289 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

I have now made a start on the panel work this afternoon.

 

I removed the rear screen and parcel shelf cover to prevent them from getting damaged and fitted a brace inside the boot to give me a datum for the arch tubs.

 

 

 

I then cut the rear valance off

 

 

 

I have never heard of Dawkins Autocolour. According to the sticker, the did British and Continental body panels.

 

Here you can see where there has previously been a repair panel fitted along the back of the boot floor

 

 

And then I started to remove the boot floor and arch tubs. There is no point messing about and the whole assembly with arch tubs will come out in about 4 parts.

 

Here is the first removed

 

 

 

The rest will follow soon.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

More progress today.

 

I started by removing the other half of the boot floor and wheel arch tub

 

 

 

And I removed the remains of the wheel arch tub on the left side too

 

 

I found a rather nice repair made up of resin, matting, part of an old metal number plate and some cloth

 

 

I then went on to remove the seat base part of the boot floor by separating it from the bulkhead, Heel board and companion bins.

 

 

 

I had to stop this afternoon whilst my compressor was serviced but once that was completed, I went on to start removing the last snaggy remains of the panels I have removed so far starting with the arch tub

 

 

 

Unfortunately, some of the arch section of the quarter panel was just perforated steel and filler so a new section will need to be made and let in

 

 

 

Still more cleaning up to do and then the new floor and tubs can go in. Then onto the sills...

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[sonikk4]

Whats the crap thats at the end of the bulkhead on the r/h side Ben, that looks a bit suspect.

 

I think if i was the owner and was going to this extent with the repairs then a through and detailed inspection of everything would be approved. Its a mess Ben but certainly not horrendous. Upwards and onwards.

[Ben_O]

Whats the crap thats at the end of the bulkhead on the r/h side Ben, that looks a bit suspect.

 

I think if i was the owner and was going to this extent with the repairs then a through and detailed inspection of everything would be approved. Its a mess Ben but certainly not horrendous. Upwards and onwards.

Hi Neil.

The stuff on the end of the bulkhead is on the other side too and all the way across the back edge of the parcel shelf. Well basically, it's everywhere and is fubreglass matting and resin.

The car has in the past been used for racing of some sort and It looks like the fibreglass has been added to seal the boot up to meet regs or something.

This is just an educated guess but it's not covering any horrors at all. It just breaks off and leaves original green paint beneath.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[CityEPete]

It's very easy to knock these previous 'repairs' but without them chances are the rest of the car wouldn't exist, the log book probably would but attached to an MPI on ebay, lol.

Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses, lucky owner.

[skoughi]

Loving it Ben! You make extensive bodyshell repairs look like a very enjoyable pastime, also top marks to be taking the time for producing so many excellent photos and keep us updated on another first class restoration.

[floormanager]

This is way better than watching tele.  I know where my car is going when it needs some TLC

[Ben_O]

It's very easy to knock these previous 'repairs' but without them chances are the rest of the car wouldn't exist, the log book probably would but attached to an MPI on ebay, lol.

Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses, lucky owner.

I agree 100%. In fact, I believe that some of these fibreglass repair pieces have saved the car from getting worse as they look old but the rust beneath them is minimal.

As you can see, the repairs needed to the rear bulkhead and companion bins is minimal which is far better than most and far better than it looked like it would be once removing the old repairs..

 

Loving it Ben! You make extensive bodyshell repairs look like a very enjoyable pastime, also top marks to be taking the time for producing so many excellent photos and keep us updated on another first class restoration.

Thanks!

For me it is an enjoyable pastime which just so happens to be my job. I look at all the rust and mess, shrug it off and get it done and love doing it.

 

This is way better than watching tele.  I know where my car is going when it needs some TLC

Sounds good!

You know where I am

[johnR]

Good to see another lovely car being rescued

[nicnoo]

Thank god your back on minis now I can cancel my membership to the MG owners club before I do something silly.

What do you use to drill out the spot welds ? A proper spot weld bit or a standard bit ?

Have you ever thought of doing a video of some of your work?

[Ben_O]

Thank god your back on minis now I can cancel my membership to the MG owners club before I do something silly.

