Mark 1 body seam covers

[jaknight]

I am restoring a 1965 Mini Cooper S here in the USA. The current body seam covers are rusty on the inside of the cover and even after media blasting, I can not remove all the rust.
One of the seam covers was bent upon taking off the car and no longer fits the contour. The Mini suppliers sell reproduction seam covers. Has any one used these and if so, do they fit the body contour? The new clips which hold the covers on the body come in stainless steel--is there a way to "glue" or caulk them on the car? Thus, not chipping the paint upon installation.

Thank you for your assistance!

Jim Knight

[dklawson]

I used reproduction covers but that was almost 14 years and the covers fit the curvature well. However, that was so long ago that my results may not be valid for parts currently on the market.

I have heard of people attaching the covers using seam sealer.

[Daz1968]

I have recently restored my mk1 and purchased repro seam covers, would not recommend them as they are much thinner than genuine and the rear ones needed reshaping to get anywhere near the shape, I gave up on them and luckily my original fronts where useable and I purchased genuine rear ones,

[Tupers]

I've fitted pattern front seams caps before that went on fairly well at the bottom but took a little tweaking in the centre to get the sitting correctly at the top.

I tend to get them fitting really nicely then paint the seam and inside of the cap in zinc primer and fit them before painting the car.

[66S]

Hi Jim,
Any repro seam covers I have seen do not fit well at the rear. The midway "bump" is pressed differently and does not hug the body as well as originals.

Regards
Al

[minitravellerman]

I couldn't get any good repro rear seams when I was restoring the '62. I picked a pair of originals at an autojumble in good condition and they slipped straight on. Even the Heritage ones I offered up weren't great.