Im an mot tester and technically you do not need both number plate bulbs functioning. As long as the tester deems the number plate is illuminated sufficiently by one bulb where multiple bulbs are fitted, to a minimum standard. Should be able to just get a minor defect for that, which is still a pass. Also the high level brake light or 3rd brake light should just be a minor defect if more than 1/2 of its individual bulbs are working...still a pass. But yes if you disconnected it, the tester is obliged to give the benefit of the doubt if they cannot be sure that it is connected up at time of test, so should get a pass for that also. Thats because your vehicle is only required to have 2 brake lights that show constant red light when activated one either side of the back of the car functioning to meet requirements
I repaired mine with scrap yard parts. The recessed light units do come apart and the wires are on spade connections. You can take the copper legs out and replace them. They are all identical and not sided. It’s very easy to do as you’ll see if you strip it down to its component parts.
just going back over your back catalogue, really enjoying your channel. As a mini owner, I feel your pain. different model but similar principle on the repairs. thanks Sarah.
I've chanced on your channel Nino, after rebuilding my R53 in 2019, 2020,2021... Did the clutch, brakes, suspension, valve stem oil seals, big end bearings, piston rings, supercharger, interior. Can't lie, I'm enjoying your suffering because I suffered the same way! You look like you have it nailed but happy to help if you need any advice from someone who's been there mate.👍
I used to buy Haynes and other repair manuals for any car from charity shops for virtually pennies just to learn different techniques and problem solving. Most has been made redundant with the newer more complicated cars with their computer systems!
I've had a "Hissss, blub; blub; blub" moment, but never a "Shapow! " Glad to see Bob getting even more sorted, even if it seems you're going backwards - you'll get there, and we'll be with you all the way !
I had the same rust spots on my tailgate, .... Now filled and sprayed over (by me), ... I was going to buy one from Ebay like you was thinking of doing but the problem I had was the rear window, all my windows are tinted and these ones on Ebay wern't, so did the rust myself, only thing I had to order was the paint, so got 200ml and sprayed the whole tailgate, lacquered as well, cost me £7 for the filler and £15 for the paint! Job done! ..... If you get the paint, and get the rear number plate surround (boot handle) I can spray the correct colour for you (for FREE)!! Will only take me one day to spray and bake it.
Nino, complete turnaround on my last comment about paint work.... Get a number plate light holder and rattle can it, won't be too bad doing a small part like that, or go onto kill all chrome & get a black out trim piece to go over it. Check you have live & earth at the connectors, if its rusty it proberly has a electrical connection issue as well. Good luck...
Hello mate! I bought a new aftermarket boot handle from ebay. It was only 50€ and included a new button-opener for the tailgate, sealing, the two lights and bulbs and the handle itself which was finished in black matte plastic. My old one was also coloured in body paint so i switched the thin cover on the outside one to another, worked great. Get an aftermarket one new from ebay and also switch the coloured panel! Cheers! 🤙🏽
Glad the coolant and the terrible whistling sound are now fixed! Since you have the infamous corroded boot lid issues, worth having a quick check under the carpet inside the boot (where the battery sits) to see if it's been leaking water into there as well. You'll know because it will either be damp or there will be mould.
But if I don't check inside the boot then technically it isn't corroded, right? Like if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it does it make a noise? 😅
OMG I am just watching your R53 videos and it's like a re run of my life 6 months ago with a R56 and guess what I don't have it anymore! 🙃 trust me you will be chasing those little problems the entire time...... Best of luck.
