My original Mini - My Project Log

[filbert]

Just drill them out, shouldn't be a problem.
And good luck with the rest(you'll need it).

[joshwa]

Just drill them out, shouldn't be a problem.
And good luck with the rest(you'll need it).

Thanks

I've bought a rivet tool so hopefully putting them back on afterward should be okay.

[joshwa]

Took the wheel arches off (was easy once I'd picked the correct size drill bit)



And the rust isn't too bad, so I've sanded, kurust-ed it. Once the dent is filled and smoothed I'll be able to get ready for spraying.

The other side was similar except the rust is also on the wing:



I may take off the lights on the front - the indicators look easy enough - is removing the main lights fairly straight forward?
edit - just looked at the haynes manual - it looks pretty easy

[joshwa]

Removed lights (on one side) - regreted this as most screws were rusted in, and others had the holder fall off on removal. The other side is rivetted in, so I figure I'm best leaving them in.

Sanded filler more. Amazon cancelled my B$D Mouse Sander, so I bought a B$D Quattro (Sander, drill, jigsaw) for £15 off ebay! Bargain!



Sprayed the filled dent just to see if it was smooth. Turned out quite well:



Figured that I may as well respray the bonnet as well just so that I know it matches - also the finish wasn't great, and found more rust - surprise surprise!

[Behemoth]

Looks like a fun little project you've got going on there

Are you going to re-spray the whole car at some point or is it just case of doing the areas that need the most attention ?

Nearly bought myself a project car a few years back, but it dawned on me that I needed two vital things, neither of which I had any of.

1) Space
2) Knowledge of cars

Nearly bought a Triumph Dolimite off ebay for a small fee, all that was wrong with it was it needed a repalcement clutch, a bit of TLC and it would have been a lovely classic.

[joshwa]

Looks like a fun little project you've got going on there

Are you going to re-spray the whole car at some point or is it just case of doing the areas that need the most attention ?

Thanks It's a steep learning curve, but thank fully most stuffs screwed on with Philips screws I was planning on having the whole car resprayed - but I may see if it's possible to do it myself. The cars only small and if it doesn't work out, then I can get it resprayed by someone else. I need to respray the doors anyway as I have some spare rust free orange ones. The more I look at it the more I realise it all needs doing - the rear boot has bubbling paint - the doors need replacing - and the front - as you can see has rust all over.

In fact it was a Triumph Dolomite Sprint project that inspired me to have a go at spraying the mini myself!

[Behemoth]

Seeing that thread on OcUK has made me want one of those again. Looks like lots of work went into that, what a beauty

[joshwa]

Some more progress has been made:


Filled and sanded hole in the bonnet.


Masked up for the first light spray of primer.


The primer made any small holes or ripples in the previous paintwork stand out so I sanded and filled a few tiny areas, then sprayed again. Will probably need another coat before colour spraying can commence.

[mmh]

haha, now its the colour of 90% of minis in the country



good work nice log

should commence more work on mini this year...

project log of the one im working on...
http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/sh...d.php?t=113108

no work at all on it last year though, owner had other things going on!

[ionicle]

i am liking the look of this

good to see someone restoring a BRITISH car

</being a hypocrit>

since i have a pug 306

i'd love a rover though...rover 45's look nice..

[joshwa]

haha, now its the colour of 90% of minis in the country



good work nice log

should commence more work on mini this year...

project log of the one im working on...
http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/sh...d.php?t=113108

no work at all on it last year though, owner had other things going on!

Wow - thats a serious body kit!

Sprayed the car with another coat of primer today, photo of it looks the same though so I may as well not post the pic up

[joshwa]

I've switched paints... I wasn't very happy with the Halfords primer, (it seemed very dry, and if you were too far away it was just spraying dust, and too close then it didn't spread very well). This was the result of using Halfords paint, it would take about 3 cans of 500ml primer to get one average (thin) coat (above), and this is after using another 3 cans (yesterday):



After switching to Carplan / Tetrosol 600ml Primer from Motorworld, I was able to do about two coats of primer using just one can! Then used about half of another can to give the bonnet two coats! I'm just waiting for it to dry now, but I'll post a picture later. But just think about the maths for this, I could spend £36 on six cans from Halfords, and still not be finished or spend £12 on two cans from Motorworld and be done!

[joshwa]

Here's a pic after using the Carplan / Tetrosyl primer - the paint comes out much "wetter" than the halfords and is easier to cover the car with. The only danger is that if you're not careful then it can run.



Note the slight "sheen" or shiney-ness to it compared to the Halford primer used in the previous pics. The surface using the new primer is much smoother May even be nearing the colour stage...

[Behemoth]

That looks much better. It looks ready for it's main coat of paint now.

[longshanks]

cracking project!!

[Jiff Lemon]

get yourself a nice tin of Matt Black, then dust that primer in it. Primer hides a multitude of sins. Dust with a colour, flat back.

Hycote stuff is fab - You could also try their primer filler (which sprays in an almost day-glo monkey puke yellow colour!).