Hey friends - Ive really been enjoying this site the past several months and figured it's about time to contribute. Although she needs some work, the condition is light years better than my first mini (perhaps a common theme). I picked up the car in Jan 2015 during a snow storm in Muskegon MI and got about 5 miles before deciding to tow her home. Definitely the scariest ride of my life... Anyway Im debating a restoration but wanted to sort some details first. The VIN is not accurate - does this really matter? I believe the car was imported by Turkys in SC (based on the POs map quest directions) and perhaps there something funny happened with the VIN. Any one have experience with them?
From what I can tell the car is a 68 and the engine / gear box had been exchanged at some point. Besides the mediocre respray - there was an accident at the driver rear corner which resulted in a boot lid replacement and a poor repair on the upper corner at the rear wind screen. I stripped the interior and found several pockets full of change from NZ with the youngest coin from the early 80s. The car has front drum brakes and was converted to a dry suspension (with springs) at some point.
Send me some questions I'm happy to discuss what I've gotten myself into. Clearly there are panel replacements in my future. Looking for insight into how big this box of worms really is.
The car runs and drives and Im happy with the car regardless. Its the parking ability, drive thru in reverse, general driving around, split windows, the timeless shape etc. After I sold my first mini I realized I was a lifer - glad to be back in the game and part of this community! Do you ever walk up to you mini and just look at it for a bit before getting in?
Some problem areas aka the details
and a bit more
My car is a Racing Green special edition, it's titled in Kansas as a '72. I wouldn't try to sell it in California, but other than that I'm not concerned as I have a clean title and it matches the vin on the car.......
Welcome!
Pop us some pciture from Under the Bonnet!
Nice little run about =! Tear it down, thats a LONG project.. How long do you want to go with no mini??
Decisions Decisions!
July 2013!!! Dont forget your First Mini! Time flies!
Welcome to RM!!
Quote from: jedduh01 on May 17, 2018, 10:47:37 AM
Nice little run about =! Tear it down, thats a LONG project.. How long do you want to go with no mini??
That is no lie. I'm in the middle of this and miss the car every derivable day without it. It's going to be spectacular when it's done, but worth the wait? Only time will tell.
Welcome!
Hello everyone. At some point this thread has to be revived and today is that day! Ive been working pretty consistently the past year on this project. Before the update, id like to thank everyone on this forum who has contributed with photos of your project. This site, and your work specifically has given me the confidence to tackle this project. I am a true beginner and you've help me a ton.
The shell has been completely stripped, sand blasted, and coated with epoxy primer. Each corner of the car requires work. So here it goes.
I started with a front subframe repair which i'll skip the details unless anyone wants to hear/see it. For the shell, I decided to work on what I thought would be to be the most straight forward repair and work up the complexity as the project progressed. This would be the passenger side front floor repair, inner wing repair, inner hinge panel replacement, outer sill replacement, and outer wing replacement. Somehow I was able to get the inner hinge panel off without sacrificing the outer A panel which was in surprisingly keepable shape. Here's where im at with some historical photos for reference. I was able to keep the door step in place and after a test fit of the door the inner hinge panel, jacking points, slinger brackets, and outer sill will go on. The outer wing will go on when the driver outer wing goes on, in attempt to maintain gaps... maybe.
Feedback welcome.
Nice job on the floor corner repair.
Glad to see you back again!
I'm in the process of tackling a similar floor repair, so well done on that....you've got a good start on your project. Are you going back the same color?
Did you mention where you are located?
Afternoon all, waiting for a couple of bits before the passenger outer sill can go on so i started some demo on the drivers side. Whipped off the outer sill and outer wing. Still have to clean up the seams. Looks like some floor repair at the heal board is in order - which seems impossible to access at the moment. Might have to take out the companion bin when the time comes. At some point the seam between the outer wing and scuttle was lead loaded - does anyone do this anymore upon reassembly?
Thanks for the words - Touring.
Dave - we're located in central VA. Upon disassembly of the dash there appeared to be original paint, which i quite like. the current plan is to go back with this color. With the help of some indifferent eyes we think bermuda blue is the closest match.
Installed the passenger side Inner A hinge panel, the jacking plate, slinger brackets, and the outer sill. I spent about 3 weeks playing with a spot welder and unfortunately couldn't achieve the desired results, so i plug welded the seam along the outer sill. The passenger repair is complete save the outer wing which will go on in parallel with the drivers side. The next project will be to complete the same repair on the more damaged drivers side. Appreciate the support from you.
Drivers side toe board repair and repair floor panel test fit.
Coming along :13:
Drivers side floor in. Drivers side inner hinge panel removed.
Drivers side floor and inner wing repair complete. Turned out substantially better than the passenger side. Next up inner hinge panel installation then post repair, replace outer A panel, and door step removal.
Hope mine turns out as well as yours did! Well done.... :13:
Progress on the car took a back seat for a couple weeks in favor of a few projects for burning man this year. Drivers side inner hinge panel is installed, drivers scuttle corner repaired, drivers side jacking plate, and crossmember installed. The external hinge holes from the outer A panel were used to align the inner hinge panel. After a couple of tacks the door was fitted and to my surprise it lined up. Good enough for my car anyway. I made the mistake of thinking the crossmember would be "pretty straight forward" and it turned out a total PITA. The original crossmember had cracks and tears where the seat mounting bracket attaches, so i fabricated internal stiffner plates.
Wow, you are making real progress!
You mentioned burning man... provided I get the days off I requested at work will be going also. I should have everything setup for it, just a few additional things to order once I know I'm going.
