New World Datsuns...

I was informed today that my Mini parts were shipped.
The rain has started, time to work on the Mini now.

That was fast.

I hit the end of my finger on a back swing with the hammer against the tire I think, it didn't really hurt that much but it would not stop bleeding, I split the nail and it was bleeding thru the split.
This is how far I got today so far on the Mini.















All the edges are laying out flat against the existing floor panels/tunnel/ect; I have one area on the right front fender well that needs more repair.
Everywhere you see a screw will be turned into a spot weld plus a lot more of them, I believe that is the way I am going to attach this panel to the car, this panel appears to be made to cover the existing floor board rather than replace it, it really is not very thick, I will put seam sealer over all the edges when I am done installing it like they did when they built it at the factory.
I really don't want to build a rotisserie and spend $2000.00+ dollars to replace all the floor boards front to rear, between this patch and the over sills it will look good, everything I leave that has rust will be treated with POR15 before I install the panels, I will be removing the outer sill(rocker) on this side before I weld in the floor pan and test fit the outer sill(rocker), as I want this to go together the best it can.

I removed the door card on this side before starting, I would likely get dirty and touch it, and the welding when I start that part would likely destroy it, I am still wondering what to do about the headliner.

Welp, the floor pan has been installed, I drilled the new floor pan and installed it and made marks where the holes were, then I removed it and sanded off all the marks to bare metal I cleaned everything up and painted the old floor boards with POR15 except for the bare spots as I need clean metal to do spot welds, then I put the floor pan in position with the screws and started making spot welds by welding the hole shut to the floor pan below it, I had to put a jack under it and force the old pan up against the new floor pan, but that wasn't that hard to do.
















At first this morning I removed the flares and then started on the sill/rocker, I kept having to cut away more and more metal as the new sill/rocker would not fit into position, the sill/rocker is made to cover the old sill/rocker, well it turns out I am at least the third person if not the fourth to deal with this sill/rocker, I found an old sill/rocker under the rusty one on the outside, I thought someone had just repaired the original sill/rocker, once I seen what was going on I had to get the replacement pan in position before I could really do anything else, I am learning way more than I care to about these Mini's.

I still have to finish around the front wheel well area on the inside, but I have to do some on the outside first, the sill/rocker is tied into that area also, you will see photos of how it all connects together when I get the sill/rocker in position.
I still need to coat everything inside the sill/rocker before I close it up, most the work is getting it to fit properly, I have not done anything past the back of the door to that area yet except removing the rear flare, it doesn't want to fit properly back there either, although it is closer than the front was.

I have no idea how I double posted.
I will work more on it tomorrow.

Well I got the front fender well area done inside and out, but I have not put the sill/rocker in position yet and it connects to the floor board on the outside also front also, but here is what I did before a guy showed up and we talked about diesel stuff for 4 hours.




I did do some stuff after the guy left to start positioning the sill/rocker, I cut all the vents off and ground the very top of the sill mount area flat from front to back, the paint is all gone in that area.





There is a piece sticking down that is supposed to be a jack point, but it appears to be in the way of letting the new sill/rocker settle into position, it git late so I stopped and made dinner, it is hard to see in these photos below, but I may have to cut it out like I had to do in the front, I will likely have to make new jack points.





I bent the sill/rocker a little to make it fit better, but I might have went a little too far, My plan is to drill it also to spot weld mount it, it will likely be ready tomorrow to mount, but it is going to need some modification to the front as when I put it in position the front is about and inch to far forward, I don't think that floor board/wheel well area has been pushed back from a accident or a tire de-laminating and slapping that area like what happened when a re-tread came apart in the 521 work truck on the freeway one time, but something is up, maybe the last time they did the sill/rockers they changed things, I will know more tomorrow.

It's a lot different looking now.











I did put POR15 on all the metal underneath this sill/rocker but didn't take a photo, it is completely installed now, it is also tied into the floor pan I installed, there are a few spots that water can get in, it got in them spots before also, not sure if I can do anything about it as there is a gap between the fender and the sill/rocker, this is likely why they rust away/rot out, stupid design, they should be sealed like all the other vehicles made.
Now I need to put seam sealer on all the seams and decide what color to paint the new parts, the inside will be covered so it really don't matter what color they are, the outside is a different story, when I bought it everything below the seam below the doors was painted dull black, or maybe it was just under coated, I need to decide if the new sill/rocker is going to be green like the car or under coated like before, also I need to cover every weld with POR15 before I do anything.
Then I need to look at the other side.

I just spent the better part of 4 hours unplugging my drain system in my house from the washer/kitchen section, I used that damned waste disposal and it plugged up the drain pipe just after where they come together, I smell like rotten food right now, but I git it flowing again, I guess I need to buy a snake.

