481 replies to this topic

[Avtovaz]

here is some not very good pics, but tookt he car out of the garage, tried to get teh door gaps a bit better, and then tried the headlight bowls in it..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to hammer the n/s straight and use the slide hammer , not finished teh o/s yet.

 

 

Im not sure weather to cut the o/s wing now to make it as even as the n/s. the n/s needs the radius putting back on it too... I think the wings now considering how bad they where and my lack of skill have come out alright. I still dont know if id buy heritage next time as maybe they will need some adjustment, so may as well keep the extra £150? and use the magnum ones? Only thing i dont like now is the definition of the bends on them...

Edited by Avtovaz, 19 May 2019 - 06:24 PM.

[Avtovaz]

with the n/s wing now almost done i went onto the other side

 

 

 

 

so i had done the n/s wing, time to sort the o/s one, so i cut the part out i didnt like

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my new phone is good but images seem mixed up and missing,

 

so i had welded that up and pushed the car outside ready to remove the front end

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and back on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also he had this

 

 

 

Not happy with it, i remember i filled it with fiberglass, but didnt like it so i welded a plate in

 

you can see here how bad it is by the blade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also door gap was bad so i sorted that out too

 

 

 

 

mroe front end pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this side needs mroe work yet on the a panel as its not quite right the door is hitting with the check strap as its almost closed

 

 

 

 

and ready for welding on tomorrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

not far off turning it on its roof again!

[Avtovaz]

started to weld the front on today, not 100% happy witht he front wings, but its too late now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

its these repairs, theya re good but you can tell, but maybe after a bit of spray filler and some work now they will be good...

 

 

 

 

 

 

considering how they where when i bought them, its a massive improvement

 

 

 

 

need to do down the n/s a panel, then ill tec screw the side s of the inner wings and the little wing bits on and do that while the car is stripped upside down.

[Harryrothers93]

looking good, Im hoping my front end is a little easier haha!

 

quality job mate. soon be in paint :)

Edited by Harryrothers93, 27 May 2019 - 05:48 PM.

[Avtovaz]

i tookt he car out of the garage yesterday and opened the bonnet, and straight away i noticed the wing didnt look right. Its one of those things, you know when someone comes over to look at your car, and says its nice, then when they walk off, say to their mate wings look rubbish, so i made a decision today

 

 

 

I cut the wings off

 

 

 

 

I thought that if i notice it, everyone will do, and as ben_o said, itll always bug you.

 

 

Also, second problem with the car. Ive always wanted to do the car original, ive bought the trim for the advantage, ive got almost everything right for it now, even a radio. But the problem is, i wont be able to use the car. Im a fair sized chap, last year i slipped a disc in my back and havnt been right since. So, those little mini seats will be no good for me. I dont want to do this at all, but ive bought some other seats for it. Now, i researched what fits, and the best i have found are metro seats. Put in the right place, they fit, will recline, allow access to the rear, and are a austin rover part.

 

so, i started to fit them today.

 

 

I put the seats i bought in the car on some wood, and got them roughly where i wanted them

 

 

Seems runners into the front of the crossmember was the best place

 

 

 

I squared them up off the sill and marked holes

 

 

 

 

 

I got some washers, and welded nuts onto them

 

 

 

Drilled holes in the crossmember and welded them in

 

 

 

 

as you can see here now, the seat will go right back

 

 

and also right forward too!

 

 

 

then out of 50x25 made some mounts

 

 

 

 

 

 

i put a brace between the two legs,

 

 

brace was part of the old back seat !

 

 

 

 

 

I think that when bolted down will be ok, i may put some plates on the floor too yet.

 

 

 

 

As i say i didnt want to do this but its done now, seats are very comfortable, recline if i need a snooze somewhere, and you can get into the back.

 

I am thinking of getting the seats recovered so they look a bit more like the originals, but may cost a bit...

[pete l]

Thanks for that, you have just made me choose what seats I want.

[Vinay-RS]

Those seats do look rather comfy, plus if they help you enjoy the car, that's all that matters :) 

[minimissions]

Those sits fit really nice mate and will be nice and comfy

[cookie4343]

Nice work mate.shame about the front but if you were not happy fair play cutting it off and starting again. Don't be to hard on yourself, it took me around 40 hours to get one to fit nice.

[rich_959]

Daft question alert, but are Metro seats narrower than late MPI style mini seats? In standard fit my seat upright hits the rear bins if I moved them all the way back on extender brackets and recline too much. Or have you just moved them more inboard than standard? I want to keep standard seats but was going to modify the bins slightly, like I've seen on some innocent cars. 

