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I made a little repair to the scuttle corner that I really enjoyed.

I wasn't so much fun spending the evening in A and E with a little part of it stuck in my eye. Quite painful.

I have to take my hat off to you Sir,this is top quality all the way.

java gt wrote:I have to take my hat off to you Sir,this is top quality all the way.

+1

Love the updates

That is superb work Ollie!

Keep the updates coming as its a great reference for my own shell restoration!

Thanks. Tim.

Thread of the month this one.

Thanks for the kind comments, its really nice to know it has been appreciated.
Its not an exaggeration at all to say that without others from this site posting up the progress of their projects I wouldn't have been able to have get to where I'm at now. Which is what prompted me to put up the pictures of my own efforts.

What I haven't really talked about so much is all the mistakes I've made. Normally my problem is that I like welding a bit too much, only last week I plug welded up the A post (where the inner wing tucks in behind the A panel) then went as far to stitch weld for good measure without checking A panel and door fit. It took me the best part of a day to unpick it all.

I will keep the updates coming but progress is slow. I'm pretty much up to date now, its taken about 1 1/2 years of my spare time to get this far. Its difficult with a young family.

I'd really like to hear from anyone who's recently fitted heritage inner wings, I still have the nearside to do and am not really looking forward to it after the problems the offside caused me. Is there anyone out there that can reassure me I'm not alone in struggling to make them fit well

I also recently put up some pictures of some badges I tried to make for the car in a different post.
My next living room table project will probably be the interior, I have just bought a few pairs of microcell recliners for the front, they are all completely useless as they are but should serve as a good template for pattern making.... I hope to get one decent pair.
I can't believe how cheap these can be bought for.

Wow! I'm with the others on this, excellent attention to detail and getting it right! and I'd forgotten how rotten cars get back in the British Isles having moved to California many years ago!! I am about to start on a 1960 California import mini for myself and was cursing the rust that I have found, I think I need to just step back and count my blessings at this point!! Again well done and I look forward to future post's.......Paul....

Pete wrote:Thread of the month this one.

Can only notch & agree = very nice work

never seen a Min come together so fast before

Jens Christian

I think the trouble with the inner wing panel is that there is a lot of 'flex' in it and you have to spring it into the hole it goes into, so if there is anything else wrong it can throw it out - it does have a hell of a lot of 'wriggle' room though and as long as the top edge is right where the wing sits then everything else is fixable.

on my car I fitted it, held it in place with the shocker mount bolts and then assembled the outer a panel, wing and front panel around it just to check it, once I was happy I then tried my nos bmc inner wing that has the inner a panel welded to it, again, it all lined up fine, so I refitted the heritage one and welded it all in.

the biggest ache with the heritage one is the 'hump' for the air vents interferes with the parcel shelf, so you have to sort all that out before you fit it, and the extra pressing for the later wiper motor that you have to cut out and plate up.

Hi Rich, thanks for giving me the benefit of your experience RE the inner wing fitment.

That's all mostly reassuring stuff, I fitted the inner wing prioritising the join to wing in relation to the bonnet centred and sat nice on the front panel bolted centre to the sub frame. I also used the damper mount to secure but in order to get the previous points all good I had to slightly elongate the damper mount holes. Also the bottom edge where the panel returns under the toe board was barely satisfactory and needed a little extra dressing in. Just not at all what I was expecting considering all of these points fitted the original inner wing fine and the car was sat well supported on long boards before and during all operations.
Of course your dead right with the hump as well, It wouldn't fit at all well with that still in place, I planned on sectioning it out but it had me stumped for a while when trial fitting. I just cut a cross in the wiper motor lump and hammered it flat.

Have you much experience using a flame and quench to shrink steel. I've read about it and plan on trying as I have some 'oil canning' in a couple of places. I don't have access to oxy acetylene, do you thin MAPP gas would do it?

Jens, thanks but this has not been a fast job at all its taken me a year and a half so far.

Hi Paul, thanks for the comments.
Yes my car is/was a rust bucket but still I do feel quite fortunate as the roof and gutters are pretty good. They can go really bad. Its probably my cars only saving grace, that and the fact it has its body number still in place. I think the roof and gutter area would be the most difficult area to repair well.
Your really lucky if you have a mini that's fairly rust free, there are a few here that have stayed in good condition. Years ago I owned a clubman estate that was absolutely exceptional, like new in fact. I sold it as I was young and they didn't have a good image at the time, I kept my rusty saloon instead as it looked better with wide wheels, never mind.
When I thought about buying another mini I considered buying a better mini that I could get in and enjoy, a sort of rolling restoration but I think what concerns me now is not the rust I can see but the stuff you can't, the rust that is hiding in the seams waiting to wreck a nice new paint job. At least now I know I've dealt with or at least seen the worst parts of the mini shell.

