Can anybody give me some idea of how the gap between the scuttle panel and the guard is finished is it left open or is it filled with seam sealer I'm about to glue the seam strips on and I'm going to paint the seams first befor I put them on so the car is painted underneath the seam cover but I don't know what to do with the gap between the scuttle and it's not like you can walk down the street and check another mini any help or pics would be appreciated

It's originally unfilled.
However when repainting mine 10 years ago in 2 pack the painter used Sikaflex. So far, it's not cracked.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

This is the same join on my S. Am painting the car at the moment (hence the overspray) but the seam is as original factory - like Drmini says - no filler.
Bye the way, the external body seams have no rust under the cover strips after 30 odd years because they were painted before the cover strips were added.

I wonder how that was achieved on the assembly line? Did the body go through the Rotodip and paint shop without the cover strips, with them being added later? If so the strips would've needed painting at roughly the same time as the body to get the correct matching paint colour.

However original fitted strips I've seen are brazed top and bottom, so that suggests the sequence was to paint the seams after Rotodip, fit and braze the cover strips then paint the whole body.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

I'm assuming this is the second time around for the cars resto and last time it was painted under the strips as he says 30odd yrs when the car is 50odd yrs old.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

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Thanks for that I was thinking it would be better to leave them open because you have a better chance of cleaning crap out of them but a few minis I have look at it has been seam sealed but all good I shall leave it as is ......when I cut the old seam covers off there was no rust under them but it wasn't painted the same colour as the car it was the light grey green primer colour as inside the sills and other hard to get to places and they where brazed on top and bottom mine will be getting clips and body adhesive to seal and hold it on I'm not brazin it

Bubbacluby was right.
Re-reading my comment, it could be taken as the join between the guard and scuttle AND the painted external seams were both factory original.
The photo was to show a factory original gap without sealer. The comment about no rust under the external seam covers was meant to suggest Shaunsyd was on the right track to paint the seam first and add the covers afterwards. As Winabbey suggests, this wasn't the way the factory did it because the brazing had to be done to bare metal before painting.

By the way, one reason for gluing the coverstrips is to avoid the indentation marks visible on the coverstrips made by the clips underneath. The glue also acts to fill the coverstrip and exclude water.

FYI The guard to scuttle gap was not sealed but it should be to prevent rust .Use a urethane sealer push into gap using a 1mm plastic applicator leave a 6mm depth at top. The cover strip can be adhered on using a urethane sealer no clips .You must tack the strip top and bottom ,MIG is best or manganese bronze .Looks bad without the tacks. Also use masking tape on either side of join to make easy clean up of sealer. You will have to clamp the centre of cover strip to body.The cover strips were fitted before paint in production. It was called body in white. Caulking compound was used to seal them before painting .I have worked on American cars that do not have paint under the rear fins the fins were held on by PK screws and the chrome mold covered them
Allen