304 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Cheers guys!

 

Had a bit of a nightmare today so progress has been slow.

 

Basically, the back end of the sill assembly wouldn't fit even close to where it was supposed to go. The captive nut set brace for the subframe trunnion was stopping the assembly moving to where it needed to go.

As a result, with the inner sill hard up against it inside the companion bin, the outer sill lip was about 15mm shy of meeting the quarter panel lip which could have spelt disaster.

 

I spent a lot of time today going over everything on the whole car with a measuring tape to make sure everything was with in tolerance.

I then compared the measurements with another Mini and i just couldn't find anything wrong apart from a 2mm discrepancy on the heelboard which is within tolerance.

I even went as far as bushing up the new subframe to measure the distance between the front mounts in case the worn bushes on the old subframe had lead to the subframe mounts being put in the wrong place.

again, everything was fine.

I spent more time scratching my head wondering what it could be, i had a second opinion and nothing untoward was found.

 

Thankfully in the end, it turned out to be something simple. The previous repair on that side of the car hadn't just been a new inner and outer sill but the nut brace for the subframe mount had been cut off and the re-welded 5mm over and welded on at  twisted angle which was stopping the inner sill from moving over.

I can only imagine that this was done to fit the sill which must have been in the wrong place all along.

The captive nut's them selves were thankfully in the correct place so no need for any action there, i just needed to modify the nut brace.

 

Phew!!
 

Anyway, here is the little amount of progress that was achieved after that kerfuffle 

 

I cleaned back the stonechip from the flitch to see it's condition

 

 

This side is solid but there are just some rough seem welds to unpick

 

Then was the long drawn out process of removing the remains of the old inner sill from the step lip top and bottom and then i chipped away the sound deadening ready for cutting in of the new panel

 

 

And after all the trouble with getting the inner sill to fit right, it finally did.

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, i shall 'cut in' the new panel and get it welded.

 

Nearly ready for paint now!

 

Ben

[Daz1968]

That's one thing I like about the pre assembled panels from m machine, if they don't fit then its likely something else is wrong, if you had used separate panels you may well end up assembling it same as before. I was amazed how far out some of my car was to the floor panel but by being able to rely on the floor being right it was very easy to get every thing else right. At least it answered why my door gaps were bad before.
Looking good by the way.

[Ben_O]

That's one thing I like about the pre assembled panels from m machine, if they don't fit then its likely something else is wrong, if you had used separate panels you may well end up assembling it same as before. I was amazed how far out some of my car was to the floor panel but by being able to rely on the floor being right it was very easy to get every thing else right. At least it answered why my door gaps were bad before.
Looking good by the way.

Cheers!

The previous replacements were Magnum cover inner and outer sills that had just been laid in over the top of the remains of the originals 

 

 

So no wonder..

[Ben_O]

Two more projects lined up for the new year.

 

Both are T2 bay window campers.

 

One for a full bare metal resto and the other for sills and steps.

 

Hopefully ill be able to blog on here about them if the customers permit it and if anyone is interested of course.

 

Ben

[Carlos W]

Two more projects lined up for the new year.

 

Both are T2 bay window campers.

 

One for a full bare metal resto and the other for sills and steps.

 

Hopefully ill be able to blog on here about them if the customers permit it and if anyone is interested of course.

 

Ben

 

They rot worse than minis don't they?

[wingnut]

I shall look forward to the new projects.Very impressive work and well explained too

[Ben_O]

 

Two more projects lined up for the new year.

 

Both are T2 bay window campers.

 

One for a full bare metal resto and the other for sills and steps.

 

Hopefully ill be able to blog on here about them if the customers permit it and if anyone is interested of course.

 

Ben

 

They rot worse than minis don't they?

 

One needs a complete new front, door skins, steps, sills and who knows what else (not been fully quoted or inspected yet) and the other is just steps and sills to keep it on the road.