Work on the car continues. Its amazing how some new metal can really get you excited about the project again. Drivers side companion box removed and drivers side door step installed - still some cleaning up and fiddling to do before primer. To double check the gaps on the door step I fitted the drivers side door and guess what? didn't fit. classic. I must not have paid close enough attention, fell victim to confirmation bias, or something moved from when I test fit the door after the inner a panel was installed. The door fit well enough to ensure the door step gaps were within my tolerance band. Next weekend ill tackle the door alignment and post some pics for feedback on the gaps.
At least you did another test fit! Imagine trying to install the door after it's been painted and it won't fit!
Fitted both doors before getting fully carried away with further welding. The passenger door lines up quite well, however the driver's door is about 1 inch short of fully closing. The purpose of the test fit is to ensure alignment before welding the outer A panel on which is why the panel is absent during the test fit. Lets assume for the moment the outer A panel does not contribute to the "door closing problem", the issue then appears to be the angle of the inner hinge panel. The lower hinge bottoms out before the door reaches fully closed. I suspect the panel manufacturing was off or the panel distorted while welding. The door can close with some pressure, but it does flex the inner A panel outwards about 1/4" inch. Has anyone encountered a similar issue with the inner A panel? If so, how did you remedy the issue? The options i'm considering are: build a slide hammer and try bending the inner A panel outwards 1/4 inch, modify the external hinge to allow more movement, tack in the outer A panel and see if the issue persist. Any thoughts or comments would be most helpful.
Looking like you may need to undo a little of the inner A panel work and move/bend that door frame back. And depending on the rest of your frame to door fitting to the A pillar, may need to manipulate it also.
Another big weekend in the garage. Took Dan's advice and reworked the inner A panel a bit and got the door fitting well. After the door check the outer A panel was installed. Turned out really nice.
The door is a little bent though, the top collides with the arpeture just before the lower part of the door reaches fully closed. Gaps seem ok on the A pillar. To locate the interference i put some white paint on the arpeture and closed the door. a witness mark was left on the top corner of the door frame. Thinking Ill manipulate the top of the door frame and bend it outboard some. The door exhibited this behavior before the rebuild and I remember it driving me nuts so i'm looking forward to fixing it. Anyone done this type of repair before? If so, would like to hear your feedback.
That door rubbing at the top towards the front is something I dealt with on the car in the shop now. To fix it I positioned it where I could put all my body weight on one end which would bent the window frame part back so it wouldn't rub and fit the frame more evenly. I think they basically did similar tactics at the factory to get doors to fit.
Light progress on the car this past weekend. Fitted the door post boxing plate. Question for the group - would you recommend as a next step to install the outer wings or save that for the later and instead tackle the rear driver corner and boot floor repair. Is there any advantage one way or the other.
Either way, but one thing I probably should have mentioned was fit the front wings before you go welding up the A panels. It can prove to be difficult to get A panels, wings, and the front end panel to all fit. Also fit the bonnet at the same time to verify gaps. You should also fit the front subframe to the front end panel to align it all.
Afternoon everyone - fiddled with the outer wings for several hours Saturday and got them to a reasonable place for welding today. The passenger outer wing is now securely tacked in place. Would have kept going but ran out of wire. The wings in are clamped in place in the photos with the bonnet. With the wing on its looking like a Mini again!
On the way are several panels for the rear: a complete back panel, full boot floor, heel board, and some other odds and ends. Anyone know if repair panels are made for the upper parts of the B and C post - essentially the surround of the rear window.
Nice job man!
Gaps look really good. I spent a few hours with mine too and it was super satisfying to have it finally all line up.
Good morning everyone, yesterday was new panel day for me - very exciting. A complete back panel, full boot floor (w/ battery box), heel board, rear valence, and some other bits. The parts landed within a week of order at 570 GP in shipping and 350 USD in tariffs. If anyone hasn't ordered panels recently tariffs are applied at entry. A separate invoice was sent by the carrier, in this case DHL.
As I plan the rear end repair, is there an oder of operations that is recommended? Back panel first then boot floor, boot floor then back panel, both at the same time, or doesn't really matter/personal preference? Secondly, is bracing recommended before either the boot floor or back panel are removed?
Appreciate any guidance the community can offer.
Would you mind breaking the bill down? I'm still trying to compare what we're all being charged to find some consistency in the tarrifs. It's all over the map right now. Whenever I make my next big order I'd like to at least be prepared for the pain.
For your rear end...are your wheel arches still in place and the subframe attach point brackets that are on the rear arches? If so just slide the boot floor in place and bolt it to those attachment points. If not, well attach a bare subframe with trunions and clamp the whole rear end and boot floor and then begin to tack into place. Then remove subframe and get to welding.
Checked the invoices and total for the panels was 903.50 GP. The tariff was 319.93 USD. Looks like i overestimated from memory in the post above.
The arches are in and so are the brackets so thats good. Ill use that for alignment. Once I get the floor tacked in ill test fit the subframe. Kinda regretting that task as the assembly is fully built with radius arms.
Ok so after shipping the panels were about 2k USD and then call it 15% tarrif plus their $17 admin fee and a few bucks for the regulatory bill they add. Thanks!
Takes about 1.5 hours to take the arms off and put them back on I just discovered yesterday redoing some stuff for a guys subframe fyi.
Another thing you'll see since the arches are still in place, the boot floor will only fit one way with them there. So the alignment part will be very easy. You'll just want a rear end panel there to get the correct "pitch" on the boot floor, though those brackets for the subframe on the arches, provided they haven't been bent one way or the other, will set it pretty much where you need it. No real reason to mount the subframe since those brackets are already there.