235 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Hi all.

 

This mini is now complete and ready to go home.

 

Just a quick reminder of how it looked when it arrives.

 

 

And now in its new guise.

 

 

Many thanks to all those who followed and I wish the owner a happy ownership and hope he has lots of fun with it.

 

Cheers

Ben

[pete l]

Ben, when you do restorations like this, how do you paint / protect the box sections / seams, all the places you can't see and get to, A pillars etc. so that it won't all rust away again ?

[the.stroker]

Hi all.

 

This mini is now complete and ready to go home.

 

Just a quick reminder of how it looked when it arrives.

 

 

And now in its new guise.

 

 

Many thanks to all those who followed and I wish the owner a happy ownership and hope he has lots of fun with it.

 

Cheers

Ben

 

Absolutely stunning, what a transformation.......

[Ben_O]

Ben, when you do restorations like this, how do you paint / protect the box sections / seams, all the places you can't see and get to, A pillars etc. so that it won't all rust away again ?

Usually, I protect the box second as I build them up using zinc and on completion, copius amounts of wax.

 

On major restorations like the advantage I'm doing now, I epoxy prime all of the new panels inside before they are fitted so everywhere is coated.

 

This car didn't have much in the way of panels changed so I checked all the box sections and cavities with a boroscope and once it was found to be clean., it was filled with cavity wax.

 

Cheers

Ben

[pete l]

When you paint before welding, surely the paint gets burnt away once welded ? leaving bare metal.

[Ben_O]

When you paint before welding, surely the paint gets burnt away once welded ? leaving bare metal.

I try to spot weld as much as possible and this method is far less destructive than mig plug welding.

 

Where I do need to mig, I apply the paint and then do everything I can to coat any areas where the paint will have burnt off afterwards.

 

There is only so much you can reasonably do and it would be wrong to assume the car will never rust again. It's all about keeping it away for as long as possible.

 

I said elsewhere about the blaze 1275GT that I restored several years ago using this method and it has been back recently for other work which gave me the opportunity to check my previous work to see how it was holding up.

there was no evidence of rust anywhere and everything was as clean as the day it was done.

bare in mind this car lives out doors and had done more than 30,000 miles since the first lot of work so it is used.

 

Hope that answers your question

 

Cheers

Ben

[pete l]

Cheers Ben, 

[gaspen]

 

When you paint before welding, surely the paint gets burnt away once welded ? leaving bare metal.

I try to spot weld as much as possible and this method is far less destructive than mig plug welding.

 

Where I do need to mig, I apply the paint and then do everything I can to coat any areas where the paint will have burnt off afterwards.

 

There is only so much you can reasonably do and it would be wrong to assume the car will never rust again. It's all about keeping it away for as long as possible.

 

I said elsewhere about the blaze 1275GT that I restored several years ago using this method and it has been back recently for other work which gave me the opportunity to check my previous work to see how it was holding up.

there was no evidence of rust anywhere and everything was as clean as the day it was done.

bare in mind this car lives out doors and had done more than 30,000 miles since the first lot of work so it is used.

 

Hope that answers your question

 

Cheers

Ben

 

 

Hello Ben

 

Did you ever tired spot-weldable seam sealers ? 

 

https://www.vehicle-...ms-9320-sf.html

[Ben_O]

 

 

When you paint before welding, surely the paint gets burnt away once welded ? leaving bare metal.

I try to spot weld as much as possible and this method is far less destructive than mig plug welding.

 

Where I do need to mig, I apply the paint and then do everything I can to coat any areas where the paint will have burnt off afterwards.

 

There is only so much you can reasonably do and it would be wrong to assume the car will never rust again. It's all about keeping it away for as long as possible.

 

I said elsewhere about the blaze 1275GT that I restored several years ago using this method and it has been back recently for other work which gave me the opportunity to check my previous work to see how it was holding up.

there was no evidence of rust anywhere and everything was as clean as the day it was done.

bare in mind this car lives out doors and had done more than 30,000 miles since the first lot of work so it is used.

 

Hope that answers your question

 

Cheers

Ben

 

 

Hello Ben

 

Did you ever tired spot-weldable seam sealers ? 

 

https://www.vehicle-...ms-9320-sf.html

 

No. I've not used anything like that before.

 

Cheers.

Ben

[PACINO]

Fantastic job! I just saw this whole post. Thanks for explaining and showing it in photos.

Regards, Luis

[Ben_O]

Fantastic job! I just saw this whole post. Thanks for explaining and showing it in photos.

Regards, Luis

Thanks for reading and  for the compliament.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers

Ben