346 replies to this topic

[Retro_10s]

Gauge is now stripped, wasn't too hard to get apart but rust made it difficult to see exactly where the seperate parts were. The hair-wire appears okay, and when I test for connectivity across the terminals I see a change in readout if I manually move the needle.


Inside of the casing will be flatted back, rust removed,and painted silver/white/something bright and reflective

[Retro_10s]

A little more progress on the temp gauge, I've soaked the housing in Evaporust overnight and the results are incredible. I half wondered if this stuff was all talk and no trousers, but wow!

Here's the gauge when I received it before strip down


And here it is now after a night of soaking in evaporust, no agitation or wiping down,..




Really pleased about that. I thought the casing would need sanding down and wire-wheeling!

[KTS]

that works.  nice consumer product test 

 

for info SVC sell replacement o-rings that go between the bezel and the glass - there's probably other places to supply them as well

 

https://www.s-v-c.co...auge-rims-parts

[Retro_10s]

that works.  nice consumer product test 
 
for info SVC sell replacement o-rings that go between the bezel and the glass - there's probably other places to supply them as well
 
https://www.s-v-c.co...auge-rims-parts

Thankyou so much! I have been looking for that seal, and it's been surprisingly hard to locate the correct item. Seems like most people supply an o-ring, but I'm pretty sure it should be a sort of cork gasket, or neoprene.

Evaporust has blown my mind, Toolstation sell it at a reasonable cost, and it's reusable!

Thanks!

[colinf1]

You should be able to cut a thin strip of neoprene with a craft knife to create a seal, it's mainly to keep dust out and prevent the glass from rattling, so I think neoprene would be ideal.

[Retro_10s]

You should be able to cut a thin strip of neoprene with a craft knife to create a seal, it's mainly to keep dust out and prevent the glass from rattling, so I think neoprene would be ideal.

Cheers Col! Something for me to consider when I come to put it back together. At some point I'm going to have to work on the mini itself rather than little things around the edge

[colinf1]

True, but at least you have finished parts to put straight back in!

[stuart bowes]

I'm the opposite, I'm getting a decent bit of progress on the shell, but every now and then I look in the shed at the pile of parts and think oh god.. at some point I need to start sorting through that lot and cleaning up / repainting etc

 

it's all time well spent whichever way you attack it I guess.. although it's getting to that time of year where I'd rather be in the garage with the heater on working on small parts

[Retro_10s]

Right, back to it. Various things are in the way like decorating a house, holidays to Brazil, and generally not finding the time to get this project moving again. Piles of parts and wotnot everywhere!!

ANYWAY,... i have to try, right? So... here's a small update.

 

Cleaned the mechanism up for the Smiths gauge, and re-painted the needle

 

Etch primed, and painted the inside of the housing.

 

And buttoned it all back up

 

 

I still need to get hold of a little gasket for between the glass and the locking ring.

 

I've been having real trouble with the Welder recently, and once I'd googled my model (SIP Weldmate 170) i was met with a lot of negativity about this model,.. and I could only agree with all the criticism it recieves. Luckily there are plenty of people that have made modifications to it, to improve it, and I will have to do some of these Mods, as I wouldn't like to sell the welder on to somebody knowing it is a cursed Purchase.

 

I need to brace the wire feed/grip wheels

Fit a new liner to the euro torch, curtain wire seems to be really well regarded for this!

Possibly fitting a new, shorter euro-torch. 

The pin that holds the wire spools seems extremely tight, i just need to investigate that.

 

Once those things are done i will be able to have another look at welding up the toe-board damage. The garage needs a good clean out and tidy up, as it became a bit of a dumping ground again. Poor Reggie!

 

*edit*  My apologies if the photos are bloody massive. 

Edited by Retro_10s, 07 August 2023 - 05:02 PM.

[DUF2]

 

However, I have purchased a Universal 'headlamp' harness that has 2 relays, one for dipped and one for mainbeams, this will be spliced into the harness to protect the lighting switch and make things a bit safer + brighter. 

I fitted one of those headlight relay kits to Duffy, on the offside inner wheel arch. I did not want to run the heavy current through the original switch. Very please with it!

Edited by DUF2, 08 August 2023 - 12:03 PM.

[Retro_10s]

 

 

However, I have purchased a Universal 'headlamp' harness that has 2 relays, one for dipped and one for mainbeams, this will be spliced into the harness to protect the lighting switch and make things a bit safer + brighter. 

 

 

 

I fitted one of those headlight relay kits to Duffy, on the offside inner wheel arch. I did not want to run the heavy current through the original switch. Very please with it!

 

 

Yes I think they're great little kits, uncomplicated and reasonably well made! I have taken mine apart now, as I settled on using a slightly different solution  that will screw to the bulkhead, CLICK ME! like the fusebox..., however I've re-used the cable lengths, and the conduit from the lighting kit to make the runs from the headlamps.

[DUF2]

I thought my Duffy project had taken some time, but you beat me hands down!!

[DUF2]

This was where I mounted my relays.

 

 IMG_0513.jpeg   78.71K   1 downloads

 

They are mounted on the offside inner wing, 4 Relays, Main Beam, Dipped Beam, Auxilliary Lights & Air Horn. The screen wash bottle is in the boot, the servo under the dash on the passenger side and the air horn under the offside wing.

I tried to get as much room as possible under the bonnet, which is why I relocated these.

 

I also installed a better more modern fuse box.

 

 IMG_0273.jpeg   71.54K   1 downloads

 

One thing that does piss me off, I stripped the wrapping off the loom to identify all the cables colours and location, created a wiring diagram showing all these on my iPad. I then got a new iPad and foolishly forgot to save that file to my PC and lost the ‘kin file!!!

[Retro_10s]

I thought my Duffy project had taken some time, but you beat me hands down!!

 

Oh lord, yeah,... i know. I don't know how much you've managed to get through of this project thread but if you reached the point where it got painted I really thought i was closing in on the rebuild,.... I couldn't even look at the mini after a couple of months had gone-by and still with soft paint. Still,... Life has thrown many things in my way and fleeting motivation hasn't helped,.. but I'm enjoying working on it again, and that's a great weight lifted from my mind. The mini's presence in the garage was oppressive at times! I'm extremely glad i didn't give in and sell up. It's a good little shell, solid in the right areas, and in a dry (cramped) garage! 

 

Yes i saw the nifty little bracket you made up for the fuses! - I really enjoyed looking through your project,.. in some ways it reminded me of what i want my mini to be, a good honest usable classic. 

[Retro_10s]

Garage cleared out AGAIN, back to it!

Turned the engine over out of habit and fitted the braided line for the oil filter, have discovered that the distributor appears to be 180° out, I will address this soon, as I have sourced a vacuum advance that will need fitting,


Started looking at the simple bushes on the front that need changing, front subframe towermounts are toast, they've crushed, split, and have spun. Lower arm bushes look pretty wrecked too, but everything else seems ok. Will be using good old fashioned standard rubber.