749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

So people, thankyou all for your comments, they are very helpful :)

In regard to the engine mounts, I've since strengthened the rear one but when I change to the 1275 micra engine I'll redevelop it again

Alternator bracket redesigned, thanks for spotting this out people.

Radiator steady fabricated

Carbs fully plumbed in, all cable and fuel pipes connected



In regards to tuning the carbs l jones, I've left the manifold bare metal for the time being and is bonded to the block with just instant gasket so I can remove and adjust the angle if needs be, however the engine is running sweetly at the moment so I think I may get away with the angle they are at, I've got my fingers crossed but I do have room to adjust the carb angle if needs be

Trigger wheel fitted nicely

It's using the specalist components mini trigger wheel and boss, it fits nicely to the micra hub with a penny washer to align it up

Cleaned up my brake disks


Driveshafts have also now been sent off, hopefully should be finished some time next week so I can out the hubs and wheels back together :)

Lower radiator steady made, rubber lined to protect the rad, nice clearance all round too


Rad leaked

Had to take it all apart and find out why, my soldering was fine but some bolts I used were too long and went into the cores, stupid me, all soldered up and fixed now, rad no longer leaks!

Exhaust welded up and fitted, looks awful but the flows good, I'll change it for a k series when I get a 1275 micra engine


Sorted out the coolant hoses and connectors


Mini part fitted to give me a nice angle to work with for the coolent system :)


Another pic of the finished exhaust


Megajolt system all fitted, all wiring soldered, heat shrank and covered in expandable braiding so looks well tidy

Starter motor all wired in also

New washer fluid reservoir and pump, fitted in the wing out of the way


Gear shifter mechanism sorted and shortened


Megajolt plug given a home


Megajolt fitted


And as I left her today


So that's the update for the last few weeks :)
Ignition - done just needs mapping
Cooling - done
Clutch - done
Misc wiring - one day one and then will be done
Driveshafts - once picked up and fitted will be done

So that's my update :)
Not sure when the next will be as I'm back to college next week so really need to concentrate, conversion will be finished by the end of this month I hope!
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 19 April 2014 - 08:02 PM.

[lawrence]

So then people, there has been a lack of updates
First off I've finished the gear shifter and put the centre console back in, it's modded to give me a shorter shift too which is nice

However on the first warm up run I seem to have gained a bit of an oil leak/petrol leak from the engine
Pulled the plugs

Exhaust showing a mix of oil and petrol

Oil in the combustion chamber

So engine out

Started to cleanup the brake calipers ready for painting and new hoses

Engine dismantled, oil everywhere, valve stem seals have gone

New tap and die set

Polished up the cylinder head, only took 4 hours! Gunna paint the block and gearbox black so should look nice :)

Contemplating buying this

But that's all I'm afraid, ordered a new exhaust manifold as I don't like mine and some wrap also so that in the post waiting to come through
Trouble is I need a new gasket set which is£40 and a valve spring compressor which is another £50 and I have no money ATM
Progress will happen again when I get more cash

Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[Ben_O]

That's a shame about the engine mate.

Hope it hasn't put you back too far.

 

Good luck with sorting it out.

 

Ben

[lawrence]

Well to be honest ben_o it's put me back alot it's cost me about another £100 or so to finish off the engine and I just spend another £75 on new oil, coolent, other fluids etc so my budget for this month is gone
But on the bright side I've got the engine out, so can give it a nice coat of black paint and also to some touching up of the paint on the subframe and bulkhead which will be easier when the engine is out. Additionally once the engine goes back in it will be for the last time and I can fit the driveshafts on the car also.
Once the engine is sorted and I've finished the exhaust that should be the conversion completed ,bar the megajolt running in and tuning

So a little update is needed
Valves lapped in

Valves refitted

New headgasket on

Head all on and torqued up, had to buy some fancy angle gauge also so yet more money spent


I started to replace the cams but noticed the top timing chain marks were out so I've had to remove the timing chain cover and the sump which is annoying cue the engine falling over! Caught it but managed to spill 3litres of used engine oil over the garage floor

Now need to fork out on something to clean the garage floor up and something to remove the oil from the engine as it's coated in it and I need the gasket faces to be clean, anyone got ideas?

So that's all for now, just need to rebuild the engine, new oil, filters etc and fit the inlet manifold back on.
Also need to make a new exhaust as my initial one looks shoddy so there more money to be spend

I'm reckoning on another £200 needed to be spent before it's all finished

Feel free to comment
Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 11 May 2014 - 10:16 PM.

[lawrence]

So then people, I think it's time for a large update to be honest!
Engine all retimed and back together :)

Inlet painted and new gaskets fitted

New exhaust made, as everyone who came and looked at the car pointed out the crappy DIY one!

