One of the key characteristics you often hear about driving a Mini is that you are sitting so close to the street. Last weekend, I found out that I would have almost been sitting much closer to the street than is dear to me.
There was a large crack in the floorpan around the point where the seat
bracket for the Cobra Le Mans seat was bolted to the floor. In the
original restoration, bolting the chair to the floor had been somewhat
of an after thought, only to have been carried out after me
specifically asking to have it done (eventhough it is a requirement for
the APK). A bolt was inserted right through the carpet and the sound
deadening material beneath it, and without any reinforcement to the .3
mm sheet metal that is the floorpan. So, in hindsight, it is actually
rather surprising this didn't go wrong a lot sooner.
Once again, Peter Segers in Amersfoort has saved the day, where the
damage was repaired, and a thick sheet of metal was welded into the car
for reinforcement. Also, we took the opportunity to cut slits in the
carpet so the brackets can get through, and holes in the sound
deadening. This means the brackets now bolt straight into the metal,
which is just a much better idea.