457 replies to this topic

[JDImini]

 

Great work as always, I've just taken delivery of the same rollover jig you're using and your pictures of the shell on the jig have been a great help over the last couple of days as I've been figuring out how to bolt the thing together!

Cheers

 

I'm not sure that this one is assembled correctly as i have no instructions.

It is supposed to turn easily by hand with one person but we always struggle at the half way point so it needs two of us to do it

 

Ben

 

Hi Ben,

 

Thanks for the call today

 

Regarding the spit jig we didn't get it setup right, we bought the self loading/balancing tool but it doesn't work when using it for the mini although we weren't told that when we bought it. If you look at the video on the website you can see the drilled "u" shaped part on the front and back should be should be a "u" not "n" as it is at the moment.

Well I know what I mean

[JDImini]

Hi Ben, I think we'll try and come over to see the mini on Thursday all being well

[carthorse]

Great work as always, I've just taken delivery of the same rollover jig you're using and your pictures of the shell on the jig have been a great help over the last couple of days as I've been figuring out how to bolt the thing together!

Cheers
 
I'm not sure that this one is assembled correctly as i have no instructions.
It is supposed to turn easily by hand with one person but we always struggle at the half way point so it needs two of us to do it
 
Ben

Hi Ben,
 
Thanks for the call today
 
Regarding the spit jig we didn't get it setup right, we bought the self loading/balancing tool but it doesn't work when using it for the mini although we weren't told that when we bought it. If you look at the video on the website you can see the drilled "u" shaped part on the front and back should be should be a "u" not "n" as it is at the moment.
Well I know what I mean

I got no instructions at all with mine either which nacked me off a bit considering the price of the spit. I'll be even more cross if the loading / balancing tool doesn't work either - I went for this option specifically as the pickup shell is very rear heavy so will probably be a big of a pig to spin.

I'll be hopefully getting the shell mounted and spinning later this week so we shall see how it goes.......

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben, I think we'll try and come over to see the mini on Thursday all being well

I look forward to seeing you.

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

Well I have sorted out the front panel problems. The poor one is going back tomorrow and i should be taking delivery of a replacement too so that can go on.

 

I finished off the other sill.

 

This meant the flitch repair had to be done

 

 

Then there was this join to weld up

 

 

 

And complete

 

 

Now all of the underside is repaired, it's time to remove the shell from the spit.

There is work to be done inside the shell and that means me having to get in there which i can't do with it swinging in the air

 

 

Popped it on a couple of pallets as axle stands aren't really safe. There is so little weight in the shell that i doubt it would have stayed on the stands for long with me climbing in and out.

 

I cleared my bay and put it back for the next leg

 

 

There isn't much to do inside the shell but some welding non the less.

 

There is not to be an ashtray in the back so i welded up the mounting holes

 

 

 

The handbrake mounting had torn away from the crossmember so that was fixed too

 

 

 

And as there are no dash rail trims going back in, the mounting holes for the top one were filled in as well as the ends reshaping where they were bent out

 

 

 

I did the other side too..

 

I then pottered a bit as Colin was using the welder.

 

Cleaned one half of the floor back

 

 

Then thought i would start prepping for the new front panel instead

 

I cut the slam panel off

 

 

And cut the remains away from the wing and seam on one side

 

 

And then ran out of time.

 

I did also do some repairs to the front edge of the inner sill on the o/s where i had to cut it away to get the old repair patch off when i did the flitch but no pictures of this.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Ben

[Carlos W]

Superb as ever mate. 

 

I love the sill to flitch join. It's so neat

[Gijs]

Hi Ben,

 

Great work, especially your welding. How do you prevent warping of the metal and how do you dress them  and keping the metal so flat? 

 

Gijs  

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben,

 

Great work, especially your welding. How do you prevent warping of the metal and how do you dress them  and keping the metal so flat? 

 

Gijs  

Regards to warping, i tend to go slow over larger areas and just keep the work piece cool. i would do a short run of weld, cool with compressed air gently and then do another short run. It's also a good idea to switch round so i would weld a bit at one end, then a bit the other end and just work round.

 

To dress the welds, i use a smart repair grinder with Roloc sanding discs at work but a flap disc on a grinder is good and so is a grinding stone if you have lots of material to remove. I also use carbide burs on a die grinder if there is grinding/shaping to do in confined spaces.

 

The way i work is that the neater the weld, the less cleaning and shaping there is to do afterwards. For instance, a typical plug weld will take me 5 seconds to grind flat using the 36 Grit Roloc discs which is handy when you have lots to do and time is of the essence.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

Superb as ever mate. 

 

I love the sill to flitch join. It's so neat

Cheers Carlos!

[wingnut]

Superb work ben.I  see why you get so much work

[JDImini]

Hi Ben, your work is looking great as always - not sure what else to say the mini is going to be fantastic when it's done

 

PS love the fiat 500 in the back of one of the pictures

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben, your work is looking great as always - not sure what else to say the mini is going to be fantastic when it's done

 

PS love the fiat 500 in the back of one of the pictures

The Fiat belongs to one of our regulars. We look after his fleet which also includes a T2 bay camper and a Morris Minor Traveller.

[Baldspeed Racing]

love builds like this, so much tidy work and attention to detail. Always good to see the updates on it. Keep up the epic work

[Ben_O]

Here is a better pic of the little Fiat. They really are very tiny.

 

 

First thing, I removed the front panel remains from the other wing

 

 

Before starting on the engine steady bracket

 

 

It is perfectly serviceable and definitely strong enough but pretty scruffy and the customer wanted it changed so off it came

 

 

Typical.....

 

Oh well, it is a pretty simple job to sort that

 

Cut out

 

 

Make a new piece

 

 

weld it in

 

 

And grind it up

 

 

Then the new steady bracket needs putting on so i had to mock up the plate that goes under the master cylinders and the steady bar

 

 

And once welded, i removed the mocked up parts and cleaned it up

 

 

 

So now i'm prepped for the front panel, i need a subframe

 

 

But all of that is still attached so needs to be seperated.

 

So off came the hubs

 

 

And out came the engine

 

 

I split the put joints at the diff instead of at the shaft so as soon as i lifted the engine, it dumped it's oil everywhere.

 

oops...

 

But interestingly, when i drifted the roll pin out that attaches the selector rod to the box, it flew out with one strike! I couldn't believe it as every other one i have done was a nightmare.

 

To get the subframe bare, i put it on the rolling bench and took the remaining parts off

 

 

 

 

Once stripped, i de-greased it so it can dry off overnight

 

 

Needless to say, it will be stripped and painted before final fitting.

 

I mentioned earlier on that Colin had been working on the door frames. Well he has had to take a few days off so i shall be finishing them.

 

Here is the frame that he repaired

 

 

It's had a complete new bottom in it as well as a repair where the lower hinge bolts as it was split. This was the better one of the two which is typical.

 

Ill get on with the other tomorrow so that I can paint the inside of the frames and skins body colour before they become one.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Ben

[JDImini]

Hi Ben, the attention to detail for the engine steady is amazing and the bottom of the door and and...  and the subtle coca cola product placement I hope you're getting paid

Nice pic of the fiat, one of the few cars that makes the mini look big