Project Leyland Mini Clubman

Having replaced the offside A-panel last issue, it is time to blend the new metal into the old with some paint. The only problem is, what colour should that paint be?

Simon’s decision to extend the new paint from the A-panel to the nearside front wing has far-reaching consequences.

Last issue, we detailed how Alan Denne replaced the offside A-panel, which had been one of the very few areas to show signs of rust on what is a very original Mini Clubman. However, that originality is reflected in the metalwork rather than the paint, because the car has quite clearly been subjected to more than a few localised resprays and touch-ups over the years. The net result of this is some slight but noticeable colour mismatch from one panel to the next, plus a rash of quite severe micro-blistering on the nearside front wing and the whole of the back panel. Added to this are minor blemishes in several places, plus the start of surface rust forming in the gutters.

What the car really needs is a full respray, but I was not keen on taking what would be a big step up from a localised repair in terms of time and cost. Instead, my preference was to carry out the most essential repairs and generally tidy the car up, then leave it to the next owner to decide whether to enjoy the Clubman as it is or take things to the next level.

So now our task was to paint the new A-panel, blending the fresh paint into the old. Unfortunately Leyland did not see fit to put an identifying paint code either on the car or in its paperwork. No problem, I thought, I’ll consult the archives of the British Motor Museum – for £43 (plus p&p) they will send you certified copy of a factory record for your classic car, showing you the specification it had when it first left the production line.

In truth that is more information than I need, but they also offer a web research request service that provides a single piece of information from a vehicle’s build record via email for just £6. So I sent off details of the car and my £6, thinking it was a case of problem solved. Unfortunately, it turns out that either Leyland did not record the paint codes anywhere, or perhaps that the records for January 1976 have been lost, because all I got was a refund of my £6 and an apology to say that the archive staff had been unable to turn up any information in their extensive history files.

Next, we tried Alan’s stock of period paint chips, but they did not shed much light on the matter either. The closest we could find was Blaze Orange (also sometimes called Blaze Red, but apparently the same colour), yet this was clearly more orange and less red than what was currently on the Mini. In the end I had to take the driver’s door down to a paint specialist and have them check it with their spectrograph, then mix up some paint according to the formula this gave them.

Then I made what could be regarded as

either a grave error or the correct decision, depending on your point of view. What happened was that with the new A-panel flatted back by hand using 320 grit paper and ready for primer, I decided that since we would have the paint mixed up and in the gun, we might as well do the NSF wing too – not only was this a particularly poor colour match, but it was also peppered with micro-blisters. For this, the front bumper and NS indicator/sidelight unit had to be removed, but those were hardly difficult tasks.

We also took the cover off the screen/ wing/A-panel flange on the nearside to see whether this wing had been replaced in the past – the fact that the flange was roller welded along its entire length makes it almost certain that everything is original. So why the colour mismatch and microblisters? Well, sanding it back with 320 grit in the DA sander showed that the top coat was not very well keyed and came away easily in little flakes that clogged the paper. The primer below seemed to be better, but there were a number of alternating layers before we got to bare metal. There were even a couple of small areas with some filler, but thankfully this was only very shallow and there was no rust around or behind it, so clearly the filler had been applied to bring minor dinks up to level rather than to hide anything serious.

As for the micro-blisters, there are many possible causes for these, but Alan guessed that either the top coat had been applied too quickly before the primer had fully dried, or maybe they had used cellulose primer and wet-flatted this, then not allowed it sufficient time to dry properly before top- coating. Alternatively, it could simply have been applied in damp conditions, a possibility made more likely by the fact that we suspect the top coat may have been applied at home using aerosols, which would explain both the

poor colour match and the poor adhesion.

Finally, after removing most of the paint from the wing and flatting back the factory coating on the new A-panel, Alan masked off properly the areas to be painted. This included the corners of the bulkhead scuttle, another area of minor blemishes that had let the overall appearance down. Then, mixing four parts 2K paint with one part hardener and a dash of thinner, Alan applied three coats of primer.

After leaving this overnight to harden fully, he tweaked the masking on the scuttle so that instead of a hard edge, he would be able to blend the new top coat into the old. He then sprayed a very light dusting of black paint from an aerosol across the primer. This acts as a guide coat during the flatting back by hand with 400 grit paper. Alan does this flatting back dry because it is a cold day and so if he wet-flatted, it would take a long time to dry properly. You don’t have to remove every last trace of black paint which could risk going through the primer too, but when the panel is ready, nearly all of it will be removed. As well as showing up any low spots, the guide coat is also there to show you where you have sanded!

