I've been whitteling away (and learning in the process) at the bit of rust in my A panel.

I have cut a bigger hole in the outer panel and exposed the inner panel and dug the rust out and ended up with a hole about 3/8" wide and about 2" long starting at the seam and running toward the door. Not much I know but I am in new territory here.

Looks like I am going to have to pull the seam cover off to get a replacement patch on the outer panel but my question is how big to I cut my hole and where do I stop?

In letting a patch in is bigger better? (read easier to work with) or should I keep it was small as pactical giving me room to work the inner panel?
or should I just rip the whole outer A panel off and put a new one on?

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

I would take the cover strip off first.
Cut the outer panel hole bigger than needed to get beyond the rust in the inner panel.
Weld the inner panel patch in.
Paint the inner panel as much as possible with coldgal paint or zinc-it primer.
Cut a patch for the outer panel and weld it in. Paint the inside of it first with coldgal or primer but keep back a bit from the edge.

I'd get all the crud off the inner panel, including up and around the door hinge brackets, paint it all in there with coldgal.
Next best thing to hot dip galvanising.

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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.

Just cut the whole "A" panel off. Then you can flush all the crap out of the sills and then spray the inside with a good coating of rust preventative.
As doc siad you can also do the inner "A"panel. It's not a big job and will say you a LOT of grief later. The "A" panels are easy to make, I don't buy replacements.

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

You make it sound easy!

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Flute - 68 MK I Cooper S
Member: VMCI #2474
Member: International Mini Model Collectors Club

Although the A panel is cheap, and verging on a 'consumable' item on most minis. As such, it's been covered plenty of times in magazines and books; I'd warrant that Google will be your friend here too. Replacing the whole panel will be pretty quick and you won't need to worry about bogging the patch seams.