Curse of the Crimson Altar-1966 Mini Cooper Resurrection

[politeperson]

Evening All,
I stripped down my Mini today to reveal the extent of the rot.
It is a 1966 Morris Cooper.

The good news is that the car is complete with an excellent interior, having been parked up for 45 years. Even the headlining and seats look good.

The bad news is I need to do loads of welding. Something that I have done quite a lot of in the past, not on Minis though.

On the plus side, the rear quarters, wheel tubs and boot floor look original and solid, still covered in Tweed Grey,
The front bulkhead and inner/outer front wings dont look too bad either. The bonnet is good, one door is good, the other needs a skin. Shame someone walloped the boot lid, as it was good prior to that

The main issues are floors, sills a and A-post.
The door steps and the cross member and tunnel look OK. The toe board has a small bit but will go again, the heal board is bad.

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My preference would be to purchase a huge panel including cross member/heal board inner outer sills and jacking points. This makes me feel a bit guilty as the cross member and transmission tunnel look good.

When I took the seats out, they were held by 4 black brackets that bolt into 8 captive nuts in the cross member.

Is the MK1 cross-member different to later minis?

I want to keep it correct of course.

How would you deal with it? I do mind springing for good bits if they make the job better.

It is going on a rotisseries with loads of cross bracing.

I want to avoid poor panels! I also want to avoid loads of time consuming patching.
Options seem to be
1) Complete expensive floor assembly?
2) 2x half floor assembly?
3) Do it in smaller sections?

Who is recommended in 2024 for supplying panels?

Thanks

[111Robin]

I would bite the bullet and opt for a full floor. Mine could have been patched but it's a far superior job with a new assembly. Mini Machine are the supplier most use.

[politeperson]

I do like the look of that

[111Robin]

Mine also needed boot floor, arches and bins, basically the entire underside.

[Exminiman]

I would bite the bullet and opt for a full floor. Mine could have been patched but it's a far superior job with a new assembly. Mini Machine are the supplier most use.

Couldn’t agree more………

[Andrew1967]

I used the Mini Machine floor in my S restoration.

Makes life much easier having the full sub assembly.

Wouldn’t hesitate to use another even though the floor and tunnel is made up of three pieces (or was anyway).

[Exminiman]

I used the Mini Machine floor in my S restoration.

Makes life much easier having the full sub assembly.

Wouldn’t hesitate to use another even though the floor and tunnel is made up of three pieces (or was anyway).

I think Wiggy cuts the floor and re seam welds it, I opted for just filling the seam and losing it…

[Andrew1967]

I did stitch weld the joint in places both on top and underneath, to avoid any potential of the edges moving but otherwise I did the same.

[Exminiman]

I meant to say Wiggy cuts the seam and butt welds it…….personally I would rather avoid a long butt weld…

[politeperson]

Nice job Robin, no messing around there.

I assume you welded an assembly together then joined it to the car? That appeals to me.

It looks like you might have purchased a complete floor with the cross member, then added outer sills, heel board, bins, rear wheel tubs and boot floor?

Did you use a jig or does it just go together only one way? Or did you tack it using the car body, then remove the car body and weld it off the car?

Or can I buy one just like that?

I have decided its all got to go.

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[111Robin]

Sorry but I don't possess the skills to do this, someone far more capable than me restored my shell. There are plenty on here who can help with advice though who have themselves tackled major restorations.

[mk1]

The M-Machine floor in the images in the last page is as it comes. Complete with outer sills ready to weld in.

It is a great panel / assembly. Would be perfect for your restoration.

M-Machine are very "old school" better to ring than use emails. Ask for Doreen.

http://preview.m-machine.co.uk/wp-conte ... or-web.pdf

[politeperson]

Thanks Mark,
I had a chat with Doreen about my order and all is now in hand.
I should receive everything in about 3 weeks.
Thanks for the advice.
They sound very good to me.

[mk1]

Doreen is an absolute star

[whistler]

Doreen is an absolute star

As you say, Doreen is a star. I had a full floor from M-machine for my 66 SDL delivered. The fit was brilliant but I didn't notice until much later that the rear tunnel section had captive threaded fixings for seat belt stalks instead of the original 2 holes either side that was on the original. There was also no hole in the rear heel panel for the SU pump breather pipe.
It wouldn't stop me from buying a full floor m-machine in the future, just thought it was worth a mention.
M-machine also retro modified a new boot floor and both inner wings to mk1 design. Brilliant.

[politeperson]

Bits have arrived, thanks Doreen.

