Replacing front wings and nose panel

[MiniGene]

In a couple of months I'll be springing on two new front wings and a nose panel on my 77.  Does the part of each wing that butts up agains the scuttle panel get welded there?  If so do you weld it from underneath?  I have the Haynes Mini Restoration book and that part doesn't say anything about that.

Also, when replacing those three front pieces is it best to line them up OFF the car, weld them up, and then attach the whole assembly to the car as one unit?

Thanks guys!

[94touring]

There are a couple welds up there along the skuttle to break when removing, but a real bitch to weld back on because you have to get to them from the bottom.  On my MPI when I replaced the wings I had a hair line crack form along that seam in the seam sealer/paint.  Maybe it was due to not getting a weld in there, or maybe it was just that the gap on the wings I had weren't the best fit and there was too much sealer.  On my pickup I've decided to buy skuttles, weld them to the wing first, then fit into place and go from there. 

When you go to replace the nose and wings you'll want to line them up on the car and get things tweaked how you want it.  Clamp it all together and fine tune your fit.  Sometimes its tricky.  Then you can weld off the car and install in one shot.  I did that to the red car on the top of the website and it worked great.  I even painted the backside of it while I had it off.     

[MiniGene]

Thanks Dan.

Okay, so you're recommending getting at least a couple of welds under there to attach the wing to the scuttle.  Sounds good.  I haven't stuck my head underneath there to see how hard it will be but when the time comes I'll give it a good try.

So when you put it all together you clamped the wings to the nose piece, clammped it to the car, tweaked the hell out of it until you were happy, unclamped it from the car, welded the wings to the nose piece, then welded the whole assembly to the car.  Did I get that sequence right?  How long did the whole process take you?

[94touring]

Yes your sequence is right.  And again you don't have to do it that way, but I've done it and thought it worked good.  Probably took a few hours and someone to help shove and pull to get it where I wanted it while I started welding.  The time it takes will also depend heavily on how well the wings align.  Sometimes they fit great, sometimes not so great. 

[MiniGene]

Yeah, I've heard that the cheaper replacement wings are kind of a pain in the ass as they don't fit too well without a lot of 'help.'  I was planning on getting the higher quality (more expensive) ones to help make the process easier.

I'll bet it helps the process go smoother if I go into it knowing it is going to take a lot of patience.  I probably shouldn't drink too much beer while trying to do this either.