Austin mini - floor removal and cover sill damage!

The floor and sills are rotten on my 1977 mini so in this video I show you how I cut the rot out!
Continuing on with the floor and seeing what damage cover sills can do to your car

[@billywhizz98]

I love your enthusiasm nice to see how it’s done and the problems you come up against

[@BMCWorkshop]

William, thanks buddy. I hope you have picked up some tips on how to or not to do it :)

[@garybellis6613]

Another great video Sean I never get tired of watching them keep them coming 👍 👍👍

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers Gary :)

[@minisareus]

Excellent work sean

[@BMCWorkshop]

minisareus cheers buddy 👍

[@DBMiniDIY]

That's some good progress. Think the week off has done you good. Nice to see you just take your time, enjoy it and get it perfect because drilling out spot welds and chiselling out rust gets tedious after a while and it gets tempting to rush and cut corners so all credit to you, great vid as always

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers DB, yeah the car is slowly coming along and it doesn't make that rusty rattling noise anymore when you spin it on the jig as a hell of a lot of the rust has now gone. I'm getting closer to fitting the boot floor :)

[@therat5680]

Just catching up on your videos thank God you are repairing it probably, nice work mate! Good luck with the Project 👌

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers Rat :)

[@robertbills4290]

Great progress on the mini mate looks cold in that garage the floors are mint great choice of music to. Cheers Rob

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers Rob, it is cold in the garage and to add insult to injury it's started snowing :(

[@robertthornhill4379]

hi sean very good video has always really enjoyed it 10/10+ bob in derby

[@BMCWorkshop]

Thank you bob, much appreciated buddy :)

[@terrywoodley593]

Another classic video Sean. I got have a lie down now you have made very tired watching your hard work. Look forward to the next one. Terry.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Thanks Terry, I need to have a lie down too lol

[@markshorrock6645]

Great vid Sean as always , and thanks for the mention , plus great tune LEVEL 42 cheers pal 👋🏻👴👋🏻👴👋🏻👴 # teamslaphead

[@BMCWorkshop]

Mark, your more than welcome mate. Hope you liked the pic lol

[@markshorrock6645]

Sean C that pic was funny . The kids taking the piss because I carnt Stand sand lol 😂 will send a request for more tune in your next vid pal maybe some .the jam stereophonic 👍🏻

[@BMCWorkshop]

Stereophnic are a great band maybe tomorrow lol ;)

[@markshorrock6645]

Sean C very good . Graffiti on the train 🚂 👍

[@fatgaz3440]

Another top video mate. It's a pity scrap yards don't weigh in buckets of rust/powder, you would be a rich man if they did

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers fatgaz. If that was the case I'd be a rich man with all the piles of junk I've had over the years lol

[@surangafernandoX]

Amazing Work Sean.. thanks a Million

[@BMCWorkshop]

+suranga fernando cheers buddy

[@charliespann3967]

Great work Mr. Sean.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Charlie Spann thanks buddy 😁

[@BMCWorkshop]

+Charlie Spann thanks Charlie :)

[@MiniMadness]

Great work Sean! I fear I may end up doing more of the floor than I want to, as im sure the oversills will be hiding just as many horrors as yours.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Ben, You may get away by taking the replacement to the first flute but you won;t really know until you start poking it. I wanted my floors to be new with no rust in them hence the chop lol

[@MiniMadness]

Sean C. It's not like I'm wanting to keep the floor for originality. Just seems a shame to replace it all when 80% of it is in good condition. Shall have to see what the sills hide anyway

[@BMCWorkshop]

I know what you mean Ben. I chose MMachine floors as they are the only ones who produce the original floor pan plus it came with jacking points and outer sills. The heritage pressings are for the later minis so goodness knows how they can produce a Mk1 shell with MPi floor pans lol

[@MiniMadness]

Sean C you will see in tomorrow's video that I have a big enough sheet of metal to make my own floors! Maybe shouldn't of got quite as big a sheet lol

[@BMCWorkshop]

Mini Madness lol you will be surprised how quickly a big sheet gets used up. It's better than using rusty old door skins lol

[@billywhizz98]

I have a mk2 Escort Rally car that keeps me going but I am a car enthusiast and like all cars I have had a mini cooper s many years back but ended up giving it to a friend of mine

[@BMCWorkshop]

William, I like all classics too. I turned down a Mk1 Escort with a genuine 39,000 miles on the clock as it was £1400 back then. That was about 25 years ago lol

[@jaggass]

It'' look better than it left the factory soon.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Michael, I hope so buddy. Still a long way off lol

[@jaggass]

What year is the Mini?

[@BMCWorkshop]

1977 Michael

[@jaggass]

Ive never seen a Mini as bad as this. Was it left outside for a long time?

[@BMCWorkshop]

Michael, the car has always lived outside so it's lasted well for a 41 year old car. It will most likely spend the rest of it's life in a garage and will have an easier life when it returns to the road

[@thedjse]

Excellent work sean floor is looking really good, need to stick a little DTURBO logo in the corner much better watch than most of the crap thats on there lol

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers Alex

[@daveb7192]

Wicked tunes Sean! Oversills are never a good idea.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Thanks Dave, glad you enjoyed them buddy :)

[@andrewwilson8317]

Bloody hell, go to want that mini so bad to want to restore it. On the last one I ended up building a new shell from the repair sections and panels and added the best of the saveable bits to it rather than welding good stuff to the rotten shell. Was easier than they would have you believe. Careful measurement, plumb lines and a good flat work surface helped. All lined up good and was spot welded together. Sounds crazy but worked well, car shell was great and owner chuffed to bits. Total bill for full shell restore back to dead straight,rust free and in primer came to less than six thousand. Restoring the shell would of cost quite a bit more?

