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Just a Mini Little Job

Started by _Squarepants_ , Oct 06 2011 07:05 PM

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35 replies to this topic

#26 A9X

A fortunate run

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Name:Welby
Location:Perth
Joined: 09-November 05

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Posted 04 December 2011 - 06:53 PM

I love the little bricks.

Blows me away that noone races one in Targa West.

I sniff around them every so often but there's always something else that gets in the way.
I see the Gulson car on ebay complete with its transporter A nice conversion of an f350 ambulance that he parks the mini inside.
Very clever.

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By the by Brad , Very nice

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#27 _SS Hatchback_

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Posted 04 December 2011 - 08:55 PM

nice work there squarepants

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#28 _Squarepants_

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Posted 04 December 2011 - 09:20 PM

Thanks for all the kind words and input from those that actually know things about Mini's.

I'm yet to find out if the owner wants me to do anything with the interior but I'll keep y'all posted.

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#29 _Squarepants_

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Posted 05 December 2011 - 06:58 PM

Can anyone tell me where the battery is mounted in these panel vans originally? I've tried to join the Ausmini forum to ask the question but I've been waiting for about 3 months for my membership to be approved with no joy as yet.

The battery in this one has just been sitting behind the drivers seat, not clamped down or anything, which I'm pretty sure isn't right, not to mention dangerous.

Just another point of interest with this car, it came with the original Pommy number plates with local plates screwed over the top of them. A nice touch, I thought but someone decided otherwise and took them off for rego purposes...

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#30 hanra

Oh My, Don't you post alot

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Name:Brad
Location:Farrrrrr North Qld
Car:1975 LH SL/R 5000, 1967 Morris Cooper S, E36 BMW, Toyota Corolla, Isuzu DMax
Joined: 24-March 11

Posted 05 December 2011 - 09:49 PM

Yeah the battery is mounted behind the drivers seat in a van, it partly sits just underneath the load tray. It should just have a clamp that holds it down. In a traveller they are mounted near the rear door.

PM me your Ausmini.com username or an email and I will get you approved quick smart.

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#31 hanra

Oh My, Don't you post alot

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Name:Brad
Location:Farrrrrr North Qld
Car:1975 LH SL/R 5000, 1967 Morris Cooper S, E36 BMW, Toyota Corolla, Isuzu DMax
Joined: 24-March 11

Posted 05 December 2011 - 10:07 PM

You can see the battery cable and the cut out for the battery to sit, the opposite side is where the spare wheel goes

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#32 _Squarepants_

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Posted 29 January 2012 - 03:50 PM

So I've got the go ahead to fix the seat mounts.
Here are the passenger side mounts that are ugly but functional...

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Nutserts for seat mounts... Hmmmm.

Here are the drivers side mounts...

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As you may or may not be able to see in the dodgy pics, the nutserts have busted out of the x member, leaving gaping holes.

Back of the x member...

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Hole is to allow access to fit the next generation of seat mount engineering brilliance...

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Anyhoo, I have started making new mounts.
After measuring the good side up, I have established where the hole centres should be on the dodgy side and made some plates up. I have decided to fold them at the top and cut into the top side of the x member just to add an extra dimension to the welded area and increase the surface area of the repair in hope of making it stronger. As I don't have any fancy folding gear I used the trusty bench vice and a couple bits of scrap angle iron.

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By gently tapping the protruding edge evenly all the way along, backwards and forwards repeatedly, the fold ends up looking like this...

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Sorry to those that can do this shit but I'm putting this stuff in for those that have never done any metal work and want to start trying. Back yard metal work 101!

Anyhoo, I wanted to spread the load out a bit so I tacked in some large panel washers between the new piece and the captive nuts...

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Next step is to mark out the x member where the new pieces will sit, cut it out and weld in the new bits.
More pics with the next chapter of progress.

Cheers all!

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#33 _Squarepants_

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Posted 30 January 2012 - 07:52 PM

Got a bit more done today.
Measured, marked and cut the old sections out.

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Old pieces and some loveliness I found inside the x member.

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New bits tacked in.

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Trial fit of the seat. Fits nicely.

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That's it for today.

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#34 _Squarepants_

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Posted 08 February 2012 - 07:36 PM

Got the new mounts welded in and smoothed:

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As this is a structural repair I was more concerned about making it strong rather than pretty, so I cranked the mig up a bit to ensure proper penetration which ended up giving me a bit of distortion in the top of the x member. I was a bit pissed off at myself about this but when the seat is in it can't be seen and I'm happier knowing the seat won't fall out rather than worrying too much about having a mirror finish.

Anyhoo, a quick squirt of high fill, knocked it back and threw on some etch primer and here it is:

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And the first repair with the same treatment:

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I didn't worry too much about this step as this car is about to be repainted anyway so the painter can smooth it out as they see fit.

Here it is all reassembled, my job is done:

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Onto the next job...

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#35 hanra

Oh My, Don't you post alot

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Name:Brad
Location:Farrrrrr North Qld
Car:1975 LH SL/R 5000, 1967 Morris Cooper S, E36 BMW, Toyota Corolla, Isuzu DMax
Joined: 24-March 11

Posted 18 January 2022 - 06:59 AM

How did the next job turn out?

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#36 clarky9999

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Name:Andrew
Location:Gembrook VIC
Joined: 24-August 08

Posted 29 January 2022 - 06:15 PM

mini.png 73.22K 1 downloadsGood work and a great to see minis getting done, there was a book a long time ago called How to modify your Mini, went through basically everything Mini, seam welding the interior to engine mods and the like. The mate used it to do a round front panel van. The old girl had 2 a round front that was stock and a square front that we built a 1275 the was 60 thou up, big ports on the head, mild cam and for its size went like s^&t. Its worth keeping an eye out for the book if your going further with them.