850 replies to this topic

[jamesquintin]

DO THE WHOLE FLOOR

 

Wish I had done that on mine, but I'm limited on space and wouldn't be able to slide the floor 'in' to the car. One thing to note is that the heritage floor will fit perfectly, it doesn't have some MPI specific tabs for the brake lines, or the studs for the fuel line clamps. I am going to have to hire a stud welder when the time comes to add them back on (as well as one on the boot floor)

Edited by jamesquintin, 22 April 2017 - 07:19 PM.

[Steve220]

DO THE WHOLE FLOOR

 

Wish I had done that on mine, but I'm limited on space and wouldn't be able to slide the floor 'in' to the car. One thing to note is that the heritage floor will fit perfectly, it doesn't have some MPI specific tabs for the brake lines, or the studs for the fuel line clamps. I am going to have to hire a stud welder when the time comes to add them back on (as well as one on the boot floor)

 

Hi James,

 

The brake lines aren't much of an issue, although the fuel line studs maybe. The main concern is that all the rust is cut out and fresh metal is added!

[jamesquintin]

Whole floor then;)

​I am soon going to be selling some MPI specific parts that are no longer available, like the foam trim that goes on the inner sills under the carpet, the foam behind the fuel tank and the sound deadening that goes on the floor, cut to the same shape as the original factory fitted stuff...

 

also the bitumen with the small holes for the doors/quarter panels.

[Ben_O]

I wouldn't hesitate cutting that entire floor out and popping a new one in.

 

It's not difficult but just time consuming. Take your time and plenty of measurements and you can't go far wrong.

 

If the door steps are less than perfect, replace them too as it will save a lot of hassle when it comes to joining up the sills to them.

 

I would say brace your shell but that goes without saying.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Steve220]

Hi Ben,
 

Glad i wasn't the only one to consider replacing the whole damn thing. My dad's method was to make the floor into a patchwork quilt of repairs, i pretty much dismissed it. The doorsteps are goosed too so they're also on the list. Ordered bracing metal this evening, hopefully that'll be here when the panels arrive!

 

Thanks for the input guys, it's greatly appreciated.

[Ben_O]

If you did patchwork, you may end up spending the rest of the cars life chasing repairs.

 

Do it once, do it right. If everything is properly painted and protected on the new floor and its looked after, it will last many many years.

 

Plus i personally hate the apprarence of a patched floor, even if the welding is good.

 

Good luck with it and just holler if you need any pointers

 

Ben

[Steve220]

Large order put in to minispares! Although i missed some bits which i'm slightly pi5sed at myself about

 

Did a bit of reconditioning of the driveshafts this morning. Outer CV's have seen better days, the rest of the shaft pulled apart and the boots are in great condition! So process of today, ground the rust off, zinc primed and sprayed satin black!

 

 

 

 

 

I sand blasted the 'new' brake servo mount to get rid of the rust, then zinc and paint.

 

 

Next is the wiper motor! This actually worked ok, just needs the corrosion removed, some small parts replaced and spraying too!

 

 

More to come tomorrow!

[Steve220]

Slight delay to getting pics up, however, a fair bit done! Car is now braced up with 20x20mm box section and the spot weld drilling has begun!

 

Taken the wiper motor and starter motor apart for cleaning and painting

 

 

 

Next is a mega package from Minispares that turned up this morning! Once again, impressed with the speed of this delivery and the effort put in to keep everything safe.

 

 

 

 

The front panel was stripped back with a knotted wire wheel to reveal the heads of the spot welds. Then the radio went on and drilling begun. To help access all the welds, i removed some of the floor.

 

 

Splitting the panels reveals more rust. Looking at Petrol Pete's thread, this is quite common on mini's, especially the MPi!

 

 

End of the front panel is rotten. This will be turned into a template, cut out and new metal put in.

 

 

I left it for the night as I need to re-attack it in the morning to split the panels and also remove the positive power cable channel from the floor before i cut the rest out of it! My spraying shelf is also filling up. As there's zinc primer under the black and silver paint, i'm leaving it a few days before i even attempt reassembling parts to make sure they're fully cured.

 

 

 

[timmy850]

It's going to be much more solid with all that new steel in! The full floor looks like a great option

Edited by timmy850, 27 April 2017 - 10:10 PM.

[jamesquintin]

Any reason you didn't go for the fully built floor..? Wish I had done that. 

[Steve220]

Any reason you didn't go for the fully built floor..? Wish I had done that. 

Because it's £650 and I've already got the outer sills lol. It also means I can protect all the sill areas before putting the outers on.

Edited by Steve220, 28 April 2017 - 09:06 AM.

[Steve220]

Well yesterday went from bad to worse. Started chopping through the floor and the rest of the shell wasn't happy! There was enough flex for me to raise my eyebrow and stop play. As the car is on the spit, as i turned it, the gap for the floor opened and contracted

 

 

 

It's enough for me panic. The car came off the jig and is now upside down being supported by the rain rail all the way round which has meant the gaps have closed to what they were normally. My next priority is to get the new floor in, thus the strength back to the shell. It's put me on a complete downer today so i'm not touching the shell until I can work out my next step!

 

If anyone has any tips, pointers, etc, they'd be appreciated!

[jamesquintin]

Ahh, it'll be fine 😜

You should have got all the new floor prepped first before chopping out the old one... May as well get on with that now. Get the heel board and cross member on and come back to the shell fresh 😀

[Steve220]

Is it a good idea to fit the heel board with the new floor off the car? Just putting it out there!

Whilst I continue to scratch my head over what to do to the shell, I got some bits blasted and sprayed up, then ran out of zinc primer 😓

Wiper motor complete bar the DSN cover





Bias valve and bonnet catch in primer



Bits for spraying or powder coating



So onto the doors! The usual rust on the bottom, cut out, template made, cut out of fresh steel and tacked in!



Welding complete and linished flat



Question to the forum! - how do you safely and neatly take away the welds on the other side? I tried a cutting disc then thought better of it and my skills!



Blew a few holes through doing some minor correction, a piece of copper crushed flat in a vice worked perfectly!

Edited by Steve220, 30 April 2017 - 05:30 PM.

[Chris M]

Just read this from start to finish & must say I'm really impressed Steve with the work you've into this car. It'll be a cracking car when completed, I'll be watching this one.
I don't have a Mini & always been into Fords, but I've got the bug for a Mini!