948 replies to this topic

[colinf1]

Good to know that Pete, I had seen the 20sec duty cycle in the manual. Even at that rate, its still going to be much neater and quicker than plug welding.

[Viktor]

I did a bit of testing with the spot welder, and these are the results:

 

I started with these settings: 0.8mm+0.8mm and mid level for the time

 

 

That didn't get good penetration and the weld split off without peeling

 

 

 

Then I maintained the thickness, but increased the time to the maximum

 

 

But again, it didn't work as it should

 

 

I decided then to increase the thickness to 1mm+1mm and the time to middle settings. I noticed more spark when doing the welding

 

 

And this time after pulling quite a bit, it worked perfectly. A nice peeling one!

 

 

After that, I decided to try one more time with the same settings, but with the pieces previously painted with zinc primer

 

 

Nice spot weld

 

 

And perfect peeling

 

 

I believe this is a good result, but please let me know if you think otherwise.

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

[Ben_O]

That's exactly right Victor.

[colinf1]

Looking good Victor! Bet you cant wait to get stuck in now!

[Maccmike8]

Thats simply awesome.

[Viktor]

Cheers guys, appreciate the feedback!

 

Indeed Colin, it is so fast and clean to do this type of welding. I want to try it on the car ASAP!

 

Let's see what the long weekend next week allows me to do...

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

So back to the project today, and decided to continue working on the wheel arch, where I left it the last time. I have to say that this is the most painful taks I have done since I started my project. Removing the old wheel arch is very difficult due to the way this part is welded to the side of the wheel arch (where the shock absorver is mounted). On top of that, access is pretty tight and difficult. Anyway, some photos below:

 

First thing is to remove the rest of the old wheel arch along the internal side

 

 

I drilled the spot welds to start with, and then I started peeling off the metal

 

 

 

The rest of the old wheel arch needs to be removed with the belt sander

 

 

After repeating that along the edge, the whole thing is done. I cut a hole by mistake at the top, but I will fix that later once the new part is in place

 

 

There's a bit of metal around the shock absorver mount, so I did that next

 

 

To have better access, I open a hole in the quarter panel, which is going to be replaced anyway

 

 

Then, I removed the spot weld in the stiffener and folded it to make space for the new part

 

 

Next thing was to try fit the new wheel arch. The big problem here is how to get it in position with the quarter panel in the car. The wheel arch lip needs to go over the area I cleaned up on the previous photos. The shock absorver mount is in the way, plus both ends with the boot floor and stiffener. A real pain in the...

 

So I tried to fit it, just to understand the setting out, without putting the internal lip in position. I aligned both edges of the new part, with the existing

 

 

On this side, the new panel is aligned, but there's a big gap with the floor panel. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong...

 

 

 

This side is also aligned, at it seems to be in the right position

 

 

But not sure if this gap with the quarter panel is correct

 

 

In the middle seems to run parallel to the quarter panel arch

 

 

Not sure if this hole in the new panel needs to be aligned with something else?

 

 

This is how it looks from inside. Yes, I know the lip of the new panel, needs to go over the old wheel arch panel. That is the main problem at the moment...

 

 

The area around the shock absorver mount

 

 

Overall view and detail of the aligment

 

 

 

 

So, I have a few questions here:

 

1 - Is the above the correct aligment of the new part?

2 - What about the gap with the floor panel at the rear?

3 - How can I place the new panel in its right position (lip over the old part), without removing the quarter panel?

 

Thanks in advance. Not sure if someone has done this before, but a link to a post on this forum, or YouTube video will be greatly appreciated.

 

Victor

[Ben_O]

Hmmm.

Can't remember if I advised you before that it's much better to replace the entire tub..?

 

As for alignment.  It needs rotating anticlockwise. 

The hole in the lip isn't for anything.

As for lipping it over, just cut your quarter panel off if it's being replaced then fit the new one after doing the arch tub

 

Cheers

Ben 

[Viktor]

Hi Ben,

 

Yes, you probably did but I think it was too late. It was by the time I got my new boot floor in, that then was welded to the floor. Also, the whole tub assembly is quite expensive, and my tubs were in fairly good condition... Anyway, it is done now ;) 

 

May I ask if it is there any reference in relation to how much I need to rotate the wheel arch? At the moment it is aligned on both sides, so I guess it needs to be a bit short on the right hand side, which will be sorted then with the closing panel in the companion bin?

 

Okay, noted I was afraid of cutting the quarter panel off and loosing the reference for the arch lip. Now everything makes more sense.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a go tomorrow.

 

Victor.

[Ben_O]

Try the closing panel in that sits forward of the arch tub, over the top of the rear subframe mounting panel and flush with the edge of the boot floor.

Fit that and that will give you a good reference for where the arch tub should be.

Also, try on the valance closing panel even if you bolt it in with the trunnion mounting holes, that will give you another reference point.

 

At the end if the day, it's just a curved sheet of metal so if it closes up the gap, it's job done.

It's not detrimental to anything 

 

Cheers

Ben 

[Viktor]

Lovely, thanks Ben. I would do that.

[Viktor]

Quick update: I removed the quarter panel to see if I can fit the wheel arch. The access is much better, but I can't find the reference I need, so I will order the closing panel and the valance as Ben suggested.

 

In the meantime, I decided to clean the area for the new quarter panel. Some photos:

 

I started like this

 

 

And then quarter panel off. I cut it initially way under the window.

 

 

Then I saw lots of rust at the window edge, so I decided to clean that area up

 

 

I drilled the spots welds, those that were visible in between the rusty areas

 

 

And then removed the piece, waiting for a good clean up. There are a couple of sections missing, but I will do those once I get the new quarter panel

 

 

 

I left the quarter uncut intentionally on both sides of the window, as I'm unsure how far the repair panel gets to. Once I receive it I will finishing cleaning the area.

 

And that was all for today.

 

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

Fresh metal received today. It looks like I will be able to start using my new spot welder very soon! :)

 

Quarter panels, I ordered both to save on delivery costs...

 

 

 

Rear valance and closing panels

 

 

I'm stil waiting for the wheel arch closing panels, which I'm hoping to receive tomorrow.

 

Victor

[Viktor]

Quick question: I need to remove the remaining of the quarter panel on my Mini. I have cleaned up the area where the quarter panel folds into the B-post, but I cannot see any spot welds.

 

 

How is that part fixed to the B-post and how can I get it removed?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Victor

[colinf1]

If you get a flap disc on the edge of the panel where it folds onto B-post you will be able to grind it down to remove the most of it, then use a chisel to start peeling back the folded part to identify where the spot welds are located, then either drill them out or grind it