Massive, uneconomical, rusty project
Turbo Mini Forums

I've already got 2 project cars and my Mini was my daily driver. I always knew it was rusty but I've managed to get it through the MOT for the last 4 years without any major problems. The MOT was due in April and it really wasn't looking good as holes had started appering in the driver's doorstep. I tried to repair it but there was nothing thick enough to weld to.

I decided I'd replace the doorstep as well as the inner and outer sills as it had oversills and the inner sill was badly patched. I came to removing the door only to find the top hinge studs to be welded to the inner wing along with the shims, also the A panel was attached to the A post with nothing other than silicone sealer, it started to occur to me that this may not be a quick repair. I removed the wings and made the decision I would repair the whole thing properly. I knew it had a lot of bodged repairs and I'd planned to reshell it but I've decided to repair it as it's not only cheaper but I can select whatever panel combination I want. I've bought too many panels to list but some are unavailable at the moment which is making things a bit difficult.

For the benefit of anyone who didn't see my engine build this is what the car used to look like
DSC00360 by Matt4475, on Flickr
DSC00639 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0034 by Matt4475, on Flickr

I stripped the whole car in 4 days while working a 70 hour week which I was quite pleased with. I dropped the whole front subframe out but I don't think I'll be putting it back in this way
IMG_0035 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0056 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Then it was onto sorting out the rust, this was the state of the doorstep/ A post before any cutting
IMG_0055 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Doorstep removed
IMG_0057 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0058 by Matt4475, on Flickr
There is nothing left of the outer sill. it is really shocking what oversills do, I simply hate the things. The inner sill had 3 layers of patches on in some places and I could hardly cut through it all. If it wasn't for the bodged repairs this would be a much easier project as everything seems to be welded to everything else. I've replaced the doorstep so far.
IMG_0059 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0060 by Matt4475, on Flickr
It's the only non genuine panel I'll be using. It was too long and the curves around the door frame don't line up so it'll need a lot of filler to get it looking right.

I've just removed the oversill, it really is bad inside
IMG_0090 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0091 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I hope to have the inner sill off soon but the patching around the crossmember and door bin is making it a little difficult.

I've also had to buy another car so I can still get to work, you can read about that here
http://www.audifans.net/ftopict-32490.html if you're interested.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

the dreaded oversill!

thats the worst case i have ever seen

as rotten as a crab!

I'll need to dig out the photos of mine then!

It really is bad, the longest piece of the original sill was about 4 inches long and not attached to anything. It's a 1990 car so it's not that old but it looks as though it's spent most it's life at the bottom of the sea!

Good luck Flame Red

Pedro Silva

http://miniciados.blogspot.pt/

Ouch !

Reshell is not cheaper ?

Rusty by nature

There is a cheap shell for sale here that would be a much better bet!

On 5th Sep, 2011 Vegard said:
I stand corrected. You should know

that's bad. makes me feel pretty lucky with the state of my sills under the over sills...

yet another over sill victim, join the club, the over sill inventor should be shot or left to rust !!!

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

I've made a bit more progress, although I've still not even got one sill on.

I found some rust on the floor under the cross member, I thought it was solid untill it fell away as I cut near it with an air saw! I made a repair and spot welded it to the cross member
IMG_0098 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've seam welded around the outside but I haven't got a picture of that.

I also repaired the end of the cross member where the patching on the inner sill had been welded to it.
IMG_0096 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I don't know why I did it that way really, it took a long time and it would have been quicker and looked a lot better if I'd just cut the end off the cross member and made a whole new piece. It will be covered by the carpet anyway so isn't really a problem.

Although I had thought the front floor pan needed a small repair I found after drilling out the spot welds and removing a small section that the toe board under the flange was in a very poor state. I also found that it had rusted through behind the subframe mounting so I ended up cutting out quite a large section
IMG_0102 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I had to make a repair for the toe board and the reinforcing plate for the subframe mount as that had rusted away at the bottom as well.
IMG_0103 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I ended up buying a floor pan repair which I hadn't planned on doing but making it would have been difficult. I've cut that to size and started to spot weld it to the toe board repair.
IMG_0104 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I'm now waiting for some longer arms for the spot welder so I can finish that.

