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A little progress today.
Before lunch I buttoned up the back end. Welded my flange panel to the trunk pan, a little hammer and dolly work, then fit the rear valance for the last time and welded it on.



Then since it wasn't raining like the weather man had promised I figured I outta cut the grass. 1 1/2 hours mid day wasted as far as the Mini goes, but it had to be done.
When are those kids coming home from college anyway?

After a cool down from mowing back to the garage. I had been putting off welding in the cowl patches. I wanted to get the hand of "just enough" heat with the .023 wire. Got the experience on the rear end, so time has come.

No big photo essay, but I cut the patch panel down a little as I wasn't going to remove the windshield and fit the patch into that channel. The metal up there is sound, so I'm not screwing with it.

Once I cut the patch to size I used it as a marking template. I scribed around the patch, then cut 3/8 inside the line.
Hammer and dolly to drop the leftover metal a little bit for the patch to rest on it. Punch 1/8 inch holes in the patch and plug weld all around.

After that little tack welds around the edge to keep the edge down.

Grind some, more hammer and dolly, a little more welding, grind some more, hammer some more and.....


Not too shabby, but I learned not to cut so close to the windshield. It's kind of a PITA to get it to fit.

Sooo, cut a little farther down on the LF cowl section and repeat all the other stuff.


Showered and chillin now.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Back on the Mini after taking last weekend off to go to a wedding.
Yesterday took a V day and picked up supplies. I needed a fresh bottle of gas and some more steel.

I was completely out of 18 gage sheet metal and didn't see any point in making small bits for the bottom of the car from 10 gage.
Headed over to Charleston Steel and picked up a 4x10 sheet for $38.88. Dern steel is up to 40 cents per lb.

Got home and spent some time staring at the Mini. I REALLY need it rolled on it's side for this next bit of work and I'd like to have it on the dolly.
I enlisted Boo and Wifey Dearest into some garage duty. A little wiggling, pulling, tugging, swearing... Just Boo and I couldn't safely lift the shell.
So we sat it on the floor and rolled it over onto the old seats.

Today I hit the garage about 9am after a few cups of coffee. Time to get to welding the outer rockers to the floor pan.
The brits spot welded it and the overlap joint was THE PERFECT HOME for rust. After all the work making new pieces I said Phuket, I'm stitch welding the whole shebang.

While I was there, figures I might as well weld all around the outer reinforcing plated for the roll bar.

Then it was time to make and fit the joining piece between the front and rear floor pans that covers the riser box.
Yep, that got welded all around too.

Then welded the bottom seam of the scratch built trunk floor the full width of the car. This is on the bottom, so full weld. Inside the trunk the overlap is rosette welded and will get a liberal dose of Rhino liner.

At this point the car should weigh 2 lbs more than it did this morning as I emptied a spool of .023 wire.

Good stopping point except I need the car on it's other side. Boo, Baby Girl, and Wifey dearest all pitched in and we set it on the dolly and rolled onto it's side.



Damn, I really should have just replaced that first floor pan instead of patching it.

Time to go buy some wire

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

It sounds like you're past due to build a rotisserie.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

I had one when I was working on the Sprites and MGAs. I probably should have built one for the Mini. IF I ever do another one, the rotisserie will be the first thing I build.

Yesterday the car gained 2 pounds, today it lost about 10. I spent most of the afternoon working on the bottom of the car with a variety of scrapers. Getting rid of 50 years of dirt, grease, grime, rust, paint and undercoat. I'm almost to the point of being able to pressure wash and phosphate on the bottom.

A bit more welding to do on the floor pans, but the sight glass on my regulator / flowmeter cracked today.

Tomorrow I'll go see if Roberts Welding supply is open. If they aren't, then more scraping and cleaning takes priority.

No pics today.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

This weekend the mini is going to get some love. I REALLY HOPE to be finished welding the bottom of the car tomorrow afternoon, including patching the bottom of the back seat.

Things on their way to make life better.
1. a set of 4 1 inch wheel spacers. These give me room to run the 12" minilites without scrubbing on the inside of the wheel wells.... may require trimming the arches tough. We shall see

2. a set of fender flares.

