1146 replies to this topic

[grahama]

Don't need to go to that etent thankfully, but make sure the windscreen fits before welding in fully !!! You have probably already thought of this but thought I'd just say !!

Graham

[hughJ]

Well I haven't updated my post for a wee while. I've not been lazy but I sure have been blue. After finding the windscreen panel fitting so badly I took a few days out and just ignored the Mini and felt like leaving it that way.

But thanks again for the advice and encouragement benjy_18, pinhead, liam_italian and Graham.

I depressed myself more by cutting out the welding I had done at the tops of the inner wings - I thought that was preventing the panel coming back - this made no difference so I had to repair my repairs!

Drivers side







Passenger side - it would break your heart. I took the piece right out and replaced it. I had cut into it with grinder previously, like I do!







Then I did a repair to the door pillar - driver's side at the door stop





ghastly welding





I also did a few repairs to the side seams and the roof channel where the plug welds go

De-rusted and painted with POR15 - you have to 'Marine Clean' then 'Metal Ready' before you can apply the POR15. The metal contact areas are painted with weld through primer.



And then forced the panel in. Drilled a million holes and did a million plug welds.



I used a joiners clamp to force the steel to the shape of the door pillar, clamped with mole grips and plug welded. The fit at the sides is better than I expected but if the welds give way it will spring back to shape with an awful release of energy





But the plug welds at the roof are awful. I could not get the torch in properly and I couldn't get comfortable to weld. I'd advise anyone trying this to drill the holes in the panel and plug weld from underneath. We are so wise afterwards. I will have to try and grind carefully and cover the mess with seam sealer. But you know me with a grinder - yes I'm sure to slip and cause havoc.



And from the inside



I have just put a couple of plug welds on the bottom and will do it properly as the dash rail goes in.

This looks like nothing but it has been quite horrendous. It's taken hours of work and aged me. I am just not up to Neil's (sonikk4) or Shifty's abilities. I would have loved to hand it over to them.

I have to tidy up the job and then weld in the new upper dash rail. Maybe I'll do the passenger rear quarter next. I've got the floors to do but maybe leave this till the subframes are out and I can get it on its side.

That's another job done and gaping rust holes have been repaired. The windscreen was a mess. Hopefully I might get a bit more done soon. Surely the dash rail will go quicker.

Grinding on

Hugh

Edited by hughJ, 05 March 2011 - 07:06 PM.

[sonikk4]

Fair play to you Hugh you are cracking on with the welding. Hind sight is a wonderful thing when it comes to welding but we all learn from our mistakes.

With regards to grinding down the welds are you using grinding discs or the flapper style disc's. The flapper style are less abrasive and leave a nice polished finish or you could use a high speed die grinder with a Roloc holder and discs to finish off any grinding. Again these leave a really nice smooth finish which is why i have been using them by bushel on Erm.

[hughJ]

Neil thanks a lot - that means so much when I feel it did not go well - especially from my hero!

[oli]

Big job that panel especally without a spot welder so dont worry about having ro redo things that would have taken me 3 times to get it right. I've been doing mini so long I've started back at the begining. What I did first I was initially happy with but as my skills improve were not good enough, its a learning curve! You should see my pile of scrap doorskins and A panels I'll keep watching to see how its doing.

Oli

[grahama]

Just to add to the other, great effort Hugh. Personally if I am not going to see the weld then I don't gring it down fully as I don't want to weaken the joint too much. This is more to do with my fears about my welding more than anything else, lol.

for example on the O/S flitch



Inner sill for me next, biggest bit yet for welding, hope it turns out as good as your welding !!! Keep going !

Graham

[WoodlandsMini]

What an absolute legend, for me this helps me stick to mine a little more... have been at similar stages, although I would definately say your project requires you to be a bit braver than me.

Certainly making swift progress of and always love reading up to see what your up to. Its been said before... but this will be the dogs danglies when done

Keep up the good work

Matt

[Miniowner123]

good work on the windscreen surround mate, starting to come together well

[myredmini]

Do you need a passenger doorstep ?

Your doing amazingly well, keep it up..

Dan..

[darky32]

You have done an amazing job Hugh and proceeded where many would have given up you should be proud of yourself

Mark

[minidream94]

WOW what can i say hugh, and to think that at the beginning of the project u were cakking ya pants about going anywhere near the mini with a grinder or a welder, and now look your replacing major panels with ease

I have to do my flitches tomorrow, im not looking forward to it as it will be the first major think that i cut out of my estate and with no previous experience of body work, its kinda pants filling (if ya get my drift).

[hughJ]

Oli, thanks, that means a lot. Graham thanks again for your kind words. Matt brave is not the right word - it still can scare me stiff - maybe foolhardy or ignorant! pinhead thanks for keeping me going - you are certainly getting there. Dan - that's very helpful, as you always are - I'm hoping not to replace it but then you don't know till you start looking. That rust hides everywhere. Mark thanks a lot. Nick, thanks. Had a look at your post and you are very similar to me looking forward to seeing you flitch panels replaced.

I have put in the upper dash rail - on the whole not too difficult. This was a non-genuine panel from minispares.com and fitted pretty good.

The pictures tell the story.











And I have to say, despite my worries, that the front looks so much better now and seems so much more solid. I've ordered floor repair panels and sills.

Welding along

Hugh

[minidream94]

nice progress hugh , have you got any pictures of the gap that was left for you to replace the flitch? i want to make sure ive cut in all the right places

[sonikk4]

Don't need to go to that etent thankfully, but make sure the windscreen fits before welding in fully !!! You have probably already thought of this but thought I'd just say !!

Graham

Hugh 100% agree with Graham here as we nearly fell foul of this problem just before Erm went to paint. Considering i only changed the scuttle the windscreen would not fit at all so i had to trim a lot off both lower corners and eventually some in the centre section as well. In the process of trying we did ruin the old windscreen seal and had to try another way of installing the windscreen which was successful. I even fitted the seal filler strip just to be certain all was good.

To be honest the scuttle was cut back to the original cut marks and clamped to match the inside contour of the original panel but it just shows you it was still out.
Hopefully you should not have the same problem but DO check, it saves hassle later.

[hughJ]

Hello Neil - you've got me panicking now. I remember Graham's good advice and then it went out my head as I ground away here and clamped there and welded another place. You probably have stopped me sleeping now! I'll worry all night. I'll check that tomorrow. I think I've got the old rubber in the garage and the screen is up in the attic.

Nick - there are some pictures further back in the post (page 5). I made sure the bolt holes for the hinges lined up by putting bolts in them. I put the doors in a few times to see if things looked OK. I had up to about 1mm gap between the panel and the old edge of the flitch- enough for an intergrip to fit. It seemed to fit better as the welding went on.

Hugh