Phoenix Estate Vvc K-Series Diy Subframe Conversion

3 minute(s) of a 66 minute read

Thanks. Plenty more fibreglassing to do:
B-pillar repair.
Tidy up the cut off front end and scuttle and A-panel equivalent area.
Re-inforce the scuttle ends where the used to be bonded to the wings/a-panel.
Re-inforce the front bulkhead cross member. It is currently not joined to inner wings and needs strengthening.
Tidy up minor cosmetic damage to lower bulkhead.
Make rear boot hatch match rear body mouldings.

I'll do these jobs at some point, but for now at least I can start bolting the front subframe and components on and mock up the drive shafts....

1-27-2014

B-pillar repair:
Don't know how good this pic will be, but the fibreglass on the inside of the n/s B-pillar is separating from the shell on both edges, at the door and rear window seams. Pretty much the most common type of restoration work on a fibreglass mini with any age to it, (this one is nearly 20years old).

This is it already sanded back, with a grinder with a sanding pad with coarse paper. This should be your weapon of choice when doing any fibreglass body repairs. It strips off loads of material ( which is necessary when adding nice thick layers of chop strand Matt) and leaves the surface keyed ready to start.

But after laying up, the resin soaked csm started to peel away from the edges, so once tacky (not dry) I needed to tape it round lightly, so that the edges layed against the seams and should make a nice bond...

...but I won't know how well it's worked until it's cured.

These horrible gaps will need filling, which will add some strength to the scuttle also

The body work near where the mini exhaust manifold was is frazzled. I always had a heat shield here on the minus. This one was really bad and really brittle. I stripped it back ready for repair.

And here it is.

This pic also shows where I made a start fibreglassing over the bulk head and inner wing seam, which were not bonded together at all! This will also re-inforce the coilover mounting points. This spot is now almost 1/4 inch thick, but I still think I will probably tie the coilover brackets in to the subframe by welding something to join them.