395 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

Start with a template as usual:

 

 

Cut and check for size (allowing plenty of overhang to be cut off as you can see 

 

 

Weld it in and flush off enough for now

 

 

Fill the little square hole, flush that off as well, prime both

 

 

Right now I know this next bit looks at bit shonky at the moment lol but it won't when it's finished don't worry.. welded in basically a rectangular piece to complete wheel arch 

 

 

 

Which is sufficient for me to now tack in the bracket (got a bit more carried away on the welding than I did on the driver's side)

 

All of this has been welded on both sides, I was getting pretty decent penetration anyway but I don't want to take any chances with this, and I'm intentionally not trying to flush off right back to a smooth finish because a) none of it will be visible anyway and b) i'd rather just keep the strength knowing that I haven't thinned out the sheet steel

 

 

 

(Clearly as with the other side this will be fully seam welded and tidied up later on)

 

So underneath I'm just left with a gap to close up, and lots of overhang to cut off once I know exactly where the floor is (and an edge to fettle for the fitting of the rear quarter)

 

 

and Voila the rear subfame is out

 

 

I do love how being all in one post makes that seem like 20mins work when in fact it was most of the day, I'm absolutely knackered lol

Edited by stuart bowes, 26 September 2022 - 12:18 PM.

[stuart bowes]

I'd love to know what those felt-ish kind of pads/rags are on the upper face of the subframe by the way if anyone has any ideas

 

is that normal to find them there, they seemed amost like someone's just wedged them in there to stop a rattle or something..  seems to me it's a terrible idea seeing as it will clearly collect and retain damp 

[colinf1]

There to stop the subframe touching the underside of the boot floor, they marry up to 2 small plates on the underside of the boot floor. I would say the majority of people don't refit these because of the guarantee of a rust trap.

[stuart bowes]

Ah ok they are 'supposed' to be there then, I wonder if there's a rubber alternative or something. Or does it literally make no difference at all not having them

[70K1100]

I was thinking the same thing with the rear subframe in my mini, if there was an alternative to the fibre pads.

[stuart bowes]

Just as a precautionary measure / yard stick as it were I made a wooden brace to fit the mounts on the subframe:

 

 

Such that when required it is easy to pop in and check the distance between the brackets and / or hold them at the right distance when welding in the pieces that may affect width

 

 

 

The bolts fit snugly in the subframe brackets, but the brackets in the boot have somewhat larger holes, so I've wrapped the last 20mm or so of the bolts with a bit of electrical tape to bulk them up a little and hopefully that way I won't be working at the limit of tolerance as it were. 

 

The drivers side seems very sturdy so that's the reliable side, but I do worry a little about the passenger side where I've done more cutting and welding, while the subframe was still on I had to press in slightly on the wheel arch to get the bolt to drop in

Edited by stuart bowes, 26 September 2022 - 10:34 PM.

[stuart bowes]

Prep of boot floor repair panel:

 

Obviously this is designed as a bit of a bodge panel to stick over the top without removing the brackets, that might work for some people but I prefer not ..

 

so first job, get rid of that section:

 

 

Do a template which allows some extra for trimming down later

 

 

and weld it in:

 

 

 

underside view, check penetration, looks good

 

 

then, the next problem is the flanges.

 

I'm happy for the side section (not all of which is being used) to be welded in with the upwards flange, and the short section onto the end of the wheel arch, because I will then weld in reinforcement plates below and seam weld all along underneath as well, double strong..

 

but the rear edge is no good for me, I'm going to be de-seaming so I want the flat section to stick out slightly for welding, then to be flushed off.  so using a press and hammer I flattened that edge out to give the extra material I want:

 

 

checked, nice and flat:

 

 

And then the small edge where the rear quarter spotwelds on to the floor, I wasn't convinced that stuck out far enough so I added some material (too much but can be trimmed down)  - I did weld this bit both sides because the reinforcement plates won't cover that far out and I want to avoid the corner coming apart at any point, it was a small extra effort just to be sure

 

 

 

and then ground down and did the other side the same:

 

 

To be honest it might have been easier just to trace the shapes onto a flat sheet and make them from scratch considering I'm only really using the back half which is mostly flat anyway but that would have been a waste of 2 useable panels I suppose.  Plus I'm actually running out of 1mm sheet I need to order some more really

 

Have ordered a sheet of 1.5mm to make the strengthening plates (x2 each side, total 4mm thickness) and I'm going to weld them on before I start trying to fit this into the boot (with a bit of overhang to trim back to the right curve) because I don't fancy doing all that welding laying on my back under the car

Edited by stuart bowes, 04 October 2022 - 06:49 PM.

[stuart bowes]

Next up, prep of rear lower middle boot surround repair section (or whatever the quick easy name for that might be..)

 

I will be de-seaming the rear end so I might as well get it started now and save myself some trouble

 

first, lose the bumper mounting holes:

 

 

and weld in the replacement filler triangles:

 

 

Then cut off that external lip..

 

 

 

grinder tip for cutting curves:   if you just try and go straight through the metal from one end to the other it will want to cut a straight line.  if you lightly run the grinding disc along the bend first it will be a small contact point and easily follow the curve.  keep doing that over and over and slowly thin the metal until it goes through, perfect curve :)  inside bends are easier anyway because it naturally follows the path

 

move it to the 'inside' side and weld it back together sort of like this:

 

 

it does start to curve slightly outwards where the lip used to be

 

 

So i flattened that off

 

 

Trimmed down the curves a little so they matched well and started welding 

 

 

Checked every now and then with a right angle to keep it pretty straight (although it can be manipulated a bit later on I guess)

 

the point being a) It seemed like a good way to use up the material which was already the right curved shape..