Yeah I saw that, but the effort involved with replacing the lights just isn't worth it when I take into consideration how long it'll take me to sort out because it's so fiddly. Ends up being cheaper buying the whole handle unit thingy 🤷♂️
@Not Economically Viable the mother land 🥰 *But* I was 10mths old when my parents moved from Blackmore to West Wales, so I don't sound like I'm from Essex, but I also don't sound Welsh either. A distant relative described me as "Posh Somerset!" 🤣
Hi Nino, try mintec spares in bury near Manchester, they are a used mini parts specialist, they are very honest in price and service, i use them a lot, a crome boot handle is fine for your car, mine was crome too on my r53 cooper s checkmate. It does'nt have to be colour coded to your car.. loving your vids, keep up the fantastic work your doing, and i must say they are very interesting and helpfull! 👍👍🍻
Your R53 is a facelift, I replaced my tailgate last year, and swapped the wiring in the handle, it was corroded badly like yours and mine was colour coded too. If your gonna replace the tailgate make sure it’s a facelift replacement!! There’s some wiring for the aerial booster that’s not on pre facelift.
Well it appears my earlier post was possibly removed - as Mini Donyel noted earlier there is a kit available to rewire the handle you have. I took a quick look at there is a kit on eBay UK - apparently I can't post a link so go to eBay UK so search for: Mini One Cooper R50 R53 01-06 Genuine Rear Number Plate Light Loom with bulbs - it is listed at 27 pounds plus shipping from Letchworth UK . This solution allows you to keep the Black Eye Purple handle. Which BTW I believe the chrome handle was an upgade... not what I would have chosen. As far as the hatch rust - have the Pro you bring the Mini to for the clear coat give you an estimate - I do not think it will be much. I repaired that exact rust on my third Space Blue Mini Cooper S in my own garage using a rattle can and it actually turned out flawless - but it was a ton of work due to not having the right equipment. I needed to wet sand and polish away the orange peel in the 2K clear - but when finished it looked factory - I was stunned.
With that rot I would go for a secondhand boot and get it painted as I’ve seen rot free boots as low as £20 (not in purple mind) but be aware if you get a pre July 04 you will have to change your wiper motor over. While you’re at it take out the rear lights and spray the area with waxoyl or a similar product as that’s another rust trap.
Whichever way I look at it I think a secondhand boot is the way to go. Just need to find a purple one! Will take a look at the rear lights - cheers bud
If you cannot get the piece, you could try soldering wire onto bulb and circuit board , test the bulb Is getting power first from circuit board if ok then fix the bulb in the holder, blackjack or similar or connect it to the other bulb circuit with the wire to get it through mot and sort out properly later
Trouble is I've never soldered anything in my life and I don't have time or equipment right now to learn without potentially burning the car to smithereens haha. Definitely need to get into some electronics though some point soon
Hi mico great video and feel your frustration and pain but its the joys of working on old cars.can I suggest you go to a breaker yard and get number plate lights/holders of another car and just universl fit them in and once ur have more funds get a replacement boot light and get it painted but to get a m.o.t do the universal number plate light fix 👍👍👍
Yeah looks like chrome is the way forward. Someone in the comments earlier said that when they bought their R53 new it was actually an optional extra 🤷♂️
Go for the tailgate change,- Swap the handles about (you did it with the master cylinder, and so what if you end up with the chrome?), Swap the spoiler over, I guess you will also need a rear wiper & motor? Cheeper to fix the spoiler than the rust - Also did you check the fuse when you tested the new bulb? - Good luck Nino, nearly there!
That's a sound strategy. I think I"m still gonna try and go for a painted handle - I just don't like the chrome at all. I didn't check the fuse 😅 but let's keep that between you and me...
I dont think thats actually true that you need both lamps to work for the mot ? My car got an advisory because one worked, and the other one was out. And when i banged the area with my hand, it came on !
