Austin - front grill fitting

[Austinmini1966]

Good evening,

Wondering if anyone has got some advice on fitting the front grill and surrounding moustache?

The front of the car has had new panels so no exciting holes, struggling to see exactly how it all fits together.

Any detailed photos or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[mab01uk]

You might find this recent thread linked below useful.

Mk 1 Austin Cooper Grill, Surround and whiskers:-
viewtopic.php?p=347960

[MagicWandWoody]

I'm doing exactly this now too. My front panel is new but fortunately the previous owner also kept the slam panel with the drill holes in it for the top of the grille / middle of the moustache. This helped a bit.

The process I went through (so far) was:

• Offer up the grille (no moustache) and centre it left-right with reference to the two straight vertical edges of the grille hole - the folded edges of the steel ends on the back of the grille are pretty tight to the vertical edges of the hole. Also check it looks about correct w.r.t the edges of the grille recess. And get it level, obviously.

• I chose the grille up/down position by seeing where the holes in the old slam panel were drilled relative to the top of the panel, and matched that height. You won't have that bit of extra help but you can choose the height of the holes when offering-up the moustache part.

• Mark dots where the top screwholes will go. This is provisional.

• Offer up the moustache to those same markings. Check that it matches left-to-right especially w.r.t headlamp holes, indicator holes, the grille recess, and the wing/front seam. Not all that easy because symmettry isn't a Mini's strong point. You also have to simultaneously spring the moustache into place (press down on the outer screw holes) to simulate what it'll look like when fastened. All of this with just two hands - and with a helper it gets like Twister.

• I found the moustache was about "right" when it sits slightly overlapping the top of the front panel at the centre, but sits flush or slightly below the top of the panel from about 1/2-way to the wing onwards. They're bound to vary though.

If all is good, then the moustache's holes will line up with the provisional marks you made for the grille. If not... is the moustache bent on one side? The same two screws are used for both the middle part of the moustache and the top holes of the grille. So drill those two holes when you're confident they're marked in the right place to hold both the grille and the moustache correctly.

With the top screwholes in the correct place, I found that the up/down bars on the back of the grille fouled on the metal of the front panel at the top - the new panel having more metal than the old one. I ground a bit off the panel edge locally to allow the bars to sit down properly.

Then I fitted just the moustache and drilled its other holes. Then fitted the grille (with moustache) and drilled its remaining holes too.

Haven't yet figured out how those little spring-clip thingies are supposed to hold the moustache ends on though... they seem way too big.

[1071bob]

[quote=MagicWandWoody post_

Haven't yet figured out how those little spring-clip thingies are supposed to hold the moustache ends on though... they seem way too big.
[/quote]

I still have a few sets of my whisker clips available, much easier to use.

[MagicWandWoody]

Clever... you're selling these?

My modest plan was to 3DP some plastic inserts and use self-tappers from the back. But those are tidy.

[Peter Laidler]

Maestro Bob has done it yet again. Brilliant idea. Stainless and silver solder so your rust fears are cured too.

Have a good Xmas Bob, in that workshop of yours, solving more of our mini Cooper problems........

[MagicWandWoody]

Bought a pair of Bob's clips. They look so much more practical than the originals.

Can I cheekily bump my 'wanted' post since we're discussing moustaches here: I'm looking for a pair of used moustache ends "with patina". Although my shell has had to be rebuilt, I'm trying to keep all the chromework as original-looking as possible, rather than factory-fresh. But I'm missing the 'tache ends - probably they were lost long before the car went into storage in '76.