65 replies to this topic

[HarrysMini]

Well here it is guys... The thread you all (well none of you) have been waiting for!

 

This is my project thread. I plan on making a Morris Mini-Minor Cooper lookalike from a 1982 City. 

Well here goes!

 

The car is stripped down to the bare shell. Both of the n/s seams have been ground off by one of the previous owners in a feeble attempt to deaseam it. I will be building a new seam to make sure it retains its original strength as I don't particularly like the deaseamed look and I wouldn't want to make the car any less strong.

The car cost me £50 all together so I'm not complaining too much.

I have a deadline of one year to get this shell completely rebuilt in time for when I can drive (providing I pass my test).

 

 

As you can see, the car needs some work; the roof is full of filler but it hasn't rusted right through so I might just sand it down and leave it. Also, it has had oversills fitted. I will chop these off to see what horrors lurk beneath. I can assure you though, it looks a lot worse than it is.

 

I have a couple of months off now so I hope to get all the bodywork done in this time before it gets too cold. I will then get it to a spray shop to get a nice coat on it and get some WaxOyl underneath it ready for winter. In the meantime, I am currently building a 998 engine that is to be rebored to 1030cc mainly just to clean out the bores. Hopefully, that will be ready to drop in by about January.

 

This is a picture of said block plus all the parts I got with it for £7 on eBay.

 

I don't really know where to start so I am going to start with the easy stuff, removing all the soundproofing from the floor

 

 

Once I have bought a welder and learned how to make some nice welds I will crack on with the seams. Once they're done, I will get a front subframe and fit the front end.

 

 

[HarrysMini]

A trip to the National Mini Cooper day at Beaulieu on Sunday brought back some goodies.

Here I have...

-Both wings (non genuine)

-n/s inner wing (genuine)

-Front panel (non genuine)

-Boot lid (genuine)

-Outer sills (may cut these to convert them into the original style ones)

-Pair of A-Panels (non genuine)

 

 

As you can see, most of my panels aren't genuine so more work is going to have to be carried out to make them fit nicely. I'd rather have to spend a little more time perfecting the fit than spend a load more money on Heritage panels. There is more satisfaction in making a panel fit properly than buying one that cost twice as much that will fit straight away. All together, these panels cost me £200, which I think is a good price as it would have costed me that just to get a pair of Heritage Wings.

Edited by HarrysMini, 10 June 2013 - 08:32 PM.

[JMR]

Absolute bargain..

 

I will keep an eye on this

 

 

Good luck

[HarrysMini]

Thanks for the reply, it's nice to know that at least one person is reading this.

 

 

 

Today, I splashed out some more cash and bought myself a MIG welder. I can see all of you flinching when I say the welder I bought is a Wolf. I'm sure that it will make just as good welds as a welder that costs twice as much as long as I do lots of practice. The welder cost me £170.

As soon as it stops raining, I will get some practising done. Then, once I am happy with my welds, I can get on with sorting out these seams.

 

 

This is just my luck, it starts raining just as I buy a restoration project and actually have time to work on it.

 

Hopefully a proper update will follow soon, I'll try and make sure there's at least one picture in each post, because I know everybody likes pictures 

Edited by HarrysMini, 11 June 2013 - 10:11 AM.

[minimadles]

good luck with your project

lots of welding to do!!!! practice makes perfect

spend time getting a good panel fit before your tempted to  make sparks it makes welding the panels easier

[HarrysMini]

Weather is taking the piss so no real update, I was hoping to get some welding practise done.

In the breaks of rain, I did however manage to get some more sound proofing off and using nothing but a hammer, managed to remove the pointless and annoying rear ashtray.

 

 

All the crap I got off the floor

 

I promise a proper update will follow soon

[Down&Out]

No need to worry about that welder, mines an older (by a few years) wolfweld and ive done several cars with that with no problem!

Just make sure you've got plenty of gas and a good earth and the rest is mostly getting the settings right. Oh and get an autodarkening mask if you can, the standard ones are crap.

Good luck with this of course, nice to see it got back alright, i'll keep an eye on how things go.

[HarrysMini]

Right guys, it's day three. I have made a to do list as I can't really do any actual work on the car.

 

The list is in no particular order, I have just written things as I think of them.

 

Bodywork

​Sort out boot floor

Fit boot lid and bottom panel

Build n/s front and rear seams 

Fit proper outer sills

Work out what's happening about inner sills

Buy and fit some doors

Fit front end and front sub frame

Buy sub frames

Fix door steps

Weld in floor pan

Finish removing sound proofing crap

Grind off mysterious poles

Install wipers and bits

Install windows

Get exterior & engine bay painted

Install door handles 

Boot handle & hinges

Fill any imperfections 

Give underside paint with some kind of primer and Hammerite 

Give interior a paint with some kind of primer and Hammerite

Redo all other bad welding done by previous owner

WaxOyl all underside and anywhere else (subframes etc.)

