Is there anything to lose in having a go at welding in new panels and painting your mini?? apart from time and a little mooney
has anyone got any bad experience stories with painting or body work on their mini as i hear a lot of the successes just trying to gauge the probs the arise and the results that can be achieved vs the bucks that can be spent

All depends on how good you want it to look or how bad your prepared to put up with. My clubie used to be bush painted Red over bright green & the red was falling off all over YUCK. but hey someone thought it was adiquate. (not me)

well id be trying to do the best job i could so no brush painting action

We painted a Renault 750 with a broom, once... quick job!!

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

a broom lol well maybe not a broom either
nah forgeedabout it i think i will just fork the dollars over

Have a go, you may suprise yourself and do a great job, you'll soon know if you're over your head at which time ou can hand it over to a pro along with a wad of cash

If I had access to a welder I would try all sorts of crap on mine. Give it a go. You can only f@ck it up. We often forget these things are just metal.

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But he's thriving and striving and hugging the turns.

Prepare the body yourself and get it painted professionally. I think that's the best bang for buck...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

I guess the obvious thing would be to first try welding in a small area that won't be noticed as much as other areas. If that all goes to sh*t then I'd recommend getting it done properly.

Welding light gauge steel needs a bit of practice, but that's all. Get a sheet of steel since it's cheap enough and will give you enough to practice on nice clean unpainted steel and enough to make repair panels for a dozen minis.

You can get away with lapped joins with plug welds most of the time, but with only a little practice you can stitch together butt joins. I bought a joggler / edge stepper which is a sort of hand tool that puts a little step along the edge of a panel so the finished lap join is flush. You can then make really strong joins which are easy to finish over the top. Try Frost Tools in the UK (Search for joggler).

Your metalwork will be covered by a skim of filler, primer and paint, so as long as your work is strong and rust-free, you're in the money.

Remember: A man who cuts his own wood warms himself twice

Like Angus said have a practice on something else before you start on your vehicle.

You should be able to pick up sheetmetal scraps for free from a sheetmetal works, this would be fine for welding practice. If you want to go the next step maybe try a wreckers and get some messed up guards etc, cut pieces out of those & patch em up.

The success stories you hear don't happen by accident. Remember the 7 P's my friend

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Metal to burn, sparks to fly...

thanks for all the info and words of encouragement guys i will do as suggested above
cheers