156 replies to this topic

[miniBrain]

Chrisj & SAL821X, Thanks for the encouraging words lads - Its thanks to the other excellent rebuild threads on this site that I can progress with confidence.

Just thought I'd list the parts I've bought so far. About a £1000 quid's worth and counting!

The only panels that I'm having trouble with are the A-Post Hinge Panels (08-01-282/3) - aka the flitch repair panels. The outer A-panel lip (the bit that the a-panel wraps around) protrudes too far so will need to be cut off and welded back in the correct position. Will post pics of this later. These are non-genuine parts!


Genuine Clubman Front Wing – RH CZH408
Genuine Clubman Front Wing – LH CZH409

Genuine Inner Scuttle Repair Panel Mk3 - RH, 1970-2001:
Genuine Inner Scuttle Repair Panel Mk3 - LH, 1970-2001:
Genuine Scuttle Panel Lower Screen - all Models: HMP441001

RHS (Driver's)
Genuine A Post & Door Step Repair, RH - Mk3, 1970-2001: HMP441012
Genuine A Post Stiffener Panel, RH - Mk3, 1970-2001: ALA6472
Genuine A Panel Outer, RH - Mk3, 1970-2001: ALA5660
Stainless Steel Door Mounting Plate Kit: SMB09 (Both Sides)
Genuine Front to Rear Floor Panel - inc inner sill - RH – 1976-2001 HMP441004
Sill Outer - Genuine, RH, Original Mk3 on 14A9534
INNER A POST R/H: ALA5688
A Post Hinge Panel Inc Inner Wing Rear Edge, RH - Mk3, 1970-2001 08-01-282
Genuine Front Pocket Filler - RH - all models: 14A6611

LHS
Genuine A Post & Door Step Repair, LH - Mk3, 1970-2001: HMP441013
Genuine A Post Stiffener Panel, LH - Mk3, 1970-2001: ALA6473
Genuine A Panel Outer, LH - Mk3, 1970-2001: ALA5661
Genuine Front to Rear Floor Panel - inc inner sill – LH – 1976-2001 HMP441005
Sill Outer - Genuine, LH, Original Mk3 on 14A9535
A Post Hinge Panel Inc Inner Wing Rear Edge, RH - Mk3, 1970-2001 08-01-283
INNER A POST L/H: ALA5689
Genuine Front Pocket Filler - LH - all models: 14A6612

Subframe Rear Mounting Repair Panel – RH: HMP441006
Subframe Rear Mounting Repair Panel – LH: HMP441007

Clubman Front Panel Lower - Genuine, 76>83: AAM1022

Edited by miniBrain, 14 December 2011 - 08:33 PM.

[miniBrain]

Just a quick update:

Time to whip the engine/subframe out so that I can clean up and repair the inner wings, bulkhead and engine bay and also remove the rotten lower front panel. Decided to remove the engine and subby together, so following the instructions in the manual, we lifted the body up over the engine using ratchet straps to hold it up, then attempted to pull the engine/subby forward on the front wheels.

In theory its pretty straight forward to do it this way, but its actually a bit difficult to keep the engine upright. When we lifted the body up I managed to cause the engine to fall backwards. We couldn't get in to right it so we had to attach a rope and drag the engine/subby forward. Then when trying to get it upright the engine fell forward and smashed the dizzy cap.

You just need to be really careful and support the subby whilst you manoeuvre it out.

Well its out now, and tomorrow will start to strip the engine bay and wire brush the bulkhead & inner wings so that I can see what delights lurk under the ton of crap thats accumulated over the years.

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 09:44 AM.

[1994alex]

Fair play to you, for doing such a big restoration. I wish i had the money to do this, or even get a 1275gt.
Great project though keep it up

[MrBounce]

Love this. Makes me wonder whatever happened to my old Pageant Blue GT. I miss that car!

I will be following this with interest.

[philnoshoes]

Cracking work so far mate its going to be a tidy car when its done. Got a soft spot for the gt's and I'm busy doing a 1980 denim blue one myself at the moment. Keep it up..

[skoughi]

Well done and ace quality of work. You have my full sympathy as i'm in the same boat as you, my clubman is as rusty! I'll keep looking out for this project and see what i can pick up on. Keep it going!

[miniBrain]

alex, MrBounce, philnoshoes, skoughi - thanks for the comments - much appreciated!

Been a bit frustrated over the last 3 weeks or so waiting for panels and parts from Minisport. This meant I had to do a few jobs out of sequence to keep progress moving along.