I couldn't find any screws when I was trying to take it apart. I was pulling at the cover and felt like it was going to snap off. Might have to go and have another look. Cheers for the tip 👍🏻
Once again we’ll done Like anything else to do with cars you intend to flip it’s where do you draw the line and regrettable as it is they at the moment do not fetch vast amounts of money So I would say do everything to make it a good safe car but allow some moving room for the next buyer to spend money on it Keep going Join some clubs and shows take what you have done and be proud
Cheers bud. Yeah it's definitely hard working out where to stop. I'm not sure if I'm gonna get the lacquer peel fixed or if I just sell it as is, and let the next person sort it
I was under the impression that if an item is physically there (like a 3rd brake light) it has to operate, but if it's not there at all then that's fine, but like I said if it's on the car it has to work? much like foglights etc, and I also thought only 1 of the number plate lights had to work (then an advisory on the broken 1) but not a fail if only 1 is out? but I'm often wrong about such things 😂
What I've come to realise is that nobody fully knows all the rules - MOT testers included lol. You can get a different result with the same car depending on what garage you take it to, and what kind of mood the tester is in and if they had breakfast or not 😂
Its always been if fitted as standard then it has to work, yes one number plate light is an advisory both not working then it's a fail, bacon batch on a Saturday morning for the mot tester goes a long way lol or a pack of choc hob nobs, could be why I don't like them anymore
Or maybe I could just leave an envelope with cash on the passenger seat haha. But what about the rear wiper on this car? Fitted as standard, still has the controls on the stalk, but there's not actually a wiper on the car because someone deleted it in the past and replaced it with that bung you saw in the video. Wouldn't that have failed all its previous MOTs?
@@NotEconomicallyViable if it's deleted perhaps it doesn't count? if you took off the 3rd brake light totally then it wont fail for not working, as it's not actually there? it's a minefield lol
Dude, just buy the whole hatch and roll with the chrome or wrap in black if chrome offends you. Repairing rust and painting will cost $$$$. Transfer the spoiler over from the old one. Heat up the adhesive with a heat gun and cut off with fishing line. Make sure the ebay hatch has no rust before you buy.
Yeah, that's a sound strategy, Bruce. Looks like I'll be going down that route. Just need to find a decent boot in purple - two in the whole of the UK last time I checked 😬
A proper tailgate repair is going to be expensive as the metal needs cutting out and welding in new - to see what is involved watch one of Elin's Rusty Beauties youtube videos where he does this sort of work on his restorations. You could bodge it with fibre glass and body filler if you can get at the backside, while you look for another tailgate. I would bodge it for now. It will last a year or so You could try and solder wires directly to the bulb itself but make sure that it cannot short out to the body or use some sort of silver paper bodge . If you do this make sure the circuit is well fused so when it shorts out it doesn't melt your wiring harness ! . The best way is to replace the bulb holders but I might be tempted to solder in bulbs or maybe solder in led bulbs of the right brightness level as they won't get so hot and melt your insulating tape etc. The tailgate rust looks like some sort of electro-galvanic action caused by the bulbs or the beryllium copper bulb holders.
Thanks for all the info, Mark. I think this is definitely beyond my skill set when it comes to repairing, and it’s not like the car is worth loads of money, so probably gonna get a new tailgate.
You could practice on your old tailgate. Once you remove that rust and sand the area down to bare metal you will have holes right through the panel. Treat the rust with rust eater (phosphoric acid) and put masking tape over the holes and then lay fibre glass matting on from the inside. When it sets up you can remove the masking tape and then fill from the outside with body filler and sand it down. Get yourself some touch up aerosol cans and spray the repaired area. It doesn't matter if it doesn't come out well as you are going to replace the panel anyway but it will a good learning experience for the future. These sort of body work repairs are pretty easy but are quite time consuming. I have filled much worse holes than that on my 1970's era rust bucket British cars where the bottom of wings were rusted away. The mechanical work that you have master is far more difficult than body work repairs with filler and aerosol can - give it a try
The metal composition of this type of mini is a good advert for rust eater and a bad advert for BMW everything you touch is rusted rear spring hub bolt was a nightmare had to drop petrol tank so i could put heat on it.And since brexit trying to get some parts over they dont want to know too much paperwork!
