1498 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Hi ben, just reading through n you say you will need some welding curtains?

Well i sell heavy duty pvc (bouncy castle material) which is flame retardant which i have tried n tested with the grinder and sold for welding curtains. Let me know if its something your interested in. Cheers

definalty mate.

 

PM me with some prices if you can

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

A little bit more done today. Not as much as i had hoped because i started late and everything took much longer than i was expecting.

 

So carrying on from yesterday, i started by cleaning back the welds on the back panel. I used a combination of a flap disc, 1mm cutting disc (to get in the tight corners) and a normal grinding stone.

Here is one side cleaned up

 

 

I was slightly disappointed with the join between the side of the lamp hole and the external body seam but i will be cutting the external seam part off of the repair section of back panel and adding in a new piece as it's quite misshapen. 

 

Not to worry.

 

I then decided to take a look at some rust on the lip where the rubber sits just to see how far it went.

 

 

As this is on a folded/rolled edge, i am going to have to unpick it all at some stage and clean it all up properly but for now, i just cleaned up what i can see and it looks ok.

 

With that done, i cleaned back a bit more of the red paint from this side and then toshed some Zinc over it

 

 

 

Then i did the same on the other corner.

 

I also needed to weld the external seams together between the back panel and the quarter panel at the bottom so that was a case of clamping everything up tight and then using a piece of flat copper plate clamped to the edge so as to stop the edges blowing

 

This is the bottom part

 

 

It looks really messy but i have got plenty of material there to shape up to form the correct curve to the external seam.

 

For anyone interested, this is how i did it. In the pictures, i was adding weld to the edge of the seam further up as it was a bit wobbly where i had gone a bit too far with the flap wheel when shaping it before.

 

I just used a marked pen to show me where i needed to add metal and clamped the copper in place

 

 

Then add weld to the edge

 

 

Then remove the copper

 

 

Then grind flat the faces of the seam both sides

 

 

And then carefully dress the edge to blend to the correct profile

 

 

And that is where i left i today

 

 

 

Ben

[Carlos W]

Looking good Ben.

 

The join on the back panel is amazing

[Minidarren83]

That rear panel job looks very much like my rear panel repair. As always very nice work don't even think about selling you have put too much into it

[Ben_O]

Looking good Ben.

 

The join on the back panel is amazing

 

That rear panel job looks very much like my rear panel repair. As always very nice work don't even think about selling you have put too much into it

Cheers guys.

 

The Mini will be defiantly staying now, i just need to see how i am going to get it into the back garden of the new place.

 

Tomorrow, will see the removal of the remains of the boot floor and perhaps the other quarter panel?

 

we shall see

[Vinay-RS]

Awesome stuff! Glad to hear you're going to be keeping it :)

 

Dumb question alert: How do the seam covers attach to the seam?

[Ben_O]

Awesome stuff! Glad to hear you're going to be keeping it :)

 

Dumb question alert: How do the seam covers attach to the seam?

Originally with small metal grip clips.

 

I the pictures, they are just held on with gravity.

 

When the car is prepped for paint, they will be held on with the clips and also seam sealer prior to paint to keep the damp and wet out.

 

No question is a dumb one

[Ben_O]

I forgot to order more zinc spray so will need to get some in Halfords...

 

£9.99 

[RossKnight]

Yeah, always happens with me too haha. 1 can of primer for £8 in there... or 12 cans of better stuff for £30 on ebay.

[Ben_O]

Yeah, always happens with me too haha. 1 can of primer for £8 in there... or 12 cans of better stuff for £30 on ebay.

I know. it's a rip off.

 

Even if i order the stuff i usually get today, it won't be here until at least the end of the week.

 

I just went to the Ironmongers and bought a small butane cylinder and a wire wheel for the drill and that was almost a tenner!

 

Oh well, at least i can get work done on it this week although today isn't looking likely

[SAL 821X]

Good stuff Ben and great to hear about the mobile garage tent. 

[Ben_O]

MASSIVE UPDATE!!

 

[Tupers]

Well it's more than I got done today. 

[Ben_O]

Well it's more than I got done today. 

ha ha.

 

I maneuvered the mini into working position, put on my overalls, got the tools out.

 

Then scraped off a bit of sealer from the arch tub and marked the spot welds with a pen, picked up the drill and positioned the tip of the drill bit on one of the welds and then just thought 'i can't be arsed today' so stopped and packed up

[maryquant]

I dream of days this productive! 

 

The repair on the rear panel is great - I have that exact job to look forward to once I source a replacement.