 

I shall look forward to the new projects.Very impressive work and well explained too

Cheers. Ill write about any project on here if there is interest and if the customers give me permission.

[Ben_O]

Had to play catch-up today after the lost time yesterday if there is any hope of getting this done by Christmas!

 

First up, the new sill assembly was marked out for drilling and then removed.

Then the new cross member end was fitted over the top of the old one and marked, then cut.

 

 

Then all of the final trimming was done and bits removed ready as well as the cutting in of the floor join.

 

I then swept up what i removed from just this side of the car...

 

 

Next, i prepped the sill for welding

 

 

And then fitted the little closing panel between the heelboard and boot floor

 

 

 

 

Then in went the sill, lined it up and then tacked it.

 

 

After tacking it in place, i plug welded the sill lips inner and outer to the top and bottom of the step all the way along.

 

Next i seam welded under where the crossmember fits and then ground it down partially

 

 

 

Then the crossmember was fitted, clamped and tacked in

 

 

Then the floor was plug welded to the bottom of the companion bin from underneath

 

 

 

Then the other closing panel was clamped in

 

 

then welded and sprayed in zinc

 

 

Then i cracked on with the seam welding of the floor join. It's 99% finished now but i ran out of time today

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, i shall finish the welding and then have a mammoth grinding session. Besides that, the subframe will have to come out so i can finish the heelboard plug welding, seam weld the closing panels to the boot floor and that will just leave the flitch repair to do.

 

We are on target to paint Friday!

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Carlos W]

Good effort mate.

Coming together well.

[Daz1968]

Getting there now, will need a good push to get finished and painted for Christmas, but at least the owner has a good present when finished.

[Ben_O]

Cheers fellas.

 

There is welding to finish, then the grind up, then prep/prime/seal/stonechip.

The new subframe needs building and going in, then paint/reassembly and then MOT work. So balljoints, steering rack gaitor, wipers and one or two small other things.

 

then road test and MOT.

 

Should be doable but it won't be rushed so if not, then that's the way it will have to be

[Ben_O]

Sadly, i only have a few photos today as i have just been to busy to even think about taking any!

 

All of the welding is now complete apart from a tiny bit of finish off on the front flitch repair which will be done first thing in the morning.

 

All of the grinding down and dressing is complete part from a couple of plug welds inside the car.

 

Prep has begun on the back end this afternoon and it is now moving along at a good pace.

 

All i have is a couple of photos of the finished heelboard ends and of the boot prep.

Sorry about that..

 

 

 

 

By the end of play tomorrow, it should be prepped, primed and hopefully stone chipped. Ill try and get the sub frame built up so it can be fitted to get it rolling.

I might go in and put in a few hours on Saturday too and Colin our other guy has offered to paint it on Sunday so i can put it back together on Monday.

 

The end is nigh!

 

Ben

[jamesquintin]

 

 

Then the floor was plug welded to the bottom of the

 

 

 

How do you close up that hole between the 1/4 panel, arch & closing panel? (you can see the garage floor through the gap in some pictures)

[Ben_O]

 

 

 

Then the floor was plug welded to the bottom of the

 

 

 

How do you close up that hole between the 1/4 panel, arch & closing panel? (you can see the garage floor through the gap in some pictures)

 

Originally, there would have been that gap and it would have been sealed of with seam sealer.

What i did after i fitted the other part of the closing panel is weld up the gap so it's a more reliable seal than just sealer.

[Ben_O]

 

 

 

How do you close up that hole between the 1/4 panel, arch & closing panel? (you can see the garage floor through the gap in some pictures)

 

Originally, there would have been that gap and it would have been sealed of with seam sealer.

What i did after i fitted the other part of the closing panel is weld up the gap so it's a more reliable seal than just sealer.

 

Here is a picture of the m-machine closing panels

 

 

The small bits to the right are the other part i was talking about.

It slots up between the quarter panel and the closing panel and fills a majority of the gap but i just added weld to seal it off completely.

 

Hope that helps

 

Ben