I am about to embark on repairing some of this rust before it gets too overwhelming.

Ideally if I had the cash I'd book it into a panelbeaters and ask them to make it new again. Unfortunately that just isnt going to happen.

I am working on a reasonable budget, but without owning anything like a welder I need to see whether what I have to work with (on on) can be done with what I have.

Note - If the rust turns out to be pretty serious, then a welder and new panels will be sought. My main concern is the front valance. I am going to be pretty sure this is a welding job with either a new front end or patch up metal.

To give you an idea of what I have, here are some pics -
http://imgur.com/a/SXfqJ

Out of all there, would any of it be repairable with metal filler ?

With the non-valance rust -

When sanding / wire wheeling back to bare metal, is there any temporary product I can spray on to prevent surface rust if I can't finish in one sitting ? Or is a thin layer of spray primer the best option ?

Is the front valance 'patchable' ? or would the best option be to bite the bullet and to the lot ? That is the only rust on the panel currently.

For some reason it's the driver side that has most of the rust, passenger side of the car is pretty ok.

By the looks of the pictures you'll need more that just metal filler... Obviously bog will fix it, but it'll just be a hole full of bog with nothing really holding it all together. I would do it to any of my cars even if I was just going to sell them.
Cut it out, fill it with a metal panel and fill it to suit

_________________
If you want more inches, stroke it
Life's a garden.... Dig It!
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20746

Hit with a brass wire brush on a grinder then get us a photo of it, doesnt look too hard to make a bit to match the hole then weld it in. Once youve skimmed some filler over it and sanded it back itll look as new and be a lot stronger than easier than a whole load of bog.

_________________
Simplify and add lightness

The front panel on my car was full of tiny holes 15 years ago, so I got under there with the oxy and brazed them all up.
Last year there were a couple more tiny ones, so what the hell I did them too.
$ and time wise it beats buying and fitting new panels.

_________________
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.

Brazing can be a bit tricky, but the Doc is probably an old hand at it
Cleaning and heat control paramount. But can be a nice solution for small sections that don't need to be made a big deal of.

As blue_deluxe/Gordo mentioned, you will have to evaluate whether sections need to be cut out and welded. You will need to do some research into light (low amp) mig welders, preferably with gas but flux core is fine also just a bit more clean up after welding required.

Along some of my gutter areas if used wire wheel and cleaned right back. Once clean and raw metal I used POR15 or (KBS) and coated it. Gutter section was fine for the most part just needed cleaning and a good seal for further protection.

_________________
1968 Morris Mini Deluxe - members gallery
1970 Morris Cooper S - members gallery
Mini's I grew up with
Slot car couch

All these guys seem to know what they are talking about so is do exactly that. Clean it all up and assess the damage. I have just finished cutting and welding my car and trust me I had a lot of spot where it looked minor but once you start digging it tends to be worse. It's best to expect the worst
It's better to do the job right the first time just to set your mind at ease lol
Good luck.

_________________
Carpe Diem
------------------
1967 Deluxe (Bluey)

Thanks for all the handy info.

I have seen some brazing stuff, and quite like the look of it. It looks like you can get some pretty nice results once you have the hang of it.

EDIT - After doing further reading, TIG welding might be a tad advanced for my welding skills. I will start with MIG and see where I end up from there. I will see if I can get some lessons from the ex boiler maker here at work

I might cash in a weeks leave and invest in a reasonable welder.

I will get stuck into revealing the extent of the rust soon hopefully. As soon as I get motivated the weekends fill up with trips to Sydney.

Two images of the rust in the drivers side gutter. Inside & Out,







What is left on that outside image is bare metal, no rust left after wire wheeling.

There is rust in the seam on the inside image as am currently just using in a wire wheel attachment on my drill and couldn't get the angle to push harder.

On a scale of 1 to 10 of severity what do people think ?

I've been reading this and mulling over the reply.

MIG welders should really come in the standard mini service kit, a bit like the jack or lug nut wrench.

The front apron would make an ideal project for someone who's bought a reasonably good MIG, done some practice and worked out the right settings for the panels they're working on.

The roof is a different matter. If all the roof seam is like that, I'd farm the welding out and do the rest of the prep and paint. The best bet would be to find a cheap-ish but reliable old school panel beater. It's not a terrifically hard job, but if you stuff it up it's very hard to put right, especially being a roof.

If it's localized, perhaps once you've done the apron your skills and confidence will be up to tackling the roof. You'd need some way of bending the sheet to form the seam/flange and probably do it in as big a length as you can manage in the folder. You should also joggle the edge to try and prevent warping. It will need a bit of attention and patience but do-able.

It's a hard one to call. I've bitten off more than I can chew before and regretted it. Projects like this are quite a bit longer than you think at the start. You'll need a bit of kit, such as angle grinders, welding gear and personal protection (gloves, a decent auto welding helmet) and so on.

I don't want to put you off. I've also seen some guys produce some stunning results, but I've made enough mistakes to make me realise that a bit of kindly advice (ha ha!) at the beginning makes all the difference.

Now, having said that, get yourself over to this thread on the MIG Welding Forum for some inspiration. This project makes me happy. The guy's just turned 21 and his car is going to be unreal. Incidentally, all you need to know is on that forum. It's the best site on the net for learning and mastering MIG welding. If you have the time, space and dedication, there's no reason you can't do it. Just be realistic about the time you can put into it.

I now have a Cigweld MIG welder on order, nothing special just a 150amp mig welder. I figure if this Mini is a long term keeper, then this isn't the only rust I will need to repair.

I had some welding experience with the last clubbie I had. Had an inch missing top to bottom where the rear seams should have been. That came up well, and that was with gasless MIG.

Luckily the roof seems are pretty good, I took a photo of the absolute worst bit. I will be removing the paint the entire way around though, just to make sure anything else isn't hiding.

In the meantime I have sprayed primer over what I exposed today. When the MIG arrives I will grab some gas and get practicing on some scrap. I will any updates over to my gallery thread from this point.

Thanks for all the tips, its pointed me in the right direction and definitely inspired me to get this job done myself.

Tip for setting the MIG up for solid wire + gas, or gasless-
Solid wire + gas needs the wire (ie the torch) to be connected on the [+] terminal.

Gasless generally needs the wire to be on the [-] terminal.

Not all MIG welder handbooks point this out. I know a few people people who have spent DAYS trying to make solid wire work after they ran out of gasless.. and the solution (when they asked me) was as simple as switching the polarity.

_________________
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.