3. a 1 1/2 gallon spray on rust preventive / bedlliner / undercoating kit. Comes from a company in Texas. Rubberized, high Kevlar content for toughness, zinc additive for adhesion and corrosion resistance. Sprays on acid prepped surface or on self etching primer.

I've decided to hire someone for body prep and paint.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Not sure what you ordered but Ive heard some great things about POR-15.

Edit, just noticed that was the wrong link. Haha.

_________________
30 years old, not sure what I want to be when I grow up…

The POR 5 works great and the undercoat is best applied over POR15 paint.

I went with the same stuff we use at work on equipment we build. It comes from a big industrial company from the oil patch in Texas. They sell to most of the folks who retail it under a dozen or so brand names. One of the benefits of being in the rubber business is getting to know some folks the public doesn't know exist.

We'll see how it does next weekend. My delivery is supposed to show up Wednesday while I'm out of town for work *again

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Doesn't it always seem to work out that way... Where do you work at?

_________________
30 years old, not sure what I want to be when I grow up…

I work for Dayco. My office is at our belt plant in Walterboro, SC. My boss is at Corp HQ in Troy, MI and I'm thankful every day they haven't insisted I move up there.

This week is training at one of the sister plants, then headed to Kernersville, NC for a production trial at Highland Fabric.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Garage day on the Mini
First order of business was removing a patch that I had put in several months ago.
I didn't have space to weld in a new nut to bolt up the rear subframe. So, out comes the zip wheel on the small angle grinder and a 3x5 access hatch appeared.

Next up was manhandle the rear subframe back under the car and bolt it up tight. Once in place, I welded the new nuts to the new sheetmetal. Once that was done, I could replace the part I had cut out.

With that last little tidbit completed I could FINALLY close up the back of the car. You know you've been screwing with sheetmetal too much and too long when you look at a hole, grab a sharpie marker and rough out a patch panel that's within an 1/8 of an inch on the first cut.
I held it in place, scribed with a fine sharpie, then final trimmed.

I know it doesn't look like much, but that is (I think) the last hole to be filled on the Mini.

I final welded after I shot this pic.

The companion box will be a fab project one night next week. It provides a place to weld the end of the seat pan. A little acid wash and primer in the near future.

While I had the rear subframe bolted on I figured I'd better see how the 12" minilites fit.



Look good at full droop, not so good at full bump.
It won't be good for tires if I have a hydro suspension failure. I guess the next decision will be leave the wheel arch "stock" or reshape it.

Now one of the extra rims that came with the F500 look pretty wicked Sitting on there. May need to give some wide 10's a little more consideration.


Better not decide today cause I'm Sofa King tired of cutting and welding on this car it isn't funny.
I'm whipped. Weatherman said it was 97 with a heat index of 107. Chillin on the couch now with a big old glass of water.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

The mini lights look fine. A slight pull on the fender and you'll be fine. If you don't know how to pull fenders it's pretty easy. All you need is a baseball bat. YouTube has plenty of how to videos. You'll need some big flares to cover the f500 wheels and tires.

_________________
30 years old, not sure what I want to be when I grow up…

Pulling these fenders isn't quite as easy. That lip is where the wheel well welds to the body. You can pick up the body tub there and it doesn't budge.
I'd need to bust out the zip wheel and cut a line inside the wheel well, roll the fender where I want it and weld in a covering strip for the long football shaped opening in the wheel well.

As for wide arches, they're cheap and plentiful.
Narrow ones


or wide ones


I think the narrow ones will look good with the minilites and since the autocross rims are "probably" not going to be every day rims, occasional stick out isn't the end of the world.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

So you're going to put the companion box back in? I just started looking at my interior and was thinking that it would look better without them. I need to rewatch Project Binky, I think they put them back in. I don't know if they contribute much structurally, I need to take out the seats and figure this out before making the new rear seats.

_________________
My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

I'm still undecided on the companion box, but yeah, most likely putting it back in. I can either buy a new piece for $60 or make one up for $2 and a couple of hours work. If I make it , it will be thicker steel so it is somewhat structural.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

I started watching Project Binky again, beginning with episode 9 and working back. The companion box is in episode 6. Nik put it back in. I was hoping he'd say something about worthless piece of tin and toss it in the corner. I still think I'll cut mine down level with the seat bottom then add some bracing.

_________________
My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888