I've removed the rear closing panel which was difficult as it's attached on so many sides in an enclosed space. I'm just about ready to fit the sill repair section now. It's taken a long time to get this far though

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Looks like you are doing a proper job of repairing it, keep up the good work.

I've now repaired the roof gutter, it looked like this but I've been putting off sorting it out.
IMG_0105 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0106 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I've got a whole body side for the passenger side so I cut a piece of the gutter from that side to use as a repair on the drivers side. and welded it on.
IMG_0107 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0108 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Ground down and linished
IMG_0109 by Matt4475, on Flickr
It'll need a little filler on the underside as it had rusted there as well but not enough to make cutting it out a sensible option.

Sorry about the picture quality but taking and uploading pictures from an Iphone is just so much easier.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

its coming together; i can sympathise as mine needed all this and then some so keep going - it will be worth it in the end

Nice to see a proper repair being done.

I've finally got the drivers side sill, doorstep and floor finished so I moved on to the passenger side. It's clearly had an accident repair in the past which has been very badly done. I removed the oversill to find another oversill, it's also got 2 doorsteps. So it's got 3 outer sills, 2 inner sills and 2 doorsteps, I can see why the sill trim didn't fit now. No pictures yet but I just wanted to share that.

Time for some pictures
Drivers side floor finished
IMG_0115 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0114 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Today I've spent 3 hours removing the bodyside, it had been hit in the side some time in the past. I can see now it was hit around the front of the rear wheel arch close to the subframe mounting point. There are 2 creases in the inner sill and a crease in the first oversill. To repair it someone has welded a plate over the inner sill, a doorstep over the doorstep and another oversill ontop of the oversill. There is also a wheel arch welded under the original wheel arch and a quarter panel repair lap welded on and covered in filler as well as loads of other small patches. The B post was left bent out of shape and the door bin had been hammered to somewhere near its original shape.
After drilling the spot welds where possible then lots of cutting, grinding, prying and finally resorting to an air chisel, I ended up with this.
IMG_0116 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0117 by Matt4475, on Flickr
A couple of pictures of the state of what was underneath
IMG_0118 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0119 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I'd like to get on with preping the seams for the new panel but next door are sitting out in their garden and I think I've probably made them suffer enough for one day.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

o my fairplay good luck

Body side is finally fitted, I thought it would be easy but of course it wasn't. After wondering why it wouldn't fit all the way round I took some measurments to find that somewhere between the front and rear wheel arch there is 9mm missing. I've lined the panel up against all the bits I know to be original and correct and I just hope that when I replace the sills it all falls into place and my car ends up the same length both sides.
IMG_0121 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I am quite enjoying learning some body working skills but I think I would have been better off buying a new shell.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

Good work, gives me some inspiration for my next project!

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

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



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

cracking :) good skills

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Nice to see a car being repaired properly. A new shell is the easy option, but you won't get the satisfaction of seeing it finished.

Impressive keep up the good work.

I've cut the assortment of sills off, it's shocking how much it all weighs so I should be able to make the car a bit lighter without having to drill holes in everything.
IMG_0124 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I found the toe board had rusted through behind the subframe mounting like it had on the other side. It was generally in better condition though which meant I could leave the reinforcing plate in place which made drilling for the subframe a lot easier.IMG_0125 by Matt4475, on Flickr
IMG_0127 by Matt4475, on Flickr
Once that was in place I replaced a section of the floor pan, it was in quite good condition on this side but it still neaded doing.
IMG_0128 by Matt4475, on Flickr
I'm back in work tomorrow so progress will no doubt slow to its usual pace again now.

Edited by Flame Red on 11th Jul, 2017.

good work - you don't do things by half do you!