New Panels ??

Hi All,

Now a few questions, where is the best place to buy new panels i.e. floor pans, inner and outer sills to start with.

Should I buy patten or heritage panels and do any suppliers do a hard copy panel list with pictures for the simple minded.

That'll do for now but I'm sure there will be more.

Ta!, Paul

If you can buy heritage panels everytime! Saves you a lot of unwanted hassle in the long run!

Jase

Thanks Jase,

Where do I start looking , can you post links to some sites as I have not a clue, I would like to make some comparisions.

Ta! , Paul

Most panels are standard Mini. The best resource is which has full diagrams and parts lists, although a few are NLASomerford's website.

Arguably best on price & stocks is Minispares. There are also numerous other Mini parts suppliers such as Minisport, Minispeed, Minimine, Huddersfield Spares, Hythe Performance, etc, though they are not, in the main, competitive on panels.

Parts which are peculiar to Elf/Hornet are the front panel & bonnet, boot & boot floor extension, rear wings, fuel tank & valance, and obviously all the brightwork. Much of this is unobtainable or difficult to find, but some panels are available from M-machine and from our own Catmint.

Hope this helps, others may have a few other suggestions. Perhaps we should have a FAQ or sticky supplier list?

Hi and thanks,

the boot extension looks a goodun, when I get to that bit I recon I'll go for one, first job is the floor pans, sills, steps etc, must make the doors fit first and make the basic shell less flexible.

I must admit I am a little confused with all the different panels and the year bit, think I must phone and speak to ask some questions.

Please keep the info coming, Ta! Paul

the heritage floor pan is different - the ribs are as per the later minis plus the tunnel is also the later style - there are two types of tunnel, the earlier cars had a round tunnel at the front, ID'd by the bulge on the rh side for the normal mini starter switch, and the later cars had a square tunnel. M Machine produce the round tunnel that you can weld into a later floor pan. If you are doing floor and sills I would recommend buying the full floor,sills and subframe mount panel all ready made up and putting in as one unit, it is a bit more expensive but so much easier to do. M Machine will supply the unit the correct tunnel in. Panel wise, buy heritage for the general stuff that is not date specific and then I would be inclined to use M machine (since they supply most of the other suppliers with their panels anyhow and they are just up the road from me!) Obviously you have been on the catmint website

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the advice, the idea of fitting the complete floor with sills and heel board is a nice one but at £500+ its out of my budget and she's never to be a concourse car, so I'm gonna take more time and fit floor pans and sills etc.

Mini Machine were very helpful and the very nice and very knowledgable lady I spoke to is going to send me a catalogue with pictures, I thought there would be something with pics for the simple minded.

Ta!, Paul