Well, if you're gonna go for it, I hope you'll continue to document your build, and we'll try and be more supportive.

 

bj, Thanks for the Classic Motorsports site. If I spent $5500 on a shell, like CM did, I would expect something "WAY" better than what I have. I am in mine for a very small fraction of that.

I feel like I have to get on with the sand blasting to show/find out what I have.

Please, keep the comments coming, they are a great source of motovation

*sorry for being defensive*

 

yes if you'd paid $5500 you might have expected more

BUT

a) those guys are not new to this business ... and THEY thought they had a great find

b) they Do have a Cooper .... much more desirable in the market place

c) to 'do it right' the first thing they did was media blast and surprize surprize surprize as Gomer used to say

*sorry for being defensive*

When I 'found' my 79 they guy who was selling it was VERY reluctant to sell it to me. he didn't think I had enuf experience with old cars and especially LBCs to do the car justice. This kinda pissed me off, and I almost walked away from the deal. Mind you the first time I saw the car, the owner had pulled the engine which was hanging from a tree branch by a rope cuz he didn't have a garage nor the $ rent any sort of an engine lift! But I digress.

If you are set on proceeding and making it worthwhile you can't scrimp on what you do (the Classic MS example again) all the potential value of a MK1 goes out the window if the work is botched ... strip what's left and get it media blasted then you'll know what you really have to work with.

and if you don't have welding skills I'd start looking for a class.

 

Cap'n has some good points, we don't know anything about your skill set, facilities or toolage, so - how are you set up? Have you done something like this before?


Post up some pics as you go along for sure!

 

I think Capt has excellent points. I guess the defensiveness is because I'm forming a personal bond with this mini. I wish I had this voice of reason 10 years ago when I bought my first mini and 3 years ago when I bought another basket case.

So, I have experience tearing cars down including 2 minis, but I have yet to put one back together. So, while still a total novice, I have a decent understanding on how to assess rot. And from the losses suffered from past mistakes I am extremely cautious to not repeat. I bought it with the intention to use as it for parts, but during the breakdown it was pleasant surprise after surprise. I was expecting rust through in all the typical places. The pics make it look worse. Aside from a weird fiberglass repair attempt on the rear seat and the rotten floor, I am optimistic.

I've never been successful at restoring a mini, but I've never seeked the help of a good forum. Plus, third times a charm right? I have done a fair bit of wrench turning, restoration on woodworking machinery complete tear downs and refurbishing and dabbled in woodworking as well. I am an ok mechanic when it comes to simple systems.

As far as tools, I have the essential tools/machines, good assortment of clamps and useful odds and end and I have a solid mig setup, I can do a bit of fab work, plug weld and butt weld sheet metal (verrrry slowly). I've done the research and practice, and confident I can put it into use and I have a workshop about the size of a one car garage, just longer.

When I said I'm after a driver and was going to attempt a light restoration, I didn't mean I was going to bodge anything or hide stuff with excessive bondo and fiberglass is totally out of the question. I am going to attempt most of my own paint and body work but this time I will be seeking more help. There are a bunch of kids in the UK patching up rusty old minis and doing a good job without the best of facilities. Makes my goals seem reachable.

I can see this thread as being a good source of motivation. Mostly, I am worried about side track, keeping things organized and setting manageable tasks to accomplish without getting overwhelmed. Suggestions and techniques in this area would be really helpful.

Some of my stuff.



Also have drill press, band saw, shop press, air compressor, assorted power tools, planishing hammer, shrinker/stretcher.

 

OK, looks like you're set up good, as long as you have a good place to work, you should be golden.


I did a complete restoration on an E-type Coupe - originally I pulled the engine to fix a rear main seal, then I found all the rust in the body.....4 years later I finally overhauled the engine and got it running again.


The problem with any restoration like this is once you do one part up nice like new, it makes the rest look shabby, so you fix the next part..........and it just grows from there.


With the car in this state of disassembly, I'd plan on nothing less than a complete restoration....and budget accordingly.


First move is to take everything off the body - and I mean everything. Then if you don't have a rotisserie available, I've seen a lot of guys just roll the body over onto it's side on an old mattress - that makes working on the bottom of the car so much easier. Before you media blast it you might weld in some supports, then once you've done the blast work you'll know exactly what you have. I know a guy in Ok that has a bunch of panels for sale as he closed his shop - PM me if you want his contact info.


Don't cut too much metal out at a time without welding the new stuff back in to keep the shape. If the sills are gone, weld in some angle iron to hold the door openings and such square before cutting anything away.


Good luck!

 

This guy is GB made an awsome jig for a mini pickup. Was thinking about doing something along these lines because it uses shock mounts and holds important reference points. Seen some people using 2 cheapo engine stands faced toward each other. May try to merge the two Ideas. With I thought about this before I made one out of wood.

