Mini Gene's 1977 Mini Rebuild

Started by MiniGene, March 17, 2011, 05:40:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MiniGene

Okay, so if you guys haven't figured it out yet but I am a slacker.  I've decided to give myself a deadline to help motivate me and to keep my project moving. 

Here goes:

I'll have all of the patching and welding done on the rear, and the passenger side of the Mini by the end of May!

Feel free to prod me if I slack.  I check this site nearly daily so call me out if I start to slack.

Willie_B

But May of what year? :-[  I have the CMU events in the Smokie mountains to keep me going. They happen every 18 months. So can't drag things out, don't want to miss out on all the fun driving.

94touring


joltfreak

check out the official website for updates!!!!! 


MiniGene

Uh...Did I say I'd be done welding the rear and passenger side by the end of May...?  Where the hell did May go?  Between my mom visiting, working projects at home, spending time with the wife and kids, and insanity at work I blew that deadline, BIGTIME!  Good thing I don't do this for a living!

Anyway, so I FINALLY was able to get to the Mini again today.  Today's task was to tackle a rusted out area of the driver's side rear wheel well, right above the rear subframe mount.

Here's after I cut out the rusted area:



Here's the patch piece I made:



A pretty good fit:



Here's how far I got before I ran out of welding wire:



I need to finish up the welding but I decided to grind down what I had done so far.  I'll probably do some more grinding later.



So, with no more wire I decided to at least start to clean up the rest of the wheel well and cut out some other trouble spots.  I'll make some new patch pieces soon.







Dan, what wire do you use for your flux core welder?  the .030 or .035?

Thanks!

94touring

Good to see you working on it.  Either of those sizes, I normally grab the .035. 

MiniGene

Picked up some more wire and was able to work on it again today.

Finished up this patch.  Put some primer on it just to keep it from rusting.  It will get a seam sealer treatment when it's all said and done.



Now I'm working on the rear end of the wheel arch.  I got this patch welded in probably 60%.  The dings are where I pounded it in to meet the subframe mount on the other side.  I'll weld it to the mount on that side soon.




MiniGene

This past weekend I managed to patch some more metal on the Mini.  Very tedious work, cut out bad metal from car, cut out good metal from sheet, work to shape new metal, weld new metal, blow hole in metal, cuss at metal, fill in hole, make hole bigger, cuss some more, fill in again, grind down, repeat. LOL

Soooo...afterwards I got bored and primered the back of the Mini.  I'm thinking it looks pretty cool.



And then I found this old metal gas can at the GoodWill for 5 bucks.  I cleaned it up and painted it a desert tan color.  Not sure what I'll do with it.  It's too rusty on the inside to use as a gas can.  Maybe I'll throw it on the roof rack on my 4Runner so I can look cool.  Haha


Mudhen

Quote from: MiniGene on October 11, 2012, 06:00:55 PM
This past weekend I managed to patch some more metal on the Mini.  Very tedious work, cut out bad metal from car, cut out good metal from sheet, work to shape new metal, weld new metal, blow hole in metal, cuss at metal, fill in hole, make hole bigger, cuss some more, fill in again, grind down, repeat. LOL

Perfect description of me last week.  Perfect!

I just ordered some copper spoons from Eastwood.  Wanted to get them before but didn't know if I'd really need them - I need them!  (they have some gas tank sealant stuff that would probably allow you to put real live fuel in that jerry can, too  :-) )

Are you cutting your patches the exact size as the hole and butt-welding them in flush with the old metal?  Or putting a flange on the old metal?  I tried butt-welding first...yikes - think the spoons will help immensely with that.  So then I tried a flange - helped a lot but still tough...and going to be pretty ugly on the 'other' side... 50.gif

I think the back looks AWESOME!  Can't wait to start that phase.

Pat

MiniGene

Thanks Pat.  I guess I normally cut out the old and weld in the new according to my mood.  In some spots I'll butf weld it but in others I'll over lap and try to weld on both sides if possible.  I haven't had to do much work in an area that will be visible to the average Joe so I haven't put a lot of effort in making my work look pretty.  I know it's coming though, I need to patch a small rust hole on the passenger rear quarter window frame and then there is the entire front end....

I think the jerry can is beyond hope.  See that pile of rust flakes on my trailer?  Those were all from inside the tank! http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/Smileys/smile/undecided.gif

What are the copper spoons used for?  Do they help dissipate the welding heat?

Gene

Willie_B

Copper spoons help with heat and also the weld does not stick to it so patching a small hole is easier.
http://www.eastwood.com/welders-helper.html