1658 replies to this topic

[BMC Paul]

good work mate, my turn for a cold now but did some on mini today, but going to have to take it easy now i think as i feel ruff! keeo up the good work with the wekding and nice repair you made of the sill step mate

[deemo]

Rims are looking good so far.

[Deathrow]

Got around to the garage today to do some work even though the forecast was for rain, I wasn't about to sit in all day and wait for it to rain so I took the risk. Seems I was right since it's not rained all day .

I didn't get masses done because I was chatting to my friends and helping my friend Scott with his Mini too, but progress is progress so here it is:


Door step repair welded up and welds roughly dressed.


Left end of repair.


Right end of repair.

Now a qustion, my flap disc doesn't seem to want to reach down in to the corner of the door step to clean up those welds, how can I clean these bits up so they match the profile of the door step? There must be some technique I'm missing here. Anyone who can enlighten me would be a saint .

Also, on the days I don't update, it's not because I'm not doing anything, it's because I'm working on my alloys and pictures of stripped alloys over and over is just going to make my thread boring. I'll post an update on them once they're bare and then again when I've started tidying them up.

Keep watching .

[dezshearer]

Looking good mate, can hardly even tell its been done!

To get the same profile:

"Gingerly" use a grinding disk.

Flap disks are great and all, but that grinding disk will get you in there. Just be patient and go easy enh?

[Deathrow]

I'll give it a go tomorrow with a nice fresh, sharp, grinding disc. I just thought the grinding disc would have got stuck with the same part the flap disc was doing.

Thanks for the comments and help chap . I'm quite happy with how it's coming out, much better than the previous repair. Hopefully I can continue with this sort of standard of work .

[minivanman]

yeah, like dez says, use a grinding disc. If you turn the grinder upside down as well it gives you a sharper edge on the disc to use, gets right into the angle. My other top tip is to use wurth zinc primer instead of red oxide - comes in a nice aerosol can, coats really nicely and dries much quicker. I can't find the one I use anywhere online atm, I'll have a look in the garage for the proper name of it.

[dezshearer]

If you take your time, it'll all look spot on.

Rushing out of eagerness makes thing look *poop poop*!

[Deathrow]

yeah, like dez says, use a grinding disc. If you turn the grinder upside down as well it gives you a sharper edge on the disc to use, gets right into the angle. My other top tip is to use wurth zinc primer instead of red oxide - comes in a nice aerosol can, coats really nicely and dries much quicker. I can't find the one I use anywhere online atm, I'll have a look in the garage for the proper name of it.

Ahh yes, so I wouldn't need to use a fresh disc! Even better!

As for the red oxide, I'm only using it to protect the metal from rusting, it wouldn't suprise me if I ended up sanding it all back off during prep for painting, don't really know why I didn't just etch prime it straight off :/. Would that have been better though? Hmmm.

Still, throw me the name of the stuff you use when you find out what it is, I'm all for using tried and tested methods if it means I don't have to do something twice .

If you take your time, it'll all look spot on.

Rushing out of eagerness makes thing look *poop poop*!

Amen to that!

I don't think anyone is going to get me to rush this, she's my car and I want to be happy with everything about her, so if something doesn't go to plan, I'll be doing it again.

This is why I'll be tearing the rear valance out and repairing the boot floor again, I'm just not happy with what I managed last time, but it has been a functional repair.

Thanks again guys.

[dezshearer]

Red oxide is great. Etch primer is just as good maybe a wee bit better. Nothing wrong with what you've done !

[Deathrow]

Well I hope we all like pictures! Got some work done today with many pictures so here we go.




I used the tips you guys have given me to grind the welds down in to the corners as they should be.


Repaired the end of the door step so it's once again the correct length.


Made a repair section for the hinge panel where it had rotted away towards the bottom.


My friends girlfriend took a picture of me while I was welding in the repair section.


Repair section welded in and welds cleaned up. Not pretty, but it'll be out of sight.


Back of the repair. Flitch is the next on the repair list.


I fettled the boot lid some more and gave it some sanding here and there, got it fitting alot better now.


Remember this hole?


Now I have this to donate some metal to replace it.

At this point I was packing up so I thought I'd sit the front end on and see how it looked.


This is the scuttle join, looks good considering the front is only resting in place.


Special arch pushed on to see how it looks, I think it's going to look really good when it's all done.


Finally, an overall picture of where we're at now.

Thanks for looking, comments welcome as always .

[dezshearer]

Fan-dabby-dosy mate!

Keep it up!

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

good work fella nice to see your getting 2.0 alot closer to completion i had this with my fiesta got one and blew the engine b4 i was happy with it but with the 2nd one and 2.0 in i was happy to sell my fiesta and im not gonna have another one for a few years unless i get given on lol

[Deathrow]

Nah Minis are where it's at!

I've driven one or two of the older Fiestas and they weren't half bad. However, I had a test drive in an 04 plate Fiesta the other day and it was god awful! I don't know how Ford have managed to lose their way so badly. I just hope the newest model Fiesta drives as good as it looks.

[tedmcedd]

looking good! who is the front from?? you have done well trimming it,, super good fit!!

[Deathrow]

looking good! who is the front from?? you have done well trimming it,, super good fit!!

It's from TDK Racing.

Haha, that's the thing sir, I've not trimmed it! This is exactly as it came from him, well except for a few oily finger marks I've added.