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Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks




On 31st Dec, 2019 hazpalmer said:
I think turbo nick on his rebuild tried a carbon fibre front end and didn't get on with so switched back to a metal one.


I've just a little bit of searching, but have not come up with much. Any idea why he didn't get on with it?


The Fibre Glass one piece I have on the Coupe was from Arc angels - it's not bad - I did add some aluminium strengthening across the bonnet and on the wings to stiffen it all up, but it fits OK. That said, I want to go to a 2 piece front end on this build, which I suspect would need more stiffening where there are no inner wings?

It looks like it works out at around £500 for the parts to make a new metal front end (less bonnet).
hmmm, decisions...

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Nathan1293

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I’ve used the mini spares two piece round front before. It you mount the front end well, like the sevens and migilias then it doesn’t wobble around at all.

I used two duez clips on each wing to a panel and one on the top of wing. Plus the pins on the normal front panel fixing point.

The bonnet was fixed to the front panel and two brackets from the inner wing to scuttle panel. Again a duez clip in each corner.

I was amazed how stable it all was. Of course the brackets to stabilise the front subframe are important too.


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

OK, thanks.
The front end decision can wait a little while yet I think, I'm no where near needing it.


So, a little more progress:

Boot floor chopped out, rear bulkhead repaired at the bottom and then boot floor section fitted.



.


The rear subframe even fits.


Tomorrow will be a day of welding the toeboard, floor and boot floor solid, then on with the rear wheel wells on Sunday.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Tom Fenton
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Fearless Tom Fenton, Avon Park 2007 & 2008 class D winner

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Rotherham South Yorkshire

Flying along!
Have you got a spot welder, makes the welding quick and very neat.


On 29th Nov, 2016 madmk1 said:


On 28th Nov, 2016 Rob Gavin said:
I refuse to pay for anything else


Like fuel 😂😂


Nic

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First mini turbo to get in the 12's & site perv

Herefordshire

Looking very impressive progress.

Would you consider a two piece steel removable front?
I have done this previously using a pre 76 front panel which you can bolt to the subframe in the usual area.
The wings are welded to the front panel, and then I bolted (using M5s) to the top of the wings to the top of the inner wing (where it would usually be spot welded), and two angle brackets welded to the inside of the a-panel and wing with another bolt (M6) through these to hold it together.

A photo of this would be much easier, I’ll have to see if I have one.
The fixings weren’t obvious, but it was easy to remove.


robert

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uranus

did you experience sufficient rigidity nic ?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

On 3rd Jan, 2020 Tom Fenton said:
Flying along!
Have you got a spot welder, makes the welding quick and very neat.



Unfortunately not Tom.
I think maybe a bit of research needed, there are some cheaper and some more expensive, so I will look at the cheaper ones to see if they are any good.
There are actually still a fair amount of panels left to fit which could make a spot welder of benefit.




On 3rd Jan, 2020 Nic said:
Looking very impressive progress.

Would you consider a two piece steel removable front?
I have done this previously using a pre 76 front panel which you can bolt to the subframe in the usual area.
The wings are welded to the front panel, and then I bolted (using M5s) to the top of the wings to the top of the inner wing (where it would usually be spot welded), and two angle brackets welded to the inside of the a-panel and wing with another bolt (M6) through these to hold it together.

A photo of this would be much easier, I’ll have to see if I have one.
The fixings weren’t obvious, but it was easy to remove.



I have/ am also considering a 2 piece removable front. From what I can see, only genuine heritage panels exist for the clubman front, which makes it expensive – though I guess no more so that a quality composite 2 piece.
My biggest concern will be the bonnet strengtheners: I am not sure I will have clearance under them for the x8 inlet manifold – but I’m sure I can replace the strengtheners somehow.

Yes, photos would be very helpful if you could find some.

Also, you specifically said pre 76 front panel – obviously there is a difference between the earlier and later panels, but from photo’s on the classic mini parts supplier websites, it’s not immediately obvious to me what it is.



On 4th Jan, 2020 robert said:
did you experience sufficient rigidity nic ?


Did you post this on the right forum robert?

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


shane

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The “later” heritage panel has a swage in the area where the MPI coopers had the radiator fan.
I can try and get a picture of mine when out in the garage this afternoon if you need one?
Side repeater holes?
They may be others?

