about the use of rustoleum because of the going off time and am also considering coach enamel as I think it goes off quicker. Looking great witht he colour on though, shame about the ripling but we will all probably go through this.

I hope your misses can wrap things up well to disguise that subframe, or you will know what it is on xmas morning, and you will need a bloody big tree lol. Mine will need a couple of patches but is essentially solid and should get away with it.

How are your radius arms, just a rebuild or new bearings etc?? and are those the flowflex polybushes ??

Graham

[hughJ]

Hi Deathrow - no don't have spray equipment - budget rebuild and all that! Just have to be patient.

Hello Graham - the radius arm bushes feel fine but don't look fine - so I'll see. Some of these jobs can just be left as it can be done any time. As long as it makes an MOT just now.

I don't care how the little lady wraps it - she's letting me spend a fair bit at present - even going into savings!! She's a gem. And they are flowflex bushes from Ebay. They look almost edible! I was going to do just boring black but then had a colourful moment. Well look at the green I'm putting on. When I used Rustoleum's website to choose the colour I thought it was darker and then when I started using it I thought - man this is green, its very green. However I've come round to really liking it. It will look pretty sweet with stainless bumpers and wheel arches.

Thanks both of you

Hugh

[Deathrow]

Hugh, maybe try thinning the paint down before brushing it on?

Just might make it thin enough to go off faster, but you'll need more layers. It might be a case of a dozen of these or two half dozen of those though.