FOM The Clubman Estate

[Tupers]

They could have done with you at Longbridge back in the sixties - that looks better than stock! (Although I do like the original fuel filler on ours). Unfortunately you've also shamed me into getting something done on ours, plus I may take some holidays so I can get it finished.

Thanks dude, I'm not sure I'm Longbridge material bit I do my best.


I had a look into what Im doing with the rear valance. I didn't want to use the standard one as it's quite shallow so I'm going to have a local company roll some steel so I can make a deep one.

I use the shrinker to make a silhouette of the new valance. The standard one is 8CM deep and the new one will be 16CM deep.

I think it should help make the back end look a little lower and do a good job of hiding the exhaust that will be behind it.

I also started fabrication on the frames for my wind down rear windows.

 

[Cris B]

I assume you've seen this?

http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/mini-pickup-restoration/

 

[Tupers]

Yeah my brother's restoring a pick-up and showed me the build thread for that car a while ago. The attention to detail on it's amazing and he's go the wheels I want.

 

[Tupers]

No huge progression as I got busy trying figure out how to make the corners of the rear valance today. I think I've found a way of doing it with the shrinker and some dolly work though so it was worth the time.

I added a gusset into the back of the b-pillar to join up with the extended outer section for the window frame. Now I'm really in a holding pattern until my winder mechanisms get here.

My new rear brake backplates arrived and I dug through our spare final drives to find a 2.9-1. That came up trumps so I've got three less things to worry about getting.

 

[Tupers]

I got the window frame pieces tacked together now I need to pull it out and pop some rivnuts in to hold it.

Because of the new position of the alternator and SC I I'm going to move the oil filter for the subframe. I'm trying to find a remote filter head with both in and out on the front but had no luck so far.

While doing a bit of random searching on eBay I found these interior door handles.

I'll have to a bit of work on the linkage but they should be a nice alternative to the standard style handles.

I also had a nice MG metro radiator arrive and set about making some mounts for it.

That's all folks.

 

[the snooper]

manual door catches, with so many mods why not use a solenoid and have it push button

 

[Tupers]

manual door catches, with so many mods why not use a solenoid and have it push button

I don't really like poppers to be honest plus I think the chrome handles look pretty.

I had a bit of play to try and figure out how to mount the bottom of the rad and came up with this. There's a slotted hole for the rubber grommet to slot into, so far it looks like it should hold the rad nice a snuggly.

I alos drilled out the seat catches and took a little material off the sides of the so that they slip in and out of their holders nicely.

There should still be plenty of boot space even with the seat sat further back.

 

[Tupers]

I did a bit of doodling last night trying to figure out a grill design. I like number 5, a centre emblem similar to the early clubman grills with thin slats behind it.

 

[Robotstar5]

What about quarter bumpers, although you'd probably do a better job than I did with a hacksaw in my youth

 

[Tupers]

What about quarter bumpers, although you'd probably do a better job than I did with a hacksaw in my youth

I have thought about doing quarter bumpers on the front but I want to have reg number sprayed onto the intercooler which will be in the front panel so I might just end it with a empty space between the bumpers.


I had a bit of spare time today between doing nothing and dong more nothing so I popped down and had a fiddle with my tail gate hinges.

I made these captive channels a while ago for the hinges in bolt to.

This is how they bolt up the the hinges.

The hinges go through the step sill and under the floor so I needed to make a hole to get to the bolts.
I started with a step drill and then moved onto the die grinder.

I still need to add some structure under the floor to weld the captive channels onto but the is roughly where the hinge should sit.

 

[Robotstar5]

Looks interesting, are you fitting a split tailgate? classic Range Rover style.

 

[Tupers]

Looks interesting, are you fitting a split tailgate? classic Range Rover style.

Yep that's the plan.


I had a go at making the closing plates for either side of the captive channels today.

