852 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

Was planning a day in the garage but had to do the decent thing and go and make use of our National Trust membership and visit Arlington Court, twas a nice morning.

Anyway managed to get into the garage at about 14:30.

 

First job did a bit of tidying up, picked all the metal off cuts and rust off of the floor from where I was cleaning up the Inner Wing.

 

Next I cleaned up the Dashboard bits that I also removed last session:

 

 

Next I banged did the final fit of the Companion Bin repair panel and the started welding it together.

 

 

After a bit of adjusting with a hammer and large screwdriver I managed to start getting the base spot welded to the floor:

 

 

The photo makes it look like there is loads of room, but believe me it was a case of getting the welding torch in place and welding blind for a 3 - 4 second burst.

 

With a lot of moving into contorted positions I managed to get a few decent spot welds in the floor and heel board.

 

 

This was the penetration on the underside:

 

 

 

Then I finished welding up the Bin Repair and cleaned it up with a twisted knot wire brush:

 

 

 

Where the Epoxy has been burnt through it will be sanded back and re-done:

 

 

So that's the RH Companion Bin Finished and apart from the Outer Sill no more welding on the RH rear end (Yippee), oh apart from the Rear Valance and Closing Panel :-( 

Just need to weld the bottom of the LH companion bin to the floor and again the Outer Sill.

 

Seems like its going forward and not backwards anymore.

 

Next session in the garage i'll concentrate on the RH A Post / Flitch / Inner Wing / Scuttle etc.

First job, door step repair and Boxing Panel.

 

Tick tock, tick tock .......................

[Hendred]

I know what you mean about space and welding in the companion box, it s tight!

 

John

[Ben_O]

You could have avoided having to weld in that tight gap by marking out and drilling your plug weld holes in the inner sill and welding from the underside of the car.

 

Oh well,fair play for getting it done from the inside

 

Looking good

 

Ben

[JonnyAlpha]

You could have avoided having to weld in that tight gap by marking out and drilling your plug weld holes in the inner sill and welding from the underside of the car.

 

Oh well,fair play for getting it done from the inside

 

Looking good

 

Ben

 

Ah yes that would have worked

[JonnyAlpha]

Needed a bit of escapism this evening and managed two hours in the garage.

 

After fiddling with the Flitch and Door Check I decided that it would be best to get the Door Check and Door Lined up and the weld in the Door Check and then worry about lining up the Flitch Panel.

 

I had a bit of a mare trying to work out how to do this but in the end I managed to hold the Door Check in place with a welding C clamp and with the Door Check secure I bolted one bolt of each door hinge in place.

 

 

Next to try and get door I lifted the bottom of the door with a piece of metal bar and a chisel inserted under it, you can't see the gap but its about 5mm:

 

 

Here's the gap at the bottom towards the rear:

 

 

The curves around the door handle and seem lined up, as does the profile:

 

 

 

 

But the gap at the top seems very large?

 

 

Then again it was large before I started ?

 

I then dismantled it all to start repairing the Box Panel:

 

 

Cut out the crusty bits:

 

 

And made the first couple of patches.

 

Just need to make the top patch and then clean up the pitted areas with Bolt Hamber before I weld them in place. Once the patched are welded in i'll clean up the Box Panel and inside the Door Surround and paint with some Lechler Epoxy Primer and weld through where required before welding in the Door Check and Flitch.

[Ben_O]

My door is just like that at the top. I intend to use a section of window frame from a donor door (which i have) and cut and shut a bit in to sort it out.

 

Ben

[Hendred]

My door is like that on my Mini HL that was restored 6 years ago by someone else, doesn't seem to leak or to have leaked in the past 6 years.  Not saying it is correct though 

[JonnyAlpha]

My door is just like that at the top. I intend to use a section of window frame from a donor door (which i have) and cut and shut a bit in to sort it out.

 

Ben

 

 

My door is like that on my Mini HL that was restored 6 years ago by someone else, doesn't seem to leak or to have leaked in the past 6 years.  Not saying it is correct though 

 

Thanks guys

[JonnyAlpha]

Managed a couple of hours this afternoon.

 

Before I welded the patches in to repair the boxing panel I had to de-rust the areas around the edges.

 

 

The best method of de-rusting areas that you cannot put in a bucket of Citric Acid is, IMHO, Bilt Hamber Deox Gel.

For this you need, White Spirit (or similar), Hot Soapy Water, Clean Water and a Wire Brush:

 

 

Clean of the loose rust with a wire brush, clean with White Spirit, Hot Soapy Water and then clean water and dry immediately.

 

Next apply the Deox Gel liberally and let it stand for 30 - 60 minutes, don't let it dry:

 

 

After the desired time work the gel into the metal with a wire brush:

 

And the let it stand some more and the wipe or wash it off and dry the area:

 

As you can see it comes up pretty clean and gets into all the pitted areas that a wire brush never could.

 

 

If there is any rust left just repeat the process.

 

Next I started welding in the patches:

 

 

 

As you can see I used a piece of flattened copper pipe to stop burning through.

Here's the first patch welded and dressed. I had intended on cutting / grinding out the hole but as it won't be seen I opted against this.

 

 

Here's the next patch before dressing down:

 

 

Before I welded in the next bit I sprayed the rear with Weld Through Primer and also drilled a hole and did a spot weld:

 

 

Here's the welds partially dressed down with a Grinding Disc

 

 

And finished off with a flap disc:

 

 

And until I am ready to paint the whole area I sprayed the cleaned areas with acid etch:

 

 

Until next time.

 

[Ben_O]

That large hole that you have plated is where the check strap runs through so perhaps make sure it clears past your patch before you go too much further.

If it doesn't, then you will need to shape it back to a full circle.

 

Ben

[StefanPieter]

Well done

[JonnyAlpha]

That large hole that you have plated is where the check strap runs through so perhaps make sure it clears past your patch before you go too much further.

If it doesn't, then you will need to shape it back to a full circle.

 

Ben

 

Thanks Ben, I'd have been cussing if i'd painted it all up, only to find I had to start cutting!!!

[JonnyAlpha]

Small progress this evening:

 

Made the last patch for the boxing panel (the floor is a little out :-()

 

 

Had to do some welding from the inside as well, a used copper to prevent burn throughs as it was all but welded.

 

 

All cleaned up:

 

 

Took a little time to make the patch as I had to make a matching indentation in it.

 

 

Sprayed to protect:

 

 

 

[Ben_O]

It's all coming together lovely now.

 

Well done

 

Ben

[JonnyAlpha]

Managed a few hours today.

 

Before I could weld in the Door Check it needed to be de-rusted.

First I cleaned it up with a wire brush attachment:

 

 

Still a lot of rust that needed to be removed, so out with the Bilt Hamber:

 

Here it is after leaving it on for an hour and agitating it with a wire brush:

 

 

Decided to do the top of the inner wing so I could repair the damage from drilling out the spot welds:

 

 

Got it to this but it needed another coating:

 

 

 

Needed a little wire brushing and emery paper but got it pretty clean:

 

 

It took most of the time to get this area clean but I was desperate to apply some paint otherwise it would flash rust again by tomorrow, so I mixed up some Epoxy and painted the the inside of the boxing panel and door surround.

 

 

I also rubbed down the door check and Epoxy Primed that as well:

 

 

Top tip before you paint something make sure you have somewhere to hang it, I brushed past it and it fell on the floor DOH!!

 

After I cleaned up the top of the wing I welded up the spot weld damage, to help I used a copper block underneath:

 

 

 

More tomorrow