Feb 61 mk1 no floor grommets !

[Orangerover]

Just getting started with a full resto on my speedwell blue 61.
Tried to post pics but just get told they are to large so I'll try again when I work it out.
The shell is pretty good ,has no seat belt fixings ,recurculating heater( no vent hole in bulkhead) which is all kind of normal for a 61 but the unusual bit is that it has no grommets at all in the floor pan.
Has anyone ever seen this before?.
Never Been welded and still original paint on most of the floor.

[JC T ONE]

Hello & welcome


Regarding posting pics, you click on the pic, you want to post,
then right click, and click edit, then, you click kompress, and choose compress for websites, and save.

Then the pic is good, for uploading here.

[Orangerover]

Thanks for the tip I'll give that a go.

[Tim]

Do you mean that it has no holes for grommets, or that the holes are there but the grommets are missing?

I've certainly seen them with the grommets taken out, it helps with drainage!

Tim

[Orangerover]

Sorry ,I can see how you would read it that way,but woul have just bought some grommets!!
No there are no holes in the floor for them and never have been.???

[66S]

I don't think our NZ assembled Mk1's had any either.

Regards
Al

[InimiaD]

After looking up some floor pics of my March 63 MK 1 it seems as if that car is missing holes for the grommets as well.
Original floorpans as well, completely unmolested.

[Orangerover]

Sounds like it was just random wether they got them or not then?
I have seen earlier cars with them albeit large grommets.

[STG95F]

Hi ,My 68 mk2 Cooper has no grommet holes in the original floor pans

Ian

[Tim]

Maybe it depends on where they were assembled. I assumed that the holes in the floors were part of the system for jigging the panels during welding. If a different style of jig was being used then it would make sense not to make unnecessary holes that would only need to be plugged later. I'd assume that NZ production was a fairly small scale affair compared to the big factories in the UK, so different jigs might have been used there.

Below is a picture of the assembly line used in Enfield in Australia in the late '70s after the 'proper' plant at Zetland was sold off. The jig appears to consist mainly of molegrips.



Tim

[Orangerover]

Hi ,My 68 mk2 Cooper has no grommet holes in the original floor pans

Ian

Thats not normal , some pans must have escaped the hole puncher.
M machine said the holes were put there to let the paint run out .
I remember blasting through big puddles and the water force would pop em up into the car!

[surfblue63]

Plenty of holes in my '63 floor

4 on the right...


...and 3 on the left!

[Gray]

May of been to help with drainage when exiting the rotadip, although the placing would seem a bit hit and miss for that.

[Orangerover]

Nice floor !
That's what I would expect to see re the grommets on an early car.
Thanks for that , I would like someone to send a pic of no grommets though,
Might seem a bit anorak but I've never seen it before and I have been around old minis for a long long time .
My car also has no sills , just the floor meetlng the trim seam .

[66S]

I'll rise to the challenge with pics of two different NZ assembled cars. The yellow one is a '67 and the blue a '65 with mostly original paint on the floor.

Regards
Al

[Orangerover]

That's what I wanted , thanks .
Begs the question were these shells for export outside uk ?

[66S]

As mentioned ealier in this topic, both these cars were NZ assembled from UK sourced CKD kits. However, differing floor plug positions in UK built cars have been discussed on more that one forum and on more than one occasion.

Regards
Al

[IAIN]

This topic was brought up a long time ago. check out thread.

http://www.atfreeforum.com/mk1mark/view ... um=mk1mark