948 replies to this topic

[Viktor]

Thanks Colin, quite satisfied about how is coming along!

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

Quick update today. Just added the jacking point bracket to the floor

 

I put it in position...

 

 

Cleaned the area

 

 

Prepared the bracket with the holes for plug welding and zinc primer to the piece and the floor

 

 

 

I put the bracket in position, and as I couldn't clamp it to anywhere, I just used the magnets to get it fixed. I removed the paint from the floor where the plug weld holes are with a flat screwdriver, so the welding can penetrate better.

 

 

Plug welded. The welder started failling, as I couldn't load new wire when this was finished. It is fixed now, but it took me more than one hour!

 

 

 

Then a bit of grinding and paint to finish it off.

 

 

 

That was all for today. Next weekend I hope to get started with the other half floor... (I think I said this already...)

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

Very good progress Victor, at least going on to the other side, you'll have an idea of what to expect, so should be more straightforward (sorry, I've probably jinxed it now)

[Viktor]

Back to the garage after a week of freezing conditions in London. Having a non insulated garage is not appealing at all...

 

Time to get the other half floor in, but first I needed to do some repair works. The inner wing and the heel board were not properly aligned on this side (my mistake from an earlier repair), so I had to cut it and move it to its correct position and welded.

 

 

 

Then I welded up the gap from inside and grinded it down.

 

 

 

And some primer to finish off. Later on the sealer will cover the small imperfections.

 

 

 

I tried the cross member for a minute to see how it fits, and it does very nicely. These M-Machine panels are very good and need minor or none adjustments.

 

 

 

Then I started to prepare the other half floor, using what I learned from the other side. I drilled some holes for plug welding...

 

 

I removed the black paint from the door step, and applied zinc primer...

 

 

 

I also drilled and zinc primed the heel board, in preparation to receive the floor panel.

 

 

I put the panel in position, although it still needs some adjustment, but I run out of time...

 

 

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the floor panel fully adjusted in position and if I have time I will spot weld it along the door step.

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

Very good progress Victor, I agree its not nice working in a cold garage, which is why I haven't ventured out the passed few weeks!

I was thinking of getting a diesel heater of vevor as a cheap way to heat the shed for better working conditions, although it would rapidly lose heat being uninsulated.

[Viktor]

Cheers Colin. It might be worth trying to insulate the garage (if you can), rather than using a heater. Also more environmentally friendly! :)

 

Back to the garage today, with strond winds and rain but at least it's not cold! Main problem is that I cannot work with the garage door closed, as I don't have space to move around...

 

I managed to get the floor in position and fully adjusted. When I started this morning, there was this area with a big gap. After a bit of adjusting it is in position now.

 

 

As I did with the other half floor, I used some screws to get the panel aligned with the tunnel.

 

 

 

As you can see my garage is very small (or perhaps I have too much stuff in it!), that is why I need to keep the door open when working. It is nice to see the car with the whole floor in, although not fully welded...

 

 

I removed the black paint from the door step lips, in preparation for the spot welder.

 

 

All done along the external lip, just need to do the internal one with the inner sill. Spot welding is so quick and clean, really worth it.

 

 

Tomorrow I need to cut along the line of the new panel and then plug weld all along the tunnel

 

 

 

For the next couple of weeks I'm one leave, so subject to Christmas events and wife's requests I would be able to spend a few hours with the Mini... Fingers crossed!

 

Victor.

Edited by Viktor, 19 December 2022 - 06:09 PM.

[Viktor]

Some more work done today on the floor.

 

First, I spot welded the door step to the inner sill. Quite easy and straightforward ;)

 

 

Then I started to plug weld some of the easy ones...

 

 

Next was to cut the floor along the front area and put the welding clamps with the copper plates behind. Good access through the gear lever opening...

 

 

 

I started welding, however in this area the old metal is quite thin and I cut a few holes while welding. Not my best welding so far...

 

 

 

But after a bit of grinding it's not too bad.  I still need to go over a couple of small holes, but other than that it should be fine. Lesson learnt here: Try to avoid welding on the curve, it is much easier to weld between two flat plates!

 

 

Then I cut the rest of the floor and remove the screws.

 

 

And a bit of prep in this area, ready for plug welding tomorrow.

 

 

That was it for today. If everything goes to plan, I should be able to weld the rest of the floor tomorrow, and perhaps most of the grinding...

 

Victor.

Edited by Viktor, 20 December 2022 - 05:05 PM.

[Viktor]

Some progress today with the half floor...

 

First I cleaned up of paint and dirt both edges to be welded on both sides of the floor

 

 

 

Then clamps and copper plates with the help of my daughter. This was a 2 man job...

