I thought this would be a interesting topic. Here is a couple of pics on a car shell that I am re-building.
LH side A panel. OK rusted like most, but the "repairer" just cut out the rust in both inner and outer, welded in one bit of steel to both panels and then bogged the whole thing up, about 1/4" thick.


the mud guard was a ripper. It had a crease along it [side swiped something] so just fill the crease with bog. It took longer to remove the bog than to panel beat the crease. just a couple more little bumps to tap out and it will be bog free.


I have found some really good repairs on some cars, like the steel brake line that had rusted thru, so join it with some hydraulic hose and a couple of clamps.

same car had worn brake shoes, so easy fix, just grind off the part of the steel shoe that scraps the drum.

wheel bearings, angular contact type. fitted is the same direction and not back to back. I wonder if the driver wondered why his front wheel wobbled around with a grinding noise.

there must be plenty more stuff ups you blokes have found

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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

How 'bout a piece of cardboard from a fruit box covering the firewall speedo opening behind the exhaust.

Very clever. Both flammable and non-waterproof.

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Dry front arm on a hydro car. This upsets the ride height so in addition to a washer on the knuckle joint, the rear top arm hole was slotted

Now the top arm and/or the subframe would've need to be removed to slot the hole, so why not change the arm to the right one? Probably didn't realise there was a difference in the arms and couldn't figure out why they had the problem they did. Would have had easy access to a hydro pump tho.

They did get the ride height pretty good. Subframe was been replaced and hydro arms fitted.

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Steve

First mini I "restored" ( ) was a wreckers-yard salvage. Being young, ignorant and rash, I bought it without checking it properly...

Obviously in its past it had been in a decent smash, 'cause even though it was a '67 deluxe, it had the early, non-vented apron panel, and...

cut-down rear floorpans in the front!!

It was soo bad the people used to flag me down to say, "Mate do you realise that thing is crabbing badly!!"

Hitting a kingswood ute with it was probably for the best in the long-run

cheers

Jacob

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'72 Clubman Van - 1022cc, 295 head, 731 cam - Daily Driver
'69 Morris 1100 S - Dinged by a bus, in shed under repair
'64 Morris 1100 - Early 1100, long term project

Not mini, but:

My brother bought a 1967 Mercedes 230S. It ran alright (some carby issues, but that's another story). But looking it over, I noticed that there was something wrong with the dizzy. The mount for the points was broken, and so the points were held in with one screw and had a piece of cereal box wedged in to keep it in place!

The linkages from the column shift to the gearbox were also held together by some wire-ties.

every 'repair' on my traveller - almost as if they intended it to rust further

The clutch arm spring on my spare P76 when I first got it was an occy strap. Still got the strap in the shed.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

When we got the 78 van the rear beaver panel was rusted through but when we had a closer look someone had already tryed a DIY repair and had stuffed sandpaper and newspaper behind the beaver panel. Its officialy rooted

Purchase the wifes daily drive. 6 weeks later it was the bat mobile. The PO used Silicon for a head gasket. blocked a water passage @ #1 Cylinder and cooked it. That resulted in the first rebuild and before I found Ausmini

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Similar to this, the ends of the rear beaver on a Clubman that I owned had rusted away, so the previous owner filled the cavities with bread bags and bogged over them.

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Member VMCI #19

My first Mini had fibreglass floors.

I've never seen it but I've been told that you can shim main and big end bearings with sections of aluminium coke cans.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Never used coke cans for that, I usually use aluminium foil.

A mate of mine was on his way from Melbourne to Adelaide in his Morris Minor 1000, and did a big end bearing on the way. On the road side he took the sump off and rebuilt the bearing with a bit from his leather belt.

Drove the car daily for another 4 years before he did a full rebuild.

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A mate of mine years ago had a Standard 10, when the big end bearings wore out he filed the caps a bit then shimmed behind the bearings with thin gasket material.
Hey, he was a qualified Marine Engineer... so, who was I to argue...

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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.

It was a Marine Engineer that told me to use Al-foil. Must be the salt air.