Each one will have a curved lip that will be plug welded to the valance.
To make the lip I used a pair of long nose pliers to bend the 15MM at 90* to the rest of the panel but this left me with waves on the edge.

I decided I needed a tucking fork to sort them out but didn't have one so I made this one quickly

I slipped the fork onto each waved section and then twisted it counter clockwise to make the metal double over on it's self.
The more you twist the more of an overlap you get until you end up with an S shape where the wave was.

Once I had it over far enough I used a hammer and dolly to knock the S flat so it's just three layers of metal stacked on top of each other.

The radius on this one is off a bit l but I'll chalk that up to learning and make a replacement.

 

[the snooper]

I want to have reg number sprayed onto the intercooler

if you are going to spray on the reg number have you thought about the legality of it, the number plate has to be reflective by law to allow the speed cameras to charge you an extortionate amount for traveling too fast

 

[Tupers]

Only for show honest.

 

[Tupers]

I decided not to do the folded and tucked edge on the closing plates as I need more time to figure out the process. Instead I made 4 closing plates this afternoon that will have a curved piece welded to them to support the valance.

That was all I really got done for the car as I had a go at TIG welding. This is really my first proper attempt bar me destroying a few rods 5 years ago when my Dad first got this machine.

This is 4MM mild steel butt welded plus a few practice beads.

This is 1MM mild steel on my first shot at butt welding.

 

[Angusdog]

TIG welding is a bit of a black art, especially on thin gauge material.

With those valence panels, could you put some darts in the flange that's curved so when it's bent, the darts close up and you have solid steel? SInce it would be impossible to see, you wouldn't even need to weld the darts closed.

 

[Tupers]

TIG welding is a bit of a black art, especially on thin gauge material.

My TIG welding's got some way to but it's something I've always wanted to learn. My dad's got a '59 Mini tucked away in the corner and I'd like to be able to TIG weld all the repairs on it.

With those valence panels, could you put some darts in the flange that's curved so when it's bent, the darts close up and you have solid steel? SInce it would be impossible to see, you wouldn't even need to weld the darts closed.

I haven't got any pictures yet but I used the shrinker stretcher to make a curved piece for each closing panel. They'll do the same job but I haven't got to worry about taking 3 attempts to make 1 panel.

 

[Tupers]

So here's one of the curved sections I made for the closing panels instead of trying to do the tucked edge.

I got them all welded up and did a test fit with the captive channel and hinge.

Everything's held in with Cleco's, now they just need welding.

 

[Tupers]

I haven't been able to work on this recently but I managed to get down today and knock off a couple little jobs.

I started out by finally welding the captive channels and closing plates in then linished the welds down and sprayed some primer.

Something that's been bugging me about moving the subframe up in the car was that it made the towing eyes sit out of centre in the front panel. Even though it's hard to see with the car on the ground I decided to do something about it.

I made up two rectangles and swaged a 25MM holes in the centres then cut out a hole in the front panel and welded them in.

It's doesn't make a huge difference visually but I like it.

 

[Tupers]

I had been thinking about making a whole new frame for the tailgate on this but after talking with my brother about various options I decided to have a crack at making at Mini pickup frame work.
I grabbed an old tailgate that he'd started chopping up and stripped it with a massive wire brush on the grinder.

When I fitted the hinges I used the same spacing as a pickup, this meant that the frame went straight on.

Now for the modification I'll need to make.
The pickup tailgate stands vertically and the frames are parallel where as the estate is angled and the frame is pinched towards the top. It wont be too much work to make fit but just enough for me to pull my hair out over.

I also tried on a set of pickup check straps, these will be getting lengthened to work correctly.

One saving grace with this tailgate is that the only rust that needed repairing was two holes in the bottom so I got to cutting and welding.

I use a lot of 3M Roloc discs so I decided to make an nice divider to sit them in one of the drawlers on my rollcab.

It's also my 22nd this weekend and my parents bought me a new Dewalt 18V drill driver.