Hello! As it so happens I have a black eyed purple mini, and I’m breaking it as it’s written off! I have a fully intact rust free boot and boot lid, DM me for me details :)
Im an mot tester and technically you do not need both number plate bulbs functioning. As long as the tester deems the number plate is illuminated sufficiently by one bulb where multiple bulbs are fitted, to a minimum standard. Should be able to just get a minor defect for that, which is still a pass. Also the high level brake light or 3rd brake light should just be a minor defect if more than 1/2 of its individual bulbs are working...still a pass. But yes if you disconnected it, the tester is obliged to give the benefit of the doubt if they cannot be sure that it is connected up at time of test, so should get a pass for that also. Thats because your vehicle is only required to have 2 brake lights that show constant red light when activated one either side of the back of the car functioning to meet requirements
Thanks for that information, James. Good to have an actual tester chime in 👍🏻👌🏻
I know I’m late to the party but you’ve got to this late stage of the build before asking for help, you should be proud of yourself mate!!
I repaired mine with scrap yard parts. The recessed light units do come apart and the wires are on spade connections. You can take the copper legs out and replace them. They are all identical and not sided. It’s very easy to do as you’ll see if you strip it down to its component parts.
Cheers, Malcolm, I'll take a better look. I tried briefly and looked like the fiddliest thing
just going back over your back catalogue, really enjoying your channel. As a mini owner, I feel your pain. different model but similar principle on the repairs. thanks Sarah.
It may be because I'm old fashioned, but I like a wiper on the rear window of a hatchback 😀
I've chanced on your channel Nino, after rebuilding my R53 in 2019, 2020,2021... Did the clutch, brakes, suspension, valve stem oil seals, big end bearings, piston rings, supercharger, interior. Can't lie, I'm enjoying your suffering because I suffered the same way! You look like you have it nailed but happy to help if you need any advice from someone who's been there mate.👍
Haha I’m glad my suffering isn’t in vain and you’re enjoying it. Hopefully it’ll all come together soon 👍🏻
I used to buy Haynes and other repair manuals for any car from charity shops for virtually pennies just to learn different techniques and problem solving. Most has been made redundant with the newer more complicated cars with their computer systems!
I'm glad you got it fix
Yeah cheers bud you were bang on the money with the issue 👍🏻
I've had a "Hissss, blub; blub; blub" moment, but never a "Shapow! " Glad to see Bob getting even more sorted, even if it seems you're going backwards - you'll get there, and we'll be with you all the way !
Haha what can I say? These Essex Minis are more dramatic than others 😂
Cheers, John, glad you're along for the ride 👍🏻
I had the same rust spots on my tailgate, .... Now filled and sprayed over (by me), ... I was going to buy one from Ebay like you was thinking of doing but the problem I had was the rear window, all my windows are tinted and these ones on Ebay wern't, so did the rust myself, only thing I had to order was the paint, so got 200ml and sprayed the whole tailgate, lacquered as well, cost me £7 for the filler and £15 for the paint! Job done! ..... If you get the paint, and get the rear number plate surround (boot handle) I can spray the correct colour for you (for FREE)!! Will only take me one day to spray and bake it.
Nino, complete turnaround on my last comment about paint work....
Get a number plate light holder and rattle can it, won't be too bad doing a small part like that, or go onto kill all chrome & get a black out trim piece to go over it.
Check you have live & earth at the connectors, if its rusty it proberly has a electrical connection issue as well.
Good luck...
Hello mate!
I bought a new aftermarket boot handle from ebay. It was only 50€ and included a new button-opener for the tailgate, sealing, the two lights and bulbs and the handle itself which was finished in black matte plastic. My old one was also coloured in body paint so i switched the thin cover on the outside one to another, worked great.
Get an aftermarket one new from ebay and also switch the coloured panel!
Cheers! 🤙🏽
Ahhh I didn't know you could switch the outside cover over from one to the other. Thanks for that, bud, will take a proper look at doing that 👍🏻
"Oh no, I should probably stop doing that..." *pokes more* 😃
Subscribed by the way - best of luck!
