Maybe I'm not seeing the logic here, but why not skip the middleman and order from Newton and save some money? 

In my defense, this was not a "regular bodyshop"  - it is a restoration shop that specializes in classic VWs but also does some higher end restoration work.  The proprieter claims he was trained on restoring Bentley's with his father.  I went to them specifically because they have experience with rust restoration and full frame-off restorations.  They didn't do"25 patches in a rusty panel" but about 20 patches all over the car.  Most of which were in the boot area, underneath the rear valence, and on both the passenger and driver side floor pans and side 'jacking' areas.  They had to totally rebuilt the seem under the driver's door and did a nice job there.  But, in general, I agree with your message - my major mistake (in retrospect) was not taking a Minisport catalogue with me so they could see what panels were readily available.  We had a agreed to a scope of repairs and, when they contacted me notifying me that they had found more rot than I anticpated, I didn't stop them and order more panels.  That was more my mistake since they haven't worked on Minis before.

Now, welding underneath the carpet area- that was plain stupid.  But I could see how he did it since it appeared to be too far forward to be under the carpet. Still!

I see that Minisport sells a Newton Commercial panel with a Red strip.  That looks pretty close to what I had.  A set of those should do me!  Hopefully, MiniMania can order them as well!

-Paul

This is yet another reason to never take your Mini to a regular bodyshop.  If they aren't familiar with Minis they end up doing all kinds of crap that they do to their run of the mill customers.  No, anyone contemplating repairs to their Mini's bodywork and painting should always seek out a specialist that not only knows what he is doing, but doesn't do stupic stuff like putting 25 patches in a rusty panel.  What a load of SHYTE!

The last I looked, MiniSport had late model molded carpet sets. Give Mike a call at MiniSportUSA. (Sorry, Don, but...)

I don't recall the lightening bolt pattern but I will take a look and post a picture after Monday.  When I went to look at it yesterday, they already had the whole car covered / masked off for the painting spraying of the undercarriage.  

The patches were all pretty small but, in retrospect, it would have made sense to replace the boot tray rather than do as much patching as they did.  I didn't know how rotten it was and they didn't call me until they had already done the work.   Needless to say, I won't be giving them more work in the future.

Awwww that's a shame about the damage.

Can you post a pic of what your doorcards look like? I would have thought they'd be similar, if not the same to the other SPi models of the time. Or at least close enough you could adapt something.

25 patches? Cut out the floor and put in a new one. 

As for the carpet if it is a one piece moulded they are NLA so you have to source a good used one.

The rest should be able to be duplicated by a good upholstery shop. 

did they have a lighting bolt pattern. if so, they were common to the mini cooper model.

Hey folks,

I have a '95 Cooper Silverbullet (special edition of the SPI).  I took it to a local bodyshop that specializes in VWs to have some of the rust spots repaired and then they prep, acid wash, and undercoat the whole car with POR 15 to prevent further rust.  Awesome right?  After 25 patches on the sills, in the boot, and rear valence area, they were doing one last spot weld and managed to catch the carpet foam on fire.  It damaged carpet, door card, and trim under the dash.

So, here is the question.  The Silverbullet was a special edition with leather seats and a rare elm burlwood dash.  The door cards were damaged and I don't know if those were specific to the this model.  I've looked around and haven't found any online that look similar.  They are black leather or vinyl with red piping.  Anyone know where my bodyshop can buy me some like these?

-Paul