589 replies to this topic

[jamesquintin]

More progress on the rear panel. I got some brushable sealant into the rear valance closing panels:
 

 

 

Hopefully when thats all done and filled with cavity wax it'll keep the rust at bay!
 

One thing I was worried about was if the fuel tank would fit. I put the braket in for the tank strap over a year ago, so thought it would be a good idea to make sure it was all fine:


 

 

Luckily it was!


 

 

After double checking the measurements for the rear window I fully clamped the panel on and trial fitted the rear screen. Looks fine to me, so the next stage it to weld the thing on!

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[jamesquintin]

Carrying on. Got the boot lid fitted and the bumper to make sure it was all fine, and fine it was too!

 

So cracked on with the spot welding:

 

 

 

 

Not forgetting the alarm plate which I took from the old panel

 

 

 

[jamesquintin]

so, time to turn to the C pillar

 

 

This was the gap I ended up with, bigger than I wanted, but not as big as the other side...

 

Anyway, after some careful welding and grinding back, I ended up with this:

 

 

Not as good as a certain someones from the Isle of White, but better than I though it would be!

Whacked some filler on:

 

 

And thats what the inside looks like

 

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[g111mds]

Great job on this :)

[Ben_O]

Well done James.

It's coming together a treat!

[Chris M]

Great job James & loving the pictures keep them coming 👍

[jamesquintin]

Not a massive amount of progress today, but got some things done:

I had a god at sanding the filler down. Not sure if its really my thing:

 

Will look into it properly when it comes to final prep time (god knows when that will be!)

I've spent most of the day in the engine bay tidying up the bulkhead:

 

 

There was a bit of pitting around the brake/clutch hole, so added a bit of filler to smooth it out (after using Deox to kill the rust)

I also prepped and welded on teh engin steady mount:

 

 

Thats it for today

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[Ben_O]

Your bulkhead certainly looks more healthy than mine!

 

I'm leaning towards replacing the whole lot.

 

Filler work is one of those things that improves with time and practice. Looks like you will need to take some more off on both of those joins.

 

Before applying another coat, tap down any high spots and you will get there.

 

Cheers

Ben

[jamesquintin]

Some more bits and bobs today. THought I would do a before and after photo of the bulkhead:

 

 

 

Much better I think!

Then I decided to have a good tody up! (again)

 

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[jonlad]

Love that before and after pic! Great work, keep at it!

[minimissions]

Just had a read through this, Nice work this has had some serious panels and its really coming together nicely :)

[jamesquintin]

Some more updates. It's getting to the point where its more in the detail than large panels going on (although I still have the boot/door skins to do)

Back in teh engine bay i took most of the paint off and did some rust proofing:

 

 

 

 

and gave it all a splash of paint. I still need to add some filler to te inner wings to smooth it out.

I also finishsed off grinding some welds down on the rear bulkhead/seat floor
 

 

 

[johnR]

Nice job - your attention to detail is starting to pay off

[Add_Gee]

Just read the whole thread, great work! Although slightly scary as I have a '97 cooper that needs similar work on the back end and this really shows how big a job it becomes 

[jamesquintin]

Just read the whole thread, great work! Although slightly scary as I have a '97 cooper that needs similar work on the back end and this really shows how big a job it becomes 

 

It sure does! If the floor needs replacing, get the whole lot (sills, heelboard and all) will make life a lot easier.

I've done a bit more. I wanted to see how the new bulkhead foam from Minispares looked, so I got it out and had a trial fit. Looks good to me and will really tidy up the engine bay when its all done

 

 

Because I had bought two floor halves (WHICH IS A MISTAKE) i still have a lot of work to do to join the two halves together. The rear was fairly straighforward, but the front is proving tricky.

 

I've got most of it together, just needs a lot more tidying up

 

I was chasing a lot of pin holes. I also had to finish of welding the floor to the toe board, but anoyingly ran out of gas. THought I'd do another 'before & after' pic

 

Another trip to Halfords for me!