740 replies to this topic

[Ethel]

What's the card for? If it's covering a hole you want to fill use polythene, you'll be able to just peel it off after wards.

[MrBounce]

The card is covered in clear tape. I can peel that off too

[MrBounce]

Aside from the final 180 grit sanding they'll need before primer, the bumpers are now pretty much complete and have been gently placed somewhere in the garage where I can't see them for a bit. Not much to report other than I did a bit more fibreglassing on the inside of the bulkhead, mainly so I could fill in all the holes engine side & start again. There are too many of them, most of which weren't being used. Therefore when I need to make holes, I can start with a blank canvas.

One of the previous owners has "extended" the battery tray, presumably to fit a standard Mini battery in there? Am not sure because 1) the car didn't come with a battery and 2) I don't have one to hand. They had done a poor job really - it seems they cut the end off, then extended it by a couple of inches holding the end on with some wire and a very thin layer of fibreglass. I have simply made it stronger by covering up the grot - no-one was likely to see it anyway as it will be hidden behind the dahboard so aesthetics are not important here!

Once the bulkhead fibreglassing was dry, I had a good sand down with 80 grit on the engine bay side and then hoovered out all the dust. Holes have now been filled with P40. More sanding will follow - I will probably end up with RSI at this rate!!

I still have to grind out the cracks on the airdam towards the bottom of the car. There are a LOT of them. Still, I now feel like I am starting to get somewhere.

Extended battery box mess cleaned up a bit.



Covering yet more holes from the back.



Nicely sanded bulkhead (well, part of it).



Holes filled (sorry for poor photo)



Oh goody - loads more cracks to deal with...

[jonny f]

I have the same issues on my minus. 

 

Its really not fun to repair ay!

[MrBounce]

I have seen worse. My friend's got a Biota that'd been standing in a field since the 1980s. That wasn't pretty...

[MrBounce]

Well, time for an update - lots of piccies so I will try & keep the writing bit short. The bulkhead is partly sanded (cheers Matt!) and is now hole-free & smooth. I've also finally got to grips with the front end and have ground out every crack I could see which includes under the front airdam. By the time I had finished I looked like I'd been a) flour-bombed and b) like I'd been snorting vast amounts of Columbian marching powder. I then re-glassed the thinning areas underneath, especially around the sidelight areas, behind the bumper corners and where the main impact was. Once the cracks had been dealt with I now had to fill them in. I managed to get 2/3 of it done before time ran out.

Mike came round and we took the doors off. The hinges are very stiff so I will bathe them in oil for a few days to free them off. I had been trying to figure out how to remove the door mirror (only the driver's side on my car) and after a bit of investigation found there was one VERY rusty screw holding it on through the door. Cue the drill and it was off. I was lucky enough to find a Renault 14 being broken on eBay and snaffled the passenger mirror from that for a knockdown price. The mirror is attached to the mounting plate by a pin which goes through a mounting lug on the mirror which is held in place by a metal disc & a hard rubber "doughnut". As I am going to be painting the mirror bodies I needed to separate them. The "new" mirror came apart with no problem; mine needed extra time with the Dremel. Nothing that and the drill couldn't deal with. He also helped me start thinking about where we are going to position the MGF heater. It's a big lump in comparison to the Mini heater; however it will be FAR more efficient. I have only ever experienced problems with the Mini system - the heater unit is ok but it can't breather properly. I intend using all the ventilation pipework from and may even doctor an MGF dashboard - they're a lot nearer in size than I expected so hopefully it'll fit nicely with a bit of modification. Time to find one for as cheap as possible...

Bolts to hold grill hammered from front end. It didn't take much...



Bulkhead starting to look smoother (and less "holy")



All the cracks now ground out. Piece missing was so bad I cut it out. It will be replaced soon I promise!



Building up the weak bits behind with fresh fibreglass & resin.



Full of fresh resin etc - lots of sanding and shaping to follow.



Doors gone!



Hinges stiffer than rigor mortis in a corpse.



Mirror mounting plate removed from door by drill



"New" mirror for passenger side found on good ol' eBay. Easy to pull apart.



Old mirror not so easy. Things either snapped or were rusted together.



Finally apart; Lug needs drilling out (I have done this)



Heater unit. It's a big bugger...

Edited by MrBounce, 07 June 2013 - 09:14 PM.

[MrBounce]

These last couple of weeks I have been a resourceful bloke. I got in touch with a guy on eBay who was selling his (slightly damaged) MGF dashboard for less than a tenner. Trouble was it was a long drive away in Loughborough and he didn't have the materials or time to send it. When it didn't sell he contacted me and said if I could get to St Ives in Cambridgeshire I could have it for free as his mate would bring it down. So a dodgy looking exchange was done in a pub carpark (I was the one wearing shades & looking shifty) and I chucked it in the boot. Massive thanks go to Ollie (who let me have it for nothing) & Dan (who brought it down). Cheers guys!

I got it home and (as expected) it is a mere 100mm different. Obviously I need to lose that from somewhere, but am undecided whther to cut the edges (I don't think there's quite enough to cut out from there) or to "doctor" the glove box area. Will let you all know when I have attacked it with the hacksaw, Dremel and fibreglass. I did take the time to repair the floppy bit by the hole for the CD player. Gaffa tape to hold it together then resin & chopped strand mat helped!

