2 door VAE 306H

[kevin s]

I had not managed to find pictures of any of them so this is great, thanks. The colour scheme is exactly as we were planning, I don't think we will be replacing the sign though it looks enourmous!

[POMMReg]

I don't think it would win the "best aerodynamic small car awards"!

Try the Bristol Bus Preservation Group, they should have pics.

I'll have a search through my Dad's vast collection of Buses Illustrated.

Any chance of 306's chassis,body & engine nos?

[kevin s]

I will get you the body and chassis numbers, the engine though is a replacement, not even the right one (it's a 950).
kevin

[kevin s]

Had a few hours on the car today.

Firstly I had to make the tie plate.

The basic shape is pretty easy to form with a bit of stretching around the curve, then I had to make the 4 holes, firstly I cut the hole with a saw.

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Then I made some tooling to form the flange, a piece of ply, some 3/4" dowel, an old corsa brake disc and a couple of 3/4" drive sockets and I came up with this.

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And used it like this

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To form this

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Then I assembled it all and welded a flange on the top edge to end up with this.

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I then trial fitted the outer panels

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This highlighted a couple of problems, firstly the bumper bolt did not seem in the correct place, it turned out when I had lifted the engine off the mount I had also lifted the lh side of the vehicle which meant using a spirit level had set it half an inch high. Fortunately it was only the bumper bolt the rest was done earlier, It means I will need to unstitch a few welds but It's not the end of the world. The other thing is I somehow made the inner wing a bit short at the front, so will need to add a strip in, again not the end of the world. Another hour or so and this side will be finished and ready to start on the other which looks better.

[kevin s]

Update for today,

Firstly I finished the rh side, a small strip was butt welded into the front where I made the inner wing to short, the bumper mount moved down and 3 stainless rivnuts welded in for the rear wing bolts.

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I also trial fitted the wing and front panel which fitted pretty well.

I then turned my attention to the lh side, tried to get the torsion bar off but the eye bolt was stuck solid in the chassis leg which from the outside was patched but looked solid, so I aplled some force with a crow bar and it just fell to pieces, this is what came out.

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The inside of the leg was like this

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So we cut the leg and tie plate away , the tral fitted the new leg.

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Next step will be to cut the bracket off the old leg and move to the new one then weld the leg and tie plate in.

[kevin s]

Made a little more progress, firstly I fitted the left hand chassis rail and tie plate, again made from the 70 x70 x3 tube.[frame][/frame]

Then I made the front cross member by cutting another piece of the tube lengthways and welding it back together to give this .

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Finaly I welded this in as well.

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That is the front end structural repairs finished, I plan to push on with the repairs where the ramp is required, so I can get it off soon and get the TR out, so next up will be the lh rear spring hanger, then pull the engine and box out and paint most of the underside, repairs to the lh sill, door posts etc will be done with it back on the floor.

[kevin s]

I have moved rearwards now, today's task was the spring hanger.

Cutting it out was a bit of a pig due to all the patches, but eventually I got there.

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As you can see appart from the very bottom the inner sill which has already been trimmed in the photo is pretty good, the boxing plate is also suprisingly solid, as with the inner sill just the bottom flange will need replacing.

This photo shows what I had to cut through, up to 4 layers of steel

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So, firstly the lower edge of the inner sill was butt welded in,.

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Then the repair panel, plug welding from above through the holes already punched in the flange, I also started butt welding in the small patch in inboard of the repair section, but did not get to finish this, it needs a little reshaping first.



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[kevin s]

No photos but some progress, the spring hanger plate is welded in, the floor forward of this and sill structure still needs doing when it is back on the floor but it is strong enough to move the car around now, I have also welded a flange across the front cross member for the front panel to be bolted to, next step is to paint all of the right hand side under body, then re-fit the suspension and move it out of the way.

I also had a pleasant gift today, a chap at work has given me a copy of a factory workshop manual a handbook and a various other documents dating fro the 1980's when his daughter had a minor, makes interesting reading, especially how to prevent heat distortion with a poultice of damp asbestos fibre! and the instructions on how to straighten bent body shells.

Kevin

[jagnut66]

especially how to prevent heat distortion with a poultice of damp asbestos fibre!