Cheers, Ollie

Ollie78 wrote:
Have you much experience using a flame and quench to shrink steel. I've read about it and plan on trying as I have some 'oil canning' in a couple of places. I don't have access to oxy acetylene, do you thin MAPP gas would do it?

I've seen this done on u-tube (which is great for little tutorials on things like this), but its waaayyyyy outside my amateur tin bashing skills.

it looks like something that could go horribly wrong in a father ted style!

Ollie to shrink any stretched metal area basically what you have to do is apply the heat in a circle motion to say 2 inch diameter . Now while its hot very quickly put a flat dolly on one side . On the other side you need a panel hammer witch is flat . Working in a circular motion with the hammer tap the metal from the outside of the circle to the centre . What it then does is shrink and tighten any metal witch is stretched and popping in and out . Hope this helps I'm not very good at explaining things on paper .

Thanks for the help Swifty, good explanation, I understand what you are saying.
That's exactly the problem I have, the metal is popping in and out. The skins need tightening in a few non critical areas.
I'll give it a try in the morning and report back.

That is going to be a real quality restoration, cant wait to see it progress.
How I would love to have your metal working skills!

I had go at metal shrinking at the weekend, used the technique described by Swifty, thanks. I intended on using MAPP gas but only had access to a propane torch on the day.
It seemed to work quite well, the popping in and out is mostly gone so the skin has tightened. I think it would have been a lot more controllable using a smaller flame, I'll try MAPP next time as its a much hotter flame.

Miniminor, thanks, I hope the car turns out ok. I'm really looking forward to driving a mini again.
I've never really taken on anything like this before, I've welded on basic panels, wings and A panels etc. and spray painted a few cars but it was all well over 10 years ago, I had more time then and no kids, it has taken me a long time but I guess there's no real rush.
With the metalwork I find useful not to look at the whole car, it can get quite depressing, a completely rotten mini shell is a little daunting. I try to focus on one small repair at a time, that way it appears more manageable. I should have some blinkers in the garage along with the tools.
There's still a long way to go but as time passes it looks less like scrap.

Great work Ollie

What are you using to make your cuts as they all look very clean.

Cheers.
For cutting I just use normal 1mm thick 4 1/2" or 5" cutting discs, not cheapies though, they don't last and I've had a couple fly off at the spindle.
I do think its well worth investing in a good grinder as well. Amongst others I have a variable speed 5" metabo, it was dear but worth every penny. The variable speed is invaluable for metal finishing with a fibre disc abrasive and metal grinding discs are much more effective run at slower speeds not that I use these often. My metabo drops down to around 3000rpm from normal speed around 11,000rpm. For difficult to reach area I use a die grinder with a carbide burr, in really tight spaces I have a hobby grade dremel.

How are you getting on ollie . Can't speak for everyone but I'm certainly missing the updates . Hope your hard at work . Ken

ollie

shrinking with heat over a large area is hard. try a shrinking disc - ebay will bring one up. looks too simple to work but it is very effective.

Thanks for the encouragement Ken, that's really nice to know its interesting for you as well.
We have been really busy at home and I haven't had much time of late. Its always difficult as I have two little boys and like to try to balance my time.
I did get the other inner wing off last weekend and offered up the new one. Still a bit more de rusting going on as well.
I'm quite annoyed as it fits really well only in as much as I'm now sure there was a problem with the pressing on the off side.
It seems the pressing has moved in relation to the stamping of the holes, some of which didn't actually stamp through the panel, just marked it. This would have been ok if I hadn't had taken the damper mount holes as a dead cert, glad I decided to elongate them now.

You can see some of the stamping issues in the picture, the square holes are way off the centre of the recess. I assume they are supposed to be central.
I spent a bit of time copying all the details of the original panel. I don't know what all the hole are for yet.
Will, I've seen those shrinking discs on youtube they do look good, I fancy having a try with one. It seems you have to order from America on ebay, do you know of a UK supplier?

Cheers, Ollie