I got the missing bit from the front end and removed all the cracks (there were a LOT) on the bench, then taped it back in place before properly glassing it in from behind. I have used a bit more P40 on the front after sanding down the first lot. It is going to take a while and looks a bit rubbish right now but once done there should be a vast improvement of the chunks of filler in there when I first rescued the car!

Finally, whilst the fibreglass was drying I took time out to knock the CV joints off the driveshafts. One of them had knackered threads (this was the one where a previous owner had attacked the hub nut with a grinder) and the other was seized solid... How helpful. The spare one I had in the parts box turned out to be a used drum brake one so that was useless to me as well. The shopping list increases...

MGF Dash - free!



Well it kind of fits...

Damaged repaired

 

Missing front panel replaced.



New fibreglass behind it.



CV Joints removed from driveshafts. New ones needed.

Edited by MrBounce, 18 June 2013 - 04:12 PM.

[Ethel]

It'll be interesting to see how the dash goes, is the heater also MGF? I picked up some NOS Rover 200 mirrors off Ebay, a good size and flat, circular mounting also leccy & heated.

[MrBounce]

Yup, it is so they should fit well together

[blue blood]

All looking good Mr Bounce . The dash actually looks quite nice its different I have to say it looks a lot nicer than a KA dash which people seem to use 

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Regards Blue

[MrBounce]

I thought it was about time I pushed the car outside to give it a check over to see if I had any other bits of bodywork to do. Of course there was more to do, but thankfully nowhere near as much as the front end. I am really starting to dislike sanding. I think what I am going to have to do is get an army of mates over with a shedload of sanding blocks, some beers, chips and dips and just tell 'em to get on with it!!

What I found was some minor damage on the offside rear wheelarch which had been "repaired" (yup, just a load of filler chucked in - I dealt with this by hammer, screwdriver and anger...), some cracks by the rear number plate surround and in the thin fibreglass at the top of the door apertures. I have sanded and dealt with all of them, adding some additional fibreglass for extra strength behind the thin bits. I have now run out of resin again...

I also did some more work on the front end, but as it is such an awkward angle to work at I will get a friend to help me turn the shell onto one side before I attempt anymore. More later.

P40 used in the arch. I previously used a hammer & screwdriver to knock out huge wads of body filler. Lovely...



Ground out cracks dealt with.



The mouse is out of the house!!

[MrBounce]

Due to multiple work and social committments I have left the little beastie in the garage for 2 weeks and haven't touched it; high time I brought it out for some work. The front end needed more sanding - I spent most of the morning concentrating on sorting out & smoothing the nose area. It's very close now - one more application then a small skim of filler and all will look good. I still have so much to concentrate on - under where the bumper sits still needs a lot of attention, but because it's close to the ground at the moment and the work around the sidelights/indicator recesses is intricate, I will leave it until the car's on its side and it's more accessible. The door apertures are practically complete. The rear numberplate area is done, the badge holes filled in and the rear wheel arch repairs are almost finished. I have also used P40 on the remaining ground out cracks around the bonnet aperture. But I still hate sanding. Hopefully not too much more to do...

I have decided where the dashboard will be modified. It's currently 120mm too wide and I have concluded that the side vents can go. It was either those or some very clever surgery on just the passenger side, and that would give me an offset centre console, not something I wanted at all. There is a separate piece that fits under the top of the dashboard which funnels air to the vents. This will need to be cut and sealed off due to there being no end vents. Saves a bit of weight I suppose! The cowling for the instruments may be slightly offset when it's finished (not by much I doubt) but given that the Mini dials couldn't be seen much either, I don't think it's going to matter too much. I have measured up where I will be cutting and also sorted the curvature of the top of the dashboard so it butts up nicely to the bottom of the windscreen. I knew there was a reason for keeping the original Midas dashtop rail!! Surgery will commence in due course.

Front end looking smoother (not that you can really tell...)



Door apertures looking healthier.



Rear end better, but the foglight holes still need sorting.



Dashboard taped up ready to be cut about. Unless I change my mind!



Vent "casting" in preparation for considerable shortening.



The instrument cowling fits nicely. The shade that goes over the top is missing and they're silly money on eBay. I might make one if I can't find one cheaply.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

This is coming on very well mate, have you worked with fiberglass before this project? I am interested in the way you are making your repairs since they seem to be coming along very well.

 

As for the dash, are you going to be using MGF dials or integrating some more classic regular Mini dials in? I think MGF dials with some white lockwood backings wood look great, but I know its quite hard to wire them up to work especially without an ECU, it's hard enough in a MEMS 1.9 car to make all of the dials work and that already has most of the wiring there. Have you thought about this yet? What are you ideas?

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 19 July 2013 - 12:21 PM.

[Ethel]

Good progress 

 

I'd recommend doing a mock up with the steering wheel/column fitted to position your gauges.

[MrBounce]

Craig, it is the first time I have worked with fibreglass - I just wanted to do it as well as I could so I read up on it a bit. A case of learning as I go. Am taking my time! It ain't brilliant in places but I am getting better. I just really hate sanding right now... As for the dials it is my plan to run a digital dash in the original MGF surround which will be complemented by various 52mm gauges (some in a pod).

 

Ethel, there will be much in the way of mocking up before anything gets set in stone.

Edited by MrBounce, 19 July 2013 - 09:13 PM.