(Obvious maybe but) It might be better for people to steer clear of the Asbestos poultice, if you want a long and healthy life..............

Great fabrication work on your part though.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[kevin s]

There are modern equivalents af the asbestos poultice available which probably work even better.

I have finished the welding for now, the remainder of the patch around the spring hanger, and the flange for the front panel as well as give most of the new metal a first coat of paint

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Next up is to pull the engine and box out as well and get it ready to move off the ramp. I would like to stone chip paint the underside and rh wheelhouses but I don't think I will have time, this may have to wait for later in the year after the rest of the fleet are mot'd.

[kevin s]

We have now stripped the engine and box out and taken the remainder of the components underneath out, we then gave it all a coat of primer, next step hopefully one evening this week is seam sealer, then the plan is to strap the shell to the rafters then lower the ramp complete with the axle which will allow me to stone chip most of the underside.

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The other thing I noticed is mounting for the clutch shaft has previously been welded up, Is this fairly common?

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[MarkyB]

the clutch shaft has previously been welded up, Is this fairly common?

I've never seen it done before.

[kevin s]

Been away collecting classic number 5 (my wife's toy a mk 1 MX5) so not much progress on the Minor, I have though acquired a 1098 engine, £31 off of ebay complete with carb and dizzy. It was seized but on pulling the head there is only a very light dusting of corrosion on the bore some oil and bit of brute force has it turning over, there does not seem much wear either but there was a lot of black gunge in the head. Plan will be to completely strip clean and hopefully re-build with only new rings and shells.

[kevin s]

Got round to stone chipping all the repaired areas today, then loosely re fitted the suspension so it can be moved off the ramp. In general the suspension seems pretty good, the steering rack seems fairly new and the trunions have no play, the only issue is the rubber parts have perished, I managed to loose a couple of bolts and one of the torsion bar setting plates, but not the end of the world.
It will all need removing again eventually to paint and re bush but for now the focus is on getting the body work done, plan is to get the shell finished this year.

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[Little Blue]

This is so inspiring, and very scary!!! I am fixing up my minor, and your posts are so helpful. Are you learning as you go, or have you had some sort of training? Years of practice?
Fantastic job... can't wait to see her finished!!!

[kevin s]

I have been restoring cars for many years, this is the biggest one I have done though.

I picked up the practical skills from my dad, and then some theory as part of my engineering degree and subsequent masters in automotive engineering.

I also did a evening course in vehicle restoration at Colchester many years ago.

Getting a bit sidelined on our other 4 classics (particularly the mk1 mx5 my wife has just bought), and work around the house at the moment but hope to get back on the minor soon.

Kevin.

[kevin s]

Been busy on the other cars but got round to a bit more on the minor yesterday evening.

Started on the rear wheel arch and wing flange, I am replacing both with a single piece of steel to get rid of the rust trap seam, I left some of the old wing flange in place to aid alignment, then cut it out a pice at a time leaving tacks in place.[frame][/frame][frame][frame][/frame]

Then but weled new metal in, next up will be to clean it up with a grinder and replace the rest.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[kevin s]

progress is slow at the moment , other cars, garden re-modeling etc but i did get some time to take a look at the work required on the left hand sill etc.

I removed the lower rear wing and sill cover.

The results were suprisingly good, the boxing panels only require a couple of local repairs along the bottom flange, the floor edge / sill bottom is not holed but is a mass of patches so will be cut back 9 inches into the floor and all replaced, the inner sill also looks solid but there are a number of nasty patches atached to the flange which may lead to parts of this being replaced.
I already have a new outer sill panel and the sill cover is hardy rusty so can be re-used.

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The other item which i had planned to repair but not realised quite how bad it was is the LH door

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Then I spotted a door on ebay locally, so for £20 i bought this.

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which will make life much easier, next up is to start cutting the edge of the floor / lower sill away and replace it

[jagnut66]

Nice solid replacement door you have there!
£20????!!!! And local to you!!!!
The Gods were smiling on you when you bought that, for sure! Well done!

[kevin s]

yes it was a good price, the other door was much the same price, both were pretty poorly described with no photos of the bottom so given they were both local I took a risk. both do have small dents but I would rather fix these than massive holes.