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What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
colinf1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:18 pm
Great work, planning on attempting mine this weekend, both need the bottom repair panels.
Same process as the bootskin? There's a few spot welds to drill out too?
Yes there are a few spot welds. One behind the handle, a few around the edges plus the seam weld on both sides at the top.
Don’t use the spot weld cutter, just use the flap disk and grind down the surface of the outer skin until you can see heavy heat discolouration around the spot weld. It should peel off easily. I can post a picture tomorrow of the spot weld locations.
The old outer skin panels will come in handy for some patch panels to repair the inner frames.
ctwomey wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:00 pm
The old outer skin panels will come in handy for some patch panels to repair the inner frames.
Thinking the same myself, lots of good flat material in the door skins once you trim off the rot from the bottom edge. I've a repair to do to the rear subframe and should be able to make card template that will fit nicely on the door skin.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
Being busy arranging to get the shell vapour blasted and primed. Finally, it's getting done next weekend.
I tried to rent a 5ft wide trailer, but very difficult to source one locally. Back up plan was to adapt my 4ft unbraked trailer to take the shell. I removed the side railings and welded up a steel frame to hold the shell and retain the trailer rigidity that was lost as a result of the railings been removed.
The shell is sitting on the pallet with castors that I use in the garage. All locked in place. Getting it on the trailer was easy enough, the trailer was able to slide sideways under the shell while it was on the rotisserie and then it just involved rotating the shell around once the trailer was carrying its weight.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
colinf1 wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 12:51 pm
Who did you go with for the blasting?
It will be good to see it blasted and primed, hopefully you don't get any surprises!
Chris in Classic Car Welding Dubin in Newcastle. It's a quick smooth drive up the motorway from here in Laois.
Yea, looking forward to seeing it after the process. We are going to use a bodywork primer (from Novol) instead of epoxy because I have a fair bit of bodywork to do. Chris said epoxy is better to use after the metalwork is all completed.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
Don't forget the plastic sleeve when rebuilding the radius arm as it's hard to remove a new bearing without damaging it in the process with the washer technique.
Parts look great coming fresh out of the blasting cabinet. I have the use of one at work, its just a pity some doughnut damaged the perspex screen - using it without screen protector. Also the noise of the dust extractor can get annoying.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
colinf1 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 7:38 pm
Don't forget the plastic sleeve when rebuilding the radius arm as it's hard to remove a new bearing without damaging it in the process with the washer technique.
Yes, the existing ones had split and there is a ton of LM grease inside the arms. Cleaning it out is the messiest job I have ever done. Old bushes are in really good condition. With only 36K on the clock, the non-worn parts of the old shafts are a very good fit. So new shafts and bearings will see them good.
Don't know on finishes yet. Subframes will be powder coated but to get the other pieces powder-coated too I want to get a load of parts together for that to make it worthwhile.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
Some photos of the car during blasting. Hopefully will pick it up tomorrow. The red primer is Novol's Bodywork Primer. These photos are relatively low res. I will post some high res closeups at the weekend.
Feedback is that the car is completely original and that only the bonnet was ever repainted.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
Ok, have the shell back and I have had a chance to fully examine the work to be done. Most of it is straightforward, but the roof will be tricky, so any advice on the roof would be greatly appreciated.
Back on the home made rotisserie
Drivers side quarter panel window
Passenger side quarter panel window
Drivers side door sill - I have a replacement that goes up the full length and up the A pillar
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
colinf1 wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 12:36 pm
Don't think you want to go down the route of a full roof replacement?
Hopefully not, but it would make it easier to repair the external gutters.
Anyway, it will be the very last thing that I do, plenty of work to keep me busy over the coming weeks. I will start small i.e. rear valance and boot floor and work my way forward to the front of the car.
The drip rail is not the gutter, it sits below the gutter on '70s cars. Personally the holes in the roof I would fill with weld as they will be covered with seam sealer. If your fitting the plastic trim on the gutter that will also cover anything you do.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
woody wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:21 pm
The drip rail is not the gutter, it sits below the gutter on '70s cars. Personally the holes in the roof I would fill with weld as they will be covered with seam sealer. If your fitting the plastic trim on the gutter that will also cover anything you do.
Has anyone tried lead loading instead of using a seam sealer along the gutters?
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
What Minis have you?: I owned a 1978 Mini 850 when I was in my late teens. I owned a 1986 Mini Chelsea that I imported from the UK. Also owned a 1982 MG Metro that was bored out to 1293. Restoring a 1981 Dublin Mini City.
