Bollocks!

[DaveK 0]

Well after thinking, maybe my rust is worse than it seems, i started pokin and scraping and discovered a muchos bigos rot patch on the inner wing. To add to it there is also healthy rust around the rear bumper and the front panel needs replacing

 

Pics:

 

Inner wing:

 

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00655.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00656.jpg

 

Ok passengers side:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00657.jpg

 

Boot:

 

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00658.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00659.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00660.jpg

 

There is good news tho. The chassis rails seem solid with only minor surface rust and strut tops are also solid, so the important bits are sound

 

Is this worthwhile saving? Hopefully shouldnt take too long and i already have a new front panel to go on

 

Thought i would share my misrey lol

 

Dave

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

Having similar troubles! not quite as bad as that though thankfully! rust removal is a painful process. I don't have a welder either

 

gl with it mate

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Whether it is worth saving or not depends on the rest of the shell. If you don't fix all the rust now then you will be forever taking the thing apart to fix it.

 

If this were a classic English car then that would be considered relatively minor TBH. I've seen car MUCH MUCH worse than that saved, it is all about how long you want to spend on the shell. You can soo get another shell but no doubt you'd have to spend a lot of time to strip it down as far as that one. Time you could just spend fixing the one you have.

 

Rob

[Scottieb 0]

I it was me i would not even consider it. £250 should get you another MOT failed car off ebay most of the ones i have looked at have been sound as far a rot is concerned. I have a good think about it, and maybe go look at some cars

[willxs 0]

looking at that makes me feel so much better about mine!

[bren_1.3 1]

thats not a great deal. mine has rotted through on the front panel, the driver side sill, under the fuel tank, the boot floor, and the bulkhead. im halfway through saving it.

 

fix the bugger up!

[DaveK 0]

mixed opinions there hehe.

 

a guy i know is selling a 1.8 diesel trio shell. Its a 1994 so might be in considerable better knick. Am i right in saying that they are the same chassis, mounting points etc?

[Banjo 1]

The newer cars have softer paint and rot just as bad, also wouldn't have the holes/rivets for the body kit. Thats nothing, guessing you've never owned a mini? haha, get the grinder out grind it all back and cut it all out then weld some plates in there flush, dress the welds, etch and paint, easy!

[Anthony 1,003]

If you haven't already done so, drop the fuel tank off the car and see what you find lurking behind there - that seems to be a prime place for rust on both 205 and 309's, but because it's out of sight you don't tend to see the problems until they've spread.

 

None of the rest in those pictures looks to be bad enough to warrant scrapping the car for, and it's all atleast non-structural and doesn't really matter cosmetically what the fix looks like.

[TurboSam 5]

after spending a day underneath my Mini, that looks like nothing !

 

get it sorted

[DaveK 0]

some good votes of confidence there, cheers chaps al get ma finger oot!

[Paintguy 0]

As things stand, I'd opt for repairing it.

 

There's nothing there that can't be sorted, and although it's a fair bit of work, you've already done a lot of the hard graft in stripping it, so I'd agree with Rob that you might as well carry on now that you've got this far, rather than starting again with a different shell (which could be almost as bad anyway!).

 

I'd echo Anthony's advice too, and go through every single part of the car before starting any repairs, just in case you find anything else. It would be heartbreaking to repair all the rust you've found so far, only to discover something even worse further down the line.

 

Best of luck!

[DaveK 0]

Well good news, just taken the fuel tank off and only minor surface rust around there

 

Thats the car completely stripped now and those are the only problem areas so it will be saved

 

Cheers folks, i'll post pics etc as and when i repair it

[DaveK 0]

To add, ive taken the rear bumper off and the entire section is rusted through

However i think im right in saying its not part of the chassis and seems like a fairly straight forward fix compared to the front:

 

 

 

 

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/davekgti/DSC00674.jpg

 

Also made a start on the front wing which an absolute ar** to remove the front panel but got there hehe:

 

[Ric Handley 0]

I can see my Dimma project getting to this stage or worse!

 

Good luck with the welding and hope there is no more hidden rust!

 

Ric

Edited May 28, 2007 by Ric Handley

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I'm going against the majority here and say I;d scrap it and have scraped better car's too, I awlays think about the time it will take to complete the work and materials and I bet you can pick up a good GTi for less

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

I'm going against the majority here and say I;d scrap it and have scraped better car's too, I awlays think about the time it will take to complete the work and materials and I bet you can pick up a good GTi for less

 

On the other hand, if you feel like learning something it's always nice to have a go yourself at fixing it.

It certainly looks bad, but most palces are hidden, and as long as you don't need a perfect finish on the work it's not that many hours work either.

[DaveK 0]

ive given it alot of thought and i was originally considering scraping it. However these are the only sections of the car which need welding and considering the time (weeks) ive spent getting it to this point im just gonna repair it

 

Plus its mine, i dont want to scrap it lol......grown men dont cry....

[hengti 2]

^

 

i had a mini prior to the 205 that i just loved; it was horribly rotten (as they all are) but i decided that i wanted to save it. my dad bought a welder (the 'family' welder ) and i spent 7 months of my spare time -over a winter - in a p*sspot single garage setting fire to things.

 

it was sort of fun and i was well pleased once i'd finished, but there's absolutely no chance i'd do it again!

 

got to say that i really admire people who take on hobby jobs like this - hope it goes well

[max0 5]

Plus its mine, i dont want to scrap it lol......grown men dont cry....

 

good luck- classic quote

[Casanova 0]

You're a brave, brave man...

 

§

[DaveK 0]

bravery has nothin to do with it....its stupidity....and boredom lol

[Emmy Seize 8]

after spending a day underneath my Mini, that looks like nothing !

 

get it sorted

 

And I bet your Mini isn´t as old as the GTI !

[Gibbo GTI 0]

Does anyone have a list of online body panel suppliers? I've come across Beevers.

[mattmk1 0]

Definately fix it, if you can weld. 3 - 5 years time and 99% of gtis will be going in the same places anyhow, so if you plan on keeping it, itd make sense to get the work done now.