Rotary spit for welding

[Farmer]

Can anyone recommend a rotary spit which is ideal for use on English Mokes? Is this the best way to carry out welding repairs necessary for restoration? Where have you attached to the body?

[pbraun]

I built one with 2 motor stands and square tubing. Attached to subframe mounts. But first made a stand for the shell with 4x4s that could be squared up to insure straightness when welding in new panels.

[Tim]

I need to build one up for my projects. I really haven't worked out where the best place is to attach a Moke. For early Minis they usually run through the rotodip holes that the factory used for exactly that purpose. When they rotodipped Mokes the spit ran across the top, and had to have counter-balance weights attached to it. I think it mounted to the subframe mounting points on the front crossmember but I'm not sure where it attached at the back, probably either the bumper mounting points or possibly the top mounting points for the rear shock absorbers.

Tim

[Farmer]

Could the front and rear bumper mounting holes be used? If not , please explain as, I don't want to use them and cause a problem.
There are some universal spits advertised. I questioned one manufacturer but they have never built one for a Moke.

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

The front bumper mounting holes are only through the front panel, there’s no real strength/stability there. You really need a fixed datum point to mount it if you’re doing any serious work i.e the subframe mounting points

[Tim]

The factory mounted mini body shells (which are heavier) through a hole in the firewall and another in the seat back. Both of these are just single skinned sheet metal and must have been adequate. By that reasoning the front bumper mounting points should probably be OK, but the difference is that the Mini body is a lot more evemly balanced on the spit. You'd probably get away with it on a fully stripped body if the spit had a nice strong rigid pole, but I think I'd still use the subframe mounting points. You could possibly make up a jig based on part of a subframe.

Tim