Replacing sills, floors and rust sections...

[AussieTomo]

Hay everyone,

I need to replace the boot floor, front drivers and passenger floors, sill panels and both inner and outer a panel's. What is the best way going about this? I got the Mig welder from work to do the job. Im not sure whether to weld it from inside the car or outside, as it needs a blue slip, which is a detailed inspection of the car before i can get it registered, i want it too look professional with minimal weld exposed. Any suggestions?

[mhamps]

Hi I have a outersill for sale if you need one!

[Tommy Cooper]

postage to Australia might be a bit high though !

if youve got that much floor and sill to cut out I would certainly weld some pieces across the door gaps to keep them at the same width at the very least and then just do a bit at a time... if you cut the lot out then it might twist out of shape. I would do the front floor panels then the inner sill and then the outer sills... but others with more experience might disagree ;)

[moco-mini]

Found this link handy lots of these on theminiforum most questions answered and some good pics

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=44072

[AussieTomo]

Hi I have a outersill for sale if you need one!

hay matey, sounds like a good idea, but can we confirm that the parts in the UK are the same is Oz? yea it might also cost a bit to ship, but i think it would be cheaper if i get the parts from my supplier anyways. thanks for the offer though ;)

[AussieTomo]

postage to Australia might be a bit high though !

if youve got that much floor and sill to cut out I would certainly weld some pieces across the door gaps to keep them at the same width at the very least and then just do a bit at a time... if you cut the lot out then it might twist out of shape. I would do the front floor panels then the inner sill and then the outer sills... but others with more experience might disagree ;)

ahk, no worries, thanks for the input, muchly appreciated :D

[AussieTomo]

g'day,

Well this weekend was a bit of a disaster, read my other stories, as i didn't get the mini back in time from the sandblaster's, but good news is that i borrowed the MIG welder from work and bought some sheet metal and started practicing my welding. it's still pretty poor, but with enough time and dedication, it will get better. The MIG only has 2 settings, high and low, i started using the low for smaller things with the electrode length of about 50mm then turned up the power to high for a consistent bead. Keeping in mind that if you stay in the one spot for too long it will burn a hole in the metal (by the way, the metal is only 1mm thick :)) i've mastered what to do, but it's just perfecting it right without having to much splatter and a consistent bead instead of small balls of weld holding the piece on. I've found even if the weld isn't that good, it will still hold, but with my baby, nothing will be done unless im 100% confident that it's going to be perfect, but as they say, practice makes perfect. Any welding tips anyone, beside the one already supplied? I've also noticed that the feed of wire sometimes comes out leaning to one side or twists to the other side which then mucks up your weld :( But i think that most of these panels aren't going to be seen, so it should be ok to repair even if they're not perfect. Im planning to keep welding tomorrow and see how i go ;)

[moco-mini]

When welding try moving the tip of the welding gun up and down or in a zig zag across both pieces you are trying to weld. This will give you a fish scale type patten and a much neater weld. are you welding from left to right or right to left from right to left with the pool behind the gun is best allow the pool to glow it will flow more and be a much stronger weld

[AussieTomo]

Sweet, thanks for the advice moco-mini, i will definitely try it later on this arvo, cheers