 

b) when it comes to putting it in the car, I'd rather weld at position A than position B which is pretty much impossible to see

And c) I can get a nice good weld all along that outside edge while sitting on a stool in the nice warm garage instead of out by the car kneeling down at some awkward angle with the breeze blowing my gas away

 

when the welding is done I'm thinking I might cut a straight line across there so it's an easier cut to make and match up to inside the boot  (or 3 straight edges instead of the curve.. whatever)

Edited by stuart bowes, 06 October 2022 - 12:15 PM.

[stuart bowes]

Finished, smoothed and primered for now, will wire brush off the edges for welding of course

 

I also kind of stitch-welded along the inside, not very pretty (still yet to get the hang of welding an inside corner) but not too bad.  it adds strength, and I'll smooth it it all out with a liberal smearing of seam sealer all along anyway. 

 

might still hit some of the worst lumps with a grinder before I actually fit it ..

 

Edited by stuart bowes, 07 October 2022 - 06:50 PM.

[stuart bowes]

Rear valance off, cut just below the seam so in theory I can reuse

 

 

Actually is in surprisingly good condition considering the rest of the rear end

 

 

cut out the grotty section of boot floor driver's side and the outer lip just on this bit for now (keeps rest of floor in position)

 

 

and this bit of the arch highlighted by the red line which had some grot

 

 

templated and fitted a new section, mostly below the floor level so pretty much just a cosmetic piece (welding was a bit quick hit and miss to tack in but I took time over the proper weld)

 

 

primered and cut straight leaving an even lip about 10-12mm below boot floor level.  more grinding and a smear of filler later on probably.  I prefer this straight down curve over the original which had a little lip sticking out which obviously just collected muck and damp hence the rust

 

 

none of it really visible from inside but a picture anyway

 

 

and a first cut on the repair section just plonked in for the picture for now.  the rearward section extends about 1mm beyond rear panel which is perfect (minimal grinding later to flush off) the side piece for the rear quarter which I thought was excessively wide is actually about right, maybe 2-3mm to trim

 

 

to be fettled to the right size.. then, to get it right..

 

1) weld in around the wheel arch and bracket. 

2) drill the holes so I can put my wooden brace / yard stick back in. 

3) weld the inner edges. 

4) do a bit of fabrication repair on the rear panel just below the lights which is a bit grotty

5) clamp in the rear quarter to ensure correct fit and weld rear panel (below light) down to floor.

6) take quarter back off and sort later, then same all over again on passenger side

7) replace middle section prepped already in the above post

Edited by stuart bowes, 08 October 2022 - 09:16 PM.

[stuart bowes]

Trimmed and clamped in this evening so it's ready to go for an early start long day tomorrow, planning to get lots done

 

 

bolted to the bracket with some under-sized fixings for now, just to get it tight up together for welding and not moving around

 

view from underneath showing wheel arch lip as well - plenty of space for the strengthening plates (the two layers of 1.5mm from the sheet which hasn't bloody turned up yet grr) I will straighten up that edge after all the welding's done, just a bit of final tweaking required really

 

 

I fitted this all together with the rear quarter clamped in (not shown) to make sure the floor level was in the right place, spot on

 

the bit protruding from the side (actually a few more than the 3mm estimated in an earlier post) plenty of spare to trim back 

 

 

and the view of the arse-end showing the small protrusion which will also be trimmed back

 

 

 

happy with that, lots of welding to do tomorrow 

Edited by stuart bowes, 09 October 2022 - 06:21 PM.

[Retro_10s]

Coming on great buddy. Seeing yours gives me less and less excuses to avoid the trivial amount of welding I need to do on mine hahah!

[stuart bowes]

Cheers :) I've got a week off this week so hopefully some decent progress is coming

 

the 1.5mm sheet just turned up as well so I can do the reinforcement plates.. should pretty much get the whole boot done, and the drivers side rear quarter fitted 

 

only snag is minispares seem to be out of passenger side rear quarters for some reason for the last 2 months so I might have to start looking elsewhere, I do want heritage though

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 October 2022 - 11:43 AM.

[stuart bowes]

Drivers side tacked in

 

 

Have marked on there where I think I'll be putting my reinforcement plates, basically the larger one overlapping my welded section for strength and then a smaller one just around the mount bracket as standard I believe.  Will do similar on the other side except of course a different shape due to spare wheel well

 

Speaking of the other side, cut around the rot

 

 

Clamped and tacked in the replacement section

 

 

 

During which I had to ratchet strap between the wheel arches to pull them in a little, to get the spacing correct as proven by the yard stick:

 

 

tacked down the two sides of the 'bum' section and cut out the middle

 

 

and tacked in the replacement piece

 

 

 

Tomorrow, putting in the reinforcement plates and tidying up inside the passenger side wheel arch which still needs a little fettling 

[stuart bowes]

Lazy day today, but forced myself to get something done

 

nothing substantial but managed to get the reinforcement plates templated and drawn onto the 1.5 sheet

 

 

Cutting out tomorrow, too late to mess about with grinder for that long

Edited by stuart bowes, 11 October 2022 - 11:44 PM.