320 replies to this topic

[sonikk4]

Being a glutton for punishment and also wanting to make a few quid to spend on Paddy i have taken on a 79 Special which is owned by Will one of the lads from our Heathrow hangar.

 

He got delivered to the workshop at the beginning of the week by one of his mates. Overall condition is not that good and by the looks of it nearly every external panel needs to be replaced along with both outer sills and i think some of the inners. The floors were badly pushed in but a large block of wood sorted those out.

 

The scuttle looked good funnily enough so less work to do there then????? NOT it was rusty underneath

 

 

The boot is not bad apart from the corners

 

The r/h rear arch is toast though

 

Very poor picture but the r/h heelboard end is not looking good, its bulging out

The l/h rear quarter had been replaced in the past due to a shunt but not done well as they forgot to sort this out

and all of the spot welds had holes through them, very strange

L/h inner sill in the companion bin is crusty

L/h door step is gone as well

and some pony repairs to the lower flitches both sides

 

 

 

[sonikk4]

Day two.

 

Time for some panel removal so off with his front end

and the scuttle taken off to see all of this 

Not bad for the original scuttle i have to say.

Then onto the bulkhead especially under the hinge mounts

 

The flitch bottoms under the scab patches

 

Now onto the bulkhead hinge mounts

Old metal cut out and new metal tacked in place

Metal in and bracket pinned in place waiting to be plug welded 

 

Day three

 

L/h side welded in

 

Both mounts are in but no pictures

then onto the l/h shock mount. It looked really good so i thought a clean up would be all it needed but no the meatl was still pitted

cutout and behind was not that bad

just surface rust and cleaned up very nicely and welded up well

[Ben_O]

This is so cool! I used to have one of these. Mine was a pale blue one with black vinyl roof. I loved that thing!!

 

Cheers

Ben

[sonikk4]

The car has been in his family from new i believe and has been stored in a shipping container for sometime which is a shame.

 

The front end had been replaced in the past which he thought was strange but considering the wings were basically tack welded on and then the seams filled with filler speaks highly of whoever did the job. It was very very easy to remove.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Solid little thing! nice work so far mate. Looking very nice. Will be watching closely

[sonikk4]

Little bit more progress today.

 

First thing was to knock up some bracing for when / if i have to replace the inner sills.

 

Started with a cross brace over the cross member.

 

then the support pads for the crossmember

 

Welded 

Then the front and rear cross braces

 

 

Onto the car and the back is crusty

 

Its going to need a full width hinge panel and also a boot repair panel to go along with the others already on order.

Next week the outer sills are coming off to see whats hiding behind them.

 

Cutting along.

[Jared Mk3]

This will be a good one. Best of luck. 

[minimikej]

There's really not much wrong with this one! And Special Roses were notoriously crusty! Love the 1100 Specials.

[jagman.2003]

Good swift project. Nice example of how to repair typical mini corrosion.

[sonikk4]

Cheers Jagman not so sure about swift but it will be a lot faster than Project Erm, anyway upwards and onwards.

 

Got the rear valance close outs off and most of the rust in those areas, the outer section of the inner arch has to go this side as well.

 

then it was off with the l/h sill which was worse than it looked but we did get a free pencil

 

and surprise surprise the inner sill is shot so will be needing a M Machine inner sill down to the first flute on the floor. And a new jacking point as well. Going to trim off the rear slinging point to see how bad the rear subbie attachment bracket is. 

 

And a couple of measurements to make sure i can refit the fuel tank strap mounting bracket.

[sonikk4]

The r/h side got its just deserts today and was pretty much a carbon copy of the other sides sills

 

 

The doorstep looked good but underneath was a different story

so thats both sides to do

then it was time to do some localized rust and damage repairs on the r/h inner wing, this being the front lower section where the front panels ears fit

 

and this rust just behind the cutout for the front subbie

and cut out

and finished

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Coming on well matey! do you have the interior? Ie dash and center console?

[sonikk4]

Coming on well matey! do you have the interior? Ie dash and center console?

 

I think Will has Craig as they stripped the car before sending it to me.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Oh fair enough, otherwise I may be able to help with a center console from a friend in Holland

[sonikk4]

I can ask him if needs another.