106 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

the window frame are a favorite place for rust

[THedooBZ]

aye they certainly are, so i reckon iv been quite lucky with the other window surrounds,, the windscreen scuttle however has had it..

[Broomer]

aye they certainly are, so i reckon iv been quite lucky with the other window surrounds,, the windscreen scuttle however has had it..

join the club.

[THedooBZ]

had a bit of a spend at bingley,, i managed to get myself a scuttle panel a pair of A panels plus my fibreglass front and a few rubbers for the windows,, came to just under 200 which i was proud of.. just gotta convince the rents to lend me there garage for a week so i can get all those bits done now..

also got some door skins and bottom repairs from minimine on saturday and fitted them,, they are only pattern panels but the fit is surprisingly good it fit really nice, they told me they have a new supplier of panels and said they should be a bit easier to fit..
as for rust proofing them i sprayed the whole of the inners of the doors which hammerite and the inside of the door skins then laid a smear of liquid metal sealant,, great stuff this,,, fitted the skin then welded up the tops and hey presto!!! was actually an easier job than i expected thanks to panelbeaterpeters guide!! although i havent got a dolly etc.. i used a peice of mdf on the door skin and worked my way round with a rubber mallet and some flat faced mole grips on the seam, the mdf stopped the skin bowing etc which was nice,, ill get some pics at some point

Edited by THedooBZ, 28 January 2008 - 04:11 PM.

[THedooBZ]

well what an eventful evening,,, after getting my mates to help me push the mini to my house from the garage its kept in, off we went to the pub for a swift bevvy,, then i was straight outside at my house around 8.30 to start dismantling..
my plan this weekend is to,
remove wings, front panel, a panels, scuttle panel.

then fit removable front, new a panels and new scuttle and apply plenty of seam sealer and rust protection in the form of hammerite and zinc primer.
for the front end im gonna try and acheive a clipless look,, i dont really like zsus fasteners on show,, always think u will return to your mini and find the front end missing!!!!

i have found some internal clips at work which are used on RITTAL electrical cabinets, i have then made a bracket out of stainless which will then be bonded into the inside of the fibreglass front and the retaining part welded to the inside of the A panel,, i will be bringing the clips home tommorrow so i will get a picture of them up then this will explain it better.
for the front at the bottom im just gonna have some dome topped coachbolts or possibly bonnet pins, im not aiming on the front flipping,, just being removable as im using the original bonnet and hinges.


so what started as a quick stripdown of the front end lights and grill etc... soon turned into me cutting the whole front off ready for getting the scuttle and A panels replaced tommorow this means im a day ahead now which is always a bonus so i ended up with something like this.


the front wasnt too bad but its evident the car has had a bump at some time as the wing is dented in badly around the drivers side where it joins the top panel but with the grill and light in place its hardly noticable, also the passenger side was full of filler from where the panels hadnt been beaten out before the post aciident repair was undertaken,, but who cares its off the car now anyway,, i think i did quite well to completely remove the front end in 2 hours using only tinsnips!!!!
more tommorrow once iv finished late evening.

[THedooBZ]

well the front end work is finished for now,, iv got the new scuttle fitted,, what a pain in the bottom that was!!! new a panels and the fibreglass front fitted, took a bit of fettlin but i got there in the end with it.. i was hoping i could possibly re-use the existing seam covers but however the fibreglass makes it too thick so iv used the rubber trim i had running over my arches instead, it doesnt look too bad either and hides the fibreglass edge so u can hardly tell it removable..

i drilled a few holes on the inner wing rail and bolted some roofing bolts to secure the front end at the top.
the front end is very secure as it stands and i havent even fitted my arches or retaining clips.
a few piccys of the front fitted ,, the line up against the scuttle showing the rubber seal on the seam.

next jobs trial fit headlights and grill before rub down for paint. got to make some small brackets though as the cut for the grill is mk3 and my grill is mk1 so i have nowhere to screw to as the cutout is too big.

Edited by THedooBZ, 02 February 2008 - 07:16 PM.

[THedooBZ]

well its been a month and iv done nowt on the mini due to going out on the bike every weekend since!!!

today i got my front end primed ready for paint and its the first big job the earlex has had to cope with,, the results are brilliant once again this sprayer is superb for the tiny price tag, took a while to get flowing just right because i forgot to blast the gun through with thinners first and the nozzle had stuck since its last use, but once it was workin it went on really nice and quickly, theres 2 coats of high build so far,, hopefully get some colour on it tommorrow,,

[THedooBZ]

we have some colour at last!!!!!

got the front end painted in the final grey colour this morning,, im happy with the finish and once cured n polished it should look great, i dont expect a showroom finish but for an amateur painter and using an electric sprayer i think its turned out fairly good, piccys below, i put 2 coats on with 10mins between the coats i dunno if this is right but it seems to have worked.. and best of all no runs!!!!! which is a first for my painting

[frankiebateman]

Looks great where did you get the electric spray gun from ?

[THedooBZ]

hey frankie i got it from argos it cost 75quid its one of these,, http://www.argos.co......xt>EARLEX.htm.
its basically an air turbine,, not much noiser than a vacuum cleaner and creates next to no overspray,, it will also spray hammerite straight out of the can as it can deal with thick paints, i used the hammerite on the inners of my doors when i reskinned them and i plan on doing the arch inners and bulkhead etc with it as well..

if you are after a cheap alternative to an air compressor then it is the way forward,, however you probably could get a better finish with an air compressor for the price difference and for an amateur painter it suits my fine,, also i hope by doing my car with this method it will show people it can be done as an alternative to compressors.. it has been asked by a few people so i hope they will give it ago aswell..

[THedooBZ]

reet iv got the doors primed up ready and i fitted my front end just to get an idea what itll be like in grey,, i think the colour with look good accompanyed with the blue bits in the engine bay and the seats etc...
were still a long way off yet though.[attachment=52597:doors_primed.jpg]

Edited by THedooBZ, 09 March 2008 - 03:20 PM.

[Retro_10s]

progress is progress dude.

I love this project!

[Adcuz]

Nice one. I'm tempted to switch from rollering to using one of these spray stations..

[THedooBZ]

adcuz id go with one of these any day over rollering,, i tried doing my roof and gave up its too time consuming..

iv just got my doors in grey so thats it for today,, so all in all today iv painted my front end and done my doors,, not bad i dont think so i think im guna crack open a bud!!!

[matty135790]

The grey looks really cool! top marks!