1843 replies to this topic

[grahama]

Hi,

I haven't caught this thread before but gald the re shuffle has brought it to my attention, great work, lovely attention to detail.

Graham

[Austin]

I had not seen this thread before either, you seem to be doing a cracking job so far. I'm going to keep an eye on it and see if I can pick up some more rust prevention knowledge. I love the pic of your first mini, complete with boat.

[Petrol]

Thanks for the replies. Got the NS inner wing sorted. Quite a sandwich of sheet metal where the shock mount goes but it's done. There was also quite a bit of spider web rust on the outside of the inner wing so I ended up shot blasing the lot to get rid of it all




As you can see in the pic, I have also made a start on the flitch panel and am also working on the rot up the A pillars

Pete

[Petrol]

On it's side now to sort the inner & outer sills






It's not as bad as I thought






The only welding on the shell I have seen so far are a couple of patches on the outer sills. There are no signs of accident damage / repair either. Seems like it's a pretty original shell.

Pete

[Petrol]

NS door step looks in good enough condition to keep - red arrow. Drilling out spot welds has it's downsides - you end up drilling into the part that's staying and this can lead to voids in a seam which, as far as harbouring rust goes is not good. I ground the outer sill off to avoid this - green arrow.



Outer sill rolled back



Floor pan X member to sill mounting point needs some fettling



Got to the back end and rain stopped play




Need to have a think about this lot as the inner sill fits inside the heel board......

I have never done a full on shell rebuild and it's proving interesting


Thanks for looking

Pete

[Wigeon Incognito]

Speed and quality rarely go hand in hand but it looks like you've nailed it!

[Minidarren83]

Not commented on here before but your work is very good and thorough I always have a look in. The outer sill also sits inside the heel board but most people just seam weld it on the outside

Keep it up, Darren

[will_]

Still following with muchos interest !! I only hope mine isn't as bad as yours !! I have learnt a few things off your rebuild aswell :)

[Brams96]

Looking good so far Peter. Your inner sills & heal board are much worse than mine, I'll have to keep an eye on yours to see how you tackle everything.

[Petrol]

Thanks for the replies. A local expert has had a look at pics of the shell and agrees with the general opinion on here - it's particularly bad! I mentioned earlier it's been stored for 4 years, this has probably done more harm than good. On the plus side, if I can split every seam, replace most of the panels and do a proper job of zinc coating inside the seams, it should last.

NS front and middle inner to outer sill supports can be salvaged



Split the seam on the middle support. Deox C will get rid of the rust



Dashboard top trim was a mess



Replaced with this, thanks to Phil!






Replacement dash top rail is from an early Mini, drilled to accept the trim



This replacement roof skin should be here soon



When work on the shell was started, it seemed daunting, I was overwhelmed with the task ahead but by spending many hours reading, I am feeling a lot more confident now. I don't want to cut much more out of the shell, so the plan is to cut the minimum of the heal board out to enable the inner sill to be welded in. This will give the shell a lot more rigidity and enable me to move on. I am also planning on cutting the genuine heal board I have in half so I can repair one side at at time. Bit hampered with the weather at the mo, roll on spring and summer evenings when I can crack on!

As always thanks for looking, comments always welcome and glad some of you have picked up a few tips

Best,

Pete

[Petrol]

Too cold to be messing with the shell outside so decided to start on the dash. Took the plastic covers of the dials as they were scratched



Washed them in hot soapy water to remove any grit then polished the scratches out with this stuff



It's fairly easy to polish scratches out of plastic



Removed the plastic coating off the dash with a heat gun and scraper. Then brushed on some thinned 2K black paint on. This will allow the paint to penetrate the grain and prevent peeling



Filled the hole for the headlight leveling switch. I'm not bothering with these. Should make it easier fitting the headlights into the replacement front wings too




Clock surround had the same treatment, the yellow stuff is stopper. The plan is to spray it gloss black



Roof skin arrived today



Huge thanks to Scott on here for packing it up really well
TMF - FTW!

I just wish the weather would pick up so I can get cracking on the shell

Pete

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

I love this project, It's inspired me and Simon a lot. GREAT work

[Petrol]

Glad it's helped Mini-Mad-Craig. Decided that an all gloss black dash might be a bit too much for my liking, so decided to wrap the glovebox lid and dial pod to break it up a bit.

Glovebox lid flatted back



Applied resin and allowed it to go tacky. Then laid on the carbon



Same with the clock pod



Taped the back up to prevent it peeling whilst the resin was curing



This gives you an idea of what it will look like



Pete

[Brams96]

Glad the roof arrived undamaged Pete & now you can keep warm with all that wood to burn

Edited by Brams96, 29 March 2013 - 06:52 AM.

[Petrol]

The wood will be put to better use than burned. Again thanks for your help and the most amazing packing job I have ever seen



I should be sorting the shell out but ended up messing about with interior trim....

Glovebox lid



Bit of this



And some of that



Feeling guilty about the lack of attention to the shell, I have bought a load of panels from jandksupplies on ebay. With the longer nights coming, Hopefully I can crack on with the shell.

As always, thank's for looking and all comments welcome