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You are now ready to start marking out and cutting the back out of your shell. This is a simple but slow and noisy, not to mention, dirty and dangerous part of the job. It can be done in various ways, with an oxyacetylene torch, plasma cutter or angle grinders and metal cutting discs.
It needs to be carried out in a well ventilated area as fumes given off from under sealant and paint are noxious!
Whatever tools you use to remove the panels are potentially dangerous and appropriate safety equipment must be used.
The object of the exercise is to remove all the boot floor the rear parcel shelf, rear seat back and squab, rear glove boxes if fitted, and to leave just the outer shell of the car as shown on the right
First, using the large box section which runs from left to right under the front seats as a reference point, measure back a distance of 27" (686mm) and mark the floor panel as shown on the right
This is where you should cut the floor.
There will be some extra trimming to be done when fitting the kit, but by marking the cut, it will enable the boot floor etc to be removed more easily. (We would advise using a permanent marker pen in a colour which is highly visible against the colour of the car) Everything back from this point can be removed.
Take care to follow the line of the inner sill back at this point, where it bends round to form the floor pan as in this photo, leaving the original subframe mounting bolt holes intact.
This part of the original Mini adds strength to the side of the car, so must be retained.
When using angle grinders, it is often easier to cut the bulk of the car out with a large angle grinder with a 9" disc leaving approximately 1" to trim later with a small angle grinder. This leaves a much cleaner finish and does less damage to the paintwork. As you remove the pieces of bodywork, be very careful as the edges are razor sharp!