54 replies to this topic

[jpsulisz]

Long time no talk, funny how life gets in the way!

My Mini got a new friend in the garage - don't worry, the mini is taking priority!
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With temperatures at -5 degree Fahrenheit I am thankful my heater was able to get it to 50 without much issue, here are the photos from yesterdays subframe removal. Every captive nut was seized and had to cut through the floor to get a 14mm on them to hold them still. As you can see from my photos that whole area needs to be cut out and rewelded in. I am a bit scared on how to handle the floor repair as well since I think I may be better off with an entire floor but not sure how I will support the car in that state.

I assume this is the original subframe, it is completely rotten on the drivers side, I knew this but didn't realize how weak it was. 

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[sonscar]

Looks like someone has been there before.Now just to cut it out and weld it back in.Enjoy,Steve..

[jpsulisz]

Underneath the left fender - looks like I will need tons of new metal around there and possibly a panel below the windshield.
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Removed the rear wiring harness this weekend and got supplies ready for stripping the rear of the car of rust. One issue I found is that there were sponges in the A-pillars that had a bit of rust. I imagine they soaked up moisture and have rusted the inner A pillars where the wires run. Not sure how I will go about handling that but writing this down so I remember it.

Anyway, with the rear lights and all the wires removed, this is what I am left with. I think before I build a rotisserie for it - I need to reweld in the wheel arches as they are in bad condition and don't like the 'repair' work done by the previous owner.

 

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[jpsulisz]

Going through the rear of the car and finding a ton of bondo keeping the rear portion (below the tail gate) together. There are many patch panels (a few 2x3 inches) covering over rusted areas. I am also finding portions that I thought were solid, not! I think my main goal here for the weekend is to get the area around the wheel arches completely sanded/grinded down and point out structural issues.

I cut out the battery holder since it was in my way and was needing a replacement as well.

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Edited by jpsulisz, 24 January 2024 - 02:36 AM.

[DoubleEh]

I feel your pain, my car was the same story! Everything that looked good was not and everything that looked bad was worse than it looked!

I'm getting to the re-installation process of the entire rear of my car so let me know if I can be of any assistance.

[jpsulisz]

Back at the Mini once again - I removed the engine and plan to have the rest of the interior and hopefully the front subframe out this weekend.

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The engine came out with not much issue - I did notice that the driveshaft seems to have damaged the transmission case at one point but overall in pretty good knick.

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A long wait to work on the older Mini since I bought a newer 2018 Mini that needed some work, but is now my daily driver. :)
--Photo of when I was working on it
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We got some snow recently, my neighbors Nash is so sad
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Edited by jpsulisz, 30 March 2024 - 07:01 AM.

[jpsulisz]

Removed the front subframe out this weekend, wasn't very difficult but had no way to move it around the garage so i had to go to Harbor Freight and bought some dollys to move around. Have the car sitting on 2 30x8 inch boards but not liking how unstable it feels - will probably do a table for the bodyshell this week.

 

Besides the surface rust and what looks to be a grinder gash on one of the lower mounts I feel like I will be able to reuse this.

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[jpsulisz]

Originally I was going to get 2 pallets and throw some casters on there for a moveable base while I figure out the jig, but my local hardware store wanted $10 for a single one. I figured I could do better and built a base; I used spare wood I had lying around and topped it off with 6"x36" boards to disperse the weight. This is what I came out with, it rolls around my garage with ease but do wish I had some rope or something:
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[jpsulisz]

Disassembled the steering, front lights, removed the passenger door, and had some trouble getting the gauges out as the last upper screw was stripped (my rotary tool broke so I have to pick one up tomorrow)
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The door was very sloppily connected, I removed the bracket and used an impact gun on the rear panel and the bracket crumbled as seen:

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I have an opportunity to get a 1275 block, so debated that - but not really sure if itll be worth it; photos from the seller:
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[jpsulisz]

Back to the grind -- removed the windows, now its finally down to a bare shell:
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Now - setting it outside while I clean the garage:
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I found a local supplier of a good aircraft paint stripper, works great -- tested it on a few panels and it has dramatically taken down the time to get to bare metal:
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Looks like some bondo in that rear quarter! 

The front left a pillar is a total loss:
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I decided to finally refurb that heater box -- currently awaiting them to dry over night:
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Yeehaw

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