1 piece to 2 piece... front end ideas.
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi all, Has anyone converted a 1 piece fibreglass front end into a 2 piece? Cutting the bonnet out and bracing it etc? thinking of doing this on the clubby as im getting bored of flipping it every time I want to get to the engine. If so do you have any tips / advice? And pics would be great!

Cheers, Mark.

I'm pretty sure Will & Ben did.

Edited by Rob H on 15th May, 2007.

but why not buy a 2 piece front?

AlexF

Edited by MarkGTT on 15th May, 2007.

fair enough reason!

AlexF

Where is the best place to gat a plastic front end?? Roundnose btw. I need a new flip front for my new projectvan :)

www.shag.no

Dave at tdk- http://www.tdk-racing.com/
Website is down atm, he said it was being updated when I saw him saturday. £80 if I remember correctly for a new 2 piece front.

There is no sense crying over every mistake- you just keep on trying til you run out of cake.

I'm sure my bro will comment further as he did it, not me.

But there is no bracing across the back. What ben did was put some strenghtening olong the bonnet line down the wings, then cut back to this line.

It was a bit of a faf though and the bonnet fitment isn't the best.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

I'm getting a two piece clubbie front this summer. I was going to use the standard bonnet and bumper etc. Are you saying this cannot be done?

OK this is how I did it. If I had more time I could do a better job, but it is ok. There is no bracing across the back. Orignially I thought I would need some, but once mounted it is solid on the car. It is a bit floppy off the car, but who cares.

Step 1: Put guides along the bonnet lines. (two bits of wood glassed on)


Step 2: Cover the guides with parcel tape, glass up to them and then remove the guides.



Step 3: While all this is going on make a mold for the A panels and then make some glass a panels. (not necesary if you dont want them)



Step 4: Fit the A panels (the metal is to hold them until the glass is on)



Step 5: Cut out the bonnet and trim it all up. (the cut out bonet is scrap and you will obviously need a propper glass bonnet)



We did this because nobody supplied 2 peice clubman fronts at the time, now people do so I would not do it again unless I happened to get a frontend free or already had one.

Ben

Edited by Ben H on 16th May, 2007.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack but did you use an a panel as a mould or make a mould from an a panel?

MAtt

Made a mould from some steel A-panels, then moulded fronm that.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

ive just finished fitting my ABS 2 peice fibreglass front.

the original grill fits in no problem.
it has the lower vent shape in, just needs cutting out.
i pretty sure the original clubby bonnet wont fit ill check when i get in.
its the one with built in a panels and its been a real twat to fit. a panels wernt long enough to reach bottom of sill, i had to extend them. the tops of wings were well out of align and needed lots of work. im pretty happy with it now though, but its definatly not a quicjk job to fit.

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

Thanks wil_h

Edited by MarkGTT on 16th May, 2007.

Big thanks to Ben for supplying the pics thats exactly what i was after! cheers.

heres some pics of mine, it different from the ones in the pics above because it just has a hole rather than a grill moulded in already.






and a pic with a normal bonnet on, its a tiny tiny bit to big i rekon you could get it to fit with a bit of fiddling.

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

Carl, the 2 piece looks well made, i would go for that option if i hadnt spent hours.. days.. etc getting mine to fit as i wanted it.

the bit im most worried about is the slam pannel.. looks like i will have to make something.