235 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

 

Great stuff so far Ben!

Did you manage to get hold of genuine arches in the end?

 

For those of you wondering, yes this MPI lived a rather charmed life before I got my grubby hands on it...

 

It lived in a heated, carpeted(!) garage for all of its life, owned by an older couple who averaged about 200 miles/year in it since new. Probably just took it down to supermarket and back each week.

 

Oh and hello everyone! (first post)

welcome to the forum Rich

 

Yes I managed to get hold of genuine arches in the end but it wasn't easy. Nobody stocks a set anymore and individually they only seem to stock all but the l/h/f for some reason.

 

The careful storage of this car really shows through. It really has been cherished. The minor rust on the car has been caught just in time before it became a problem.

 

Cheers

Ben

[the.stroker]

Christ I wish our MPI was a pampered in its previous life....

[cooperd70]

A life of luxury then! No wonder the condition is so amazing!

[Ben Rose]

It's good for comparison. I can see how things should look.

[Ben_O]

I had a few hours on the mini this afternoons o continued on with the prep.

 

Both sides and the rear have been prepped now

 

 

 

 

 

I also test fitted the new spot lamps as 2 extra mounting holes needed to be drilled

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

Continuing on with the underside prep, I have started to remove a majority of the factory sealer.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with it and it was all thoroughly sealed up but it looks to have been applied hastily and is very heavy, bulky and scruffy in places.

 

 

So I removed it using a combination of wire wheels, Roloc discs, single edge blades and a wallpaper scraper combined with heat to warm it up first.

 

All the scruffy bits were removed 

 

 

 

And then a flash of etch as I go to keep everything covered

 

 

I stripped back and primed the rear valance

 

 

And then removed the sealer from the other side of the boot floor

 

 

And that completes the back end

 

 

I shall work my way forwards cleaning and priming as I go.

 

More later

 

Ben

[GraemeC]

I'm surprised you leave the seam trim clips (and the short trims behind the arches) in place, or do they come off later?

[Ben_O]

The seam trim clips and the short trims will come off later as planned but I have left them in place for now so they don't get lost/forgotten.

 

I have had the seam trims off already and behind is just shiny factory epoxy with zero rust.

 

Cheers

Ben

[cp2708]

That factory sealer looks shocking! Seriously, what's the point in sealing one area and leaving an adjacent bit without so the water can creep into the joint and wreak havoc underneath the sealer. May as well just leave it all bare, at least it would dry quicker when it had been wet. 

 

It is a nice car though, can't wait to see it done, and as said before, to see one in this un-welded condition is special, in the UK anyway!

 

Keep up the good work!

[Ben_O]

So much sealer at the front 

 

 

 

 

But underneath was absolutely mint

 

 

Scraped out this join and all good in there too

 

 

Did the other side too

 

 

 

And then straightened out the floor pans from the jack damage

 

 

 

And then primer to protect for now

 

 

That's as far as ill go right now. I shall get the inside prepped and the roof and then ill give the whole shell a couple of coats of epoxy primer and then reseal the underneath with fresh neat sealer and apply a coat of gravitex which matches closely to the factory stonechip

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

I have had the front arches back on this afternoon to finalise the positions so that I can drill the retaining fixing holes in the sills.

 

One on

 

 

And then after marking the position, I drilled the hole, zinc primed, added some sealer and then installed a riv-nut

 

 

 

Arch back on to check

 

 

 

I did the same the other side

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

I removed the glue from the roof left by the stickers and then prepped it

 

 

 

Then I prepped the inside of the shell. Plenty of old adhesive to try and shift which is always a delight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once that was done, I set about flatting back the temporary primer I had applied

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, I shall apply the epoxy primer so that I have a clean single colour canvas to work from.

 

Cheers

Ben

[rich_959]

It's great to watch you work Ben. Oh how I wish I had sent my Mini to you. Mind, it would have been considerably worse to work on than this fantastic example. 

[Ben_O]

Bye bye blue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben Rose]

 Sooo nice!