9 replies to this topic

[Mikey7094]

Hi - I have a number of questions...

I have an old clubman shell that needs the whole floor replacing, i.e. front floor and boot floor. I'm wondering how best to tackle this. It seems to me it'd be easiest to take both parts of the floor out, along with possibly sections of the back panel and rear quarter panels, as this would allow best access to all the seams. Then I could weld in the front floor, followed by the heelboard, and then the boot floor.

Is this a good idea, though - taking all that metal out? Obviously I would support the shell with some extra crossmembers, but would that be enough? Would anyone recommend another way of doing it?

Also, I was planning to buy the floor panel minus crossmember, heelboard and outer sills (which is something like £190), as opposed to the whole lot, including crossmember, heelboard and sills (more like £550). Would you say this is a good idea or is the complete assembly worth the extra money?

Finally, does anyone know where I can get weld-through seam sealer?

Sorry about the question overload! Any advice appreciated.

Mike

[sonikk4]

Do you mean weld through primer?? if so Halfords sell it.

You should not need to cut out any of the rear bulkhead to remove and fit a new boot floor. However you will need to remove the rear valance as you will need to more than likely replace the valance close outs as well.

If the shell is properly braced then removing all of the boot floor and main floor is doable but you will need cross bracing as well as bracing across the width of the car. I also braced across the rear arches as well and tied it into the rear bulkhead panel. Make sure the car is well supported and level.

You could do the floor in seperate sections but if you can afford to buy a complete floor then go that way as it will save you a lot of time.

I have done the boot floor and its time consuming but straight forward, this also included the heelboard. Hindsight being a wonderful thing i wish i had replaced the complete main floor in one go instead of seperate sections.

[A.Millican]

I have fitted a full genuine floor from somerford mini recently. Buy one with the heel board and cross member in it will save you lots of time, plus the cross member keeps the floor the right shape so does the heel board. Also with the heel board attached to the floor you will have a hard job of putting it in the wrong place.

I have replaced almost every panel on my mini, the floor believe it or not was one of the easiest. I found the more prep work you do i.e. making sure there will be no snags for example the toe board the easier the insatation was... When i replaced mine i Had the car on a spit and braced the shell too. I fitted the floor with the shell upside down and just sat the new floor on the top of the door steps obviosily with the heel board in its original position.Few clamps along the door steps and a few SMALL tacks on the heel board. Make sure that the fitch panmels line up correctly. The exhaust tunnel is a brilliant piece as it helps line the front of the floor up. If i was you i would measure the width of the shell accross the door steps as it may splay out abit with the new floors weight just sat on top if it...only a few mm but once it's welded...

Let me know how you get on with it. Hope thismhelps a little!

Andrew

[A.Millican]

Also i would do the boot floor first... That will help keep the car the right shape when putting the big piece in. I found the boot floor to be a pain is the asssssss to be honest and eventually decided on a carbon boot floor after replacing the full section with a full flat pannel. I understand this may not be acceptable it depends on the type of mini you are building!

I would.....

Take off the rear valance, undo all of the spot welds for the boot floor, repair the surrounding sreas where necesarry. Fir the new boot floor, then the valance. Then get cracking with the main floor. Have a good look at your door steps and reapir or replace if necesarry. I replaced mine and the toe board too so i had new fresh steel with clean square edges to work with, obv you replace the door steps forst and then fit the floor. After that the fitch pannels and toe board go in.

I would stick aload of photos up for you but im going to sheffield for a week doing a course.. If your still doing it once im back i will put them up.

If you dont have a spot welder i would suggest test fitting the floor to see where the flanges meet on the floor and door steps, remove the floor and drill the holes for plug welding prior to fitting. This will save you alot of time and tears! Also this means that when the plug welding is done its on the floor side and not the door step side as is not visible when the car is the right way up ;)

Andrew

[Mikey7094]

Sounds like I'm going to be shelling out £500! I guess cost isn't really an issue - if I spend £500 on one panel I just have to wait longer before I can buy another panel!

I will still be doing it in a week... I haven't bought the panels yet, so I probably won't even have started! I also have to make some repairs to the door steps. But the photos would be very helpful, if you have the time.

Is it possible to fit the floor with the car the right way up? I was hoping that if I drilled out all the spot welds I could drop the floor out the bottom, then lift the new one in and clamp it in place. I imagine you'd have to weld the heelboard to the seat pan from above anyway, since the flange on the heelboard points into the car.

And I didn't mean weld-through primer, although I'm not sure now that weld-through seam sealer exists. I found this on Somerford Mini's site:

http://www.somerford...roducts_id=1421

They call it seam sealer but maybe it's just zinc primer.

Thanks for all your help.

[corrado vr6]

Yer that's weld through primer mate, as already said it can be bought from halfrauds, eBay or frost not cheap but worth it.
Not that I've ever done that size of repair but I'd say you would struggle to do that with the car the right way up, maybe doable but defiantly not easy!

[ANON]

i wouldn't even attempt to fit a floor unless the shell was upside down. they are easy to fit that way as you can just drop the floor in place and move it round to line it up without messing around with clamps. plus a full floor is quite heavy.

if you're doing both floors take the old bins out as well, makes it a lot easier.

[sonikk4]

As Anon has said you will need to take both companion bins out as you need to get to the inner sill strengtheners in there to attach the inner sill to them. You cannot do it with them fitted. They are spot welded on but the return flange where they are attached to the heelboard is awkward to get to.

[A.Millican]

Yep, as mentioned..you will need to have the car upside down. I forgot to mention anything about the bins...i have permenantly removed mine as the shell is more of a track day car so it's been lightned where practicle.

Once the old floor is removed and the prep work has been done so that you can fit the new floor..ie weld thru primer etc... The floor takes literally around 1 hour to get in the right position and all tacked up so the car can be rotated again.

I will try my best for the pics but it will be Sunday at the earliest.


Andrew

[Mikey7094]

Presumably you could cut out some of the rear quarter panels instead, to get at the inner sill stiffeners? (They need replacing anyway - although the bins are hanging off as well...)

Thanks for all your advice. Don't worry about the pictures, I'm in no rush. Got to make a spit first!