My ever lasting project
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It shouldnt be too much hassle considering what iv already done to the shell. Its just a bit ackward and wanted to be done with it.

David.

Attacking the final bit of rust... aka the only original part left of the shell, the shock mount.

After battling with working out the construction of the original panels, they were all seam welded together and couldnt work out what was original or what was joined to where.


This is where i ended up after spending a while chopping


After reconstructing the closing panel. All primered inside


Adding the inner wing back, rounded edge with extra material to allow me to form a lip.
Following this picture I also drilled and spot welded the inner wing panel to the closing panel.


And I do love working with nice clean and new metal. Welds look much nicer.
You can also see where I've folded the lip over and welded to the cross member.


More of the folded over lip. easiest way to form the radius (without specialist tools) was to simply slit and weld.


Finished dressing most of the welds, still a little more to finish off and also attack it from the inside.

Ill hopfully get a chance to do the same for the N/S this weekend and hopefully thats all the front end welding required

Cheers for looking.

David.

I had a good solid 6 hours on the shell today, which is good for me as im usualy reet lazy!

So today, I set about attacking the n/s. It initially looked good, really I was only going at it because I knew the o/s was sketchy and was unsure if the n/s would be the same. Plus it would match the side I had already done.

I didnt take many pictures of the chopping shit out, because its the same as the otherside eh!



When I started cutting away I could see signs of rust, so really, its a good thing I chopped it all out.



The finished n/s inner wing. Swanky



Reformed the bottom lip and carefully seam welded along the edge.

I also repeated this on the o/s as its the bit I hadnt finished



Shell looks much better with the inner wings finished. Rather happy with it.



Another angle.

Thats the mass of the welding to the front end finished... I think.

Hopefully this week I'll dress the remaining welds and spin the car around to set on finishing the rear of the shell. Getting closer n closer!

David.

Had a bit of time over the last month but with a bit of a neighbourly dispute.
Jist of which means I keep getting emails from the council voicing my neighbours displeasure. Dispite the fact I was working for less than 4 hours last Sunday, in the day time, I recieved an email informing me of this (like I didnt already know...)
So, Last week I borrowed a Db meter from work. During todays work I had someone check to see the noise levels in the house, noisyest was 70db's in the room directly above the garage. lowest being 45 db's in the furthest part of the house (bearing in mind in the neighbours house it'll be less still) A normal conversation is more than 45db's

So... on with the work...

After turning the shell around to crack on with the back 1/2 of the mini I set about finishing the boot floor. I needed to add sections along side the arches in order for me to be able to rivit the boot floor in place.

There's not much room right next to the turret, but it'll be enough to get a lip along it and the boot floor attached.


All shaped up, nice big hole to fill with some swaged ally.
I also finished off the seat base, there were a few holes which needed attention, some previously shit welds etc

So this weekend I set about starting to tub the arches. I didnt take any before pictures as we all know what a standard arch looks like...

After spending a fuck ton load of time contemplating how to accuratly mark out the cut line. I eventually got it down. Left a bit of extra panel in place so that I could form the lip.


I cut 75mm in from the outter lip. this took the arch to its highest point.


New lip formed, using that oh-so specialist tool... a pair of swan neck pliers, took a bit of fettling but Im relitivly pleased with how well you can make a lip with basic tools if you take your time.


New section welded in. Welds require a little bit of a dress and then ensure theres no holes in the butt join.


Another pic from the inside. Think I might add a few stitches along the arch edge, Its nice and secure with the plug welds but every little helps right?


All just about finished. Just a little tidy up and crack on with the other side.

Its not as bad of a job as I thought it was going to be but it still took an afternoon.

Thanks for looking

David.

What type and size are those white wheels in the first couple of pics?

Cheers,

Bill

Force racing converted mini special wheels, turned into a 2 peice

Edited by Paul R on 17th Nov, 2013.

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

What are you going to be making the boot floor out of?

Looks really good, I see what you mean about your inner wings, they came out really neat!

looks great!

Looking good so far

more speed 1293 turbo mini-180bhp 171tourque@15psi

best 80's mini at mini fair 2-2013 British mini fair 2014- runner up best 80
Top ten winner at players classic goodwood
Top 55 winner @imm2014
Runner up 80's @minifair 2-2014
Auto finesse sponsors choice award @ultimate stance 2014
mini fair best 80's winner 2015

They are indeed split exactions (mini special wheels)
They were made upto 6.5x10's with black annodised outers. BUT!!! me being Mr indecisive, Im now leaning towards 13 inch wheels, so Carl may well get an order in the future... for what though, I dont know, I dont even know what colour anodise I want.

