1844 replies to this topic

[Petrol]

 

Hi Guy’s,

The hinges are difficult to machine - drilling the welds out of the studs was especially tricky and I ended up using a cobalt drill. Welding the new studs in also has its problems as the studs need to sit flush. I am going to see a pro welder about this as the penetration of the weld is critical. Get it wrong and the doors will fall off. I will post some pics up of when it’s done.

Andy, to answer your questions…

Always apply zinc primer direct to bare metal. Never over a rust killer / converter.
It keys well to bare metal especially if the metal is scuffed with 800’s wet and dry or green scotchbright
Zinc primer will not work on top of any kind of paint – gloss or etch primer.


Hope that helps and if you have any more Q’s, just ask or drop me a PM

Pete
 

 

[KELT11]

Hi Pete. Just a word of warning. I've seen after market seat brackets like that damaged the rear floor over a period of time. Leaving the floor bowed. Especially on heavier seats. One of the reasons I try to avoid after market seats. Maybe worth welding a bar across the tunnel to the inner sill on both sides? And fabricate your seats to sit on them? Just an idea. Looking good though. Chris

HI Pete its Kelt just checking how your doing , just been reading through some of your latest posts and i would agree with this post i myself have tried before fitting aftermarket seat and recarro seats into some of my minis and chris is right there isnt enough support when you start to move the seat back into the rear floor pan. have a rover mini cabriolet and recarro seats are fitted as standard how rover overcame this was to fit in another crossmember like the front one where the back of the seats are fixed perhaps it might be worth looking into if you like i will try and send you a picture of my mini floor so you can have a better idea 

keep the good work 

Kelt

[pmplovesminis2006]

hi pete ,the studs on the hinges are threaded in the hinge then welded from the back so they dont unscrew ,so they are stronger than you think!

[Petrol]

Hi Kelt, glad to see you popping in to have a look at your old Min

Thanks for the advice, I managed to find a vid on You Tube of a cab floor and have seen the seat arrangement. At the mo I have two ideas; Make a sheet steel mini X member to weld across the rear floor, or what seems to be my best option at the moment, is to scrap the seat rear subframe mount and start again. The plan is to only use the runners and weld a support bracket from the inner sill to the tunnel. This would add strength to support the seats and improve shell rigidity with a minimum weight gain. I also have the carpet fit to consider so there’s a lot to think about.

Hi Phil,
I tapped the hinges for the studs using a 1st tap so they are pretty tight. They are off to be TIG welded which I’m told will be the best bet.

Thanks for your help and advice guy’s, It’s very much appreciated. These mods are proving to be a bit more of an engineering challenge than I first thought

Pete
 

 

[Petrol]

New seat subframe

 

 

 

[palhegyi]

 I just want this to run a little nicer until then.

[jmac201]

Great build! Gonna use a lot of this on my next mini resto, too late for my current one

[Petrol]

Thanks, finally managed to get all the holes in floor for the brake pipe, battery cable, fuel injection pipes, new seat supports, center console brackets & sub.

 

 

 

 

Door hinge studs TIG welded

 

 

Bottom hinge went straight on

 

 

Top hinge pin re profiled

 

 

 

Bit tight in there, need to sand a bit more seam sealer off and make good

 

 

 

Fitting the doors is next

 

Pete

[phil hill]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, accepting that it it's easy to be wise after the fact, bearing in mind that you are blazing a trail, and goes "against the grain" somewhat to do so, but couldn't you have fitted the screw in the top hinge from the bottom ??  

 

Phil.

[Petrol]

Couldn't you have fitted the screw in the top hinge from the bottom ??  

 

Phil.

 

Hi Phil, yes I could and it would have been easier

 

Pete

[phil hill]

Hindsight eh ??  Sorry for being an arse and pointing it out !!  

 

As I said the things you are doing on your resto are both inspiring and innovative, blazing a trail, so I was sure if you'd realised earlier you'd have done it the other way.  I didn't think of it till I saw the pics.

 

Phil.

[Petrol]

No problemo Phil, that's what forums are for

 

I’ve dropped loads of ******** on this refurb but couldn’t understand why I put the pin in the hinge the way I did. I got home from work this morning, fitted the door, then it twigged –

 

 

 

The cap head would have been in the way of the hinge bolt.

 

With the door on, looks like I've a bit of fettling to do as some of the gaps are not good, more updates soon.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Pete

 

 

 

[Petrol]

2 brackets and a rivnut to hold the centre console in

 

 

 

Big studs in the hinges are great as you can tighten them up properly

 

 

Fitted the doors, OS needs a bit of sorting

 

 

Looks like I need to cut the frame and insert a piece. Anyone got a spare piece of door frame?

 

 

Got the NS door pretty close, gap is the thickness of a 20p piece

 

]

 

Fit to rear 1/4

 

 

Frame gap looks OK

 

 

 

 

 

Don't know how much the door will drop when the glass and winder are fitted though.

 

 

Pete

Edited by Petrol, 09 February 2014 - 10:30 PM.

[Ben_O]

with regards to that O/s door, can you not lift the front of the door on the hinges slightly? that will close up the gap at the top of the frame and open up the gap at the back where it sits with the bottom of the quarter. 

That is of course if you have any movement there. If not perhaps you could enlarge the holes very slightly to give you the movement.

 

Looking good though!

 

Ben

[Petrol]

Hi Ben, hope you are well. Just had a quick look and if I lift the O/S door a few mm and add another shim to the top hinge, it will sort the gap at the back of the door Rotary file in the drill will soon enlarge the holes. The frame seems to be quite a long way out though and might need something a bit more drastic.

Thanks for your advice,

 

Pete