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And on to the front end. The scuttle ends weren't too bad, but had to come off to get at the rot underneath.





Found a bit of a dent in the A pillar and didn't think much of it at the time.



Let the dog see the rabbit.







The inner wing brace had seen better days.



So it had to come out to reveal it's hidden secret.





Whilst in the area the other rot was cut out and new steel let in.









In hindsight a complete inner wing change would have been the smart option.

InimiaD wrote: In hindsight a complete inner wing change would have been the smart option.

they are so cheap as well - its where im at with the tc - i repaired the passenegr side, but swopped the drivers, i think i will end up going back and swopping the passenger side as well

Truth be told Rich, I have 2 inner wings in stock, one is a genuine item complete with inner apex and the other is a modded M machine item. The genuine item will be going on the S and I'm not happy with the other one so I thought I'd get busy with the Mig. The genuine item was very handy for taking measurements and getting the right shape for the let ins though. The perfect template.

Back to the inner wing repairs. Top repair.





Middle .



Lower and end of toeboard.

Moving on. There was some teabag areas where the inner wing met the bulkhead so this was done whilst in the area.









With nearly all the back end of the inner wing and lower A post repaired, it was time for the inner apex panel.







Some plug welding and copious amount of etch primer and here's the end result.

With that done it's time to glue the scuttle closer and scuttle end repair on.



Seam sealed and etch primed for a long life.



Then hidden from view, hopefully forever.

.

Next task was the front half of the inner wing. I bought a Hadrian panel and at first and second glance the fit looked ok when I dry fitted the front end wings and bonnet.
Okay, so I was wrong. The front edge of the said panel (where the wing sits in) was completely the wrong shape when compared to an original.
So, I cut the inner wing out of a scrap MK3 shell and made a few mods to the Hadrian panel.

Hadrian inner wing.



Original inner MK3 wing.



Out with the slitting disc.





Old section of panel let in to the new panel.





Minor repair to the old / new inner wing.



And finally welded into place..

Thats coming on very nicely!

Hats off to you for making all those repair panels too.

Your project is looking real good and very inspiring. Out of interest to a novice at this what etch primer are you using? and also what make and model of spot welder is it you are using - is it one of the DIY types or a larger workshop variety?

Regards

Paul.

Thankyou for your comments guys, appreciated.

@ Paul. The etch primer is Bilthambers "Etchweld. The best thing since sliced bread in my opinion.
The Spot welder is a cross between a DIY and workshop type insomuch as it has a seperate control box which has adjustable current, time and pulse settings. Made by Tecna in Italy.

Knocked up some replacement battery stay brackets and stuck them in the appropriate place.





Repairs to the rear seat base stiffener. I did the other side insitu, but drilled this one out so I could get the spot welder into the companion bin to make a half tidy repair to the bin bottom.

Okayyy. Onto the n/side inner wing.
Didn't look as bad as the offside at first and in some areas it wasn't.





Decided to chop out the front half and replace with a repaired MK3 inner wing.
Hmm, there's a feeling of De ja vue here.





Out with the old.




In with the not so old.



And another dry fit of the front end.

I noticed in the beginning of your thread, that the front was cut off, when you bought the car.

So do you have another front with the correct no plate brackets? or will you (as always) make your own?

So do you have another front with the correct no plate brackets? or will you (as always) make your own?

The Woody did have what could be loosely termed as a front panel such was the amount of rot in it. It's still hanging up in the workshop.
I had considered swopping the number plate brackets over on many occasions, but usually forgot or got bogged down with some other hairbrained ideas.
So, the shell went to the sprayshop with the later brackets I'm afraid to say. I should have changed them for the narrow brackets and saved a bit of weight.

Thats OK, you just need to find some sort of metal plate to cover them up with, something that sort of looks like it belongs there. Maybe with some numbers and letters on it to distract the eye?

Tim

I think we all have sent "the car" to the paintshop, and realized that "one" small thing

I forgot the 3 rear boot board brackets
so these are just rivited on.

Thats lookin great!

Ive managed to leave the loom tabs off both of my minis boot floors now...and they say you learn from your mistakes!

Matty wrote:
Ive managed to leave the loom tabs off both of my minis boot floors now...and they say you learn from your mistakes!

Ups - me too but the boot board brackets keep the wires "in place"

Cheers guys. I don't think I / we will be the last to forget adding those little finishing touches to our projects.
I won't be losing too much sleep over the omission though because it won't be a concourse queen.

More repairs to the inner wing.

Whilst on the scuttle area I let in a few repairs where rot was present.







Drilled / filled new / old hole for the wiper wheelboxes so I could upgrade to a modern 2 speed wiper.



Found a pinhole in the r/hand door frame just below the drip rail.







What hole.

Chopped a section of the n/side doorstep out and let in some fresh steel.
As with the o/side the condition of the doorstep was 80% good because a previous thoughtful owner had waxoiled the sill cavity.





Time for the outer Apex panels to be attached. I didn't use originals although I do have original BMC ones in the stores. Instead, I trawl the Autojumbles buying any early Apex panels that look half tidy.
When I get them home I offer them up to the original items and the closest match ones get used.
The not so good ones get thrown back in the stores to maybe get used in the future.











I know the lumps of timber look agricultural, but they are perfect for wedging panels into place and maintaining the right gaps etc and are far cheaper (free) than buying specialised cramps and spreaders etc.

Time for the front panel to be stuck on. After dry fitting the wings and bonnet countless times to get a reasonable fit a few tack welds were done to hold the front panel in position, then the subframe was taken out and the spot welder was used to complete the tacking on.











Wings next