1498 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Very nice build ! and i really like you're body work ! 

Thanks very much mate.

Stay tuned, there is lots more to come!

 

cheers

Ben

[venkman]

Don't know if your interested, when I did my mini over  2 years i found some stuff called Bondarust it was something Practical classics mag mentioned.

 

I used it as an undercoat and on metal that was rubbed down bit like a primer,its zinc rich Mini been on road a year now and NOTHING has bubbled or surfaced rust at all. You can find it on e-bay.  

[Ben_O]

Nice one!

 

Cheers for the advice. Ill take a look.

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

Well still being without power tools has given me more chance to have a go at some of the crusty components to bolt back on once the bodywork is done.

 

I started the Instrument cluster last week and it's about done. I just need to fit the plastic surround and finish off the rev counter but i need to get hold of the bits first.

 

I also refurbished the Oil dipstick and handbrake lever. No particular reason other than they were in the top of the box or bits to do!

 

So here is the (almost) finished instrument cluster and freshly painted mounting frame. The frame was in a bad way but after a bit of work has come out very well.

 

 

 

Next is the Oil dipstick which was very rusty (even the part that goes in the oil!) so i cleaned it all back, polished the stem and painted the handle gloss black

 

 

 

And finally the handbrake lever which obviously was very flaky and rusty has come up ok. I don't like the way the mechanism looks but i will have to think of a way to make it pretty. I haven't fitted the rubber handle yet as the paint is not hard enough. I also cleaned the mounting bolts etc.

 

 

Come march, i will have a welder again and there will be some more interesting body related updates on here.

But in the meantime i will just update with photos of refurbished bits and bobs.

Next is the pedal box and pedals........

 

Cheers

Ben

[venkman]

I have just aquired a 79" clubman shell with a lot of rust issues like yours especially were the brake cylinder mounts onto in engine bay.

Reading this you made your own do you rekon one could be made as acomplete piece and how would you measure wre to put it back in from, my scuttle is still in but will need one later.

The reason i ask is there is quite a few repairs required behind said crossmember, excellant read by the way giving me insperation and sorry for butting in on your thread.

 

Roll on your new welder

[Ben_O]

I have just aquired a 79" clubman shell with a lot of rust issues like yours especially were the brake cylinder mounts onto in engine bay.

Reading this you made your own do you rekon one could be made as acomplete piece and how would you measure wre to put it back in from, my scuttle is still in but will need one later.

The reason i ask is there is quite a few repairs required behind said crossmember, excellant read by the way giving me insperation and sorry for butting in on your thread.

 

Roll on your new welder

Hi Venkman.

The repair piece i made for the master cylinder section was quite easy. I left in place the original corroded section and made a card template to include a fold on the front edge and a fold at the back edge where it meets the upper bulkhead. I transferred the card template to steel, put in the fold where it meets the bulkhead and laid it on top of the original section. Then i used a marker to mark the width on the original piece and the cut out only the folded part of the orginal piece where it is welded to the bulkhead. This then allowed me to slide the new piece in against the bulkhead and i clamped it tightly in  place.

To mark out the position of the holes, i sprayed some paint up from inside the car through the original holes to mark their position and when it was dry, i removed the new piece, cut out and filed the holes and then removed the old section of the crossmember.

Once it was out of the way, I then carefully repositioned the new piece and marked with a marker pen where to put the front fold. Once it was folded, i laid it back on and marked along the front of the crossmember where to cut the rest of it out so it fitted in snugly.

Then welded it in! I did make alot of measurements for the correct positioning and made sure it was lined up to those measurements before welding though.

 

you could make up a whole section of the crossmember with careful  measuring and by making card templates but if i was replacing a whole half for instance, i would probably buy the repair piece which is quite reasonable priced just to avoid all of the measuring.

 

If you need to make up a piece where the subframe bolts like i did, then start off by cuttng the affected piece right out but only either the top or bottom at one time. Make up a piece to fit with the appropriate folds so it fits snugly. Then what i did is with the repair piece out of the way, i found a socket from my socket set that fitted snugly in the bolt hole and then traced round it onto a piece of card. I then cut out the hole on the card and positioned it on top of the internal brace in the crossmember. Then i took the subframe tower bolt and put it in from the bottom and held it square supporting it with a block of wood and a jack. When i was happy, i laid the card with the hole over the top and taped it in place once it was square to the tower bolt. Then i removed the tower bolt, positioned the repair piece back on over the card then sprayed some paint from beneath to mark the position of the hole on the repair piece.

Then its just a case of cutting out the hole, putting in the depression around the hole and carefully positioning it back using the tower bolt to get it square, then weld! tack it first then try on the subframe if you can just to make sure.

This is not an exact science and some may not agree with the method but i spent a long time making sure everything was accurate before cutting and welding and it worked out great.

 

Good luck

 

Ben

[venkman]

 

I have just aquired a 79" clubman shell with a lot of rust issues like yours especially were the brake cylinder mounts onto in engine bay.