Shane


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks




On 4th Jan, 2020 shane said:
The “later” heritage panel has a swage in the area where the MPI coopers had the radiator fan.
I can try and get a picture of mine when out in the garage this afternoon if you need one?
Side repeater holes?
They may be others?

Shane


Yes please, pictures would be good.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


shane

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I had a moment of realisation earlier when taking the pictures for you, Your not fitting a round nose, Nic's post re him previously making one made me think his car and therefore mentally discarded the fact yours is a clubman.
Sorry.

Shane

On 4th Jan, 2020 Graham T said:



On 4th Jan, 2020 shane said:
The “later” heritage panel has a swage in the area where the MPI coopers had the radiator fan.
I can try and get a picture of mine when out in the garage this afternoon if you need one?
Side repeater holes?
They may be others?

Shane


Yes please, pictures would be good.


Nic

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First mini turbo to get in the 12's & site perv

Herefordshire

Very rigid thank you Robert, no complaints anyhow.

The pre 76 front panels were solid mounted, so they bolt direct to the subframe, they don’t have the rubber bushing between the panel and subframe.

I shall have a look for the photos tomorrow, hopefully I didn’t lose them when I accidentally formatted my old hard drive...


Rod S

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On 4th Jan, 2020 Graham T said:
On 3rd Jan, 2020 Tom Fenton said:
Flying along!
Have you got a spot welder, makes the welding quick and very neat.



Unfortunately not Tom.
I think maybe a bit of research needed, there are some cheaper and some more expensive, so I will look at the cheaper ones to see if they are any good.
There are actually still a fair amount of panels left to fit which could make a spot welder of benefit.


Personally I would be very wary of the cheaper ones.

I've got the early version of this,
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/csw13t-spot...der-with-timer/
(by "early" I mean I bought it over 30 years ago so they've prettied it up a bit since but still the same basic specification).
They are NOT cheap compared to what I paid 30 years ago (even taking inflation into account).

The model without the timer is a bit cheaper but I find the timer makes for great consistency (although I have no personal comparison with the non-timer model).

BUT, without a whole load of these,
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/spot-welder-spares/
(the arms, not the drills) it has very limited use.

And that more than doubles the cost at current prices.
I guess that's just the price of copper (the working bits are all very heavy copper or copper alloys).

When I bought mine all the extra arms were available as the full set as an "add-on" for only ~£200......

When I looked about a year ago on eBay for getting some replacement copper "electrode" rods I did see quite a few second hand Clarke ones, but still very expensive.

And even with all the add-on arms it still won't get you everywhere.

With the proper "spot weld" attachment and timer on a MIG, it will be just as structurally sound but it won't look as pretty until you attack it with a grinder.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???


Tom Fenton
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Fearless Tom Fenton, Avon Park 2007 & 2008 class D winner

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Rotherham South Yorkshire

I bought mine second hand some years ago, there tends to be enough of them for sale as folk buy them for a certain job then move them on again. For what you want it to do (twin or triple layer fairly thin steel) then I’d say most of the machines out there will do what you need.


On 29th Nov, 2016 madmk1 said:


On 28th Nov, 2016 Rob Gavin said:
I refuse to pay for anything else


Like fuel 😂😂


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

We have always done plug welding up to now, and yes it is time consuming with drilling holes and then ugly until it's been addressed with an angle grinder.

By the time the boot floor is finished, a big portion of welding remaining which I would be worried about being seen is going to be all the external seams, rear quarter panel, door instep to sill, etc, so something neat would be good.
However, I cannot justify the price of the ones that Rod has linked, nice as it might be to have.
Even some of the cheaper ones could be money better spent on parts.

I do have a friend who used to run a body repair shop, he still has a lot of his kit, so I will give him a call and see if he has a spot welder.
Failing that, we have got a MIG nozzle for “spot welding”, or I also saw some spot welding nozzles for the TIG, though I’ve not researched that much yet.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Rod S

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If your MIG is high enough current a spot welding "nozzle" (not really a nozzle but a head for the torch that holds the wire the right distance away and in one place) is very effective, especially if the welder has a spot weld timer function.

