776 replies to this topic

[mini93]

Did a bit on the mini today, I didnt however get any pictures as I didnt get as much done as I really wanted and I wasnt really in the best mood to be working on it.

 

I started adding in the harness bars. I stopped after welding in the 1st side as my gas regulator is hugely annoying, hissing out of the pressure release valve.

After that I ended up spending time grinding down welds here n there, prepping parts of the cage that require re-welding. dressing some other welds.

 

We shall see if I can be bothered to work on it again tomorrow, need to find a cure for this regulator fault.

 

Dave.

[mini93]

So I didnt get any where near what I really wanted to get done over the christmas break off work.

But I bought a new gas regulator the other day after trying to fix my old one to no avail... Weather being super shonky today I only had enough time/effort to have a quick fit and test. appears to be in good working order. I only have about 50bar of gas left in the bottle, I just hope I get the welding finished before then.

[mini93]

 

 

Thats todays work... Cant really see a lot of difference hu!

 

A lot of time was spent on the drivers harness bar, ensuring it was the same height as the passenger side and making sure it was level.

 

After that I spent some time grinding down some of the old welds on the rollcage that looked a little suspect (a lot of them), taking them right down to the join and then welding back up. Still more to do though.

 

I started doing some cardboard design on the rear bulkhead... Its going to be horrible and annoying... I feel it!

 

Thats it for now anyways...

[Artful Dodger]

awsome mate:D

 

those bars do look real neat so time well spent!  this things going to be so stiff that....err...   jokes COULD be made but im going to refrain

 

 

the bulkhead will be fiine, making it out of ally?

[mini93]

It wouldnt be so ackward if it wasnt for the fact that the rollcage is in the way of any easy positioning of the bulkhead. It will indeed be made from Alluminium, as will the floor (which I also sized up today... need to order some ally and a swage former)

 

At the minute, its looking like the rear bulkhead could be easier made in 4 pieces. or 3 at the least. 1/2 central pieces which will form the majority of the bulkhead incorperating 2 bends. then 2 further formed pieces for going around each of the rollcage legs, but due to the angle that the legs come down onto the arches, these will have to be a little more complex with some extra bends in. I have the idea in my head how it should look... just see if I can make it look the same.

[mini93]

So... its been like 4 months since I've done anything on the mini, pretty shoddy work right there!

Only thing I can report is, I bought myself a steering column back in Jan' before I went on holiday, there it sat till this evening when (now its lighter when im back from work) I hopped into the garage briefly, first off measuring up the aluminium required (still havent got round to finalising my rear bulkhead ideas) and I bolted the steering rack back onto the shell, this was to help align the Montego column to work out where its likely to be positioned.

 

 

It has a short double UJ section, this will allow me to position the column so its not at an odd angle (like a minis standard positon is) However, even before iv positoned the column fully its shown that it is too long. I will need to chop it down, as well as the outter column, to make it a bit user friendly rather than being right in my chest. I'll also be using a quick release steering boss on the column.

 

Hopefully I can will myself into the garage this weekend.

[mini93]

Had a bit of a stint Saturday last week and a bit more today. Though it seems to be mostly doing small odd jobs, few small patches etc but the list on the white board is getting shorter... Odd jobs does mean not many pictures though.

 

I've been mostly working on the n/s and back end

One of the things I was delaying was finishing off the rear 1/4, the window frames were pretty shabby, had holes from spot welds, holes where the panels didnt line up etc.

 

I mocked in the steering column aswell. I just need to tack in some mounts, drill some holes in the column, weld on a quick release steering boss and should be good. But before I do that, to ensure I have the correct position I need to buy new seats, weld in seat rails and position a pedel box i've yet to buy.

 

Just another pic for good luck.

 

 

Cheers

[mini93]

I got a wee bit more done yesterday, again theres not a whole lot to show as its mostly just doing the odds and sods, grinding down welds, doing some small patches, bit of seam welding of the shell.

Hopefully I'll get a bit more done tomorrow, Should see most of the jobs on the white board wiped off (and then ill fill it up again with the next set of jobs ha!)

