front panels

Hi guys

Can anybody help with a question I have about front panels?

My 'Freda' is a Mk1 '62 Elf with a crumpled front panel on it's near side. I have a repair panel to weld in but this only has two holes rather than the three as per the panel on the car. I presume that the middle of the three holes is for dashboard fresh air vents, but I didn't think my dashboard had any holes for these, so I was wondering if the panel on the car is a later Mk2 or Mk3 version? (Having said that, after studying the photo again, I see there's a dirty great hole beside the brake master cylinder, so maybe my dashboard isn't correct either?

Many thanks

Freda

You're right, the middle hole is for dashboard vents. If they were used they would have a steel tube behind to attach the pipes to, which I can't see on yours, so they shouldn't be necessary.

The big hole in the dashboard is for the heater intake, there should be a pipe of the same diameter (4 1/2 inches?) running down the inner wing to just behind the stright-sided hole. On later Minis this was replaced by a pipe running under the wing.

Yes, you have a Mk III front panel. If you look on the forum at "Intuduce yourself" and "Hi all from Rob and Lexy" you'll find a similar picture of my Mk II showing the hose in it's correct place. Our engine bays were originally the same except you've got a 850cc and I've got a 998cc engine. The wiring and fuse box in mine are ex-mini (not for much longer), so there are probably more useful pictures for restoration to the original layout.

The dirty great hole by the master cylinders needs one of these to fill it up - a wire wound reinforced rubber duct which carries the inlet air from behind the side cheek grilles to the heater box inlet.....

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6410

bit of an "Ouch" price !!!

......there's also a rather large grommet to go with it ::

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6261

and there should be a "socket" attached to the front panel to locate it thereon - the other end is clipped to your heater with a dirty great wire clip like a hose clip....now superseded but this will work ::

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6509

On my Elfie (Mk2) I have used the later convoluted plastic pipe as I believe it is a bit more durable:::

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6273

...and not so much of an "ouch" price...also doesn't actually deperately need the front support on the front panel as its stiff enough to support itself!.... depends how much you need to maintain originality...don't believe the plastic pipe came in until Mk3's

see this sommerford page for an overview....

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=page&id=103

which notes that the metal front panel socket was never available as a replacement part ..... although a plastic alternative is ..

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6280


Cheers (now I've spent all your munny !)

superworm wrote:The dirty great hole by the master cylinders needs one of these to fill it up - a wire wound reinforced rubber duct which carries the inlet air from behind the side cheek grilles to the heater box inlet.....

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=194&products_id=6410

bit of an "Ouch" price !!!

Actually it struck me that there may be a couple of options to this. Mine, which is original, is corrugated plastic. Rather like the one that goes under the offside wing of a Mini. That is shorter, but if you were to join two together...

My Mk2 has a plastic hose which I picked up from Bingley Hall show a couple of years ago for £14.
I'm hoping to pick another one up on Sunday at Himley Hall for my Myvanwy project

( if any members are going to Himley on Sunday, do call on the Miniaddicts stand and say hello!...Look out for the bright yellow sail flag )

Thanks for your help guys.

It's obvious what the hole in the bulkhead is now that you've made it clear. The car came to me as a box of bits, so I've done very little stripping down myself. At least that's my excuse!....

If I have a Mk3 front panel (which I now realise is also obvious by the cut-outs for brake cooling), I'd quite like to put it back to original spec if possible. Do you have any experience of the weld-in conversion panels? I was told by a friend that they don't have the same curved profile as the back edge of the chrome grille, so you're left with quite a large gap behind the grille. I hope he's wrong, as I don't see any other alternatives, 'cos I imagine that new old stock Mk1 elf or hornet front panels are like hen's teeth to find!...

Available new from M-machine, but - are you sitting down? - they're £215!