Irish Mini Owners Club

Glad you got it into your shed Colin. Great to see you and your dad today. Happy assembling!

When I transferred ownership over I went into Laois County Council to get it done straight away. I didn't want them to lose the brown logbook. I was told when I get it on the road and have it insured I would need to pay one year's road tax - which will be its last year because it is now over 40 year...

I managed to delicately weld the join between the scuttle and flitch panel on the driver's side. I also put a spot weld in the centre of where they overlap. Passenger side next.

Wouldn't the 26th be nice. Cooper S disc conversion is arriving this week. Pricey setup unfortunately but the old drums were in a bad way and would have needed replacing.

Repaired the scuttle panel on the driver's side. It's amazing how much time goes into repairing such a small area. Tricky piece to make up.

Thanks woody. I will see if I can extend that bit. Makes sense to avoid rainwater falling into the engine bay. I will have a look at a few minis on the 26th at the Portlaoise Cars and Coffee.

It's been a good few weeks since I had a chance to spend some time on the mini. I was fixing the area between the inner wing and the scuttle panel. Can a few of the mini experts have a look and tell me should the join be welded or if it is ok to leave a small gap like in the two pictures below. http...

It was a great event last year. Hopefully, this one will be the same.

Took me a while to get mine going too. I needed the full choke too. It’s good that you can solve all these issues while the engine is out of the car. I have a video up on YouTube with the first start of my rebuilt engine.

Started repairing the scuttle panel. I managed to keep most of the stamped chassis number (well the important part). Rust had completely eatened away the rain gully but it looks good again. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52664658159_12337a51e3_b.jpg The driver's side has a dent as a result of a...

I attached the hinges on the bonnet and the rear of the bonnet lines up nicely with the scuttle. The front on the passenger side is pushed out a few mills, but I think I can reshape the curve by inserting some relief cuts on the side of the bonnet curve. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/526481517...

Quite a bit of work on the bonnet to get it to sit right https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52642789313_8718bd338d_b.jpg The back corner on the driver's side is sitting up too high. I may need to do some slits on the back lip and weld it back into the correct curve https://live.staticflickr.com/655...

Took the Mini off the rotisserie today and tidied up the workspace https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52640627086_ccce34a564_b.jpg Mounted the front subframe and panel to see how they fit https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52641063890_a48cbe243c_b.jpg [/url] A small bit of tweaking to be done on t...

Spot welded top and bottom of the quarter panel https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52631445786_a3c332e743_b.jpg I still have to spot weld down the rear panel join. You can't use 90-degree electrodes on the spot welder so I will have to set up the angled ones tomorrow. https://live.staticflickr.com/...

OK managed to create some additional plug weld holds

Good question Colin.

I remember when I removed the panel there were only a few spot welds along that edge. Maybe I should have more plug welds for added strength. I will see if I can drill additional holes between the existing ones I have allocated.

Hi Colin, the panel is in place and welded along the joins now but I haven't done the plug or spot welds yet. C-pillar tacked in place. Probably could have done with a bigger gap between panels for weld penetration https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52629186620_bffccf054d_b.jpg B-pillar tacked in p...

Finally ready to weld in the quarter panel

I have a small powder coating setup in the garage. It works great for small items. The big things I have sent to Carlow Coating in Carlow. If you are going to get parts powder-coated, I wouldn't worry about media blasting them as the powder-coating company will have to do that anyway. The steel will...

A couple more holes welded up

I think I am going to weld up all the holes in the floor like the one below https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52612213891_58bf441aa8_b.jpg The initial round of welds https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52612475489_0580fa65f5_b.jpg Ground back so I can get access to the pinholes https://live.static...

Time to repair the arch closing panel on the passenger side https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52611707372_5d11146b0f_b.jpg Hopefully, the subframe won't rub on the inside. I still have a bead of weld to put between the closing panel and the heel board https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/5261269722...

Hi Colin,

I am going to keep the original fixed windows. A couple of good days in the garage so far. I am off the remainder of the week so hopefully, keep the momentum going.

Cut and trial-fitted the quarter panel [url=https://flic.kr/p/2o9m8JC] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52603001668_62393ecb1b_b.jpg Happy with the cut on the B-pillar. Always a worry that you will cut too much [url=https://flic.kr/p/2o9kHH8] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52602920845_81f8e0...

Finally got around to working on the mini over the holidays. The first job was to weld in the jacking point bracket. A little challenging when the upper sill is in place. I could only get three plug welds on the upper plate but there will be eleven in total when completed so should be solid. https:/...