Massive, uneconomical, rusty project
Turbo Mini Forums

Jeez you have been busy! After seeing your wheel arch join im tempted to seem weld mine too. Its a bit of a water trap there anyway.

Where did you get your A panels from?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

i think "massive" is an understatement for the work you are doing on the mini

The A panels are from Somerford. They are made by Hadrian, they were quite expensive for pattern panels at about £25 but at least they fit. I have never seen a genuine panel to know what the difference is.

After a great week of progress last week, I've started this week with almost no progress at all but an awful lot of problems. First off the remaining bits of the inner wing I had left to remove, and preping the seams didn't take the hour I had expected, but a whole 5 hours! I wouldn't believe it if if I hadn't been there! That I could live with, the major problems started when I tried to fit the new inner wing. With some persuasion, it fitted well around the A post.
IMG_0243 by Matt4475, on Flickr
However, even after a lot of effort I can not get it to fit around the cross member. It's about 15mm off at the shock mounting and there just doesn't seem to be any more movement. I'll have to come back to it another day.

I also thought I would see what the door gaps were like. I first tried the driver's side. The door catches the A post far sooner than I think it should to the extent that it is far too far back at the B post. I therefore decided to try the Passenger side and found exactly the same problem. It is not like they are a little way out, I could fit them with a hammer and they wouldn't fall out. I really can't see what has caused it.

The only positive thing I've really achieved is I've replaced the engine steady bracket. When I bought the car back in 2005 it was broken causing the engine steady to hit the bulkhead, I remember I removed the old one with a bolster chisel! It was the first thing I ever welded on a car and this was the result.
IMG_0241 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Despite it's nostalgic value I decided it was best to replace it. It didn't take me at all long to remove it, I hope the strength of my welding has improved since then. I spot welded a new one in place which looks neater and hopefully stronger, I would have liked the spot welds to be a little more orderly but it's very difficult with the weight of the spot welder when it has 500mm long electrodes on it.
IMG_0242 by Matt4475, on Flickr

I apologise for the essay, especially considering the lack of actual progress.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Well its safe to say your first welding attempt was better then mine and probably many would say the same.

Well, not a lot has happened over the last 2 months, I've had other things to do etc. It's a shame as I was pleased with the pace of my progress until then.

Anyway, using a great amount of force I managed lever the driver's side inner wing so that it lines up with the shock mounting holes. I've put a small tack on and clamped it to hold it in place for now, I don't want to weld anything on until I can check the alignment of all the panels.
IMG_0282 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've also removed the scuttle and I'm about half way through the passenger side inner wing, I've just got the difficult bits left to do now.
IMG_0283 by Matt4475, on Flickr

I've still got to resolve the trouble I'm having with the door fit. I've not looked at it in a lot of detail yet, it's difficult to hold them in place and look at where the problem is. I know it's potentially a large problem that I need to sort soon. It's made more difficult because I don't have any hinge holes.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Haha you are at exactly the same stage as me!

Im hoping to fit my first A panel tomorrow and inner wing. Have you tried the front panel yet to check the fit with the inner wing?

Whats the problem with the door fit?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

I haven't tried the front panel yet. I hope to get the other inner wing and scuttle clamped on, then remove the jig frame and fit the subframe (the shell is supported under the floor now as I didn't want to risk twisting the bulkhead with so many of the front panels removed). I can then use the subframe to fit the front panel and then fit the wings. That is the plan anyway, it probably won't be quite so simple.

The problem with the doors is that they seem to be catching on the bottom edge of the B post and the bottom of the screen pillar, it's the same on both sides. It is not like they just catch either, they simply don't fit. If anything the problem is worse on the driver's side which I can't understand as all but the door step is original. If I could fit the Mk3 hinges it would be possible to see where it starts to catch as the doors close but I have no holes for them so it isn't an option. I haven't looked into the problem too closely yet, even though I know I should. I'm going to try and fit the doors as best I can so I can understand better where they are catching. It depends on what I find but I think I might need to take some measurments from another car. It might be quite a simple problem but I can just as likely see I will end up having to use a porta power to sort it. I can't see how the door appertures could have distorted but it seems quite possible that they have.

Are you trying to fit the same doors that you took off?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

The only thing I can think of, is to measure both door appertures and compare. This is what I will be doing with mine.

I noticed with mine that once the A panel was removed, the roof will now move up and down in the drivers corner by about an inch.

I see you left the closer panel in, but it probably wouldn't be enough to hold the roof corner in position...so maybe it has dropped a little?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

It's been quite a while, I had to search to find this topic. The reason I've been away for so long is another project arrived on the 25th January, it is an Audi which was stolen and used in a robbery. It was kept as evidence for 14 months and then suddenly released when the trial finished. Being the easiest of my many projects it jumped to the top of the queue, but it's taken me until now to get it sorted. It was a talking point for a while having a car covered in finger printing dust on the drive.