Reading this you made your own do you rekon one could be made as acomplete piece and how would you measure wre to put it back in from, my scuttle is still in but will need one later.

The reason i ask is there is quite a few repairs required behind said crossmember, excellant read by the way giving me insperation and sorry for butting in on your thread.

 

Roll on your new welder

Hi Venkman.

The repair piece i made for the master cylinder section was quite easy. I left in place the original corroded section and made a card template to include a fold on the front edge and a fold at the back edge where it meets the upper bulkhead. I transferred the card template to steel, put in the fold where it meets the bulkhead and laid it on top of the original section. Then i used a marker to mark the width on the original piece and the cut out only the folded part of the orginal piece where it is welded to the bulkhead. This then allowed me to slide the new piece in against the bulkhead and i clamped it tightly in  place.

To mark out the position of the holes, i sprayed some paint up from inside the car through the original holes to mark their position and when it was dry, i removed the new piece, cut out and filed the holes and then removed the old section of the crossmember.

Once it was out of the way, I then carefully repositioned the new piece and marked with a marker pen where to put the front fold. Once it was folded, i laid it back on and marked along the front of the crossmember where to cut the rest of it out so it fitted in snugly.

Then welded it in! I did make alot of measurements for the correct positioning and made sure it was lined up to those measurements before welding though.

 

you could make up a whole section of the crossmember with careful  measuring and by making card templates but if i was replacing a whole half for instance, i would probably buy the repair piece which is quite reasonable priced just to avoid all of the measuring.

 

If you need to make up a piece where the subframe bolts like i did, then start off by cuttng the affected piece right out but only either the top or bottom at one time. Make up a piece to fit with the appropriate folds so it fits snugly. Then what i did is with the repair piece out of the way, i found a socket from my socket set that fitted snugly in the bolt hole and then traced round it onto a piece of card. I then cut out the hole on the card and positioned it on top of the internal brace in the crossmember. Then i took the subframe tower bolt and put it in from the bottom and held it square supporting it with a block of wood and a jack. When i was happy, i laid the card with the hole over the top and taped it in place once it was square to the tower bolt. Then i removed the tower bolt, positioned the repair piece back on over the card then sprayed some paint from beneath to mark the position of the hole on the repair piece.

Then its just a case of cutting out the hole, putting in the depression around the hole and carefully positioning it back using the tower bolt to get it square, then weld! tack it first then try on the subframe if you can just to make sure.

This is not an exact science and some may not agree with the method but i spent a long time making sure everything was accurate before cutting and welding and it worked out great.

 

Good luck

 

Ben

 

 

Thanks for that reply Ben it has helped so made a start today and see what happens

[ianrussellthomas]

Hi Ben,

 

What a cracking 'story' you've got going here!  I'm really looking forward to seeing the progress you make over the next few months.

 

I've got a 25 too, needs a bit of TLC but it's in generally good condition.  I'm a complete novice to car maintenance and repair, but it's something I really want to get into as a hobby so stuff like this thread are really helpful!

 

Ian

[LosLandenos]

impressive work mate!

[Steely]

This is going to be fresh when it's all done :)

[Ben_O]

Cheers Guys!

 

Ben

[domdee]

some super repairs mate!

[Ben_O]

some super repairs mate!

Thanks alot!

After next week, i will be picking up my new (to me) welder from my mum's house so some more work can continue on the shell. Just focusing on getting some of the auxiliary parts cleaned and restored which takes ALOT of time!!

 

I will probably have a bit of an update later this evening.

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

Hi there.

A bit more work done today but unfortunately still not to the shell. But hey ho! an update is an update!!

 

Last year before i started on the shell, i began refurbishing some of the removed parts and that is what i have been doing again these past few weeks. One of the parts i started doing last year was the wiper motor and it was in a shocking state. I started stripping it and refurbished some of the components but the magnets in the housing were broken so it was apparent that i would need a new motor housing.

This is the motor that i removed from the car:

 

 

 

 

As you can see it is pretty shot and certainly not worth the aggro of refurbishing.

Fortunately, i have just bought a job lot of parts and there was a reasonable wiper motor included which although complete, was also in a poor state. It had several thick layers of paint and was generally scabby.

It is a slightly different design to the original motor but hopefully won't loose any points in the originality stakes. But then again, i have no proof that the one fitted was original to the car!!

 

Here are some shots of it before i started and stripped down:

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some more shots of the main body components once the paint had been stripped off:

 

 

 

And here are the last shots for today of the body components in primer: 

 

 

 

 

I don't think it came up to badly and once i have repainted the bits in top coat and then rebuilt, it should look as good as new.

 

I will hopefully finish it up tomorrow and post the results.

 

Sorry for a boring update!!

 

Cheers

Ben

[JonnyAlpha]

Ben;

 

Just had a quick scan through your build project, what a fantastic job you are doing. I am a great fan of making what you can and you are following that exact same train of thought.

 

Nice job on the Wiper Motor, after you striped the casing what did you prime it with i.e. what paint and did you use cans or spray gear?