Mine, a Sealey 235, came with the attachment and it's done all the bits I couldn't get all my extra spot welder arms to reach.

If you've got a similar "nozzle" just practice on a few bits of scrap.

No need to pre-drill holes, just maximum current and a very short burst of time.
You will know when you've got the time right when you see near identical weld pools both sides and no blown hole or molten mess.....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???


robert

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uranus

Graham if its of any use i have and old sip arc welder that i think may be useable as a spot welder ?you're welcome to borrow it .

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

On 6th Jan, 2020 robert said:
Graham if its of any use i have and old sip arc welder that i think may be useable as a spot welder ?you're welcome to borrow it .


Thanks Robert, I will let you know.
But first off I have either the nozzle for the MIG to try and I have ordered some nozzles for the TIG also.

Both the TIG and the MIG are 200Amp units, so should be powerful enough.

Edited by Graham T on 7th Jan, 2020.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

TIG “Spot welding nozzles” arrived.





So a little playing over lunch.



Best I could get with the short length of time I had, playing with weld time, downslope and amps

Top side




And underside






That’s with a 2.4mm 2% thoriated electrode, 2.5mm arc length set at 55 Amps with a counted 4 second blast. (No timer on my TIG)
I had to set downslope to ~1.5 seconds.
Material was 2 pieces of 1mm sheet steel.

The actual “spots” do seem small though. Maybe more time and less amps.
Anyway, I think a little more playing to do.
And hack up one of my flat jaw clamps to make a hole the “nozzle” can fit in.

I’ll also try the MIG version later…

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Rod S

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Interesting.

I've never tried the TIG version but it's obviously an autogenous weld (which is what a real spot weld is anyway) whereas the MIG version adds some filler.

Because it's autogenous the weld pool will simply follow gravity so you will end up with more one side than the other, or even off to the side of the weld, depending on how the two pieces are laying at the time.

With a normal spot weld gravity is eliminated because the two big lumps of copper either side hold everything in place.
And with the MIG version metal is being added anyway and it's a lot faster than 4 seconds (well, on my MIG anyway) so gravity hasn't got so much time....

Are those special ceramics available in different sizes ? The size (diameter) of your "spot" may be being determined by the ceramic diameter.

But, despite their size, they look totally structurally sound and a home spot welder (rather than the massive factory water cooled machines) really only does spots the same size as in your photos (unless you deliberately "sharpen" the copper bits to a larger size than the normal tool provides - I usually re-profile my copper bit in the lathe rather than use the standard tool).

If you are woried about the size, just do more of them.
It's the circumference of the weld that carries the load so if you want them to be double the diameter, just do four times as many.
Mathematically, for a series of spot welds to be a strong as a seam weld, they have to be "pi" times their diameter apart but, in practice, they are never that close - apart from maybe the spots on the four vertical body shell seams on a Mini

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???


shane

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Having never seen the TIG spot weld ceramic it has intrigued me.
Would a different size tungsten and tip grind angle change the formation of the spot weld?
Shane


On 11th Jan, 2020 Rod S said:
Interesting.

I've never tried the TIG version but it's obviously an autogenous weld (which is what a real spot weld is anyway) whereas the MIG version adds some filler.

Because it's autogenous the weld pool will simply follow gravity so you will end up with more one side than the other, or even off to the side of the weld, depending on how the two pieces are laying at the time.

With a normal spot weld gravity is eliminated because the two big lumps of copper either side hold everything in place.
And with the MIG version metal is being added anyway and it's a lot faster than 4 seconds (well, on my MIG anyway) so gravity hasn't got so much time....

Are those special ceramics available in different sizes ? The size (diameter) of your "spot" may be being determined by the ceramic diameter.

But, despite their size, they look totally structurally sound and a home spot welder (rather than the massive factory water cooled machines) really only does spots the same size as in your photos (unless you deliberately "sharpen" the copper bits to a larger size than the normal tool provides - I usually re-profile my copper bit in the lathe rather than use the standard tool).

If you are woried about the size, just do more of them.
It's the circumference of the weld that carries the load so if you want them to be double the diameter, just do four times as many.
Mathematically, for a series of spot welds to be a strong as a seam weld, they have to be "pi" times their diameter apart but, in practice, they are never that close - apart from maybe the spots on the four vertical body shell seams on a Mini


Nic

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First mini turbo to get in the 12's & site perv

Herefordshire

Graham, I am sorry I cannot find any pictures of how I had the steel front secured.


