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I haven't seen a de seamed mini for ages. I remember seeing them now and again especially at mini 30 Silverstone. Quite a number were mk1 s
did they all fall to bits.

I really liked fully de-seamed Mini's (including the roof gutters) in the 1970's but not so keen now. The body seams removed but leaving the roof gutters looks best to me now or removing only the rear gutter as on many W&P style Mini's with a vinyly roof still looks good on a 70's Mini. Also seems to suit Mini-sprints but I guess so many de-seaming jobs were bodged in the past making accident damage repairs difficult and today factory standard spec. restored Mini's are all the rage so it has fallen out of favour.

It should be remembered that the early Elfs and Hornets were factory de-seamed front and back, also that Issigonis original intention for external body seams was to make assembly in 3rd world type countries easier but in practice this never really happened.

make assembly in 3rd world type countries easier

I know longbridge wasn't perfect but......

Probably all fell apart judging by the state of some I have seen. One in particular just cut the seam off and put filler in the gap!!

Pete

36inter wrote:Probably all fell apart judging by the state of some I have seen. One in particular just cut the seam off and put filler in the gap!!

Pete

How would you manage that! if it wasn't welded/glued on the inside the whole thing would fall apart before you even finished cutting off the seams!!

minimans wrote:

36inter wrote:Probably all fell apart judging by the state of some I have seen. One in particular just cut the seam off and put filler in the gap!!

Pete

How would you manage that! if it wasn't welded/glued on the inside the whole thing would fall apart before you even finished cutting off the seams!!

Seen some bodged years ago with filler outside + fibreglass matting and resin from behind or aluminium sheet plates and csk head pop rivets being used to hold the panels together behind and a skim of body filler on top over the join.......

Never liked de seamed mini's, though I would suffer it to own a sprint.

they went to the same place that bell bottom pants and platform shoes went. i used to own a sa mini sprint gt and it also joined it's buddies in the dump.

Pete, I remember that letter in Miniworld about the guy who deseamed his Mini and used filler to fill the gaps. It fell to pieces as he bumped it out of his garage over the kerb! CLASSIC!

As Jay says, most deseamed Minis rusted away, the biggest problem of a fully deseamed mini is that they constantly fill up with water, the rain runs off the roof round the door seal & into the car. Meaning that they are far more prone to rust than a normal shell with seams & a gutter.

That & of course fashions change.

My Sprint is deseamed, but still has the gutters.

M

This happened to one of them:

one day petter will get that car finished!

I wouldn't hold my breath

I guess that's called Re seaming

Blue Mk2 wrote:I haven't seen a de seamed mini for ages. I remember seeing them now and again especially at mini 30 Silverstone. Quite a number were mk1 s
did they all fall to bits.

..just like flares and tank tops !!! ....there was a time when every other mini adv in the exchange and mart was deseamed ... if u r old enough to remember... the 70,s and the early 80,s that is ??? foxy52

most deseamed Minis rusted away, the biggest problem of a fully deseamed mini is that they constantly fill up with water, the rain runs off the roof round the door seal & into the car. Meaning that they are far more prone to rust than a normal shell with seams & a gutter.

Yep, that's right, although Mark has had an opportunity to inspect the quality of the de-seaming on my Sprint (which was very good) after I had a slight 'off' during an event

I read this post with interest as i do still have a fully deseamed mini, although mine has a roof chop but not the body chop of a sprint.
Mine was an old 60s racer.
I also agree with Marks comment about the rain but i have overcome this by not moving it out of the garage since 1987.
What i did notice recently when i painted the inside is that all the weld marks became visable on the inside,i was amazed at the complexity of bits needed to make up the rear pillars by the rear window,lots and lots of little bits needed to get the shape.
I will try and get some pics on at the weekend,if you sprint guys have any pictures of yours being performed i would be very interested to see how they compare.
I dont know who converted mine but for you racing experts out there it used to belong to White rose engineering in Liphook hampshire, the best i could trace it back to was early 70s when they sold it without an engine but that they had raced it as a chopped car for some years.
I will update with pics over the weekend.

underkut wrote:I.
What i did notice recently when i painted the inside is that all the weld marks became visable on the inside,i was amazed at the complexity of bits needed to make up the rear pillars by the rear window,lots and lots of little bits needed to get the shape.
.

doing the c pillers on a sprint is like skinning a cat - there is a thousand different ways to do them!

you need to be able to think like an artist and understand that its not just a case of chopping a straight 2" out and welding it all back together, it all moves in different ways.

I think this is why Neville was so good at doing them, as he was an artist first and a metal basher second, he could visualise where everything would end up.

Here is one !

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tax-exempt-Au ... 35ce4e1d3e

UHR850 wrote:Here is one !

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tax-exempt-Au ... 35ce4e1d3e

.....and just as Mark suggests - it seems to contain a fair bit of water

First line on advert says needs new shell which is a shame

battery under bonnet as well never seen this before?

there was a very very nice sprint at mini 30 japan registered absolutely stunning!

I will dig out a photo