Massive, uneconomical, rusty project
Turbo Mini Forums

quality work going on here! top marks!

Thanks for the comments, it's nice to have some reassurance that I'm making a decent job of it as I don't have much experience of bodywork.

i had the same problem, so in the front foot well i had weld an extra strip of metal between the repair panel and the original floor just to make up the gap.

i think suppliers should stop selling owersills as theyre a pain in the arse, and replacing an outer sill really isnt a hard job.

talk about a massive rebuild...respect!!!

As I said progress has slowed to it's previous pace, I just can't find the energy to do this when I get home form work. Anyway, today I've got the passenger side sill welded on
IMG_0129 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0134 by Matt4475, on Flickr
floor pan repair also fully welded in now
IMG_0133 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I thought I'd put up a picture of the car on the spit as well, I didn't build it though, I just bought it and assembled it.
IMG_0132 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've removed the heelboard which was made more difficult when you can't see the spot welds for the rust.
I then set about repairing all the holes in the floor it revealed
IMG_0135 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0136 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0137 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've got a lot of grinding of welds that needs doing so I think I'll be doing that tomorrow. Then it's out with the boot floor.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Holy Shnickt ! good work..... I could never ever hope to revive something like that.... mine was bad but no where near yours. respect !

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Neat welding,

Good to see you're using a reasonable size MIG and a cylinder of the right gas....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

looks like its coming along well good work indeed

On 30th Aug, 2008 Richie said:
too much my wife says "not that friggin site again" so i pull my pants back up and turn it over to TM. iam on pretty much every day as i lead a sad existance

Thanks, I feel I'm getting better at it, still frustrating when it doesn't go quite right though.

I had a cheap welder I bought from screwfix before. It had a live torch and I just couldn't get any decent welds from it on thin steel. Someone at work told me they were selling their Murex, he was a professional fabricator for 30 years so I trusted him when he said it was a good one. He paid £1200 for it and only used it for 40 hours so it's in great condition. Using it has made such a difference to my progress, I would still benefit from a bit of instruction but I have no doubt the welds are strong enough.

Also it's so nice not having those stupid little bottles of gas which only last 10 minutes or so. Still I think I will finish the bottle I've got before I finish the car but I've been using it loads so that's really not an issue. The refill costs aren't too bad anyway.

The ironic thing is this welder cost me the same as the one I bought from Screwfix and there is simply no comparison. If I'd only known that 5 years ago.

Yes, a decent machine, and BOC argoshield light (or Air Products cougar), makes all the difference, especially on thin stuff.

Just don't ask for a new "bottle" when you take the cylinder to BOC for a refill

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

It's a long standing joke of mine....

In my local BOC place, if anyone asks for a exchange (refill) bottle, he allways says "Sir, bottles are for milk - BOC supply welding gases in cylinders....."

If you take it to BOC you will need the contract details of the guy you bought the welder from to get the cylinder re-registered in your name - BOC are (quite rightly) keen to make sure their cylinder lease/rental details are correct - high pressure gas cylinders are covered by law for inspection and testing and BOC take it seriously.

On 27th Jul, 2010 Flame Red said:

On 27th Jul, 2010 Rod S said:

Just don't ask for a new "bottle" when you take the cylinder to BOC for a refill

I'll try and remember that, I don't know if it's better to pretend I know what I'm talking about or just make it obvious that I really don't! I already feel I've got a welder which is better than I can justify owning. Everyone has to learn at some point though I suppose.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

It's easy enough to open an account, and if you look hard enough on 16v mini club you might even find a way to get discount...

The contract is in my name, I had to get the gas for it, I can't remember if I asked for a bottle then though, I probably did! The guy I bought the welder from hadn't used it for 8 years because he didn't want the expense of renting a cylinder once he closed down his business so he bought a gasless mig. The rental charges don't seem too bad in my opinion considering the advantages you get over a gasless.

If it's already in your name, no problem.

The cylinder vs. bottle description is just friendly banter down at my "local" (Ipswich) BOC place.

If you are going to be doing a lot of welding, consider changing to a "Y" size cylinder, twice the capacity but only 25% more on rental and 50% more on refills. BOC are also now back to offering 5 year rental contracts (which I used to have but they stopped them about 6 years ago) which are even better value.

