We start this month with the fitting of the windshield and rear windows to the frame. The front is half original and half from the 1990/91 MK IV Rover (that was supposed to be 94). The rear is original except for the fabricated replacement panel on the lower part.
The tempered rear window is new. Since it is flat, I had it made locally for $11. The windshield is very scratched, so I took it to Santa Cruz to copy. They checked their warehouse for me, and the only glass they've made for Minis is the rear window of a Saloon. The replacement cost $186 to fabricate the mold and windshield.
The steering column was originally installed with non-removable bolts, so one had to be burned off, then the other cut to get the steering column out of the dash. Then I gutted the insides and the engine bay for painting and modifications.
With the fender molded, it was time to straighten it and fabricate the flares for the wheels. The first try was straight, then we went for a more rounded effect.
Note that for some pictures the camera was set for day/month/year. This month's page actually runs into two months, as the body shop waited for me to get back so we could finalize the flare desigh.
To put a final design on the flares, I put the disc brakes on the front and the 19 mm (3/4") spacers on the rear. The front track is still 6 cm (2.36") wider than the rear, so the front flares need to be wider. We re-did the rear a little bringing it closer to the wheel well and rounding a little more. You can see the final design here. It is still missing the interior liner that it will have.
Here is an abriviated series of the steps in forming the flares, from marking the strips of 1 mm steel (.04") (approximately 19 gauge) to the tapping and bending. When basic form was acheived, he started welding to the fender, heating strips of it as he bent it over the wheel well and tacked in place. Then the ends will be trimmed. In the first side shots, they are in place, but not yet rounded. Note that the late model side lights and the fender mirror holes have been filled.
After mounting the seats I realized that the steering wheel normally sits pretty far in-board, and the seats did not fit in front of it with their arm rests. So here you can see how I assembled two u-joints from used Japanese steering columns to relocate the steering wheel in front of the driver's seat.
Also shown are the stainless pins with plastic covered cables that I fabricated for the tailgate and the MiniSport dash that I modified to fit the gauge cluster from the 90/91 Rover body. Details of the modification are here.
All the rest of the small parts are now painted black and waiting to install when the body is finished.
