Mini ST Hotrod

[MiniDave]

I decided to replace the rear panel in it's entirety, based partly on a recommendation from Dan - who pretty much knows about these things! I had another way to go , and I had panels for either choice....

First choice was to simply cut off the bottom, rusty bits and replace them with a panel made for that repair, in hindsight it might have been easier than drilling out all the spot welds and cleaning up that mess, but like I said....I think replacing the whole panel will give a better final result. I hope so at least.

1st pic is of the three repair panels, next pic shows the whole a panel removed.....I need to clean up any left over seam sealer and I'll need to get the flap disc after the remaining bits so I have a smooth seam to weld to. I also need to clean the e-coat off the joining surfaces of the new panel, and spray a little weld thru primer, then I'll be ready to weld er up.

I left a little at the top on the c pillars, I'll clamp the panel up in place then slice that for a clean joint.

[MiniDave]

1st test fit of the new panel....still a little trimming and clean up to do before I drag out the welder. I had hoped to get it welded on today cause the weather's been perfect.....mid 70's and dry. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain!......I also need to make a thousand holes to plug weld thru!

[MiniDave]

I've been going slow on this project, mostly because I don't really know what I'm doing! 

Also, I don't want to weld something up only to have to tear it apart again, so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing this in a logical order that will all come together in the end.

So I marked where I need to drill holes to plug weld the rear panel on, basically everywhere there wasn't a spot weld from before.

Then I decided it would be a good idea to clamp up the valance panel to make sure everything was square and fit the rear panel and the rest of the body. Before I did that I decided to weld the boot floor edge on first, that stiffens up the valance panel and gives something solid to weld the back panel to.

So I drilled a million little holes to plug weld the two together, bolted them up using the bumper attachment holes and filled in the holes with plug welds. So far so good, it still fits up nicely.

Next I needed to weld in the closing panels, but first I had to modify them as they no longer can go where they did originally - I had to make room for the subframe to be able to go in and out. Once this stuff is all welded together on the car I'll build some bolt-in brackets for the lower part of the subframe to attach to these panels. One end is done and I'll get started on the other later today.

This sheet metal is pretty thin so I have to be careful welding it together that I don't blow holes in it....so far I've been lucky. Once everything is welded up on the valance I'll clean up all the welds and give it a coat of weld thru primer before I attach it to the rear panel. I also need to cut out the left side wheel opening and remove the inner wheel well.

Then the next thing will be to weld those inner wheel wells in and tie it all back to the rear panel.

From there I'll move forward to repairing the floors and sills. I've got a really long way to go on this project, and I just need to get on with it!

[94touring]

You certainly have more than enough plug welds lol.  Because of the strength of a plug weld vs the factory spot welds if anything I space them out a little wider.  I did get a chuckle looking at the valance closing panel where you have 8 beefy plug welds and the factory uses 3 wimpy spot welds.  But, it's certainly not coming apart!! Usually anytime I'm done with welding a car back together I pity anyone who might have to try and break it down on some other restoration 50 years from now. I've had cars in my shop where someone or some shop used their own personal spot welder to add sills or front end panels and I could literally peel them off by hand. 

[MiniDave]

Ha!

I pop one in about every inch but you're right.....it's a bunch!

Now I have to go and grind all the nubs down on the valance so that it will fit up tightly against the rear panel. But first I'm going to cut out the other wheel well and opening, then I'll start welding it all together.

At least, that's the plan!

[Red Riley]

That ain't going nowhere!

[MiniDave]

It's been a month and 10 days since MiniTec got my axles and said turn around time would be a week.....yeah, right......

Today they called me back after I enquired about them - haven't touched them of course....they may build decent stuff but their customer service sucks majorly.

They wanted to know what engine I was using so they could supply new CV joints......even tho I sent explicit instructions with the axles with complete descriptions, measurements and instructions on what I needed done. <Sighs>

Now I'm concerned about what I'm going to get back, assuming I do get them back someday....or if I may be starting over from scratch with a local machinist.

[MiniDave]

Surprise! Today I got a note from MiniTec that my axles are on their way to me......they even sent a tracking number.

I have been working on the body, lots of cleanup, fitting, measuring, adjusting, more adjusting, thousands of holes drilled and swarf cleaned off but now it's all welded on again.

The back panel is done except for the c panel joint which is just tacked for now. The inner wheel wells are fitted and welded in too.

I've got the valance panel all ready to weld on but I'm not sure I can get the subframe in and out with it in place. I'm going to bolt it back on now that the back panel is solid and see what happens. I do still need to add a bracket for the inner fender brace between the wheel well and the parcel shelf panel. That will be pretty easy to weld in once I make them.

If the subframe will clear the rear valance then I can go ahead and weld it in place then build the brackets for the lower subframe mounts. Then I'll need to grind all the nibs off and give those spots a little primer.

Next project after all this - floors and sills. before I can tackle those I need to clean all the sound deadening off the floors. I have a tool for that.....

[MiniDave]

Today I'm grinding all the nubs off from my welds, it takes a while as I want to be careful not to damage the adjoining panel or grind thru the lip I just welded.

Like Dan says, 40 grit rolocs work pretty fast on them, but I just ran out so I need to find some more. I wonder if HF carries them? (Edit: Yes, they do - $4.50 for 3 in 36, 60 80 or 100 grit.)

I also got my axles today....another piece of the puzzle

[94touring]

You can get a 25 pack off Amazon for about $17 too. Ironically the guy who's car this was worked for 3M and gave me boxes of sandpaper as well as sanding disc for die grinders.  This was a decade ago by now and I'm still using the supply he gave me! 

