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| Rear subframe in all its glory. Hana Demon Dog is the shop supervisor |
When we last checked in with our heroine, we had refreshed/restored the front end including the motor. If I could chop the car in half, we would win Cars & Coffee. Unfortunately, Solomon withstanding, life don't work like that. So onto the rear!
As I mentioned earlier, this is a 1972 Mini, so it doesn't have a unibody. What holds the body shell up is two subframes, one in front and one in back. This is a British car and I think they used wooden rulers for measurements to put the motor together. The front subframe, while nasty, was actually structurally sound and cleaned up pretty well, albeit with a lot of work. It had the benefit of 50 years of oil leaks coating everything up front. The rear subframe .... not so much.
Besides the potential horrors of the rear subframe, there were other issues. Among them the battery box which hangs down below the boot (trunk for you Yankees). Yeah, a bunch of rusty spots, which gave me an excuse to go by a new Welder.
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| Front of the battery box. Rear had issues too. |
I took my needler and chipped off most of the undercoating to see what nasties lay underneath. Though there were a few spots that I ended up patching, it wasn't crazy bad.
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| Going at it with my power needler |
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| Cutting, welding and grinding the battery box |
Before we get to the guesome Rated R portion of the post, here's the bottom of the car all welded up and coated with Eastwood rust preventive paint.
Okay, I've put this off long enough. Time to show the subframe 'as found". Please have your children leave the room, put the dog outside, and make sure you are up to date on your tetnus shot.
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| Don't quote me on this, but I don't think that's structurally sound. |
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| Not pretty. Most of the captive nuts were totally rusted and seized |
Pretty much all the bits attached to the rear subframe were toast also.
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| Trailing arm with drum brake. The rear suspension - aka cone and trumpet |
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| The rear brakes have seen better days |
Well, in for a pence (penny), in for a £ (pound ). I bought a new subframe from MiniSpares, one of the big Mini parts distributors in the UK. Shipping was almost as much as the subframe, but had to be done. The trash folks hauled it off to the dump last week.
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| New, and powder coated. This soothes my heart. |
Meanwhile while waiting, I worked on some other areas.
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| The boot got the wire brush treatment |
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| And cleaned up and painted. |
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| Gas tank, removed, rust and coating needled off and painted. |
Adios!
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