Mayfair rebuild - K1100 Turbo
Turbo Mini Forums

I've bought a few bits from Dave Kimberley in the past. Very good service.

Well, it's been a while!

I've just got back in to doing garage work after a ton of new house jobs have taken over my life for the last few months!

I've started practising welding techniques again using some kindly donated offcuts from a local steel fabricators. I'll get some shots up later of my attempts but I'm a bit concerned the metal I'm welding isn't mild steel

Is there an easy way to tell if i'm welding stainless, other than the colour of the sheet?

see if its magnetic ?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Ah good point Robert, I'll dig out a fridge magnet and give it a prod. Thanks

Some stainless is magnetic though I believe, spent a little time working in a press shop and there's two different types depending on the customers requirements.

Good progress mate, nice to see the fat man lift still in action. FYI our Scooby runs a stock td04 at around 280bhp..

I'd be interested in the feedback on ABS also as I need to order soon.

Carl, cheers for the info. I'm pretty sure it is stainless as there is no surface rust on the stock at all and I've had it for a couple of months now, unless it has been coated with something?

Cheers Kean, the lift has done me well! Not sure what you mean by ABS, are you referring to the ATB diff? I did look at home brew ABS a long time ago but quickly packed it in when I saw what was involved!

Well, the material is magnetic. Suggesting that it may be some coated mild steel, or a certain type of stainless as Carl mentioned earlier...

Here are some photos of it, along with my welding attempts:

www.weldingtipsandtricks.com
the videos are really good

That sir, is not rust, it is the progressive mass reduction system

http://aseriesmodifications.wordpress.com/

Thanks Sir Yun, I spent a good long while on migwelding.co.uk learning about the various tips and tricks they had to give, I think my main issue is putting them in to practice! I'll have a peruse through the site you mentioned too

I worked out in the end the sheet was just coated with a protective layer, it is indeed mild steel :)

Anyway, a build update at last!

I've got the shell in a position I'm happy for it stay now, so I've removed the column/wheel and the pedal box. This has allowed me to address some rot that was beginning to show around the master mounting points on the bulkhead as the studs from the pedal box were getting in the way before. I've now ground it back to a suitable finish and covered it with etch primer to stop it rusting over before I get to paint it properly.

After some clean up with the grinder:


And after paint:




I also started work on the shock mounts as I knew before I even took them off that they would be rotten right through, and guess what:


A little worse than I was expecting! The passenger side wasn't too bad however, but it will still need chopping out and replacing as it's gone very thin were rust has started to creep in:



And the shock mounts which are toast:


So, for most of this afternoon and evening, I've been working on repairing the driver side hole in the cross member where the shock mount sat, and it now looks like this, albeit not finished:


I've thrown some primer on it for now until I can get to it tomorrow and finish up the surface and multiple weld chases I had to do because the metal was so thin! It may not have helped that my replacement plate didn't quite cover the hole... Still, it's come out a million times better than I had envisaged before I started!

Hopefully further updates in the week as I finish the driver's side off and start on the passenger side

I will add, I am very happy these welds will not be visible when the car is fully finished, I am just planning on my welding skills improving before I get to visible stuff... famous last words!