Boot floor and fire wall are going to be Aluminium, I will be throwing some swage lines in there aswell so it doesnt sound like shit.
When I had the car on the road previously the roof resonated horribly around 50mph... the speed that all country lanes are set to around here, drove me mad!
Regarding the inner wings, Im quite happy with them, except that when I uploaded the photos originally i noticed that it looks like the top of one of the radiused edges is over vertical... Im not sure if its the photo (cameras never lie... apparently) but if it is off and I dont fix it, it will most likely drive me ape shit.

Anywho, since the last update, I have done the tubbing on the N/S. Didnt get any picturs as its just the same as the ones above but in a mirror! Tempted to throw a quick layer of primer over the top of the arch though then as all 1 colour, see how neat it has come out.

And lastly, thanks for the kind words y'all.

David.

I've had a bit more done this weekend. I've been working on fitting the cage up.

Using ROPT510 from Pro formance metals. I was going to look at using T45, but this was recomended to me, tough as fook!


6m of the stuff


I started off my welding around the top of the turrets. After that I added a short section of the tube to the top, this will collect the other points of the cage and strengthen up the turret as I will be using coilovers. I'm still able to access the top of the shock mount through the middle of the tube too.


After that I set about welding in the rear stays. taking a bit longer that I would have liked. I dont have a tube notcher so I was using the angle grinder to shape it around the ackward cage points. Massive pain in the ass.


After that I set about welding in the rear cross. the 1st bar was relitivly easy, still annoying on the notching front. The 2nd bar I had to cut in the middle in order to fit upto the 1st diagonal. I had to ensure the split diagonal was perfectly straight and centred too.






Thats as far as I have got on the cage for now. I still need to weld in the harness bars and replace the lower rear stays, the latter of which, i think I dont think I have enough tube for, much to my annoyance, i think Im under 100mm too short!

After that I set about stitch welding the rear of the car. The shell has a bit of flex if I were to push on the c-piller. This was reduced greatly when I welded in the cage to the turrets. I decided to stitch the rear up to try reduce this further.


Sitched welded up the seam and roof line.


Stitched around the wheel arch tubs to rear 1/4. The tub welds have been ground down but just need a bit of linishing to smooth off before paint.

Thats as far as I have got for now, I can almost start buying stuff soon!

David.

That's a hefty looking cage!
Good stuff

I didnt get much done over the Christmas break off work but I've finally got round to adding the harness bars to the cage. Took quite some time to ensure they were level and the same height.
I still have to add the lower rear stays too.

When I tore the car down I noticed some of the cage welds were a bit shitty (to say the least) so today I was grounding down some of the more shonky looking ones, right down to the join and then weld back up.

I've also been looking at cardboard designing up the rear bulkhead. It looks like it will be a pain in the arse due to how low and far back the rear cross joints to the turrets. It will likely be made up of 3 or 4 pieces. either 1 or 2 pieces to construct the main body of the fire wall and then will use another piece on either arch to close in around the rollcage.


Thats all I got for now

Dave.

David.

After not doing anything on the shell for just about 4 months, although it seems to fly by...

I've been cracking on with the body work list whittling it down slowly.

A lot of the progress hasnt been very picture worthy as its mundain stuff like flatting down welds and blending in new panels. But I have finished up both rear 1/4's both rear arche to boot floor sections as well as the new tubs.


I got myself a Montego column aswell.

Before I cut the column to length and find its position I need to get new seats so I can weld the seat rails in the correct position as well as fit an internal pedal box.

After I ripped the shell down I noticed the rollcage welds were shocking, aweful!
I took the choice to grind back the offending welds as far as I dared

This was one of the better welds I got down, I'm happy enough to use the car now, where as before I was a little subconcious about the truly shit welding.

On the turbo minis theme, I found a bit of time to drill some holes on the under window rear 1/4 thing


I havent got a whole lot more weldy weldy body work left to do, so Im almost at the point where I have to make up the aluminium panels. So I have orderes some alloy and bought myself a swager, This'll hopefully stop the panels reasonating and make them look a little better.


and after a quick practice on some steel of unknown thickness

Hopefully when I start making the panels in aluminium I should get the bead rolling down and they will look good


Hopefully not too long till I can start throwing stuff back on it and start on the dry build

David.

Got a bit done since my last update.

I've finished off the rollcage now (I think anyway) I was short of tube to finish off the lower rear stays. Trip over to the good folk at Pro-formance metals and I picked up the tube I needed.