So today I cleared out the Work space I also did some research and stumbled on wet sand blasting using a pressure washer...Looks promising. Will PM you about the panels.

jig made by "Matt@Mintec" on minipickup.org:
http://www.minipickup.org/download/f...2814&mode=view


rficalora's rotisserie on mgexp.com:
http://www.mgexp.com/phile/42/81338/...sserie_001.jpg

 

I replied to your PM....


Restoration Mini is a good site to see a number of different cars being rebuilt from all stages of need - including my Clubman.


I had a 62 Cooper S that I rebuilt too....

 

Got a patrol man to run the vin and finish my paperwork for registration. So. The obvious panels that I need to source are a Complete floor/boot floor/ boot lid/bonnet. I have a complete floor, but it is the later square tunnel stuff. I am on the fence on weather or not to go early Mk1 replica or adapt my stuff to mimic it.

Today worked around the left side(doing it in sections) and took some before/after type pics. I mostly used a variable speed buffer with a scotchbrite general purpose pad stuck to it, which worked pretty well. It allowed me to gently go through the layers and bring out alot of the farina grey and show the red oxide. Used 100 grit on a ROS to dig around the pitting.

The pics show the worst of the rust and pitting, which arent soft at all. So far, the part that concerns me the most is rain gutter. Also,haven't run into any filler up to this point and my weakish magnet setup is sticking everywhere.

* side note: is there a better place I should move this thread ?*

 

My OPINION

you can NOT clean that up with a brush on a wheel

if you don't get it blasted or dipped you are wasting your time

my opinion

said my piece more that once

 

I understand that the wire wheel will not get into the pits, that's generally understood. As far as stripping, I was going to get the whole thing blasted, but decided not to because the risk of warpage/peening/brittleness and a full chemical dip is not in the cards either. I am leaning toward spot blast and chemical removal where needed, fast etch, epoxy primer, ect (haven't worked out all the particulars) I won't avoid butt welding patches in andmight be brazing. I think every repair technique has its pros and cons. I want to try and salvage the roof, but the rail may be too far gone. I have a complete roof in excellent shape on hand if needed.

I will be addressing every accessible inch of the body, dont believe taking the whole thing to bare metal is necessary and may be counterproductive, as the original primer and paint have held up extremely well.

I wonder if ones personal take on rust is influenced by the climate they live in...living in a high salt climate or where they salt the roads in the winter.

 

Some of that might be salvageable by using a rust converter, other than that cut and patch will do the job, other than the floors.


There are plenty of MkI cars about, unless you're going for super originality, I would use whatever panels you want.


However, I see Cap'ns point too -you don't really know what you have till you get down to bare metal.


I wouldn't worry about media blasting the car, unless they go crazy with the pressure it won't hurt the sheet metal. I sand blasted the entire shell on my old Jag with no issues at all, but then I was not using one of those giant industrial blasters either.


There are companies that will come to your location and do the water blasting - I have no idea about cost - but my understanding is they do not warp panels.

 

Those e- type jags look so good. Everyone seems to want a convertible, I like the coupe better. I don't know if I could handle working on an etype

Rust repair has many schools of thought and there are modern techniques/ chemicals to help the issue. i am afraid of stripping the whole car to bare, not to hide anything. The paint in some areas is fine and no signs of corrosion. However the overall consensus is down to bare is where it's at.

I found someone selling an early floor for 59-60 minis and it would be a nice touch to keep it original because they only pressed the floors this way for 2 years. Then again it. I could modify mine to keep the look.

Either way, we are still in the introductory phase of the resto
But what I found today gives me motivation to keep it going


Any tips on what to do inbetween pane laps?

 

I'm not sure what you're asking there - pane laps?


I butt weld everything, leave a very small gap between panels and tack, tack, tack till it's all filled in, then planish the panels and grind back the welds.


I also used a lot of plug welds, since I didn't have a spot welder.


There is a lot of discussion of mig vs tig vs gas, I say use what you have and adjust accordingly.

 

I was trying to describe where the panel seams meet and are factory spot welded together.

We don't have much option for home spot welding automotive unibody panels. I wish we did the spot welder rental stuff like they do in the UK( from what I read)

 

you just need to find the right rental place

BUT

that place MIGHT be far far away.

10 years ago Home Despots rented welding units (Lincoln 110v MIG) .... I don't see them any more

 

right side worse, still plenty to work with, but still alots to replace. petrol tank is good, All panels on the side are solid, no filler. Only filler so far is on right fender, which will be cut out. Nose panel will be replaced aswell. Back panel is solid except at the bottom edge and under the right brake light.

The roof is a little better on this side, but still don't have a good plan for the rain gutter.




If anyone has suggestions on the gutter, I am all ears. I've decided I'm going to take this on, so, If anyone knows someone who is selling panels, please let me know.

 

Since i have decided to take this on Moving to Fresh "restoration"Thread :

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4107126