Oh, I forgot, I received a package today from Thailand, brand new aftermarket 320 wing window seals/gaskets.

wayno wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:30 pm Oh, I forgot, I received a package today from Thailand, brand new aftermarket 320 wing window seals/gaskets.

Let us know how they fit.

I put one set into the extra NL320 wing window frames I have, the back upright had an issue, it was loose side to side, so when I closed the wing window the gasket didn't touch the window top to bottom, I am fairly sure this would have created wind noise while driving, I thought about it over night and came up with nothing, I messaged the main guy that got this whole thing rolling and told him what was going on as I was not ready to discuss it on the open forum yet, today I received a message from that guy and he said something about a groove and I didn't understand what he was talking about, but this gave me an idea, I suspect he didn't word it right, but that groove was the answer, the groove is on the back of the seal and is around an eighth inch wide, so I pressed a 3/16ths vacuum line into the groove, took it out and put super glue in the groove and put that line back in and I pressed it hard till it dried, this spread it out around a 1/16th inch, I cut the back half of the line off because it is very shallow in that channel and the seal would not install properly, well that fixed the issue, it is not loose anymore and the gasket appears to touch the window all the way around.

This issue was caused because I sent a right and left wing window frame to them to test fit the seals and make adjustments before the run, well I sent them L320 frames, it appears the NL320 frame uprights are 1/16th inch wider, but I believe this fixes the issue, sure it would have been better to send them NL320 frames but I didn't have any extras to cut up and send them, the ones I sent were already scrap, so i cut them small enough to fit in the box and sent them to a guy that was going to meet the manufacturer.

This is where I put the vacuum line to make the gasket slightly wider when installed.

OK, so I decided I am going to paint the sills/rockers the same green color as the body of the car but I still have to do the other side so both sides are the same, I am hoping I don't have to do anything but possibly remove the fender flares and install the sill/rocker as these are covers not replacements of existing sills/rockers.
The reason I had to remove material from the other side was because someone before me had already covered and replaced sections over the original sills/rockers and it stuck out too far, I may have the same issue on the left side, but as I recall I don't remember seeing patches on that side like I did on the right side, I will likely clean the garage today so I can move the Mini over to make more room on that side and get a good look at that side, I don't plan on installing the fender flares till I have both sides done and have finished painting the sills/rockers.

Putting the sill/rocker on other side was a lot easier.

Closing this hole turned out a lot nicer this time.


And the sill/rocker installed.


Now I am off to get some paint, not sure yet if it will be rattle can(if I can find something close) or of I will be buying a small amount color matched paint and using this detailing gun/sprayer I have, I also need a bunch of small disposable brushes to apply the POR15 as I have run out.

Is that true British Racing Green or just some green on a British car?

The British Racing Green color depends on what vehicle it is, the paint color under the bulkhead material in the engine compartment was likely the Mini British Racing Green, this repaint was a little darker even though when I searched the color it was really close to my color on this Mini.

I went to the paint store looking for rattle can paint that was close, not a chance, so they made me a batch of my color from scratch and put it in a rattle can, $25,00 for the can, expensive rattle can paint, according to the guy it will take 3 coats over a dark color and there is barely enough to paint my sills/rockers when I asked.

The sills/rockers have been painted, and this stuff drys fast, 3 coats in half an hour, but I was using flood lights to warm stuff up.







I don't believe there are any runs in this attempt at painting this time, that is my worst issue with painting, putting it on too fast, but this paint appears to be different than regular rattle can paint, it goes on shiny while the paint I normally use has to be on there thick to shine, I believe I will be asking more questions when I buy paint to paint a complete vehicle next time.

I still have paint in the can, I am thinking about getting a very small painters brush and using highly magnified type glasses and painting some of the scratches with this paint, spray a little in a disposable cup and go after the worst of them.

The Mini is mostly back together and all 4 tires are on the ground, I still need to install right door card and it is then ready to drive, it needs another bath, I will get side photos of it when it dries out, I also need to undercoat the front fender wells where I was welding even though it has POR15 on any bare metal that was there.

I installed the door card last night and pulled it out of the garage and washed it today, forgot to take photos of it, but I looked and one cannot see much as the car is low and the sills/rockers are more or less pointed mostly at the ground.


I ordered black carbon fiber center caps for the wheels, one has been missing since I bought the car and the only places I could find them were in the United Kingdom, one had to log in(be a member) to even get payment type info, so I found the ones I bought on ebay for under $20.00 shipped(4pcs) while one of the kind I have was $40.00 each and I would need 4 because mine are faded/dirty.

Can anyone tell me what either of these tools are for?
The screw driver type tool(perfect parts T-85) has a socket type thing on one end, and the other end is a tube with 2 teeth on the end, the other tool has a flat type blade end that the middle twists(spring loaded) like it is there to capture the screw.