January 1960 Austin Mini

[Peter Laidler]

That sort of door cracking came as a standard extra on MGB's and GT's. Stress fatigue - right where the quarter light strut emerges from the door

[TRP]

I'm going to talk to my body guy. Maybe he can double up that area with a second layer of metal or some bracing? I'd hate to spend a ton of cash for this paint job only to have it crack... again.

[mk1]

It's hard to strengthen as the area that needs strengthening is inside the B post.

[TRP]

Ahh.. I understand what you mean.

The car wont be a daily driver. Maybe I'll get many more years before it cracks again.

Going down to see the car tonight. Half excited to check on the progress. Half expecting to be disappointed. We are to a point now where we're fixing little things that aren't as noticeable so momentum appears to slow down. Still two or three weeks left I suppose.

[Peter Laidler]

He could stengthen it against cracking again by 'denting it inwards slightly along the crack line and then restoring the flat or contour by lead loading. It's an old fashioned tin-smiths method of bodywork repairs like this. Not many people can lead load nowadays but you can get quite good quite quick as they say. But to be a master takes years.

[Nick W]

Peter
As I understand it lead loading was mainly used as a filling material during vehicle manufacturer in the 50s-60s and earlier, and as such would not put much strength in to the cracks ??
I had some of this cracking on my 60 . I cut into the crack, managed to hold a small peice of metal at the back by wrangling it through the crack and holding it while it was mig welded in. Then mig'd the area of the crack and carefully ground it level.

[spraybeateer]

Got to agree with Nick, I remember back in the day, we used to dress the cracks
in and Braze them! then file them smooth.I did a lot for a local BL dealer.
I can do lead loading

The Count

[TRP]

Saw the car last night. They hadnt touched it in a week.

This is the hardest part about having someone do the work for you. You can't control the pace things get done.

[Peter Laidler]

I agree Nick and Spraybeater. But it seemed to work on the notorious MGB and GT doors as practiced by CG Browns at Thatcham. Not my point of interest - except for having MGBGT's - and V8's - that suffered with fatigue stressed doors. They used to repair stacks of them for BL under warranty* but reinforced the underside with copper plates tinned and sweated inside. Alas this can't happen on our Minis unless you REALLY take the bull by the horns as you describe. CG Browns did my doors fixed BEFORE the cracks started.

They did hundreds of door warranty jobs because the US airmen at Welford and Greenham Common were big buyers - and destroyers - of MGB's and GT's

[TRP]

I went in to check on the mini yesterday. They haven't done much to the vehicle since the 5th of April. Another car has taken precedence due to a deadline from its owner.

They did start to fit the W&P style wheel arches to the shell. After having a look at them on the car I have decided to not fit arches on the car. I'm going to change direction slightly and focus on a more early MK1 style without the 6" wheels and arches.

Also rethinking the Island Blue.

[TRP]

** Status as of 1/5/2019 **

Spoke with the shop manager. She's going to try and get me a schedule together for the next few phases of the build.

I am selling off the 10" x 6" wheels and the W&P arches. Going for more of a classic vintage style racer.

I ordered up new wheels, tires, GAZ shocks, fluted fender welting, and some adjustable suspension bits from MiniSpares in the UK. Parts should arrive sometime in the next few weeks. All that is left to purchase will be the rear seat cover and the brake hose that connects the left and right front brakes. Garage full of parts and no car to put them on.

I'm thinking something like this:









The waiting is the hardest part...

[mk1]

Ha, ha, waiting is always terrible!

Hang on in there, before you know it, you will have lots to do

I look forward to the next update.

[TRP]

I swung by the shop last week and found they had made some pretty amazing progress on the car.

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Ted

[TRP]

More photos...

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Thank you for letting me share...

[TRP]

Annnnd.... more...

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(poor lighting / artifact from the booth lights)


...Here is the big reveal...

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[AndyB72]

Nice!! Can't beat a bit of fresh paint.

[Nick W]

like the blocks its sitting on....great Idea

[TRP]

More progress today!

I had to take them through the cloudy windows of the paint booth.

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Sorry for the blurry vignette photos! Next week I should have photos of the car out of the booth!

Ted

[TRP]

Some progress! May get to bring it home this week. We'll see how it all goes.

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Need to get the boot hinge screws painted before they can finish up the install.

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They are working on lining up the bonnet a bit more. Seems a bit askew.

I'm going to have their glass guys install the front and rear glass.

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Hopefully I can bring it home Friday

[TRP]

I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated you fine folks with the progress on the Mini. To be fair, I was in London for a week, then in Lake Tahoe, California for a week. I managed to steal away some time to get some work done. I figured I'd update you all on the progress.

I was finally able to bring the car home on June 17th. All in all, I'm happy with the paint job. It will have to go back in to fix a few minor nibs.

Here is the car waiting for the glass install team to come and install the front and rear screens:

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Once installed I was able to bring the car home. I should have cleaned the garage prior to it's homecoming. We had just finished our last baseball tournament for my 12 year old son, so his gear was still in the garage:

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I couldn't stand to look at the car with no front blingy bits. Needed to jump on that right away:

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Once that was all squared away I turned my attention to the rear:

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Much better. How about the tail lights, new lowered shocks, freshly reconditioned fuel tanks, boot board, bumper, and exhaust!

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