Hey Sean, did you say that you will not be using the Canadian front bumper. I may need it as someone just hit and ran my 76 on Thursday night, and took out left front fender, grille, valance, headlight etc. Goes for insurance adjustment on Thursday. 

 

Bruce

 

A bit more progress today, cleaned,painted, greased and fitted the steering rack, then the front subframe went back in. Very exciting!

picked up all the brake components and bearings/seals and have almost finished the hubs. Barring any catastrophes, she should be back on all fours tomorrow.

50 cars would be fun, they had 184 at the last Sonoma raceway Lemons, I was in.  It was more dodgeing the idiots vs racing.  Jerry

I go by feel, I was trying to explain it to Scott when he was using it to do one of the sills. A fraction of a second is not long enough, a larger fraction of a second is too long...

I also find if you make the tips too sharp, they will burn through faster, I suppose the heat is more concentrated that way.

You need to come up to the Pacific Northworst LeMons race, only 50ish cars up here.

Definitely remove them, I was just avoiding overspray from painting the bottom. Everything comes off for paint

Question on the spot welder.  I have one of the Harbor Freight models, cheaper but works.  But I find that I sometimes burn through by leaving it on too long.  Do you do a count or watch for the color change?  Also, how often do you sharpen up the points of the copper?

 

Former Lemons racer!   Too many cars on the track now. 

 

Jerry 

 

When you paint, are you going to remove the rear side repeater light?  Or leave it wrapped and paint around it?  just curious.

Ran the brake lines, fuel lines and main power lead, followed by the rear subframe. I now have a rickshaw...

Craig, yep, miller 220v spot, fantastic tool!

It has been a few days since the last update, over the weekend we were able to finish cleaning and sanding the bottom. New sills on each side, although the drivers side only needed a small patch, at least now they match.

Yesterday I was able to prime and paint the bottom. Today I hope to get her upright and mount the rear subframe.

Sean , that certainly is a nice little project you have there!! Probably never find another Canadian shell that good . Spot welder looks like a miller 220 v ? ( don't ask how I know) Keep up the good work !!

Craig

Spot welding the sill is done! Flipped her down after work, cleaned the seam up shiny and went to it. Took about 6 minutes. I love my spot welder.

New sill is in place and plug welded, the outer seam will be welded with the spot welder once I flip her back upright. The welder is too heavy to lift that high...
Inner sill cavity was wire brushed and treated with rust-mort then the areas to be welded were sprayed with zinc weld through primer.

I know, it's not factory.... Sometimes you need to deviate a little. Points off at the concourse...

Copper coat anti-seize!  If only they had some of that at the factory!

Thanks Deb,

Turns out this car is a '78, I had the year wrong initially. I don't believe it has the "recall tank". It does have the snail heater in the engine bay, which we will leave for now, going to maintain as much originality as we can, bumpers notwithstanding...

It has been a slow week, with my wife's birthday and such, I did manage to get the rear subframe assembled with new wheel cylinders etc. Will be replacing the flex lines, but they are not here yet.

Scott was over on the weekend and scrubbed the bottom of the car, readying it for paint.

 

The gas cap Mur was talking about was on 1979 and 1980 Minis. The neck was changed and it can take a locking Chevrolet Cavalier gas cap. It had threads on the inside of the neck. This was changed after a Mini flipped and the gas poured out in an accident. Also the schock absorber bolt on the gas tank side inside the trunk  had a hard rubber round pointed piece that was placed over the nut that was meant to stop the shock bolt from piercing the tank . The car also had wiring for seatbelt warning lights and handbrake warning lights.

The heater in the car does not have a motor. The motors were moved to the engine bay to reduce noise in the cabin. You can remove the motor from the snail assembly and put it back in the car if you want to room. Or go to the scrap yard and get the motor heater motor from a Chevrolet Sprint, they fit and they are more powerful and also quieter.

Deb

 

That is a clean mini.  The last image is also a nice shot of where the wires pass through to the headlamps and turn signals.

Mur, here is the reinforcement bracket from behind the wing where the bumper bracket would mount

 

Haha, so true!

ask and ye shall recieve...

Details:  Get a shot of the button that holds the door to the sill in a side hit.

998s don't need a dampner, so they weren't fitted with one, and were instead given a horrible cheap riveted steel item that often failed, therefore those engines need a dampner...