😅😅 good to have you on board bud 👍🏻
Cheers for the super charger seal tip. I'm just putting my R53 engine back together. Your suffering is not in vane.
Ahh that's so great to hear that someone will benefit from this. Good luck with the project 👍🏻
The coolant cap issue is also typical of old VAGs, apparently
Glad the coolant and the terrible whistling sound are now fixed! Since you have the infamous corroded boot lid issues, worth having a quick check under the carpet inside the boot (where the battery sits) to see if it's been leaking water into there as well. You'll know because it will either be damp or there will be mould.
But if I don't check inside the boot then technically it isn't corroded, right? Like if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it does it make a noise? 😅
iv being following you fixing your mini,really enjoyed it helps me learn stuff as well .
OMG I am just watching your R53 videos and it's like a re run of my life 6 months ago with a R56 and guess what I don't have it anymore! 🙃 trust me you will be chasing those little problems the entire time...... Best of luck.
Haha these cars are cans full of worms. Not sure I'm going to do another in the future 😅
Hi you can get the wiring harness for the reg plate lights off eBay for about £30, not easy to fit but it works
Yeah I saw that, but the effort involved with replacing the lights just isn't worth it when I take into consideration how long it'll take me to sort out because it's so fiddly. Ends up being cheaper buying the whole handle unit thingy 🤷♂️
Yes your right as I found out the hard way
Watching the Mini videos in sequence..
Chelmsford! Awesome! I was born there! Got family in Braintree.
SUBSCRIBED!
Also quite like a Cooper S 😊
Chelmsford is the place to be haha
@Not Economically Viable the mother land 🥰
*But* I was 10mths old when my parents moved from Blackmore to West Wales, so I don't sound like I'm from Essex, but I also don't sound Welsh either.
A distant relative described me as "Posh Somerset!" 🤣
Hi Nino, try mintec spares in bury near Manchester, they are a used mini parts specialist, they are very honest in price and service, i use them a lot, a crome boot handle is fine for your car, mine was crome too on my r53 cooper s checkmate. It does'nt have to be colour coded to your car.. loving your vids, keep up the fantastic work your doing, and i must say they are very interesting and helpfull! 👍👍🍻
Thanks for that, Dave, will check them out. And glad to hear you're enjoying the vids - great to have you on board 💪🏼
Same thing happen to mine to to Amazon order the led kit and solder it on with the pieces you pop off
dave here i thuught it was only me with bad luck car problems . i feel for u
Your R53 is a facelift, I replaced my tailgate last year, and swapped the wiring in the handle, it was corroded badly like yours and mine was colour coded too. If your gonna replace the tailgate make sure it’s a facelift replacement!! There’s some wiring for the aerial booster that’s not on pre facelift.
Thanks for the heads-up bud. Hard to do in reality as there are so few (two to be precise) available in the whole UK 😬
Well it appears my earlier post was possibly removed - as Mini Donyel noted earlier there is a kit available to rewire the handle you have. I took a quick look at there is a kit on eBay UK - apparently I can't post a link so go to eBay UK so search for: Mini One Cooper R50 R53 01-06 Genuine Rear Number Plate Light Loom with bulbs - it is listed at 27 pounds plus shipping from Letchworth UK . This solution allows you to keep the Black Eye Purple handle.
Which BTW I believe the chrome handle was an upgade... not what I would have chosen.
As far as the hatch rust - have the Pro you bring the Mini to for the clear coat give you an estimate - I do not think it will be much. I repaired that exact rust on my third Space Blue Mini Cooper S in my own garage using a rattle can and it actually turned out flawless - but it was a ton of work due to not having the right equipment. I needed to wet sand and polish away the orange peel in the 2K clear - but when finished it looked factory - I was stunned.
Just solder wires to couple of LED bubs, then hot glue them in place.
With that rot I would go for a secondhand boot and get it painted as I’ve seen rot free boots as low as £20 (not in purple mind) but be aware if you get a pre July 04 you will have to change your wiper motor over.
