156 replies to this topic

[CharlieNZ]

It's a good job that minis are so awesome (especially early Woodies!); there aren't that many cars that would be worth the effort going into this one. Progress is fantastic and I can't wait to see how it turns out! Although it may be a little while yet before it's finished...

[minimikej]

Been very busy doing other things over the summer, buy I've had a couple of mammoth sessions on the rear underfloor the last 2 weeks.

2019-09-08_07-16-21 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

 

I'm trying to work out how to tackle the next massive job which is replacing the full front bulkhead, inner wings and scuttle without the whole lot collapsing.

 

 

[minimissions]

Wow this looks amazing! I need to catch up.

[16vmini]

nice work .,..

[minimikej]

What a break that was!
I had to get the 1380 out of the blue mk1, it became dog rough to the point I couldn't move it.
I swapped it with a rebuilt but unknown 1098 from an MG110 I bought originally for this Countryman project.

It runs sweet and is so much gentler to drive than the 1380 but annoyingly it pops out of second on overrun. Dammit! It will have to come out again. But not just yet.

So on to the Countryman. A while back I decided to replace the whole bulkhead assembly because the panel above the toe board is paper thin and I was chasing holes with the welder.

I bought a Heritage assembly for a MK3/4 mini, so it has the roto-dip cutout behind the speedo (although it is crudely spot welded in place from the Heritage factory)

I want to keep the solid mount 2-bolt front subframe, which means that some work is required to get the single-bolt crossmember to fit.

I'm not going 100% original, I want strong and sturdy. And I'll not be selling this car so I decided to modify the Heritage assembly by working out the centre line of the 2-bolt setup and using a step drill to open up the holes such that I could weld in a 2mm wall thickness steel tube to act against the compression, in place of the spot-welded setup that you see on an orginal. I decided it wasn't worth opening up the crossmember box to fit an invisible original strengthener.

So here it is:
 

 

 

[/url]20200427_162417 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr">http://<a href='http....kr/p/2iV3BVs'>20200427_162417 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

 

20200427_162404 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

Edited by minimikej, 27 April 2020 - 06:47 PM.

[minimikej]

Also, can anybody show me how the hell this is supposed to go back together? Fuel tank.
 

20200427_170146 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

[imack]

From memory when I did my clubman estate 35 years ago - these

Attached Files

•  Screenshot_20200427-195408_Samsung Internet.jpg   20.33K   12 downloads

[Homersimpson]

From memory when I did my clubman estate 35 years ago - these

When I rebuilt a pickup around 20 years ago I welded some nuts into the valance and cross member in front of the tank and used bolts and spacers.

 

If you can now get the proper fixings it would be better to use them.

 

My dad changed the tank in his mini clubman estate and he jacked the screwdriver up so it was lifting the car to get the screws out (lowering the jack a bit at a time).

[REVVIT]

Also, can anybody show me how the hell this is supposed to go back together? Fuel tank.
 

20200427_170146 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

This was one of the most awkward jobs on my van..make sure you dry fit the tank and filler neck shroud many times to ensure the filler neck sits central in the shroud..i used the standard nylon fitting kit..or you could modify like KTS on here did with his pick up.. 

[Sleeping Park Lane]

Great to see this pop back up.

 

That's a nice mod on the bulkhead to keep the 2 bolt subframe, I bet that took some measuring, remeasuring, oh heck, I'll measure it once more, just in case? :) 

[minimikej]

Great to see this pop back up.

 

That's a nice mod on the bulkhead to keep the 2 bolt subframe, I bet that took some measuring, remeasuring, oh heck, I'll measure it once more, just in case? :) 

It did, it really did.
I made up a former from a suitably sized dowel (probably a curtain rail!) of the nominal diameter of 35mm for the single bolt hole to pass through both upper and lower surfaces, attached to a 2-bolt subframe sandwich rubber plate thing to provide the bolt displacement.

I strung a length of box tubing alongside the dowel formers to obtain a line parallel to the axis of the mounting bolts.

And then extrapolated from that line to the centre of the single bolt mounting.

Then I centre-punched through the former and used a step drill to open out to 20mm (just larger than the diameter of the tubing).

Then I cut and dry fitted the spacer tubes, bolted and tack welded.

Then I repeated the operation from the underside.

And then I welded the lot up.

[minimikej]

Had a bit of a tidyup in the garage and then tried to catch up on where I'd left things last summer.

 

I added some more bracing, to locate the steering rack mounts, and to anchor the floor pan in preparation for removing the whole bulkhead.

 

2020-04-29_08-57-04 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

Now then. I'm not decide yet how to tackle the bulkhead. Part of me thinks that the parcel shelf should be left in place to act as a reference, but the other part of me thinks it will be too hard to separate cleanly and I'd be better off ripping the lot out and sorting it out off the car.

2020-04-29_08-56-48 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

Anyone with experience got any advice please?

 

Edited by minimikej, 29 April 2020 - 09:56 PM.

[minimikej]

4pm my contract ended and I'm now out of work for the first time in 26 years. So into the garage to take my mind off things.

 

Windscreen out, and I've kept the last tax disc safe, 1978.

 

Scuttle off:

2020-04-30_08-06-40 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

Old school repair, filler over newspaper...
2020-04-30_08-06-56 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

...which then caught fire

2020-04-30_08-07-11 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

Remains of the front panels off, saving all the tags and good bits:
2020-04-30_08-07-30 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

Ready to get cracking.

2020-04-30_08-08-22 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

 

 

 

[simpsonsclassics]

Hey Mike, I am sorry to hear about work thats a real shame I hope you find something soon. I agree being the garage does help though for sure. Time to get that woody done. I have always said it would look so nice next to your other mk1

[minimikej]

Well that was a horrible job. I decided to leave the parcel shelf in place and remove the bulkhead from around it. Horrid, dirty, noisy work.

Still some repairs to do on the parcel shelf though, both rust and self-inflicted.

 

2020-05-07_11-58-58 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr

2020-05-07_11-58-45 by Mike Jackson, on Flickr