I also finished off the rear window panel thingy which was left unsupported and flimsy after removal of the rear seat

Not the cleanest welding, but I cant really get in there to dress the weld (plus you wont really see it)

Last weekend I finally got started at forming my aluminium panels
Taking quite a bit of time as Im no genius, but i'd like to think im getting a little better as I go along.


After spending ages marking out the dimensions on my sheet of ally and realising im shit at simple maths, I almost cocked up and cut it incorrectly.
Marked up where I need to swage, now unfortunatly these didnt turn out perfect as I would have hoped, trying to turn the handle and guide the sheet through chasing a straight line was a hassle. so its a bit wiggly in places. I've figured out if I follow the outter edge of the swage die along the marked line, it should be easier to form rather than just eyeing it to the middle of the die groove...Waffle waffle...

After a faff with working out how to bend the sheet (as it doesnt fit in the 1/2 meter bender) I ended up with this;



I still hadnt formed the top lip where it'll join the bulkhead. I needed to form the 90degree bend along the radius of the bulkhead, so its not the neatest of jobs, bit this is tucked up high and behind the dash, so it doesnt need to be picture perfect.

I've also started adding in the 1st rivets to the car... 7 down, not sure how many to go!

Bulkhead end caps




Still quite a lot of fettling to do before I have chance to rivet it in place but hopefully I will have it done by the end of this weekend.

Cheers.

David.

I've been chipping away at finishing the front bulkhead in the evening of the past week. I have finally managed to get this done today.



Here, I have made the main body of the bulkhead, although the bottom of the bulkhead isnt flush to the shell, it pushed against easily.



This is where I have tapped the aluminium down against the turbo bulkhead box. I have also marked up the bulkhead every 30mm and started drilling...

It was about this time that I gave up (for one of the evenings last week) after snapping 2 drill bits and gashing my finger after the drill snatched and put my finger into a bit of my body work.



Here's the completed bulkhead. Where you see in the 1st photo that the end caps for the bulkhead arent against the inner wings due to the shape. The end caps were bent and riveted into position.



You can see where the end cap continues up to the scuttle panel. It's not attached in this area by any solid means, (I didnt want any rivets on the outside of my scuttle ha!) The gaps will be sealed up with tiger seal or similar sealant which should ensure it doesnt budge.



Can you see where I ran out of rivets? Ok... it doesnt look the neatest from here, but it will be covered by a dash board... soo... Im not overly fussed.



I have also started in roughing out where to fit the boot floor. I wont swage this till I know for sure where the fire wall will start or where the fuel tank will sit.

I have had a quote for a custom fuel tank to fit in the space provided. Just need to see if I want to go ahead with it.

David.

Still running under steam and a bit of entusiasm. I have been carrying on with putting bits on.

So with my fuel tank on order, almost (and knowing the size its going to be) I was able to make a cardboard mock up, it allowed me to position the tank on the floor and then get the correct positions of the swages on the floor.



I had to ensure the tank wouldnt clash with where I'm planning on putting the firewall as well.

Happy enough with the position I went ahead and marked up.

So following from doing my bulkhead where I ended up with wiggly swage lines, I thought a bit harder about how to form these lines straight and in the correct position. If anyone else is looking for advice on swaging lines, I would say, get your desired position for your swage's penned down on the sheet of metal. However in order to be able to follow a straight line easier, I measured 1/2 the width of the die and added on the die wall. I offset marked this on my sheet and scored a line to follow. Doing this I was able to look down the outside edge of the die and along the sheet to keep it true. I also employed the use of a friend to turn the handle while I supported the sheet and guided it along the line I previously marked.

I ended up with this...



I have left a swage toward the back as this is where the rear firewall will sit and rivet to.

You will also see the the swages' in the middle of the boot have breaks in at the edges. The edges of the fuel tank will sit in these gaps. I just thought it would look and sit a little bit better once the tank is in place (and nothing will get lost under there)



The hole in the floor, drilled, primed and painted. Ready to fill the gap



After annihilating my hands with many rivets!

I'm happy with it! one issue I would point out is at the heel board end it was a little bowed in places. I could have corrected this if I had spent a bit more time on the seat base steel work. It's not hugely noticable though so I'm still happy.





I also started work on the fire wall, but this's still very much a work in progress. Pictures will be shown once its completed and in place.

Thanks for reading.

David.

what thickness ally did you use dude?

Got mine made out of 2mm at the minute with no swages and it's pretty solid, but thinking I could go thinner and add swages instead.

I went for 1.2mm simply because I saw Paul mention on here somewhere that its what he recomended.

