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My 1960 Morris Mini Minor project has been under way for a while now, so I thought I might share what has gone on so far before the exciting painting, assembling and finishing off kicks in. So here are some early photos to set the mood.

It came as a disassembled shell with all the correct glass and interior trim but no running gear, no rear subframe and a box of engine bits from various eras. I’m not sure why I had a moment of stupidity but you do these things. I wanted to get as near to the original floor pan as possible and didn’t want lapped floor seams that you get with M-Machine floors ( good as they are) so fitted a tunnel panel as a starting point.
D

Keep up the good work it can be very satisfying in the end,Took me 3 years but it was most enjoyable

Looks like you have made a great start dearg, I take my hat off to you as you still have "some way" to go, but I am sure you will crack it!

The next instalment from an old average forum member.

The floors and cross member were just red dust held together by habit. They were the three straight flute, second iteration, type floors and I wanted to replica these if possible. M Machine did the full width floor sections with smooth sills, however these only come with the curved outer flute. I ordered those and a pair of extra front foot wells to cut up and had some fun with the welder. So I got my three straight flutes and increased the width of the foot well. It is not quite the right depth front to back but may be it will do.

Hi Dearg
I thought of doing this with my 60 m machine floor, but couldnt justify the time on my tight schedule .
Also thought of heating and hammering it into shape.

Keep up the great work!.

Nick

Thanks Nick.

With the floor modified it was time to think about fitting them. First the rear sub frame mounting panel needed to be replaced. The early minis had a different arrangement to stiffen the mounting points, a complicated bracket. The inner sill also runs in at an angle towards the rear and doesn’t match up with the stiffener on the modern sub frame mounting panels.
The inner sills were better than they look and a couple of repairs were all that was needed.
The disparity with the stiffener was sorted by adding an extra inner sill mimicking the later cars (no image)
Now things are ready for the floor.
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Nice work David, good to know someone else is going through it at the same time as me

I just love the attention to detail & craftsmanship displayed by so many members. It makes me look like a right slap dash cowboy.

Yee Haa!

Now for the floor, well one side. As the inner sills are separate items on these early cars it was possible to slide the floor in from the side. It was just necessary to slice and fold back the returns on the rear subframe mount. They were easily welded up again afterwards. The cross member was out by now. A full width one from M Machine needed the seat brackets adding and other modification . Not having a spot welder with deep enough arms to do the seat brackets I did some fake spots then button welded them from the rear. They are probably more secure too. The welded flange at the outer end is for attaching the inner sills. The “bulkhead” on the underside was to stop the whole cross member filling with foam when they injected the sills. I won’t be putting the foam back just loads of cavity wax/fluid. Cross member to fit next.

Time for the floor cross member.

Well not quite yet. Now that the right hand floor was solid front and back and seam welded to the new tunnel I had to decide what to do with the quarter panel. The right hand rear of the car had obviously taken a hit at some time. Mostly minor superficial damage but there was a lot of filler and ripples in the panel. The right hand rear panel around the lights I had managed to beat out enough to avoid replacing it but I was not happy that I would get the ripples out of the quarter panel. The bottom edge was also needing some repair work where the rust worms had got hold.

I decided to use a mk3 heritage quarter panel. Not something I had done before. No going back once committed. D

After being side tracked by the quarter panel it’s back to getting the floor solid and the cross member in place. On these early cars the cross member goes all the way out to the outer sill, through the inner sill as it were. In the factory this was not a problem of course. The floor came as an assembly.

I wanted to keep the door frames as stiff as possible until the floor was complete. The right hand floor was welded in, the left removed but the cross member had to wiggle into place. The door step on the right was cut to allow the cross member to drop in.
And a slot was cut in the inner sill on the other side.l
And the door step temporarily welded up again.

By way of light entertainment, a bit of roof damage repair.
m
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I am impressed how you work in these cars

rickmk1 wrote:I am impressed how you work in these cars

Thanks. It just time and patience, mostly patience.

Another little niggle is that this early car did not have seat belt mounting points. Those at floor level are easy to fix as panels were getting replaced. In era the seat belt kit available required you to drill two hole from the outside of the B pillar. I was not too impressed with that idea even if it would be correct for period. The next best was to jump forward to when provision was introduced. D

I think I would have jumped forwards a little further and fitted the low mounts, you will soon get sick of the high mounted belt sawing at your neck like some enthusiastic isis fighter!

It’s alright I have callouses in the right place from having a 62 997.

I agree with Rich.

I recently did the same job requested by the car owner. I would recommend against doing it the way you have. You could have lowered the pre made shaped plate down from the top of the door post to a pre drilled seat belt hole. Fix the rear plate using a seat belt bolt then drill and plug weld the plate in position from the front. This way you won't weaken the door post.
Another tip is heritage sell the seat belt reinforcement with welded nut 24A2186 for £8.00 it just requires trimmed.

Iain.
It’s food for thought for the next time but the job is done now both sides. I will probably add fixing for a proper harness in the rear anyway. I don’t think my modification will have weakened the B pillar. The steel is thin on these early cars and with the plate behind it is less likely to tear out.
D

Another nice mini being saved. With your attention to detail it will turn out great!