I knew the gearbox needed attention (couldn't select 3rd gear), so decided to have a look at this. Firstly, I needed to separate the engine from the subframe and clean things up a bit before attacking the internals.

One of the previous owners had caked the subframe and suspension parts in a tar-like substance - I'm not kidding it was half inch thick in some places. They must have thought this was the way to rustproof the underside but in fact its no bloody good whatsoever. The subframe and suspension parts are going to get dipped & stripped - there's no way I'm even going to attempt to clean it up. The tar and grime gets everywhere and the cleaning task just multiplies.



I've seen better parts in a scrappy:



After brushing and blasting the engine with white spirit, engine degreaser, thinners, citrus degreaser, bleach and anything else I could lay my hands on, I eventually got it clean enough for a lick of paint.



Next was to separate the gearbox from the engine, so I needed a flywheel puller. I bought the heavy duty version from Minisport which turned out a good choice since I've never known a part to be so hard to pull off (so to speak ).



There was no way this was just going to pull off without additional help - I thought I would pull the bolts through puller plate!



Eventually got the flywheel off by heating it with a blowtorch, tightening the puller as far as it would go then hitting the outside edge of the puller plate with a club hammer.

I got the gearbox off, connected up the gearchange rod and was able to select every gear bar 3rd. The gears, bearings, selectors, etc all looked fine with no scoring and little signs of wear. On closer inspection I found this little gem jammed neatly between the case and the 3rd/4th selector lever:



This is almost certainly a tooth from a planet wheel. But now I could get 3rd gear and the gearbox appeared to be working great!

There was no sign of a missing tooth from any of the gears which left me a bit puzzled. However I did notice a large amount play in the planet wheels. There's a couple of short videos linked below that show just how much play there was.

Play in planet gears - This shows the planet gear wobbling around the pin - it doesn't actually produce any output.

Play in output shaft

No choice now but to dismantle the diff.



It seems to be a well-known fact that the diff pin is the weak link in a Mini drivetrain and just to back this up, have a look at these pics:







I think a previous owner must have broken a planet gear and had it changed without checking the gearbox for any debris. It might have lain there for years before jamming itself in the selector lever. Guessworks do an upgrade kit (planet wheels, upgraded pin, washers) for £55 so thats next on the list!

On the bodywork, I've been patching some of the small rust holes in the rear arches and on the seat floor and I've cut out the rust from the boot floor (I'm just waiting for panels to finish this off):



The LH floor-arch stiffener is completely shot but I'm leaving this in place (along with the hinge panel) so that I can correctly trim and position the new panels when they arrive.



At the front, there was a nasty bulge in the RH crossmember-inner wing stiffener which can only mean one thing - a rust sandwich. So had to remove this and sure enough some rot had penetrated the cross-member but not as bad as I thought it would be. Once I cleaned up the heavy rust there was just a couple of small holes:



The cross member metal is thick enough so I simply filled these with weld and ground back:



The bulkhead seems to be sound apart from the surface rust. I'm just waiting on a LH inner wing slat panel repair panel and once this is in I'll completely sand the bulkhead and inner wings and treat with phosphate prior to painting.

The gap between the new LH flitch panel and the door concerned me - being uneven and and a bit too wide. I didn't think this would be good enough to hold the correct profile on the A-panel when I wrap it around. But it was fairly simple to fix.



I just added a strip of steel to the lip and cut back to suit the door profile. This gap is now too tight but I've now got plenty of meat to work with so I can trim it off perfectly prior to finally fixing the A-panel in place.



I also took the opportunity to start renovating some components. Here's the oil separator c/w rust holes. I would like to replace all damaged parts with new but the budget means I'll need to make do and mend where possible.



So take one large repair washer and ream it out until it tighlty fits over the exit pipe:



Weld it on, grind it back and add a bit more weld to cover any pin-holes:



and voila £25 saved! Well at least until I can find a replacement at a decent price.



Brake calipers come up quite nice too! Just need new pistons, seals, etc.



Finally decided on the paint for the subframes, floors, arches and engine bay - Epoxy Mastic 121 from rust.co.uk. Will sand back these parts then prepare with Phoskleen B. Then two coats of epoxy mastic. The floors and arches will get a coat of anti-stone chip in between the coats of epoxy-mastic. Then everything (except subframes) will get a couple of coats of top-coat and clearcoat.




Thats it for now - thanks for looking and any comments greatly appreciated.

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 10:01 AM.

[irmscher]

You have done some brilliant work there and well worth it

[CraigFoschi]

Fair play!! CrackIng job!