Today is the first time I've spent any time on this since mid january. I've tidied up the seams for the passenger side inner wing and the scuttle, then I trial fitted the inner wing. This side fitted straight in with no problems at all, the driver's side had to be levered in to place and took a massive amount of force to do so.
IMG_0355 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've also got the hinges fitted, that took me quite a while as I had the holes in the inner A panel but not the outer so I had to measure them from the inside and transfer that to the outside to be able to drill them.
IMG_0356 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0357 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Not a great amount of progress I'll admit, but it's nice to get something done again. Hopefully the progress will continue now

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Nice work, thats a hell of a lot of panels your replacing, keep up the progress.

brilliant build thread mate, keep it up it looks mint.

one day boost will be mine!

Well, still not quite back to the level of progress I had hoped for, I've had 2 MOTs this week, I had to change the steering rack gaiters for both and they were horrible to do. I've also changed a pair of gearbox mounts and fitted an exhaust twice, all done lying on my back on the drive. My body feels ruined.

I tried to get all the front end panels clamped on to check the alignment. I found I have nowhere near enough clamps to do it this way. I'm going to have to tack the inner wings on, they really don't have a lot of adjustment anyway. Before I do that I wanted to sort out the door fit, the passenger door seems fine which is good. I've spent quite a while looking at the driver's side and I think the problem is due to the bottom 2-3" of the quarter panel. I think the indent in the door step was too small causing the quarter panel to sit proud. I'm going to have to cut a section out of the quarter panel so I can alter the door step and then weld the quarter panel back together, at least that's my current plan, we'll have to see if it works. I don't think the fit is quite as bad as I thought it was a few months ago which is good. Hopefully I'll have some panels welded on soon.

Matty welded his wings to the front panel before he fitted them to the car, saved lots of clamps and made it much easier to line everything up.

Here is a picture of the issue I've got with the door fit
IMG_0360 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I have actually managed to improve the curve of the quarter panel now but it is still close. I find the door hits the A piller before I can move it as far forward as I need to, I think I will need to look at modifying that.
I have managed to get the old door to fit now so it isn't too far off.
IMG_0361 by Matt4475, on Flickr

Edited by Flame Red on 12th Jul, 2017.

IMG_0363 by Matt4475, on Flickr
That seems to have sorted the problem out. The door fits now so I'm going to start welding that side together, the passenger side inner wing is already spot welded in enough places to keep it in position.
I've got the scuttle clamped in place now as well, I'm going to get the subframe fitted and assemble the rest of the front end before I weld it in place.
IMG_0362 by Matt4475, on Flickr

Edited by Flame Red on 12th Jul, 2017.

Wow! Massive credit to you for going at it and doing a proper decent job.

If in doubt... flat out! The words of a true legend

It feels like I'm getting somewhere now, I've stripped down the subframe and got it mounted in the car. I'm slowly getting round welding up the inner wings as well. I've finally been able to clamp all the panels in place to see what the fit is like.
IMG_0366 by Matt4475, on Flickr
It's all quite loosely fitted but it seems good. The only issue is that the passenger side wing to bonnet gap seems to taper, it is fine at the front but it must be about 20mm if not more by the time it reaches the scuttle. I don't know what needs to move to sort it out but hopefully it can be sorted.

Edited by Flame Red on 12th Jul, 2017.

Nice job I've fitted all the panels you done and had all the same problems. like the hole positions in the boot floor. I also fitted a complete near side and complete inner wing. This gave me a 10mm to wider gap from the A panel to the B post. That was a right pain to get a good fit.
Keep up the good work

Craig

my mini van http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=448248

Not a lot of progress to show although I'm not far off welding all the remaining panels on now, I just need to work out how far my dash rails should be apart as I didn't think to measure it before I cut both the inner wings off. Once that's done It should all be quite simple.

The scuttle if fully welded now, I was quite surprised how much rigidity it gives the shell, it's certainly something I'll keep in mind on my next project.

I also decided to sort out the mess I made of my bulkhead 6 years ago when I needed clearance for a HIF38, I had simply battered it with a lump hammer until it fitted. I decided to cut that section out and make a small recess.
IMG_0368 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0370 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I know the welding along the middle looks shit, It's because the gap between the 2 pieces was a too large, I'll have to do something about that. It doesn't look too bad otherwise though.

I also made an expensive decision and welded up these holes on the dash rail.
IMG_0374 by Matt4475, on Flickr

Edited by Flame Red on 12th Jul, 2017.

Smallest bulkhead box in recorded history!

GT00.0013 ?

In the 13's at last!.. Just

some were to put your cup tea down when you are working on the car

1293 Turbo mini