There was actually a range of other body chages too, although most are quite subtle and this being the most obvious from the outside of the car.
 
There are Series 1 and Series 2 shells (as those in the UK call them), however with OZ assembled models and the gov requirement for local content on cars, the change over is not as clear cut here.  We got things that the UK models didnt get, (export strengthened shells etc) however there also things we didnt get. Bonnet release etc etc.
 
Shaun
 

i'd do one door style each side probably, and whack a nice mirror on to cover.. :) 
 
Back to the arch:
- Possibly  trim off another 1" off your outer wheel arch, keeping the inner for now in situ, so you can see how good the inner is.
- then you can choose to patch it up (looks like it will need 1 patch at least), or then decide if your donors arch is better. I reckon the car inner will survive, plus it will give you a good base for the donor skin to go onto.
- after the above, with the inner arch now unpicked, you can fitzee in the new donor skin. Maybe the infill panel could be 1" lower down from the top, and taken 1" or so on the door return?
The fun part will be having to weld upside down on the lip return. It should just be plug welds through the donor, and I found if you can do each plug as a a couple of tacks around the hole starting in its the centre, you might be able to heat it enough as a tack, but not get it excessively hot enough that the puddle will just drop out. Then when its basically filled, reheat the tacks together to consolidate them. 
You could of course run the reverse, drill through the inner and plug the arch skin. It depense if you can get your gun in comfortably and be able to see.
 
I'd be interested how others would do it. Bubble arches give you a bit more space to work in.
 
Hope the above doesn't make me sound like a know it all, because you know I don't.
Just excited by this part of a build, the best bang for buck part of the process.
 

deano
i'd do one door style each side probably, and whack a nice mirror on to cover.. :) 
 
Back to the arch:
- Possibly  trim off another 1" off your outer wheel arch, keeping the inner for now in situ, so you can see how good the inner is.
- then you can choose to patch it up (looks like it will need 1 patch at least), or then decide if your donors arch is better. I reckon the car inner will survive, plus it will give you a good base for the donor skin to go onto.
 

Thanks.
 
The wagon arch isnt too bad, yes it does need some work, however it is thin. The donor is completely rust free. I looked at it and thought i could just unpick it (where the inner arch mets the body) and replace the entire inner guard and the outer patch however the way it is welded along that seam makes it considerably more challenging. Looks like it will take a LOT of work and/or get damaged in the process.

Same, I didn't know they existed until I seen a doco on the company that now makes Mini shells showed how some areas were stitched together as the original method was done using the original jigs and welders

Way cool, we're the nail welder guys now hehe. Mine has a volt regular dial but it's on nearly flat out anyways. Warning, safety eyes as sparks fly a lot of its not square to the panel and don't wiggle the nail off or you'll pull the panel causing a hole, cut it with grinder and linish flat. I had a problem with the key shape washers not seating in the tool holder so I lathed the threads a little more to line up. Apart from that it's a valuable device to have , I've used mine on 3x cars so far and still millions of needles left to use ! Next you'll be buying cleco's to hold panels in place lol .

Nice job, 👍 . I can understand the sick of it part, I get there a lot and was a daily can of over its when I did the Anglia, that just never let up on rust. It gave me a better understand of welding thin metal and replicating factory parts. Lesson learnt, never do a Anglia again...

Thanks for the kind words.

Keep trying to tell myself, 'as long as it solid, and better than before you started, it's a pass'. So far so good.

The rear arch has me spooked a bit. I guess it's a fear if warping such a large panel.

I realised I have both front arch lips spare, which, when flipped left to right sides, match the contours and profiles of the rear arch.

Thats means I now have 2 arch sections, so I get a second chance if I mess it up!!!

So, with that, I've decided to trim down the front arch section and just do the bare minimum around the arch. Either lapped or but welded, not sure yet, however if it looks good, it'll stay.

If I'm not happy, I'll cut it out, and go with the larger rear guard section higher up the guard.

Here's how the front offside front guard fits the rear near side rear arch. The lower sections don't quite match however they are solid on the wagon and won't be needed.


And here it is mostly trimmed to the flat section of the arch lip.


Will tackle it in a few days and let you know the results.

Had a small window of time so had a go at this today. The rest will have to wait until next week. Still a bit to go however I'm really happy with how it's coming along so far. Now it's just a case of taking my time and filling in the rest. I've done the usual of treating and zinc coating the back, and will be able to get to the inside with some seam sealer. Haven't got photos of all the steps however you get the idea.




I'd used the welder for another project so a few test cuts to dial in the settings...


So far so good.