 

Mechanics

Build engine

Build subframes

Fit engine, subframes and bits that go with them

 

Electrical

Buy and fit loom

Buy and fit all lights

Buy switches and stalks etc.

Fit them

 

 

Interior

Buy...

Seats

Steering wheel

Carpet 

Headlining

Dashboard 

Centre console

Pedals

Fit items

Gauges 

Seatbelts

Fit the above 

 

I have probably missed out loads of stuff so I will keep adding to this list.

 

Even though I said I was going to do the seams first, I have decided not to as I want my first welding to be on something slightly less important and I don't want to start with the most difficult piece of bodywork that needs doing to this car.

 

The order I plan on doing things is

Bodywork 

Paint

Bodywork that couldn't be done before paint (First three should be done by December)

Mechanics (Finished by no later than February

Electrical (Finished by end of March

Interior (Finished by early June)

 

What do you guys think?

Edited by HarrysMini, 12 June 2013 - 10:44 AM.

[HarrysMini]

Somewhat of an update.

Managed to get out and do some welding practice today. However, the only bits of scrap metal I had were quite thick, and the panels on a Mini are quite thin.

 

Here are the results of the first time I've ever used a welder

I was trying to join two pieces of metal together but I need to work on my aim.

 

Joining a thin piece of metal to a thick piece.

 

 

This was someone else's attempt.

 

 

I know... It looks like pigeon sh*t. However, I am hoping that with some tweaking of the settings and some more practice, it should get better. I think I was moving the torch a bit too fast.

As far as the Mini's concerned, all I've done is scrape some more soundproofing off and nearly removed one of the oversills with a hammer while I wait for the angle grinder to arrive.

Edited by HarrysMini, 13 June 2013 - 01:15 PM.

[alex-95]

look's like a good project, if you give the bichumin sound proofing a couple of taps with a hammer, it should come off quite easily if you get a chisel or scraper underneath it.

The problem with you welding is that the metal you are welding to is dirty, give the areas a good wire brush till they have no paint or rust on and have another try. for the thicker metal turn the settings up. it is alot harder to weld the thinner metal. Welding certainly needs lots of practice.

 

[sonikk4]

Are you using gas?? if so and you are welding outside you will need to shield your welding area.Keep posting your practise and we will let you know if its going to be ok to start on your car. (you need to look at the penetration as that is where the strength is)

 

Don't fit the outer sills until the inner sills are sorted correctly. You can deal with them properly that way. 

[Woody6891]

One hell of a bargain for shell and panels you got there. Welding will come with practice so don't worry about the poor first attempt! Just takes some time and patience. 

[HarrysMini]

Thanks for the comments.

 

Alex - That's exactly how I have been getting the stuff off :) Thanks for the welding tips

 

Sonikk - I am using gas and I shielded it as best I could. It's quite windy today but it was the first dry day we've had and I really wanted to get started. I won't even touch the car with the welder until I'm sure my welds are satisfactory. Once I've removed the oversills, I'll have a look and see what the inner sills are looking like, but they don't look good from the view through the doorstep.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

[joezone2001]

Hi Harry.
Great looking project! Seems an absolute bargain. With regards to your welding. Like alex said, its best to clean up the metal before you attempt to weld. Especially at the point where you are earthing the welder. If the metal isn't earthed correctly your welding will not be clean and will spit. Also when welding I find it allot easier to sort of dot and dab in one spot moving slightly side to side rather than do a continuous strip. I sometimes find it hard to see especially where access is restricted so I find this a much easier way. You will also be best off to buy some good strong welding clamps. If the two pieces of metal are as close to each other as possible the welds will be allot better. I am fairly new to welding too. It's definetly something that takes allot of practice and patience to get right. Do you own an angle grinder? You will really find owning one a necessity when welding. Using an angle grinder with a good wire burst on the end can save you so much time when cleaning up surfaces to weld.
Keep up the great work, joe.

Oh, and don't be afraid to ask people's opinions on here. There are some very experienced people on here and I find their input extremely helpful.

Edited by joezone2001, 13 June 2013 - 02:05 PM.

[jagman.2003]

Great project. Very reasonable costs so far. I would echo Soniks advice concerning the gas for the welds so far. The beads looks a little flat/hollow. But it's a great start. There's plenty of examples of how to replace or repair all the panels on a mini on this site. You right that it looks worse than it is. I've seen plenty of multi-coloured minis come good. Best of luck.