I was thinking after I did the front bulkhead I could have got away with thinner, the pannel didnt add any stiffness to the area and really was only there to seal up the gap.
The boot floor, i'm happy with the thickness, I certainly wouldnt want to go thinner seeing as It will need to support at very least 30kg's in fuel weight.
Rear bulkhead, Im just starting and I think 1.2 is about right again, it's not going to add stiffness to the shell in reality as the cage is there for that, but It just seems about right.
I think 2mm might be quite difficult to work with, certainly with a bead roller, it's rated upto 1.4mm aluminium (1.2mm steel)

David.

Im getting things a little more complete now, starting to look a little better.

After the completing the boot floor previously, I moved onto doing the rear fire wall/bulkhead. Turned out to take a bit longer than I anticipated ha!

I decided to make the bulkhead in 4 parts



Heres roughing out the shape of the 1st section. To start off with, I made card board templated and transfered it over to the ally, with additional material added on for the flanges for me to rivet it in by.


I didnt take many inbetween pics, but heres the 1st section shaped up, swaged and riveted in. The turrets all painted behind. The fire wall sits very close to the bulkhead and to ensure it doesnt get missed in paint where its pbscured, I threw over some paint.

Onto the 2nd part.

CADing up the 2nd part of the bulkhead. It was a massive pain in the arse! trying to manipulate the card into place while it was falling all over.
I decided to attach the top edge of the fire wall to a section of the original bulkhead/parcel shelf which I had left under the window. The sides of the bulkhead were folded in the other direction (to boot side) these sections I decided to use an adhesive to keep in place, opting for a sikaflex (which is currently still over my hands, forarms, leg and one spot under my nose which of course I just had to scratch)


Again, transfered over to alluminium.

At this point rather than going and finishing up the 2nd panel, I moved onto completing the sections that would seal in around the turrets and roll cage. These being a head ache as I couldnt just fly straight upwards as the angle of the cage diagonals clashed the proposed position of the fire wall, as you can see below.


To over come the issue, I started out CADing the required shape to close off the sections.




The pattern, triangles under the cage.


Turned out bending this into shape was another hassle...
Making both of these took up the full weekend (2 half days anyway) where I had hoped to finish the lot by Sunday.


After that was done and I knew where the closing panels were going to sit, I turned back to the fire wall top.


So with the flanges bent into the correct position, drilled, swaged and the body painted, it got riveted in.




all gaps sealed with sikaflex and start of seam sealing.

Always nice to fill in the huge gaps and when its looking a little more mini like.

Cheers!

David.

I havent got so much progress on this done recently,
I have started fitting the doors but there's not a lot to show yet. found that either my doors are the wrong shape of the hole in the cars the wrong shape. which im thinking is the latter as my old steels doors ended up taking the paint off the shuts.
I have however been buying some things.


Bought some nice DSN hinges, little point fitting bulky heavy hinges to the fiberglass carbon doors.


Also some windows from ACW windows, got the hard coated fronts and grey tinted rears with rivet in rear 1/4's these again currently dont fit so will need trimming to fit the gap.

After a day trip to IMM I got some more stuff, in an aim to get the rolling chassis and body work completed I got a load of window seals and rebuild kits.

Got upper arm rebuilds, radius arm rebuilds and weather strips and seals to help fit the windows in the doors.


Trip over to Curley I picked up on the day a fg boot lid and miglia arches with some more stuff on order.

And more excitingly I got an order over with KAD

Got myself some 6pot big brakes with the DS3000 pads, alloy front flanges and front uprights with ball joint spacer. internal linkage kit and still waiting for the rear disk kit as they didnt have any gold ones in stock to match my fronts.


KAD alloy uprights, uses the metro ball joints so no more shimming, you can also see the bottom ball joint with the spacer fitted to bring the lower arm back to a good angle.


And just because I had to have a test fit, I threw them together to see what they looked like!

I want to get on and get these on now! but know I have a load of work 1st they'll probably be on display in my room for a good while yet.

Good news is, I have just started a new job involving shift work, so I should have more time to do some actual work.

Dave.

David.

Oooooo dont ya just love buying all the goodys :) even if it does sit in the bedroom for ages (im also guilty of this )

Indeed... I might nice shelf to set them on till they are required!

David.

My room back at my mums once looked like a trader stall! Haha, ive only seen them ball joint spacer things on that guy from miniworlds are they just to put the bottom arms back in the place they would be before lowering? And im liking them hubs way too much i may have to treat myself! How many pennys are they!!?

Ooooooffttt!! Just had a sex wee!

In the 13's at last!.. Just