hows it going? just finished uni and starting work on my mini just thought i'd share some pics of the problems i'm going to have to over come

this is the boot floor


boot floor


this was the door step



door step

rear subframe mount


rear supframe mount


jesus my welder is going to die lol later ppl

It looks like the cut it out and replace technique is in order.

Have you seen the FRA mini monocoque. Might be an idea for you. Ive seen them and they look great. Will never rust again. Ideal for Honda and bike powerplants.

Dodgy avatar by the way. Cant say i like it.

The shell looks close to scrap to me.

I have to agree with Darren about the avatar. Your last one was not great but this one is in very poor taste - IMHO of course.

Mark

lol
in my defence i'm young and experimenting, oh its only a herbel replacement ;-)

all the bits that are rusty are replaceable. just ordered £180.00 of patrs for her well 3, rear subframe , front floor panel and door step. the only thing that is worring me is the bloody weather. not good working conditions when restoring in driveway.

Paul ur a twat!! Change that shít now

I knew i shouldnt hav gave him my old camera phone

[Edited on 3/5/05 by Crazy Jay]

the rear subframe mount is the tricky bit - good luck with it!

Cheers

Mark

Bloody hell there are some negative people on here!!!!

I have tackled FAR worse than that and come out pretty much ok!

Ok, this was on much rarer cars (like my brother's Manta I200 that we rescued from scotland in a dire state, should be scrap but was one of only 14 left in RHD form!) but we replaced the floors, A-pillars, most of the rear end, and most difficult, both of the main chassis rails...........................what's more, you cannot buy rails or A-pillars any more, full stop, not even in germany where other parts are more common for them. I had to de-spot them all from another car with a knackered roof!!!!!! After this we still had to sort the engine, gearbox..........well, pretty much everything. Did it in 3 months of evenings from start to new paint, MOT and on the road............................Minis are easy, you can even buy a whole shell if you wanted to, and the shell is sooooooooo simple by comparison!!!!

If you have a tape measure and a replacement subframe, then it shouldn'y be too hard to jig it up right!

Good luck mate, remember, its a shitty slog of a job but you'll be glad when it's done that you took your time and did it right!

Agreed, that rust is trivial compared to a few mini's I've worked on. You have the luxury of being able to source every panel on a mini, both as a genuine or pattern part so even quite major rust is not too difficult to salvage. Just don't cut out too much at a time, leave enough to act as a reference point for the new panel you are welding in, otherwsie you will end up with an odd shaped car.

Out of interest, have you checked the front bulkhead where the air vents attach? They are usualy very rotten.

yeah the drivers side is completely gone a patch bout 15cmsquared has to go on

quote:

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Originally posted by mookaloid
the rear subframe mount is the tricky bit - good luck with it!

Cheers

Mark

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Get new floor pans, inner sills and extended outer sills, cut all the lot out and chock it up so it doesn't sag. If you just replace the step top they will go again within 6 months.

quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
Get new floor pans, inner sills and extended outer sills, cut all the lot out and chock it up so it doesn't sag. If you just replace the step top they will go again within 6 months.

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EEE what fun that is welding Mini's.

They are always worse than they look.......you wait till you start you will be chasing the rust till you have a new floor and door steps......but what ever you do...DON'T bang new panels on top of old rusty tat.....like the MOT donkeys do so they get you again next year

All very good advice. Certainly do a thorough job. As has been said, you will find much more rust than you bargained for, but after doing a few you get blase about that! Just strip the car completely as set on with it. Get yourself a sheet of 22swg cold rolled mild steel from your local stockists too, costs next to nothing and will be so useful for all the bits where the replacement panels "don't quite reach"!!!!!

Can recommend Mini Machine in Darlington for almost all mini panels.

Looks pretty typical for any car around here from the mid 80's back, (Ontario Canada land of the salt truck). You should have seen the 72 mgb I just stripped. Removing the seats was by hand- just grab and lift out and the floor came with it.
Good luck with it

Dale

cheers ppl. got the rear subframe and floor plan and door step today they will be going on in the next two weeks. i'll keep yous all up to date with pics and stuff. later

Worse thing about body repairs on mini/metros is after youve done it all you go down to the scrappy for a mechanical bit and all the cars you look at have got better bodywork than the one youve just fixed.
Cheers,
Bob