FOM The Clubman Estate

[Tupers]

I saved the lower section of the original flitch earlier and today after a little trimming I welded onto the new flitch.

 

[Caledonian]

I love this thread, attention to detail is incredible. Keep up the good work

 

[Tupers]

Thanks Caledonian, here's some updates just for you.

I've modified the front panel to allow me to fit the rad further in behind the grille to get a bit more clearance around the alternator.

Over all it's about 40MM further forwards now, should allow me to fit a slightly thick rad in.

I'm not using the sidelight/indicators units on this so today I got rid of the rather ugly looking bulges in the wing/front panel that they would normally sit on.

Pre chop.

Post chop and lost of hammer and dolly work.

The cuts I made to get everything to flow back together.

I gave it a quick flick over with some satin black to bring out the shape better

 

[Caledonian]

Thanks wish I had your skill & patience.

 

[Angusdog]

It's already much nicer than the BMW Clubman Estate - reading this thread is like a TV series, waiting for the next episode!

 

[Tupers]

Thanks Angus I'm thinking about putting all the pictures into a really fast slide show so when it's finished it'll look like a flick book.

I did a bit of playing about with my magnesium wheels today using a customers mini as a bit of a test mule.
The arches are tubbed to the same level that mine will be allowing for an ultra low ride height.

I also had my MPI crank and water pump pulleys arrive for when I get round to the engine build.

And last but not least I got a storming deal on a Beta buffer dolly, Beta anvil dolly and a Beta panel hammer. Retail price £158.46, my price £69.99.

 

[Tupers]

I absconded with the alloy rad from my brothers MG Metro Cup car to see if it would fit in the estate today.

I decided to extend the slam panel to cover the new rad and keep the engine bay tidy so I chopped the old one out and made this.

I also made some nice little curved pieces on the shrinker/stretcher to clean up the ends.

 

[Windy Miller]

Brilliant job! Keep the pics coming!

 

[Tupers]

Thanks Windy.

I made the second curved piece today and got it welded in and linished down.

I flicked over the whole slam panel with some black just to see what it would look like out of bare metal. It needs a little work with the die grinder and a tiny skim of filler but I'm happy with it.

My front frame's gone off for blasting now so once I've got my bits from Mini Spares I'll be able to get both frames built and have this thing rolling at last.

 

[KennyA]

great work there. i'm just about to start my mini van but its mainly the back end thats causing me problems. have you done any repairs around the back door area?

 

[Tupers]

Thanks for the comment Kenya. I actually cut out the rear step sill this after noon and will be fabricating a new one to go in it's place over the next few days. I've also previously done a few repairs to the bottom for the frame so I'll find the pics of that and post them up if you like?

I started out by welding a tube across the door frame to keep everything straight and the then cut the whole of the sill off.

I also got the new sections cut to replace it but I need to run them over the road to be folded and a our machine isn't big enough to do them in one piece.

I though I should probably add a new slam panel brace in that would clear the rad so knocked this up. The swaged holes add a surprisingly large amount of strength and I think they look cool.

Poor FOM's looking a bit dull still but hopefully it wont be long until he's rolling around and getting ready for body work.

 

[barny]

Thats alot of work gone into this mini, great work.

 

[KennyA]

Thanks for the comment Kenya. I actually cut out the rear step sill this after noon and will be fabricating a new one to go in it's place over the next few days. I've also previously done a few repairs to the bottom for the frame so I'll find the pics of that and post them up if you like?

any pictures would be great mate.

 

[Cris B]

Looking really good - lot of progress on this since I last visited the site

 

[Tupers]

I started making this for my estate on Monday. It's the beginnings of the frame for a fold down tail gate. It's made from 5 sections as our folder isn't long enough to do it all in one and I didn't fancy scraping so much metal if I mucked up with the shrinking.

I need to get some hinges and checks straps before I can really go any further but it's looking good so far.

 

[Tupers]

I thought I'd best pop down the workshop this afternoon and do a some work on the estate.

I made a little tool to help mark out the arches for tubbing.

Then I marked out of the cut lines inside and out.

I used a 1MM cutting disc to cut the original arch tub and an air hack saw for the quarter.

And then I stuck under it to see what it would look like.

I've already got the new tub pieces done so I should be able to get this side buttoned up tomorrow.

 

[Robotstar5]

What's tubbing? relative to a Mini that is, tried googling the term and some of the answers were

 

[Tupers]

If you look in the third picture you can just see that the top section of the inner arch is shaped like an upside down 'U'. When you tub a Mini arch you basically raise the outside lip meaning there's more room for the wheel and tyres to travel up meaning you can run the car at a lower ride height.

 

[Robotstar5]

When you tub a Mini arch you basically raise the outside lip meaning there's more room for the wheel and tyres to travel up meaning you can run the car at a lower ride height.

Thanks will you need any sort of arch to keep the bodywork "legal" regards tyre width?, as a smooth arch would look nice

 

[Tupers]

No I doubt I'll be running arches as they're not really needed with 5" wide wheels. I can get the tyres I want sticking about by around 40MM before before any tread shows so I should be fine as far as the old bill goes.

I broke out the skin pins today and got the new arch lip sectioned I made on the stretcher mounted up and then welded on after a little tweaking.

I then made a new top section for the tub and joggled one edge to sit above the old arch.

I didn't get a chance to weld the tub to the new trim lip as I got talking superchargers to a mate but I did sit a wheel in there again to ogle at.