What do you use to drill out the spot welds ? A proper spot weld bit or a standard bit ?

Have you ever thought of doing a video of some of your work?

Ha ha. Cheers

 

I use a standard spot weld drill bit. Usually 8mm on these as it cuts the whole weld everytime. I did use a standard 6mm drill bit when drilling the spot welds on the rear bulkhead to boot floor join and just drilled straight through as the old floor is scrap and the bulkhead is easier to plug weld back to the new floor with the 6mm holes than great big 8mm ones.

 

I have never considered doing a video before. I seem to remember someone asking before but it's not really my thing.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

I have continued with the clean up today in preparation for the new rear end panels.

 

This is what's left of a previous repair to the area in front of the arch tub which needs to be removed

 

 

Here it is again with the fillet panels removed and cleaned up

 

 

I still need to fabricate a repair section for the rear bulkhead corner but that will be made later

 

I cleaned up all' of the thick sealer from the inside face of the quarter panel close to the arch

 

 

And the companion bin

 

 

And then removed this lot

 

 

From here

 

 

The metal up there is absolutely fine so will only require prep for paint

 

Working my way round with the de-snagging, I set to work on the rear bumper lip. The remains of the floor and the valance needed to be removed.

However, there was such a hotch potch of layers, big bulky plug welds, seam welds and filler that I made a decision to cut the lip off and fabricate a new one. This method would be much faster than trying to unpick all of this.

 

Before I did, I just wanted to check what was under the filler

 

 

Not too bad, A new lip would have sufficed but I then discovered that this car has had the end repair pieces under the rear lamps fitted in the past. Unfortunately, they had been fitted over the top with a layer of body filler to even things out.

This meant that we were left with a rust sandwich

 

 

It's difficult to photograph what I mean so on the other side, I separated the two layers to demonstrate

 

 

This combined with the fact that a patterned rail repair has also been fitted at some stage 

 

 

Led to the decision to replace the back panel entirely. It's really the only way to remove all rust from this vulnerable area and ensure a lasting repair.

 

Moving on, I removed the remains of the l/h arch tub from the quarter panel

 

 

As you can see, the quarter panel is quite crumpled around the radius of the arch and there is a lot of filler on the outside too.

 

Whilst de-snagging the arch, I came across another small area that will require attention

 

 

Again, this was body filler with some sticky thick material not dissimilar to blu tak behind it.

 

 

Not a problem though, It's served its purpose and now a new piece of steel will be welded in it's place.

 

I stopped to make arrangements for the additional panels for this car and lent a hand with the mechanical finishing of the MG Midget we have in and then sorted through and checked the new panels for this car

 

 

 

 

The inner sills are from a different supplier and are still in transit. I won't be needing those just yet though.

 

I decided to move on and mock up the floor and arch tubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing has been properly lined up yet but it all seems like it's going to fit fine so after the de-snagging is finished, I can set to modifying the boot floor to the earlier style and then get everything welded in.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Ben

[CAU998]

Another awesome build! You tackle each one with such phenomenal pace, if only I could get mine done half as quick. Hope you don’t mind me asking. How do you tackle splitting the roller welded seams, removing the old panel and saving the opposing? I presume it’s a case of carefully and continuously grinding away the panel you wish to remove until the seam becomes weak enough to split? Look forward to seeing more updates.

Cheers

[Ben_O]

Another awesome build! You tackle each one with such phenomenal pace, if only I could get mine done half as quick. Hope you don’t mind me asking. How do you tackle splitting the roller welded seams, removing the old panel and saving the opposing? I presume it’s a case of carefully and continuously grinding away the panel you wish to remove until the seam becomes weak enough to split? Look forward to seeing more updates.

Cheers

Thanks. I wish I could work on these jobs continuously but other commitments at work often get in the way slowing me down somewhat. This stage of cleaning back and removing the old panels really is a case of just get stuck in and keep at it otherwise its really easy to loose pace.

 

I split the panel seams exactly how you presumed.

It literally is just a case of carefully grinding the seam of the scrap panel down until it's thin enough to break off and then clean the seam back with a flap disc or similar until all traces of the old seam are away and you are left with good bright steel that is only one layer.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[toplessmini]

Cooper S