 

[mini93]

Bank holiday monday I got what I wanted done, I got most of the jobs I wanted done, wiped off the list.

Again a lot of it was small patches, dressing of welds, etc

 

When I pulled apart the shell, and certainly after I got it blasted I noticed how poor the welds were on the roll cage. I know its been ok previously (when it was rolled in its previous life as a rally car) but I still wasnt particually happy to leave it as it was. Especially as I had good access to most of the welds since I have everything off the shell (roof, doors, access from the back etc)

I  grownd down the joining welds as far back as I dared. Turned the voltage up to allow heat into the tube and the wire feed so I could build the fillet back up sufficiently.

 

Its probably the neatest one I managed on the re-weld, but I sufficiently happy now to use the cage.

 

I have the Turbo box flushed into the bulkhead now, It was a bit unfinished previously, ready for the aluminium bulkhead to be made and fitted.

I also went back over the rear arches. finishing off the joins for the arch tubs and also the arch to boot floor joins. all dressed back.

I still have some dressing to do on the shell, on the inside, inner wings. A lovely bit obscured by roll cage triangulation to the footwell. I still have to seam weld the shell on the toe board aswell, so I will do this at the same time.

 

Still planning out the Aluminium panels, I have bought sheets of aluminium now so I can charge on and get it started.

I bought myself a new toy aswell, a swager (bead roller) to form the swage lines on the panels. Hopefully I wont see a lot of reasonating when the panels are swaged (plus it looks cool)

 

Oh, and I jumped into the garage for a quick hour after work and started picking holes in my own work (oh no! you may cry!!)

 

Drilled some holes in the under window panel thingy bob...Its not a lot of weight save in the scheme of things, but it looks rad! so yay!

 

Riv-run this weekend, but I have Tuesday and Wednesday off work next week so hopefully make the most of the time off and have 2 (almost) full days working on the shell. Hoping the aluminium and the swager show up before then and as long as I have the jobs erased from the white board I can get started filling in some more gaps in the shell.

 

 

 

 

 

[Baldspeed Racing]

Good to see some more updates on this dude, keep up the good work :)

[alexcrosse]

Looks good. Another year without a riv run, ah well. *sigh*. 

[mini93]

Good to see some more updates on this dude, keep up the good work :)

Cheers matey, I just want to get things moving on now. make things more complete looking, start buying some shineys, in other words, be done with body work!

 

Looks good. Another year without a riv run, ah well. *sigh*. 

 

The elusive Alex... how u doing dude?

yeah indeed, Im only there for a short weekend this year, I remember going down for the week, yesteryear. was ace... maybe next year (maybe even i'll have my mini (although who's kidding, I dont really go for the minis))

 

 

I got my swager delivered today, only comes with 1/2inch roller dies, id have liked larger ones, but they should be sufficient.

 

Had a bit of practice roll on some steel I had laying about.

The swager is limited to 1.2mm steel, I think that steels about on the working limit.

It'll take some practice and getting used to, but when I get going and start using the 1.2mm aluminium, it should be a bit easier and form a little more pronounced

[alexcrosse]

Not bad man, will give you a text next time I'm back, we can go to some pretentious pub and spit at people or something.

[mini93]

For sure dude, I lost my phone when I went snowboarding in Jan, you will most likely be greeted with "eer... hello" but indeed, shall sort something out

[mini93]

Got the final (I think) bit of cage work done today, I welded in the lower rear stays to the cage.

 

Looks like theres quite a mass of cage in the back of the shell now.

 

 

I also drilled the window support thingy panel, what ever its called... you can see in the photo above.

 

This panel was originaly welded to the seat back, with removing this and having the panel unsupported it was flimsy

Quick welded a cap over the end of the panel to finish it off

 

So after a bit more grinding and seam welding of the shell, that was my white board job list completed! hooraa!

I've since added more to it... obviously...

Still awaiting my Alooominum so I can start battering it into shapes that vaguely resemble panels.

 

 

Ciao!