While you’re at it take out the rear lights and spray the area with waxoyl or a similar product as that’s another rust trap.
Whichever way I look at it I think a secondhand boot is the way to go. Just need to find a purple one! Will take a look at the rear lights - cheers bud
If you cannot get the piece, you could try soldering wire onto bulb and circuit board , test the bulb Is getting power first from circuit board if ok then fix the bulb in the holder, blackjack or similar or connect it to the other bulb circuit with the wire to get it through mot and sort out properly later
Trouble is I've never soldered anything in my life and I don't have time or equipment right now to learn without potentially burning the car to smithereens haha. Definitely need to get into some electronics though some point soon
As long as one reg number plate bulb works, it`s a pass. Mine just passed couple of week`s ago.
Good to know 👍🏻
I got the wire kit and solder wires to led light kit mine was rotten like that
I would buy a black eyed purple tailgate, together with the bulb holder section. Would probably work out the same as repairing that corroded section…
Your maths checks out. Especially when I factor in my time because replacing those bulb holders is the fiddliest damn thing in the world lol
Hi mico great video and feel your frustration and pain but its the joys of working on old cars.can I suggest you go to a breaker yard and get number plate lights/holders of another car and just universl fit them in and once ur have more funds get a replacement boot light and get it painted but to get a m.o.t do the universal number plate light fix 👍👍👍
Yeah that's a sound strategy mate. Just need to do whatever it takes to get this car through its MOT 👍🏻
@@NotEconomicallyViable sorry spell your name wrong. But yes u have to do anything to get it through the m.o.t.
Keep up the good work try getting a black unit
I had the number plate light issue on a R53 in an odd colour, just went for Chrome instead much cheaper
Yeah looks like chrome is the way forward. Someone in the comments earlier said that when they bought their R53 new it was actually an optional extra 🤷♂️
The cap for the coolant that was on there was that some kind of thermostat inside the cap the brass thing inside it ?
It's a pressure release valve.
Go for the tailgate change,- Swap the handles about (you did it with the master cylinder, and so what if you end up with the chrome?), Swap the spoiler over, I guess you will also need a rear wiper & motor? Cheeper to fix the spoiler than the rust - Also did you check the fuse when you tested the new bulb? - Good luck Nino, nearly there!
That's a sound strategy. I think I"m still gonna try and go for a painted handle - I just don't like the chrome at all. I didn't check the fuse 😅 but let's keep that between you and me...
sorry if i was able to tell you the license tail light just need cleacing and soilder a wire and that would of fix it
I dont think thats actually true that you need both lamps to work for the mot ? My car got an advisory because one worked, and the other one was out. And when i banged the area with my hand, it came on !
sorry i forgot to add the trim only clips on to the handle and can be removed if you are careful.
I couldn't find any screws when I was trying to take it apart. I was pulling at the cover and felt like it was going to snap off. Might have to go and have another look. Cheers for the tip 👍🏻
Once again we’ll done
Like anything else to do with cars you intend to flip it’s where do you draw the line and regrettable as it is they at the moment do not fetch vast amounts of money
So I would say do everything to make it a good safe car but allow some moving room for the next buyer to spend money on it
Keep going
Join some clubs and shows take what you have done and be proud
Cheers bud. Yeah it's definitely hard working out where to stop. I'm not sure if I'm gonna get the lacquer peel fixed or if I just sell it as is, and let the next person sort it
I was under the impression that if an item is physically there (like a 3rd brake light) it has to operate, but if it's not there at all then that's fine, but like I said if it's on the car it has to work? much like foglights etc, and I also thought only 1 of the number plate lights had to work (then an advisory on the broken 1) but not a fail if only 1 is out? but I'm often wrong about such things 😂
What I've come to realise is that nobody fully knows all the rules - MOT testers included lol. You can get a different result with the same car depending on what garage you take it to, and what kind of mood the tester is in and if they had breakfast or not 😂
@@NotEconomicallyViable Very True :)
Its always been if fitted as standard then it has to work, yes one number plate light is an advisory both not working then it's a fail, bacon batch on a Saturday morning for the mot tester goes a long way lol or a pack of choc hob nobs, could be why I don't like them anymore
Or maybe I could just leave an envelope with cash on the passenger seat haha.