[94touring]

Also, any ID on those CVs?  That's the type of thing I like to cross reference so I can buy a set on my own if needed without waiting 2 months for minitec to send me some.

[MiniDave]

The outer CV joints are Miatas, the inners will be the Ford ones of course. All the running gear on the subframe is Miata, hub bearings, disc rotors and brakes (that I haven't bought yet.) I wasn't sure they would be beefy enough, but they look plenty big! The wait of course was for them to machine the ends of the axles to fit the Miata CVs, getting the new CVs is as simple as going to Ebay or Amazon.

I'm undecided on rear calipers - I find "refurbished" ones from good sources easily, new calipers are difficult to source and three times as expensive, but given what's going on politically I figure I'd better get them ordered really soon, whichever way I go.

Nice connection at 3M, too bad he's out of the loop now.

Yes, I found the sanding discs all over Amazon, I bought a 50 pack for $20!

Still waiting on the part for my hole punch, I'm going to make a zillion holes over the next month or so, it will be a lot easier to use that tool than drilling them!

[MiniDave]

Still don't have the parts for my air punch,, tho they show them shipped out via USPS on March 27th......

Today I cut a chunk out of the old back panel to fill in the hole for the fuel filler. The panel is curved in two directions so there was no way I thought I could make a piece that would fit correctly.....Dan suggested cutting it out of the other side on the old panel and it fit beautifully!

[MiniDave]

Finished welding in the fuel filler hole.....lots more welding to do. Next up , finish the rear valance panel, then more on to the floors. Still don't have the parts for my hole punch, 20 days and counting. I'll call them later today and see what they have to say.....last week they assured me I'd have them by Friday.

[MiniDave]

So I called Astro Tool again today, and while they still insisted the parts had been sent out on the 27th, I decided to just not mess with it further - I also looked at my bank and saw that they hadn't charged me for the parts. So I asked if they could just sell me a mew tool, and maybe cut me a deal on it. She said they didn't sell direct to the customer, but since this had been going on so long she'd make it happen, and sell it to me for their cost and no shipping charge. I said ok and gave her my CC number again....

That was at about noon our time, at 5:30 a neighbor knocked on my door, holding an envelope - you can guess what it was! Yep....turns out the postal carrier had delivered it to the wrong house - a week ago!
He was a little lazy about getting it up to me, but the envelope did show a postal date of Mar 27th.

I put the one part in but it didn't fix it, so if they've already sent it I'll just keep the new one and get on with the project.

I had ordered everything I thought could give trouble the first time I called, so just as an exercise I may go ahead and take it all apart and see if I can figure out what's wrong. It sorta works, it clamps down hard, but they the jaws won't release all the way unless I disconnect the air hose......

The tool owes me nothing at this point, I bought it about 35 years ago and used it steadily for about 4 years building my Jag, so if I replace it now I can't complain.

Edit: The postal date on the envelope was March 27th, just as they said.

[94touring]

Finished welding in the fuel filler hole.....lots more welding to do. Next up , finish the rear valance panel, then more on to the floors. Still don't have the parts for my hole punch, 20 days and counting. I'll call them later today and see what they have to say.....last week they assured me I'd have them by Friday.

I would recommend welding the other sections from the back side. Minimal grinding required.  Work smarter not harder!

[MiniDave]

Can't do that on the C pillars, as they have a brace welded in there....

[94touring]

I had cut the line below the brace on Brants car, but I don't recall without seeing where the brace is on later shells.

[Willie_B]

Just saw this online. Probably not work for your hotrod as no room for the drive axles.

[MiniDave]

That's pretty cool!

No battery box?

[MiniDave]

Work plods along, today I built the corner lower brackets for the subframe. I bought some flanged nuts to weld into the sheet metal so I can unbolt them when I want to remove the subframe. Next I'll weld the rear valance panel into place, then I can bolt these in and try the rest of the cage for fit.

I also acquired a sport pak arch from Dan to try, it fits perfectly but the inner edge return will rub on the tires unless I remove it, which might make the arch flimsy. I need to bolt a tire back on, remove the temp brace and reinstall the shock so I can see how far up into the arch the tire goes, and how far out it sticks.  Ima give the arches some more thought before I do anything. Plenty of other work yet to do anyway......

[MiniDave]

So, after making the rear brackets and marking where the holes should go on the rear valance, I dropped it out and welded in some flange nuts. I made a little bracket so that I could set the height just below the surface of the valance panel and tacked them in place, then went around and tacked the whole nut in place. After that I ground off the nibs so I'd have a flush surface for the bracket to mate up to.

That done I bolted everything back into the car and to my complete surprise it all fit and bolted up!

The back end of the subframe was only bolted to the parcel shelf, I needed to get these brackets in so I could unbolt it from the parcel shelf and add in the top parts of the subframe so I can see how it all is going to fit.

Next up I'll pull the valance back off and make sure I've cleaned up all the weld nibs and get it ready to finally weld into the car.

I also went over to Northern Tool and bought a couple of trailer fenders, with the idea that I may use those to form an inner fender from the q panel out to the sport pack flares, that should give plenty of room for tires - but I'll need to do some careful measuring first. If it looks like it will work I'll split it down the middle and have one for each side.

The fronts will be stock 13"X6" wheels so std sport pak arches will work there, in the rear I'm looking at either 13X7 or maybe even 13X8 wheels.