 

 

 

Then started welding. This time it was much better, I reduced the wire speed and the welds are a bit more flat. I still cut a few holes here and there, but overall very consistent.

 

 

I also plug welded the heel board and the floor, which grinded down very well as the welds were very flat. For this welds I used the same wire speed much higher heat settings.

 

 

 

I removed the clamps and welded the gaps, this time without the copper plates and it went pretty well...

 

 

 

The whole floor is now welded, looking good also on the other side...

 

 

 

Tomorrow will be grinding day and hopefully this will be all done!

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

Nothing exciting to report today, just a lot of grinding...

 

I started flatting the welds with the angle grinder, making sure not putting much pressure on the grinder and moving along the whole lenght to avoid heat and distortion.

 

 

I also grinded down the plug welds along the toe board, where I put screws to fix the floor into position.

 

 

Detail of how the welding was progressing. Once removed the main part of the weld, I changed to the belt sander that gives me more precision when grinding. This is to avoid grinding too much, which with the angle grinder is more difficult to control

 

 

Once the ginding is completed, I put a light on the other side of the panel to see if there are any small holes. I marked these up to give it another pass with the welder. These small holes cannot be really seen without the light.

 

 

 

Then I welded the small holes and started grinding again, but run out of time. I hope tomorrow I can finish the grinding and jump into the closing panel and companion bin repair.

 

Victor.

Edited by Viktor, 22 December 2022 - 06:06 PM.

[Viktor]

Today I finished the grinding on the floor. A bit frustraiting because when I had it almost done, I tried to weld some small holes and made big, big holes! Anyway, more welding and grinding and now it's done!

 

Some photos of the internal side

 

 

 

And that is all done now. Not as smooth as the other side, but after the issue with the holes, it is good enough for me!

 

 

 

And that is a whole new floor for the car!

 

 

I still need to weld the jacking bracket, but other that that it is done on this side.

 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which is the big day for Spanish people. Not sure how much the wife will allow me to do in the garage, but I would give it a try!

 

Victor.

[stuart bowes]

Congrats dude that's a pretty major milestone

[Viktor]

A quick update before the Christmas Eve dinner!

 

I cleaned up the old battery cable bracket (it was in good condition), and gave it a lick of zinc primer.

 

 

 

 

I also cleaned up the underside of the car and applied zinc primer.

 

 

Then I used the magnets to fix it in position and started plug welding.

 

 

 

All welded and grinded down and some primer to protect it

 

 

 

I also did some grinding inside the car, to finish off the floor and painted with primer for protection

 

 

 

Next the closing panel in the companion bin. Some initial prep and a mix of spot and plug welding.

 

 

 

 

Last thing was to try on the cross member, to find a very dissapointing surprise...

 

 

On the left side it fits perfectly, however on the driver's side there's a considerable gap...

 

 

The cross member is sitting in its right postion, but for some reason there's this gap on one side. Not sure if anyone has found a similar problem before. The inner sills are where they should be, so the only thing I can think of is that the M-Machine panel is a few milimiters short...

 

Anyway, have a lovely Christmas everyone!

 

Victor.

[Viktor]

So I took the old cross Member and compared it with the new one I got from M-Machine.

 

 

They are pretty much the same, the overall dimensions are correct and both align perfectly.

 

 

 

This means that somehow I have done something wrong, as I have a gap on the driver's side. When I installed the new door step and stiffener, I made sure the door was perfectly aligned. The door step gave me the position for the floor panel and the inner sill, so I'm not sure why I have a gap in there.

 

I would really appreciate some thoughts or ideas on what happened and how to fix it.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Victor.

[Ben_O]

Don't quote me on this as its purely out of my head and I don't have my measurements to hand but I believe it's 50" across from the step/inner sill lip that the rubber door seal goes to to the one the other side
if That's wrong, then one or both of the floors might be in the wrong place which in turn will mean the steps are out too

All I can suggest if this is the case would be to try on the doors, see how they fit and if you are happy, modify the crossmember so it fits

How close is the bottom of the crossmember end to the fold of the inner sill where it becomes the floor pan?

Edited by Ben_O, 25 December 2022 - 03:52 PM.

[Viktor]

Hi Ben,

 

Thanks for the quick response. I have checked the overall dimension and it is just a couple milimiters over the 50" mark. But it seems that the gap issue I have is bigger than 2 milimiters, at least 8mm.

 

 

I will try the door tomorrow, but as far as I remember I tried it on when fitting the door step, and I was happy at the time...

 

Responding to your other question, see below pictures of the driver's side.

 

 

 

 

The passenger's side is spot on, perfect fit.

 

Not sure what happened here, but I will keep investigating tomorrow...

 

Victor.