Graham T

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Hungerford, Berks

Thanks Rod, some interesting information in there.


I’ve only so far found the one size, supplied through Frost.

https://www.frost.co.uk/eastwood-2pc-tig-sp...O0aAt6jEALw_wcB


To be honest, it could do with being a little smaller in diameter to work well on the lips of the panels, the spots will be a little far out, almost on the outer edge of the material.


Shane, when I was reading Rod’s post, I actually thought the same with regards to electrode size, but I never thought about changing the angle of the electrode tip - I’ll try that before I look at larger electrodes and collets and bodies.
But ultimately I guess as Rod says, I can always add more welds if I am worried about strength once I start.

For now though, I’m still working with plug welding for the area’s where I have no way to clamp the 2 pieces of material tightly together. Ie – I am drilling holes through both pieces of material and screwing together to get the pieces tight together.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


Graham T

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604 Posts
Member #: 1106
Post Whore

Hungerford, Berks



On 11th Jan, 2020 Nic said:
Graham, I am sorry I cannot find any pictures of how I had the steel front secured.


No problem Nic.
If I go down the steel removable front route - which I think I will - I have an idea of how I am going to do it. I was just more worried about the difference between the pre 76 and post 76 clubman front panel, but I think that was answered anyway.

Edited by Graham T on 11th Jan, 2020.

’77 Clubman build thread
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=618189

Siamese 5 port EFI testing
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=611675


shane

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Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The angle grind would certainly be worth while experimenting with, possibly also types of tungsten with some having slightly better arc stability than others.

It would be a relatively easy task to turn a slimmer/longer gas lens tailored to make it more versatile but the choice of material would be the stumbling block.

Shane

On 11th Jan, 2020 Graham T said:
Thanks Rod, some interesting information in there.


I’ve only so far found the one size, supplied through Frost.

https://www.frost.co.uk/eastwood-2pc-tig-sp...O0aAt6jEALw_wcB


To be honest, it could do with being a little smaller in diameter to work well on the lips of the panels, the spots will be a little far out, almost on the outer edge of the material.


Shane, when I was reading Rod’s post, I actually thought the same with regards to electrode size, but I never thought about changing the angle of the electrode tip - I’ll try that before I look at larger electrodes and collets and bodies.
But ultimately I guess as Rod says, I can always add more welds if I am worried about strength once I start.

For now though, I’m still working with plug welding for the area’s where I have no way to clamp the 2 pieces of material tightly together. Ie – I am drilling holes through both pieces of material and screwing together to get the pieces tight together.


Rod S

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For info/interest, this is how a spot welder gets around the problem of access to the narrow flanged seams,



You can use plain electrodes in the door opening by making sure the bottom electrode is long enough so the main arm is under the bottom of the sill, but anywhere else, the top main arm would foul the actual side panels.

Hence my point earlier that just a spot welder alone is not enough, it needs all the extra bits....

Interestingly I don't see these on Clarke/MachineMart's list any more.

And you can see mine have been well used, the working ends were a lot longer than that from new.

I spent an hour earlier trawling the internet to find the correct "copper" material to replace a few of mine (like these) just by cutting/bending to shape and it's not easy or cheap.

The material is actually a copper/chromium/zirconium alloy (pure copper anneals at far too low a temperature and has no structural strength) and the best price I could find was for 1m of it (it's 10mm dia and 1m is the shortest length this company sold) at £49.80 delivered.
No wonder the Clarke prices are so high...

Re. the TIG ceramic, I guess the only way you could modify it to get closer into the seam flanges would be with a diamond disc on an angle grinder - that's probably the only thing that would touch the ceramics, they are VERY hard.
I don't think any alternative material could take the temperature for more than a couple of seconds.
But a lot of risk trying.

The MIG version, IIRC, is just a metal/copper composite with some sort of insulation material between the two layers to make it "non-live" so could probably be flattened to an oval shape with a hammer.

EDIT - typo and a missed bit.


Edited by Rod S on 12th Jan, 2020.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

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