[@BMCWorkshop]

Andrew, cheers buddy. Restoration is the game here and also a hobby/ project. I've no time limit so I can take it at my leisure. Had there been a time limit then a reshell may have been the better option. All the best, Sean :)

[@andrewwilson8317]

Sean C no worries mate, you doing a great job. It's not easy and a mini is not a simple car to work on. Not really a re-shell if you using quite a lot of the old shell in the rebuild. Quite where the change over point is is open to a lot of discussion! The hardest thing is making sure you welding to sound metal. No point trying to weld good new metal to rust rotten stuff. Since I ended up needing to replace everything from the sills and floor pans it made sense to build this all up from new panels and then join the original remainder down onto this. All the seams were unpicked and cleaned up ready for joining. The roof assembly was soda blasted and primed. Surprisingly little joining the top to the bottom half! You doing great work. I grew up in Scotland so plenty experience with rusty cars and getting them sound!

[@callumjohnston4255]

Hi there, do you have any videos on rear bulkhead and parcel shelf replacement?

[@BMCWorkshop]

Sorry, I haven't needed to do this job on any of my minis

[@billywhizz98]

It was a lot of money back then I retired 2 years ago after working in Fords Halewood for 40 years and if I had had the hindsight then I could have bought a couple of Escort RSs back in the day they where about £1200 but you never got the wages to afford them

[@BMCWorkshop]

Indeed William hindsight is a great thing

[@johnkinnane547]

G'day Sean you can really see the shoddy repair jobs done previously. Interesting about how the car breathes though those vents well explained Sean. Do you use a rust converter instead of that waxy oil stuff, I found it good on a job I was doing and it really worked well. Anyway mate good to see you again and interesting as ever how you cut and piece metal in and cut out the rust thank you John.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Thanks John, the car breaths through these vents in the sills. When the sills get covered over with the cover sills (hence the name) then all the condensation within the pillars and cavities has nowhere to go so it pools in the cavity between the outer and inner sill and if the vent holes are blocked then air can't circulate. These cars were bad for rotting anyway like all the other BLMC cars but they were all made to a budget and mass produced plus car manufacturers don't want them to last for a long time as their market would dry up I guess lol

[@teamstockdaleclassicminidi3119]

If anyone fits cover sills after watching this, they’ve been asleep through it .

[@BMCWorkshop]

Graham, the cover sills really destroy the cars :)

[@piperdoug428]

Seeeeaaaaaannnnn!!!!! sorry, just had tae yell, ok now i can watch the show after getting that oot ma system.

[@BMCWorkshop]

lol good man Doug, I've started filming Vlog 36 and you get a mention early on in the video that only a Scotsman can relate to lol

[@piperdoug428]

oooh! thats awfy exciting, hope ye liked my salute tae the bunnet in ma vid, just had an immature moment there when ye hud yer finger up a flute, lol, i know i know, but i've been tested.

[@BMCWorkshop]

lol, We can't be serious all the time buddy as life would be just boring :)

[@Duxhorne]

Is there any way to use the angle grinder to take the over sills of without taking the original sills of underneath? Or do you have to just be really careful?

[@BMCWorkshop]

If there is coversills over the original sills then the originals will be knackered and will need to come off too. You can carefully grind the welds on the coversills and gently cut under the lip on the door step and wiggle the coversill off

[@Duxhorne]

BMC Workshop ok, the over sills on mine look like the metal underneath is in pretty good as it hasn’t been on the road in 8 years but I suppose there’s only one way to find out 👍

[@321357w]

Great video again mate, if it wasn't so cold and so far I would be over for a weekend and change that bloody roof for you. Are you going to re-felt it or use colour bond corrugated sheeting ?

[@BMCWorkshop]

Cheers Jeff. I'm going to go for EPDM and do it myself as the quotes I've been getting are unrealistic

[@321357w]

Main thing is to make sure the top plates and joists are sound before you re-sheet and ensure all flashing and joins are watertight. Not as difficult as it seems and you have the nouse to sort it :) I have to replace the verandah roof on half the house and replace the laser light on the the half, then build an elevated decking from the dining room door for an outside area. That's just the small jobs LOL

[@BMCWorkshop]

+Jeff Stanyer you need to repatriate yourself Jeff, Oz is too hot lol. I'm going to use EPDM on the roof. It's a rubber sheet and has a very long lifespan apparently

[@BMCWorkshop]

The joists look good but the facings will be replaced too, well the ones that are rotten anyway lol

[@chriseverett1142]

Hi are you a professional mechanic or diy😊.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Hi Chris, I'm not a mechanic but have worked on cars most of my life

[@siliquaesid703]

Can you post process your audio for a bit more volume in later Vlogs please, make sure you peak @ 0dBm. Excellent Vlog, but I can hardly hear you.

[@BMCWorkshop]

Hi, thanks for your comment. The volume seems fine at this end. Is it too quiet for you?

[@augnkn93043]

Music too loud!

[@BMCWorkshop]

augnkn93043 turn it down then. Audio is set to zero in post production.

[@augnkn93043]

Sean C I wanted to listen to what you were saying, then scanned forward a bit and got my eardrums blasted.

[@BMCWorkshop]

augnkn93043 sorry about that buddy. I usually turn it down if I'm talking. What time of the footage I music plaing over me talking

[@augnkn93043]

Sean C The music sections are louder than the talking sections. Otherwise an interesting video. I used to have a mini 30 years ago . Cheers.