572 replies to this topic

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Those grille buttons are a smart idea.  Can you remove the grille OK even with the spot brackets in place?

Yeah you can pop the buttons and slide it in either direction. I'm going to put a thin strip of rubber on the back of the grill and the backs of the brackets as to not remove paint from with the car or the grill

[James_eaton_thewholething]

As I have the best fiancé ever she told me that I could go work on the car so I got a pain in the bum job done.






Got the paint taken back a and the all the bits of rust left out of the pitted part. Then covered over the welds with a skim of filler. Also covered over the bumper lip with filler as to his the welds.











So covered it all on primer again and it now looks like it was never repaired so I'm happy. Also started on putting filler on the fog light holder so it blends into the valance.



Got back in the house and the misses said we are now like the princess and the pauper or she is a first class passenger from the titanic and I would be a third class she is so mean at times but I can't complain she lets me work on the car

All for now

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Not much progress in the past couple of days as I spent the good part of 7 hours cleaning dust and bits of old car out of the garage and tidying it up again in order for it to be easy to paint and get around the car without an obsticle course.



Made good use of the old time table holder I got from work when the old bus station was coming down.



I took the padding off of the top dash cover as it was horrible and torn anyway. My aim is to clear off the surface rust cover in zinc and then cover it in fake alcantara cause I got to save money somewhere.



Cut both ends of the Lowe dash rail off ready to make up new parts. Ground the welds back from filling over holes and the from blanking off the air vent. Covered in kurust.



Got home from work and covered in zinc primer.



Welded this bar in to add strength to the lower dash rail. It's inline with the bolts for the steering column, but is hidden behind the clocks. All will be revealed why soon enough.

Going to finish (hopefully) the bulkhead and lower dash rail tomorrow then only have, B post to floor, boot floor to finish, then need to clean up the rest of the underneath of the boot floor add a couple of seam welds to the valance closing panels. And add the outer sills then get on with paint prep

[James_eaton_thewholething]

I managed to get the lower dash rail finished this morning and all the welds ground down on the bulk head.







The lower rail is really strong now so should have no flex when the steering column is attached.



I also got the hand brake mounts welded on I seam welded it all on so its not going anywhere anytime soon.



Folded over the A panel completely and then put some sealer in all of the panel gaps so hopefully it won't get water trapped between and rust

All for now

[James_eaton_thewholething]

So after a good few days of getting up early to work on the car before work then go to work and then come home from work and jump straight back into the garage a small bit of progress has been made.



A picture of how the rear of the car was to how it is now. Quite a transformation.

Next thing was to set about doing the boring stuff and the time consuming things. This was mainly sealing up all the joints.







After doing the inside of car I set about sealing up under the wings and some parts of the front page which will definitely see water.











Got a few discolouration spots on the seam sealer in some places not sure why as when you rub it back the discolouration goes I'm going to take it all off re cover in primer and re seal.





Made up some plates to tie the B posts to the floor and to add a little strength to where the seat belt mount points are.

That's all for now I'm off work for a week but I'm surprising the misses by taking her away to Paris and she doesn't even know

Edited by James_eaton_thewholething, 07 November 2015 - 10:42 PM.

[James_eaton_thewholething]

So I got back from Paris and luckily a couple of days before the recent events. Quite glad because it wasn't that far from our hotel.

Anyway got back onto the car yesterday and decided to strip the front and fill in the imperfections and little dings. I also welded in a piece I had cut out ages ago to block off the passenger side air hole in the front panel.





Took it back to bare metal and really wanted to keep it like that because I think it looks cool. I then welded up all of the screw holes for the grill. While doing that the earthing clamp on my welder broke but it's a good job I had a new one ready.











Put filler over all of the problem areas then rubbed it down. Then started to cover in zinc primer.





I feel that I did quite a good job with the welding in of the little piece and then the blending it in so both sides look the same



So the front end is all one colour now. I just have the A panels to clean up mad blend into the car and also to put filler of the join on the scuttle. I will then finish the passenger side.

I'm going to push paint back to the new year as I have other things to buy, fit and fabricate and wouldn't want to paint just to remove it

All for now

[Ben_O]

Nice one James

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Nice one James

Cheers Ben it's getting there I guess

[62S]

Just a small observation that might save you a bit of hassle later - your nearside inner sill seatbelt mounting doesn't seem to have a captive nut?

[mr cooke]

good work , your going to have a nice mini . Also love the pug 205 gti on page 2

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Just a small observation that might save you a bit of hassle later - your nearside inner sill seatbelt mounting doesn't seem to have a captive nut?

Thank you for noticing, I haven't gotten around to welding it in yet. I have left the outer sills off for the time being as I want to seam seal the door step to floor joint from underneath

Edited by James_eaton_thewholething, 15 November 2015 - 04:09 PM.

[James_eaton_thewholething]

good work , your going to have a nice mini . Also love the pug 205 gti on page 2

It will be a nice car when done cannot wait but still got a lot to do before its done. The 205 is a good car still that has a few minor issues and some welding before its mot next year. Think there will be a big difference in power when I have both cars on the road and go between them

[BMH]

Have you tried the coil overs in the rear yet as the last one I did I had to re radius the shocker tower wider as the coil over rubbed.

 

Bryan

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Have you tried the coil overs in the rear yet as the last one I did I had to re radius the shocker tower wider as the coil over rubbed.
 
Bryan

I haven't bought them yet. I am going to be going with the protect ones, as a friend of mine uses them and I followed what he told me to do and what he did to his. I already have bent the inner strengthening section right back. When I get them though I will be sure to check. Cheers for the heads up 😊

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Not been Able to get too much done recently being back in work and also had to sort a few issues on the 205.

Over the past two days I've been getting on with fitting the drivers side outer sill.



Tested the fit and it was going to be easy to fit.





All welded on I forgot to take pics of the prep but I will when I do the other side.



Welded up the jacking point hole and a couple of the other holes in the panel. I welded it on from inside the car as to look cleaner only place I couldn't was inline with the crossmember.



Google maps still has my car one the front path.



I refitted the two step part of my rev limiter on the 205 so I can be a big child and shoot flames as it only cuts spark

all for now

Edited by James_eaton_thewholething, 19 November 2015 - 08:33 PM.