 

Great work on the build so far. Must admit, I couldn't see the issue with your wings, but I'm no bodywork expert. And fair play - sometimes you have to backwards to go forwards, and better doing it now that being unhappy with it after paint and rebuild. 

[Avtovaz]

well the wings, LOL! Partly my fault why i took them off, i welded them to the front panel, then fitted everything up, and when fitting it up i reolised that they where not quite central, maybe one was right but there was a 5mm offset. I was just hiding from that fact, plus also when you looked down the edge of the wing to inner wing, it just was wavy, it didnt look right. The part i welded on the front to be fair looked mint! But if i just start again, do it right this time.

 

The seats, i read in a thread that metro seats and mpi seats are the same, thats why i went for them. Fit wise, i could nto be more happy with them. The sides are supportive, but not hard that dig into you. The access to the back, if you move the seat forward which is easy to do, and then pull the handle, there is imho more room than the factory mini seat!

 

 

The thing now is, i want to make the trim match, i dont know how expencive that will be, i think the seat covers on the advantage where pretty one off material. The green stitching can be done fairly easily i think. The only other thing i thought of is in my e39 i use just generic car seat covers, get some grey ones, and just make it look obviously covered up, not bodged to look like. After all i do have the original seats.

 

But anyone can help with ideas for the covers of the seat please say!

[Avtovaz]

The new wings came from minisport, have to say they look loads better, but wasnt impressed with the way they just put them in a box with minimal wrapping, but they were not damaged.

 

 

I think these wings maybe made in Bulgaria as they fit really well [ ;) ]

 

 

 

 

 

i was nto sure of the gap, so i phoned minisport and there wasnt anyonet here who could help so i phoned minispares and they said 1/4" and that is about what they are

 

 

 

 

 

I also dont know why, but they just seemed to weld a lot nicer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not welded around the front as the magnum front panel is a bit off, so when i turn the car over and i can get to it easier ill do it then. Also the genuine wings still needed a hit with some wood and a sledge hammer LOL!

 

So now, its fit the n/s seat, turn the car over, finish the welding under there, i think paint it in raptor 2, then back over, and do the body work.

 

 

As of the seat change, the car isnt going to be as original as i wanted, so i am thinking just rebuild the 1293 engine i have and put that back in now, but make it look really tidy. But that s this weeks idea!

 

Also the trim, the seats are the same as spi ones, ive been in contact with a guy about retrimming them, not heard anything back yet as he is on holiday. But there is a plan there too. I will keep the original seats in the loft so they can be refitted if i ever sell the car. But if i put a trim in the car that is in the style of the advantage now, i can use it and not worry so much about it being hard to replace if it gets damaged or marked.

[Avtovaz]

cars now turned around again, n/s welded on, ground off, n/s side seat fitted

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ive found a catch with these seats though, one that i never thought of! Sat in the n/s today, thought to myself, "this is alright this" sat a bit longer, pictured what it was like for someone who dosnt own a mini to sit in this seat, thought about the engine , and before i knew it, 10 mins had passed. what the hell? Best get them in the loft before i get a flat arse.

 

 

Maybe more tomorrow!

[Avtovaz]

not much progress but i turned the car upside down again, and ive started on the boot floor. Going to prime it with etch primer, then probably this raptor 2 stuff everyone is going on about

 

 

 

 

I think ive put the tabs on the floor correctly around the battery box?!

 

 

 

Will need to find out where to put the plates that go either side on too

 

 

decided to seam weld a few little places to help stop water getting in

 

 

 

 

It feels like im getting somewhere now, like the end isnt far off, but it is, got a lot of filler work to sort out yet!

[Avtovaz]

did a bit more welding and cleaning up of welds. The boot floor is partly welded on with my old welder, i cna see how different the 2 sets are now, the new one was defo worth the money. Not only welding better but also the 4m torch length helps so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im nto 100% sure this is the right thing to do LOL! but the floor where i have welded it, there must be pin holes etc, that was the old welder, the new one would have done a lot better. So, i decided to glass fiber over the seam, and also put some filler in it too. Now, I rubbed almost all the filler out, looks ok. I was in 2 minds about this, its hiding a repair, but its repaired properly, so there is no harm done?

 

 

 

Took me ages to work out where these plates went too, had to look one one of BEN_O;s build threads!

 

 

 

Floor filled up, and primed wit etch primer

 

 

 

random picture

 

 

 

 

I take it these are meant to be welded to the valance? Im sure ive seen them not welded before?

 

 

 

Oh also, i used up some tiger seal i had and sealed a lot of the panels. I was not liking tiger seal before, but now, maybe its ok

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its not that far off all welded up now! I can not believe it !