[Jason1969]

Looks fantastic

[MMoss]

Good progress fella, I was looking at the epoxy mastic 121 that you've got, are you planning on applying this to each panel as you go? Or finishing all the welding and painting the lot at the end? And are you going to etch prime or put the mastic onto the bare metal?

Cheers
Matt

[miniBrain]

irmscher, Craig, Jason, and Matt thanks for looking and commenting - much appreciated

Matt, I'm going to finish the welding first then prime & paint. I'm not using conventional etch primer just Phos Kleen B in accordance with the guidance notes in this link: http://www.rust.co.u...ht-products.cfm

So I'll wire brush the existing panels then treat bare metal with Phos Kleen before painting with epoxy-mastic. I intend to leave any e-coating on the new panels intact since its probably the best anti-rust coating anyway - I'll just scuff the e-coat with a scotch pad then paint with epoxy mastic. I spoke to Ian Allen (Rustbuster owner) about using Epoxy Mastic over existing paint and he said it was OK. Any bits that I can't get to after welding (e.g. inside the outer sills) will get a good coat of Dinitrol MIL-SPEC cavity wax.

On the upper/outer body panels, I'll use conventional 1K etch primer, high build primer, basecoat, clearcoat.

Edited by miniBrain, 22 January 2012 - 04:43 PM.

[MrBounce]

This is excellent work. Love it

[MiniMoe]

Wow Great job on your mini.

[miniBrain]

Hi Folks, time for another update!

Thanks MrBounce and Minimoe for reading and commenting - much appreciated.

I've made a little progress on refurbishing the inner wings and engine bay. First-up, the new cross-member to inner wing stiffener bracket finally arrived and was welded in without much drama. Its quite a nice panel this even though not genuine:




Then I had to cut out the radiator shroud and slat panel that turned out to be a lot rustier than I first thought. The inner wing was a bit flimsy once this was removed:



The radiator shroud and slat panel are two separate panels - the slat panel is fitted to the outside of the inner wing. Note that the slat panel (I think) is only available for a round-nose and needs to be bent slightly to fit a clubman style inner wing:




With these panels fitted the inner wing is much stronger so now it was safe to remove the front panel. I originally planned to fit a lower front panel only but when I looked a bit closer I found there was just too much rot across the whole front panel (this is becoming the norm!), so a complete and expensive front panel was ordered.

I used a spot-weld drill to separate the front panel from the top of the inner wings since the new front panel will be drilled out for plug welds at the top. But I could use an ordinary drill to remove the spot welds down the side since the wing will be drilled for plug welding anyway:



Now I could do a number of small repairs on the inner wings:




I was now at the stage where I had planned to remove all traces of surface rust and underseal from the inner wing and engine bay. I bought a couple of these open mesh silicon carbide discs for this purpose but they soon clogged up with the tar-like underseal. An ordinary rotary wire brush worked far better so I've ordered a couple of man-size versions for the angle grinder:




So whilst I was waiting for the new wire brushes I made a start on the rotten roof section - see first post for photo of rust damage. So, off with the rotten section:







I bought a complete roof from a breaker's yard and cut out the section needed. Here's the first rough cut:



Then it took about two hours to trim it to the exact size - because of the complex 3D shape and the lack of an exact datum, any measurements can only be approximate meaning you need to be conservative when trimming off metal. So with some careful cutting and filing you'll eventually get an (almost) exact fit:




With the section cut out, the roof becomes quite flexible so a ratchet strap was used to help pull it back into shape for welding:



Tacked in and looking good so far:




It seems to fit quite well at this stage although there's gap in the gutter to plug and the new roof does not have the drip rail so I'll need to buy and fit this separately:



And welded in fully:




Sadly though, I managed to heat up the panel too much and this added a couple of significant dimples that you can just see in the photo:



If I can't achieve a perfect profile with a small amount of filler, then at least I now have the option of fitting a fibreglass (or carbon) roof. At least the A pillar and door frame are sound now. Note that the "new" roof was from an 86 mini which seemed to have a good anti-rust coating on the inside:




Lastly, I also put the diff back together using a diff repair/upgrade kit from Guessworks (new planet wheels, pin and thrust washers):



The diff and gearbox is now back on the engine and there's almost no slop in the drivertrain now. Once you have the engine out, repairing the diff is one of the easiest jobs you can do on the mechanics. So if you can feel significant (say 1 or 2 degrees) of slop in the driveshafts its well worth taking the diff apart and checking/replacing the diff pin and planet wheels.

Thats it for now, thanks for watching!

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 10:04 AM.