But what about the rear wiper on this car? Fitted as standard, still has the controls on the stalk, but there's not actually a wiper on the car because someone deleted it in the past and replaced it with that bung you saw in the video. Wouldn't that have failed all its previous MOTs?
@@NotEconomicallyViable if it's deleted perhaps it doesn't count? if you took off the 3rd brake light totally then it wont fail for not working, as it's not actually there? it's a minefield lol
Dude, just buy the whole hatch and roll with the chrome or wrap in black if chrome offends you. Repairing rust and painting will cost $$$$. Transfer the spoiler over from the old one. Heat up the adhesive with a heat gun and cut off with fishing line.
Make sure the ebay hatch has no rust before you buy.
Yeah, that's a sound strategy, Bruce. Looks like I'll be going down that route. Just need to find a decent boot in purple - two in the whole of the UK last time I checked 😬
I did 'dup' on the last video 😁😁
swap the cover over on to another handle they are only held on by screws
A proper tailgate repair is going to be expensive as the metal needs cutting out and welding in new - to see what is involved watch one of Elin's Rusty Beauties youtube videos where he does this sort of work on his restorations. You could bodge it with fibre glass and body filler if you can get at the backside, while you look for another tailgate. I would bodge it for now. It will last a year or so
You could try and solder wires directly to the bulb itself but make sure that it cannot short out to the body or use some sort of silver paper bodge . If you do this make sure the circuit is well fused so when it shorts out it doesn't melt your wiring harness ! . The best way is to replace the bulb holders but I might be tempted to solder in bulbs or maybe solder in led bulbs of the right brightness level as they won't get so hot and melt your insulating tape etc.
The tailgate rust looks like some sort of electro-galvanic action caused by the bulbs or the beryllium copper bulb holders.
Thanks for all the info, Mark. I think this is definitely beyond my skill set when it comes to repairing, and it’s not like the car is worth loads of money, so probably gonna get a new tailgate.
You could practice on your old tailgate. Once you remove that rust and sand the area down to bare metal you will have holes right through the panel. Treat the rust with rust eater (phosphoric acid) and put masking tape over the holes and then lay fibre glass matting on from the inside. When it sets up you can remove the masking tape and then fill from the outside with body filler and sand it down. Get yourself some touch up aerosol cans and spray the repaired area. It doesn't matter if it doesn't come out well as you are going to replace the panel anyway but it will a good learning experience for the future. These sort of body work repairs are pretty easy but are quite time consuming. I have filled much worse holes than that on my 1970's era rust bucket British cars where the bottom of wings were rusted away. The mechanical work that you have master is far more difficult than body work repairs with filler and aerosol can - give it a try
Buy a cheap numberplate light cover off eBay any colour then just wrap it
You are not alone!
The metal composition of this type of mini is a good advert for rust eater and a bad advert for BMW everything you touch is rusted rear spring hub bolt was a nightmare had to drop petrol tank so i could put heat on it.And since brexit trying to get some parts over they dont want to know too much paperwork!
Hello! As it so happens I have a black eyed purple mini, and I’m breaking it as it’s written off! I have a fully intact rust free boot and boot lid, DM me for me details :)
Oh and the boot lid handle is purple ;)
why is your coil pack missing two fixing bots
So close pal
You've been here since the beginning with me - will be a sweet moment for both of us lol
In 70 years of auto manufacturing , BMW cannot make a coolant tank that is not crap. Why would I trust them to design and build a motor ?
Them minnis ain't much off a car the timing chain doesn't last
Same logic with a spare tyre. If it’s in the car and faulty, bad tread, cracking or deflated it’s a fail. Take the spare out of the car not an issue.