She is now well braced on the rotisseries, with attachments welded and bolted to the pillars, rear wheel tubs, bulkheads and front panel and inner wings- all joined to a meaty central spit that has zero bend in it.
Probably a bit overkill, but I had it to hand.

I am thinking the order of battle will be-

Rear boot flange/opening and extensions
Reinstate rear light openiings.
Rear Quarters replacement
Door Skin replacement both sides
Door steps
Toe board sections
Front pillars and A posts with strengtheners
Front inner wings, scuttle and front panel
Body and bins removed from the floor in one big lift.
Boot floor and rear wheel tubs replaced
Rear valence
Main floor section/ cross member sill section on in one go
Outer Sills added
Various brackets.

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Should knock it off in a weekend (not).
I can see alot of welding and tec screws.

[swifty]

First thing I do with m machine complete floors made of two halves is to seam weld the floor pans to tunnel joint where they have spot welded it . You could leave as it is , but belts and braces …. Shirley

[politeperson]

Things have moved on with the Vampire Cooper.

I had to apply for a new V5 as all I had was 2 old style log books and a load of service history. The most recent log book being 44 years old.

The DVLA wrote back requesting photographs and more information. This was duly sent, including the body numbers and the car was "re-activated", a new V5 arriving in the post along with an invitation to tax it or Sorn it.

Using the old rusty floor and rusty boot floor to guide the upper panels, I completed the upper body welding.

I had already welded in reference points from the rotisseries spit for the door posts, front inner wings near the front panel, rear wheel tubs top shock mounts and the front panel itself using the sub-frame holes.

The spit was connected to front and rear bulkheads on the car, the actual spit itself being a very hefty piece of box section pinched from the farm stores which would not bend and all.

I found no evidence of previous repairs or crash damage, just loads of rust.

I started off by re skinning the doors, which required the lower door frame sections replacing too.

Doing one side at a time, I cut out the old quarter panels, I cut back the rusty rear wheel tub edges and knocked then clear. I cleaned up the joints and fitted a new rear quarter and replaced the front inner wing on the same side.

The old shock mount threads were in situ, so I cleaned them out and used these bolt holes, along with my jig mounting points and the little top lip on the original strengthener tower to align the new inner wing panel on the bulkhead flanges.

I could then use the new door to gap the new front pillar, adding the inner A post, strengtheners and checking alignment at the top with the new full width scuttle.

I could then check the new A posts were in alignment by ensuing the new front wings joined the new front panel as they should.

I then cut out the toe panel edges that were rusty and welded in the new extensions to the inner wing in preparation for floor welding.

So with the door fitting nicely I could then repeat on the other side.

Someone had cut out the rear light mounts from the rear quarters when they had painted over the grey in 1979, so butt welded in the new lower panel boot lid aperture repair and refilled the light apertures with some useful measurements from Doreen.

I used the old boot lid as a template for gaps (with a cut-out for the spit).

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I now had a complete perimeter of new flange metal to weld onto.

Having convinced myself that the upper body was still square, I cut out the old floors/cross-member/inner sills/boot floor and unpicked the toe board spot weld, b-post spot welds and rear bulkhead spot welds, removing the whole floor as one piece.

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With the car upside down, I slid on the boot floor, then the main floor, then the rear tubs, valence and in-fill panels to check alignment. I tek screwed in all in place.

The outer and inner sill are already attached to the main floor section, so I screwed it all together to check for fit and turned it the correct way over.

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It all looks good apart from the front curved part of the toeboard/tunnel join. That will need some persuasion to cone together as the contours look slightly different.

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After I have finished persuading, I will mark it all up for cleaning/drilling/punching holes for rosettes.

I will use modern sealer for the joints, etch primer, then quality tint-able bed-liner for the floors and well wells.

I intend to add the small brackets, finish the welding and then I shall paint the underside satin body color (Dove Grey).

I am going to clean the engine bay and bulkhead to bare metal with plastic stripping discs prior for finishing in body color.

Then, its off to the painter.

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[AndyPen]

Looks like a great job being done there. My 66 had a few issues where the toe board met the floor, but I am only talking about a mini machine repair panel, and it all came good.

[MiNiKiN]

I am going to clean the engine bay and bulkhead to bare metal with plastic stripping discs prior for finishing in body color.

Then, its off to the painter.

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STOP! Freeze!



Before you send it to the painter check the edges of your replacement doorsteps - they are completely different to the original. The edges are actually radii, and the dimensions of the offset sections are incorrect too.

I had the same issue with these and had to ardously re-shape both doorsteps to match the original shape. Followed by lead loading as I could not get the shape entirely correct, despite a specially made dolly.

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