After using 400 grit paper on the panels and the hard edge of primer on the scuttle, Alan used 1000 paper on a bigger area of the scuttle. This will allow him to fade the new paint past the primer and into the existing paint, safe in the knowledge that any scratches put in by 1000 grit paper will

be so fine that they can be easily polished out afterwards.

Some painters mix a little of the top coat into the final coat of primer. This is particularly useful if the top coat is a markedly different colour to the primer as it means fewer coats of top paint will be needed to achieve good coverage, not only saving on paint but also reducing the chances of getting orange peel as the paint can be thinned more on the final coat for a mirror finish. The paint we have should cover well though, so after mixing paint, hardener and thinner, Alan wiped over the primed panels with a tack rag and panel wipe, then put on three top coats.

If it had looked like the paint would need cutting back because of orange peel or dust, Alan would have applied a fourth coat for a thicker layer to reduce the risk of polishing through it. Unfortunately, we had a bigger problem than orange peel to contend with. You remember that I had matched the offside door to get the paint for the A-panel? Well, the match of the new paint with the driver’s door was close, not perfect but we would just about have got away with it because there was a flange between them. However, on the NS wing it was way too orange and stood out like a sore thumb against the scuttle, the nearside A-panel and the door.

We put the kettle on and had a brew. After that, we stood back and had another look at the Mini from both sides. Unfortunately the paint hadn’t magically morphed into the right shade in the meantime, so the question was: could I live with the colour mismatch? After all, the alternative was to invest in a full respray, an expensive and time- consuming task that would also inevitably reveal other issues on a 45 year old car. On the other hand, I couldn’t help feeling that this one deserved to be done properly. After all, how many Mini Clubman automatics can there be left with fewer than 20,000 miles on the clock? In the end there was not really any other option, so we bit the bullet and started dismantling the car.

1 With no paint codes to be found on the car, in the paperwork or in the files held by the British Motor Museum, we took the driver’s door to a paint specialist and had them scan the colour and mix up a litre.

2 The new A- panel has very obvious lines up to which we would paint, but there was also some paint damage at the top where it joined the scuttle, so we included that in the area to be re- done.

3 Simon decided somewhat recklessly to have the nearside front wing repainted too. The tape along the panel edges had been put on to ensure that a slip with the DA would not mark surrounding paint.

4 Sanding back with the DA orbital sander revealed that, as we had expected, this wing had been painted in the past. By the looks of these layers, probably twice!

5 The whole wing was peppered with micro- blisters too, another reason for repainting it. You can clearly see here how the top coat has been shaved off the blisters by the sander.

6 Curiously, the top coat tended to come away in little shavings rather than as dust, suggesting that it had very poor adhesion and may have been applied using aerosol spray cans.

8 This revealed a couple of very minor blobs of filler, but only to cover slight dings, not because of rust. There were a few surface spider-webs of rust forming here and there, though.

7 As well as removing all surface imperfections, Alan sanded back through the top layers and back to the factory paint. In places, this took it back to bare metal too.

9 Once the panel had been taken back to the base primer, Alan started the masking up with strips of tape on the bonnet sides and in the rain channel along the top of the wing.

11 With the areas to be painted flatted back and the masking done, the work area was wiped over first with a tack rag to collect any dust, then with panel wipe to ensure a grease-free surface.

12 Three coats of primer then started the reconstruction process. As ever, you want to ensure good coverage, but you don’t want to build up layers so thick that they shrink or crack.

10 The masking was extended carefully round the front of the car. The lamp surround, front bumper and side light/ indicator unit have also had to be removed.

14 Note the small area left uncovered where the front wing joins the scuttle. There were blemishes in this seam on both sides, so Alan cleaned them out and included them in the respray.

13 The A- panel was primed at the same time of course, including the flange where it joins the front wing. We will topcoat the flange too, though the factory left it in primer.

15 Initially the primer would form a hard edge where it joined the existing top coat on the scuttle, so Alan peeled back the masking to extend the area to be covered by the new top coat.

16 A light dust of black paint from an aerosol was then sprayed over the primer. Most of this is removed during final flatting back to reveal low spots or missed areas.

20 ...until we removed the masking after the paint had dried and it became clear that although the colour match was just about acceptable on the offside, it was very poor on the nearside.

17 The hard edge on the scuttle was also flatted back, and the sanding extended into the existing top coat so that the new paint could be feathered in.

18 The A- panel was prepped in the same way, and again the final stages were to run over it with a tack rag, followed by panel wipe to remove any oils or contaminants left by fingerprints.

19 Finally, after all this preparation it was time for the fun part – applying the top coats. Alan applied three coats initially, and everything appeared to be going swimmingly...