Restoring the Floor Pan and Lower Sections

When I first bought the car, I replaced the two front floor pans, and patched various holes in other areas in the rear section of the floor. These panels and patches were securely welded in place, but the welding was not as neat and tidy as it could have been. Andy described my welding as "Good quality MOT Standard", high praise as far as I'm concerned! The repaired floor panels were also dented in numerous places, including the central floor cross member. The door steps, inner and outer sills, and rear floor bulkhead were also badly corroded. They all needed to be replaced! The simplest way to gain access to the underside of the car is to roll it on its side, see below.
		Another view of Andy's amazing workmanship on the roof insert! You can also see the mess, made by a previous owner, to the rear parcel shelf. This panel is also badly corroded along its edge adjoining the rear window rim.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to buy new replacements, so this panel will have to be repaired or replaced with a second hand component. This will be extracted from a suitable donor Mini.

Under Side Notice the mess at the front of the car where I fitted replacement driver and passenger floor pans. These were only ever welded in place from the inside of the car. The central tunnel section will be kept as it is in good condition, and difficult to replace.

Cut Away The body shell with the driver's side front and back floor sections removed. Notice the welded re-enforcing braces, added by Andy, to stop the shell from distorting whilst the floor is removed. The rear bulkhead is also corroded. It will be removed later.

Initial Fit The new driver's side floor panel is offered up and modified to make it fit correctly. The modifications required by these floor panels were firstly to tidy them up, and secondly to enable them to co-exist with the original floor tunnel section.

Side Two The first floor pan is now welded in place. The second floor pan has been prepared and offered up prior to welding. The corroded rear floor bulkhead has now been removed. This was only possible once the driver's side floor pan had been fitted.

Box Section In this photo you can see the floor box section cross member clamped in position, prior to welding. The door steps have also been removed. These were corroded and will be replaced. Outer sills will be fitted once the door steps have been positioned. The inner sills are a part of the floor pan.