ya never understood why they did that on minis lol. Sometimes guys do what they call as de-seaming the mini which of course is cutting the pinch weld and welding the gap up then grind down. My dad would have done this but he wanted to keep some of the cars originality because we have changed almost everything else. Later model dash, later model tail lights, later model mirrors, and corbeau Lg-1 seats with custom brackets that make them fit Perfectly in the car.