Fill, sand, fill sand, fill, sand...
Both sides of the shell were worked on with repeated applications of filler and sanding to get everything mostly flat/smooth, and all areas with filler or bare metal were resealed with 2 coats of epoxy primer.








I also 3D printed a simple piece specifically for the rear quarter window opening when I was filling/sanding a rust repair.


The rear bumper has been deseamed so this required a thin skim of filler over a majority of the beaver panel to get a even curvature over the panel.

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

90% of painting is in the prep work they say.... looking good mate, this thing is going to be unreal!

share it please Mearcat!!!

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No problem : https://www.printables.com/model/696693-classic-mini-rear-quarter-window-sanding-block

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

legend!

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Loads of filler & sanding has been completed, and everything had 2x additional coats of epoxy primer to cover filler & bare metal




The roof took an age to get right - about 4-5 skims of filler and 20 hours of work!




I also had to fix (cut, panel beat, re-weld) the shape of the panels around the base of the de-seamed C-pillar on the shell. The original welding resulted in average panel alignment and the panel creases sitting too high/proud.


I never realised how different the profile of the top crease in the rear and side panel are so I had to blend the two where the vertical seam used to be.


I've never liked the bracing design on the classic Mini Clubman bonnet due to the large centre area that has no support, which has a good chance of being dented if leaned on heavily. It looks like this bonnet had experienced that so I fabricated a custom brace with a similar shape/profile as the factory braces.




then filler & sand on the bonnet


The doors were quite wavy although the thickness of filler used was thankfully relatively thin


Detailed work on the bottom of the doors after the pocket was removed


Boot lid :

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Impressive. You make bodywork look so easy.

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

The body work is at a point where I can fit flares without worrying whether any part of the shell will be altered. Some time ago I had fitted the subframe, hubs & front rims to determine how far the wheels will stick out from the guard, which was measured as 42mm (with 0 degrees of camber) :




I sourced a set of fibreglass Wood and Pickett type flares which have a width of ~58mm (2.25") at the top of the arch.


The flares were offered up to the shell and initially seemed like they all needed just a bit of work to butt up against the shell properly but that was the least of the problems. The flares didn't seem to match the curvature of the wheel arch lip. I scribed and cut some cardboard to the shape of the wheel arches to compare.


None of the four flares actually matched the wheel arch curves. For example this flare was okay at the top but tucked in at either end


compared to a set of (narrower) ABS plastic flares which matched the curve perfectly


To reshape the flares to match the wheel arch curvature I made a series of offset cuts along the length of each flare which allowed them to flex


With the ends cut off this allowed me to clamp the flares to the body and superglue some small pieces of steel over the cuts to hold the corrected shape. A couple of layers of fibreglass was then applied to the back of the cuts.


The curve of the front flare lower section also did not match the body seam so this also had offset cuts to fit it




I had to extend the rear flares by approx 100mm to give it a more completed look with bumperless rear end. I formed a shape for the missing sections and these were then fibreglassed into the gap.


This style flare generally uses pop-rivets fitted from underneath, up into the wheel arch lips. I didn't like the idea of using pop-rivets to secure the flares as the wheel arch lip was as narrow as 8mm wide - not wide enough to be confident that they stay securely fitted so the lips were extended to approx 25mm




...then I welded on four M5 nuts on small plates for each flare to provide support for the thin-ish steel of the wheel lip extensions.


The flares then needed new fibreglass added to get them to butt up neatly against the body. I applied painters tape on the body to cover the panels and some fibreglass to bridge any gaps


This took well over a month of detailed work (and lots of time waiting for fibreglass to cure) to get just the flares completed and fitting really well. So much for what I thought would be just a weekend or so of work bolting them on

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

I had previously modified the front fascia panel to fix a serious bonnet gap issue and knew it would affect the subframe front mounting and require some re-work. The gearbox-side engine mount no longer aligned with the front apron mount hole and it was easier to completely remove it and remake the mount.




The front brace bar also needed to be modified however I chose to remake the entire piece. The original bar was made with 32mm, 3mm wall structural tube which was significant overkill for primarily mounting the radiator so the new one was made using lighter 25mm, 1.5mm wall.




The bonnet, doors and boot-lid were fitted to reconfirm panel alignment & gaps. For the doors I 3D printed a couple of little spacers for the bottom of the door opening, that holds the door in exactly the right position to align the doors with the sill area and maintain the lower gap.




I used a sanding block and metal ruler edge to find any high/low spots between the panels. The passenger door needed a small amount of panel beating to get a few of the edges moved in/out (only about 1mm) to align with the body panel.




All areas all over the shell that needed seam sealer and underbody coating was then scuffed with a maroon Scotch-brite pad to prep it.






The panel joins in the engine bay and front bumper area had seam sealer applied and any excess carefully wiped off, leaving only the seam sealer at the panel joins.




For the roof I taped off the gutter and liberally applied seam sealer in the gutters, making sure that the two drain holes in each corner were still open.


Seam sealer was also done in the interior




The bootlid and doors then had seam sealer applied over the door skin edges (I could only get white colour for a new seam sealer cartridge)

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

awesome!! dear Mearcat, can you share the new door gap 3d printed tool please?? thanks again! it help me a lot!!

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I'm going to create a new thread in the main forum with links to all the 3D-printed designs I've made and others can share their designs also. I think it's worth sharing as much as we can to help out others.

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

legend!

_________________

Underbody coating has been completed after everything was masked off with tape, plastic, paper etc




Underbody coating is a messy job so the floor was covered in old bed sheets and I wore a full body coverall, nitrile gloves and safety glasses. It was applied to floorpan & inner wheel guards & boot floor with a schutz spray gun.


After the underbody coating was completed, everything was painted with 2 coats of satin black.


At the same time I painted fuel line/battery line underbody covers with the coating


The middle area of the lower firewall had been masked off as it will be painted in the body colour. The black underbody coating seen here on the firewall will be hidden by the front subframe once fitted.


Inside the rear valance corner closing panels was also sprayed with a heavy coating of cavity wax (Valvoline Tectyl 506), using a tube nozzle poked through the small openings in the rear panel and left to drain while it dried :

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Nice work!

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With the shell still on the rotisserie, I checked the fuel line/brake line/battery cable clamps that bolt to the underside were still okay. It's lucky I did this as while I was fitting the fuel lines I remembered that I had previously messed up and ended up with a ~12mm gap between the lines & floorpan, which was unacceptable as it fouled with the steering rack gaiter.


I completely remade all three fuel lines - single piece lines that route from the rear to the front of the Mini.


The clamps (for fuel lines, battery cables and rear brake line) were originally hand-made however since purchasing a 3D printer, I designed new ones in CAD. After prototyping multiple versions to get all fitments just right, these are the final designs however the final prints will be black coloured ASA.


Boot floor fuel line clamps (the open line shown here will be connected to the fuel filter output) :


Before starting the high build primer, I decided to make a dolly so the shell could be moved around the workshop and have unimpeded access to the panels to be painted. It will also be used for trailer transport to the paint shop. It was a simple and sturdy design made primarily from 76x38mm patio tube with 6" castor wheels. This photo is the frame clamped together for storage.


The round tube bolts to the front steering rack mount and the upright pieces bolt to the rear shock absorber mounts, with a ~2m piece of patio tube between. Only afterward did I realise it probably would have been easier to bolt the rear part of the dolly to the heelboard instead of the rear shock mounts but I wasn't going to change the design.

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.