1498 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

 

 

I could transport stuff over from your mums when I come to visit!

 

Ben_O likes this

[69k1100]

I'm doing the same thing with a front valance, with the spot weld bits they do get blunt if you don't use lubricant and spin them too fast. So yeah it's not an easy job, slow and almost not worth it. But a pocket sized diamond file is handy for tickling the cutting edge of the cobalt drill bit to keep it going without a major regrind.

[joakwin]

the work you have done on this shell is bad a$$, keep it up

[deepee71]

Super work!,  just had a look through this thread.

 

Andy

[mini_in_progress]

Just sat and read all 21 pages, truly epic fabrication work mate very inspirational.... mines a tad less rusty but not much


keep up the great work

[Niko-mini1275]

i gotta say i admire your patience and attention to  details after i took the time and read trough all 21 pages of your build...keep it up!

[Ben_O]

Thanks for reading guys!

 

Can't wait to update it again. There is so much coming up for it, should make for good reading.

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

I was just browsing the internet to see about some bits i need and came across a topic on another Mini forum about a Mini 25.

 

I read it and the story sounded familiar.

 

Mini 25 for restoration in South East

Postby Marshall » Fri 20th May 2011, 01:00pm

Hey guys, haven't put this in the for sale section as it's not mine and he's open to offers.

Whilst chasing a shoplifter the other day, I peered under a partially open garage door and found a Mini. Having spoken to the owner, he has confirmed that he is willing to sell it due to too many projects. He does want the owner to restore it to standard if possible.

The car is a B reg Mini 25 limited edition model. Having had a poke around the car myself last night, it actually appears okay for a restoration project.

It will need a new boot floor, A-panels, drivers door, ends of scuttle and has rust forming in one corner of the roof, and a hole in the O/S front corner of the roof.

The wings appear okay, with only surface rust with the front panel, which also appears okay. The sills are genuine, not oversills and seem solid, as it the floor. Looks like some panel work has been done in the past on the car.
The car had an MOT before he garaged it with a view to restore, and the engine ran well. It has a replacement Maniflow centre exit exhaust.

The cars interior and glass has been stripped, the owner has ensured me has has all the parts including the seats and other special edition parts in good condition bar the carpet which he was going to replace.

He is open to offers and I don't think he will want too much. He placed it on ebay, the winning bid was around £160 and the bidder was from America and couldn't get the car across, hence the fact I don't think he'll want much.

I don't have any pics at the moment, but He will hopefully be sending me some.

PM me if you want his name and number. The car is in the Sittingbourne area of Kent.

Go on, give a limited edition Mini a good home and bright future  :)

 

They are talking about my mini!! 

 

This was from when my cousin briefly owned it before i rescued it back off him.

 

Funny eh how a random Google search can turn things like this up.

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

Well got back home last night to find this

 

 

It's under there somewhere!

 

Had a clear up and got in my panels from the car and couldn't resist a little mock up.

 

 

By the end of next week i should be back out there welding and grinding!

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

So after spending what seems like weeks sorting out my garage, i have finally managed to get some work done.

 

First things first, i needed to find somewhere to put the red cooper panels that i savaged before so up on the wall the went.

 

 

Couldn't decide where to put the new boot lid and then found the ideal place...

 

 

Anyway, enough messing about i decided to start repairing my reclaimed quarter panel. It is basically sound apart from some rust along the bottom edge which i want to cut out and replace.

 

 

So i got some scrap steel which started its life as a cooper roof and after making a CAD template, i traced it onto the steel. As i haven't got a new grinder yet, i cut it out by hand with tin snips and a hacksaw and then smoothed the edges with a file. Took ages but hey, its the old fashioned way!

Anyway, here it is cut out.

 

 

So now i needed to put the fold in so i marked out where i needed to fold it adding around 8mm to the fold line to account for the fact that the steel would need to shrink on the curve and i didn't want to end up with an uneven edge.

 

I started the fold off using pliers using my scribed line as a guide.

 

 

And here is the start of the fold where it curves up. It is going to get very wrinkly here before it looks good!

 

 

Anyway, here it is roughly folded and most of the kinks planished out.

 

 

So now i need to straighten it all out as that extra metal had to go somehwere. So that i knew where to tap and which way to tap i turned it over and clamped it to the edge of the bench.

 

 

Then using the body file, i filed the face of the steel to show up low and high spots like this.

 

 

Now i know where is high and where is low, i can now turn it over and use the depression in my dolly and the pecking end of my hammer to force the metal into shape and even the corner up.

 

 

Once this is done, it gets another go with the file until it looks even and uniform.

 

Next i needed to shape the curve to match the one on the quarter using a series of dollies and different positions like this

 

 

 

So lots of faffing about later and the curve virtually matched the existing curve on the quarter so i clamped it in place to see.

 

 

 

 

 

So yeah, it follows the existing edge pretty closely. Its hard to get an exact idea because the rust on the quarter beneath the repair patch is preventing the patch from sitting down square and tight to the panel, so next will be to finish trimming it up. I need to take off the extra steel from where i added the 8mm to even the edge off to the correct profile.

 

Then i really must go and get a grinder so i can cut the bottom off of the quarter and get this piece welded in place.

 

Once it is done, you will never know its been touched. (well that's the plan anyway)

 

sorry it's a bit of a boring update but its an update non the less!

 

Thanks for looking

 

Ben

[ToM 2012]

not a boring update at all mate nice to see the progress. keep up the good work ...tom 

[Minidarren83]

Holy cow Ben that's a lot of dedication to repair a reclaimed panel looks good thought. Your garage looks like my old one filled to the brim with nowhere to move

[Ben_O]

The garage is a bit more organised now Darren but could be better!

 

I know it's alot of work but i enjoy doing it and there is no reason why it won't be as good as a new panel once it's done plus its gotta be a better quality than a magnum quarter. Them things are like a jelly they are so thin and wobbly! and it certainly works ut cheaper than a heritage panel.

 

To be honest though, if it was any worse than that little bit on the bottom, i would have just scrapped it and bought a new panel.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Chris1992]

looking good mate! 

[SAL 821X]

Thats some hammer skills ben.

Nice to see a step by step also. Helps us hammer & dolly virgins out alot to be honest.

Would also love the space of your garage must make working so much easier than a single up and over like mine.