My Vtec Cooper

[Dobey]

Hahaha wel in that case you can only find out how good your own repairs have been during that period.. LOL..
I've found some interesting repairs on several cars in the past.. Welding patches over rust holes and a lot of body filler over that same patch, for example..

[Oz]

Hopefully none, the car is a 96 Cooper and I bought it in 98 with 4500 miles lol

[Dobey]

Yeah that helps a lot and in some cases you find out how "good" the repairs of the previous owner(s) are

[Oz]

The one benefit is that I'll be replacing both sills so i will take the opportunity to clean up and treat any surface rust inside the box sections whilst the sills are off and then paint with a suitable weld through primer.

[Dobey]

Yeah it’s best to get the complete panel instead of patching. Unless it’s somewhere on the bottom. At least that’s how i feel

[Oz]

The frustrating thing is that my shell is really sound but just a few small holes. I'm of the mind set that replacement is better than patching so it's full panel replacement on the cards.

[Dobey]

We have all been there. I know when i bought my mini 1300 turbo. The guy said: only minor rust. Oh boy was he wrong.

eventually you will get it all. Hold on

[Oz]

Minis are such rust traps Spent the afternoon digging rust out of various seams and finding random rust holes. A bit fed up at the mo...

[Oz]

I refitted the engine just to make sure the clearances were stil ok on the front. Then trial fitted the exhaust manifold to check for clearance on the gear linkage. Small steps but getting closer.

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[Oz]

I was struggling to get to the under side of my car as it was sat on a pallet board on 4 wheel dollies so I decided to treat myself to this

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Access is so much better plus the ability to tilt it makes getting proper clearance without crawling under it on my back is great.

[Oz]

Looking good, making progress ✅

Thanks. It just seems to be taking forever at the moment to get anything done.

[GEORDIE SP1]

Looking good, making progress ✅

[Oz]

Redid the front panel mounts and got everything lined up properly. Removeable front end works so just need to get it welded together now!

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I've had to reverse my original plan of welding in the threaded plates to the rear of the crossmember as for some reason I was having clearance issues with the front panel and rad. I put a bolt in from the back and a nut on the outside and that about sorts the clearance problem.

Having a bolt in the frame does help with lining up the front end when fitting it on the car.

[Oz]

😫😣

Yup, that about sums it up

[Oz]

pics

Tower mounts welded in

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Front end bolted up but through wrong holes

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