1843 replies to this topic

[Petrol]

Sprayed the inside of the 1/4 panel

 

 

This lot would be hard to get some paint on when the panel is welded on

 

 

 

 

 

[minipete]

You are certainly making a cracking job of the rebuild,just a couple of questions.I`m putting a full boot floor panel in at the moment did you fit the rear subframe to make sure the floor was in in the right place?And along the front edge of the seat part of the panel on mine there is a piece of small angle running full width of the panel have you replaced this as its not on the new panel?

[Petrol]

You are certainly making a cracking job of the rebuild,just a couple of questions.I`m putting a full boot floor panel in at the moment did you fit the rear subframe to make sure the floor was in in the right place?And along the front edge of the seat part of the panel on mine there is a piece of small angle running full width of the panel have you replaced this as its not on the new panel?

 

 

Thanks for the kind words. I cut the small piece of angle off the original boot floor and spot welded it onto the new one. Pics are on page 21. I guess it's there to stop the back seat bending.

 

It's important to fit the rear subframe before the new boot floor is welded in. This ensures the correct location of the rear mounting points. I don't know how much detail to go into on this refurb and didn't post the pics up so here they are

 

 

 

 

We got the NS rear arch welded in and primed today, it's just the same as the OS

 

Thanks for looking

 

Pete

Edited by Petrol, 30 September 2013 - 07:47 AM.

[minipete]

Cheers for that.Thats a bugger about the angle on the seat base,i kind of cut my seat base to bits to get it out.I`ll have to see if i can get some small angle bar.

[Minidarren83]

Cheers for that.Thats a bugger about the angle on the seat base,i kind of cut my seat base to bits to get it out.I`ll have to see if i can get some small angle bar.

Sorry to thread jack petrol!! If this is the bracket you are on about then it the seatbelt mounting bracket for the rear passengers



I'm pretty sure you can get these from mini spares places as it was retrofitted to older cars to add rather war belts

[minipete]

Cheers Darren but thats not it,its on the front leading edge of the seat base and goes full width of the base to stop it sagging under load.

[Minidarren83]

Cheers Darren but thats not it,its on the front leading edge of the seat base and goes full width of the base to stop it sagging under load.

Oh I know the one silly me lol

[Petrol]

Not going to be easy bending a piece of sheet but if you weld a flat piece of thicker stuff along the upright it will do the job. For reference, this is the piece fitted

 

 

 

Split the seams around the b posts

 

 

 

 

 

Cut roof sections out above the pillars

 

 

Need to sort a spit out now so I can pour zinc inside all of the seams

 

 

 

Sub is going under the passenger seat, need to drill the holes

 

 

 

Pete

 

 

[Artstu]

good lord you've found somewhere without any rust!

 

[Minidarren83]

Holly carp is it getting a new roof? That's a little drastic lol

[Petrol]

good lord you've found somewhere without any rust!

 

 

 

Don't get giddy It's there alright

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holly carp is it getting a new roof? That's a little drastic lol

 

Although I can see the attraction of a sunroof, I'm not a fan really as there are too many downsides -

 

Wind noise

Raining in

Considerable weight

Reduced shell rigidity

 

I don't know if all sportspack MPI's were fitted with full length sunroofs but this one won't have one. It was pretty heavy though. On the shell rigidity front I have done a bit of stitch welding in the critical areas like subframe mounting areas and am going to beef up the subframes a bit. Weight is also a consideration, I am trying to make a balance between comfort and handling. The ICE weighs a bit as will the zinc primer. The weight savings by removing the sunroof and all of the bitumen sound deadening will probably outweigh the gains. Lots of other stuff like door cappings, door pockets and unnecessary trim will also be removed.

 

Pete

[minipete]

Cheers for the pictures Pete,i`ve ordered a length of 20mm thin angle and i`ll see if it works,the panel isn`t folded to 90 degrees but it might work,otherwise i`ll use a piece of flat bar.

[minipete]

by the way,Good luck with the roof.

[Petrol]

Cheers for the pictures Pete,i`ve ordered a length of 20mm thin angle and i`ll see if it works,the panel isn`t folded to 90 degrees but it might work,otherwise i`ll use a piece of flat bar.

 

Only happy to help with the pics. If you weld the thin angle to the floor first, you should be able to bend it to fit the upright. I would use a long pice of wood to support the floor and spread the load. Using mole grips should bend the angle to fit - A bit like this

 

 

 

Thanks for the with the roof. I had a chat with the bloke that does all the bodywork at Minisport and he has given me a few pointers so it should be fairly straightforward

 

Pete

[vsl_london]

 Fantastic job so far mate, really admire your dedication and the attention to detail in the rebuild! Absolutely love the sports pack models (the looks, not the original build quality ).

 

 Also, just really great to see another MPI saved instead of ending up as scrap  I bought a 2000 Classic Sport (Tahiti Blue with the open top just like yours) at the start of this year and it's being rebuilt ever since. Looked like the previous owners really neglected it: front end panels, scuttle panel, boot and sills were completely rusted through, and the engine bay didn't fair much better... Hopefully not long left now though...

 

 Anyway, it's always great to see others put in the work on their MPI's instead of giving up on them Keep up the great work!

 

Victor