But if it's just for this project, take the cylinder back when you've finished, get a refund on un-used rental, but leave the contract open so you can pick up another one and start another year's rental when you need to....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Once I've done this I've got to replace quite a bit of tube on my TVR chassis, it has rusted through on one of the front outriggers but all 4 need replacing and no doubt lots of other bits I will find once I have the body off. It's already sat on my drive for a year waiting to be done. After that I've got a 69 Cooper which I bought back in 2007 when I decided I needed to dispose of the shell I'm now restoring as it was in such a state, that didn't happen as I just couldn't bring myself to do it hence I have 2 Minis. I'm struggling to remember why I built a turbo engine for it now, it shouldn't have been a priority. With those 2 projects to do I'll be doing quite a bit of welding I think.

Anyway, just to show that I haven't spent all day on here or watching Neighbours, my boot floor is now out.
IMG_0141 by Matt4475, on Flickr
As you can see I've cut around the seatbelt mounts so I still need to tidy that up. Also the flange on the rear panel has rusted away at both ends and also on part of the seat back. It'll be another one of those annoying repairs which are difficult to make look tidy

Finally a picture to show how bad the rust was
IMG_0138 by Matt4475, on Flickr

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Good god! has this thing been sitting with the titanic?
Great workmanship though. Great to see just how much can be done.

Wow, great work and progress with this, wish my estate went this quickly.

Manchester Minis

I've put another few hours in today, although I don't have much to show for it. Most of what I was doing was sorting out the little bits I had left to return to later. The rear edge of the floor is now preped for the new heelboard.
IMG_0143 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've started removing the boot floor and wheel arches from the seatbelt mounting points, it takes forever as they are spot welded and MIG welded to 3 different panels

My main concern though is the amount of work needed to repair the rear panel, there is no major rust but a few small areas which will be difficult to get right. I've put some pictures below to show the areas which need attention.
IMG_0145 by Matt4475, on Flickr
It's like that at both endsIMG_0147 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0148 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0149 by Matt4475, on Flickr
The last 3 pictures don't show the full extent of the rust, especially the last one which actually extends quite a long way.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

I used a repair for the rear panel - its a while ago now so can't recall if it was a heritage panel or not - what i do recall is that it wasn't a hadrian panel as it did not come up so high.

You can get a genuine repair panel for the bottom 3" of the rear panel. Is the penultimate picture the top of the boot hole? If it is, it might be best to fold up some steel to go in there.

The middle 2 pictures are of the bottom edge of the rear window appature. The rust goes all the way through from the look of the inside. The bit in the last picture would be covered by the repair section if I decided to use that. There is also a 2cm section of roof gutter which has gone. At the moment I'm thinking of buying a complete Mk1 rear panel, I know it isn't necessary considering the areas of rust are generally small and localised but it will save me making difficult repairs. Also I can fit Mk1 rear lights without fitting conversion plates which I know are not a good fit. I'm already planning to use a Mk1 bootlid and grille so it would add to the retro look I'm after. I will have to think about it though as it is a lot of work to replace the whole panel and not cheap either.

I'll be replacing the whole rear panel on mine, will be a long day/weekend (more likely a month in my case...). Will the MK 1 panel fit?

The heritage Mk1 rear panel comes with a Mk2 window pressing so the upper seatbelt mountings will still line up and the window will still fit. As far as I know it's only the windows and the lights that are different on a Mk1. I'm going to have a look at my Mk2 to see if I can spot any reasons why it wouldn't work.

M Machine will probably sell a proper Mk1 rear panel but the hassle of getting the right window and making the seatbelt mountings work is not worth the effort in my opinion.

No progress to report really as it has rained on my days off work for the last 2 weeks. I've bought a heritage Mk1 rear panel,
IMG_0153 by Matt4475, on Flickr
but I am quite shocked with what I found when I tried to put a light in it
IMG_0152 by Matt4475, on Flickr
The distance between the top 2 holes and the bottom 3 is too small, It does appear that if the top stud hole is lined up then the light fits nicely on the raised area all the way round. It means I will have to redrill the bottom 2 stud holes and enlarge the bottom hole on both sides to get the light to fit.

I really expected better from a heritage panel. Also it wouldn't really be suitable for a Mk1 as the roof gutter is wrong (as well as the rear window of course). It's just a late Mk3 panel for Mk1 lights.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.