Garage tidied and engine ready to return to car

Engine and gearbox painted up :)

Engine bay tidied up again

Dropped it in


Next update soon, just waiting on photo bucket to upload :)
Hope you all like this one
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Next update then guys
Nice view of my exhaust through the grill :) had to cut some of the front panel out to clear the exhaust tho which is a shame exhause should flow better however

Starting to make the air box

Card template

Half made, Realised it's warped and looks rubbish! I don't want that in my engine bay!

Mk2 air box, bit of old numberplate

Air box mocked up

Air box made

Had to make some room for clearance!

The airbox is made from an old numberplate and two pate containers from me old job haha! Good bit of recycling there! It used the mini hif44 cone filter on top

I've also rebuilt both front hubs with new ball joint etc, no pics of that I'm afraid. Also done the brake lines, just need to beg a nearby garage to flange one of the pipes for me, no point in getting the tool for one flange!

Hopefully getting my driveshafts soon, the blokes had them over a month but in all honestly we had both forgotten about them and I didn't have the money for them either!

To sum everything up all I have left to do is finish making the exhaust, change some water in the coolent system for coolent and map megajolt which I haven't got my head round yet

Hope you like this update people!
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So then people, time for today's update :)
Look what turned up!


One side done :)


Both wheels on!


Rolled back into the garage


So she has driveshafts but no drive
I've fitted them and they are all fine and solid but I have no drive to the wheels,
She starts in gear fine, it's like the driveshafts and wheels arnt there.
If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it as I'm stumped

Hope you like this update tho
Only brakes and exhaust to do now
Lawrence

[LosLandenos]

Dont give up.. It sucks when you hit the wall but its worth it when it works. Does the diferential work?

[l_jonez]

Can you select gears?
Does the clutch work?

How where the shafts done?

[Icey]

I can't quite get over that exhaust manifold, it is just a mock-up right?

 

Edit! Sorry, just noticed the re-made one, much better, phew!

Edited by Icey, 03 June 2014 - 12:33 PM.

[lawrence]

Cheers for the replies guys
As far as I know the diff works fine, when the shafts weren't there you can turn both output joints and the turn each other the opposite way so I think that means the diff is fine.
And in reply to you L jonez, I can select all gears and so far as I know the clutch is fine, it all worked when I drove the car home. Shafts are micra inners, mini outers, drilled out, threaded rod inserted and then welded up once set at the right length.
Hence why I'm so stumped with what it can be, I think I'll check placement of the driveshafts and go from there

Oh and icey I agree the first exhaust was awful, looking back I don't know what I was thinking!
Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 03 June 2014 - 01:46 PM.

[l_jonez]

Do you get drive when you jack the front of the car up and select a gear?

Just curious did the Micra shafts not fit in to the mini CV joint? Most people use just the Micra shafts but cut down to length.

[lawrence]

I haven't tried that l_jones, I'll try that out next time I'm in the garage

In reference to the shafts I never bothered taking the hubs of the Micra apart and just gently cut the driveshafts while the engine was still in the micra

What will it mean if I get drive once the car is jacked up?
Many thanks
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Right people, time for an update
Ran out of money last month so stopped working on the mini so much
I've done a few bits and bobs however,
Found out my lack of drive problem was due to the inner pot joint not being correctly seated, it's correctly seated now however the outer cv thread looks suspicious and I'm not keen on using it, so a new outer cv has been ordered and we should have drive once again.
New suspension parts are required too such as tie rod ends, new shocks and few bushes but nothing too big
I've been cracking on with he brake lines however and they are now all done





So that's the front brake lines all sorted, they are all wrapped in insulating rubber and then polyester braiding due to the small tolerances through the areas they have to go through.

Brake callipers were painted also and will be rebuilt with new hoses etc sometime this week
Hope you all like this update
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So people, time for an update from the last few days :)
Had a slight problem with flooding the other day!

Well that fixed up nicely :)
Back to the car
Rolled it outside and stripped it

Trimmed the rear aches so they fit a lot nicer :) done some filling of the arches too

All ready for some paintwork

Nicely trimmed arches :)

Rear end prepped and filled

Other side prepped also and arch trimmed


Ready for paint :)

Bit of painting started

Bit more painting

Prepped the boot

Some paint on the boot

More paint

Prepping the door

Side painting

Bootlid done

Rear done

Decided to dechrome the rear lights

Primed

Painted

Fitted

Boot back on

Other light painted

Rear bum built back up

Door prepped

Few coats on the door

Rear arch fitted

Last pic of today as I rolled her into the garage


I've also bought some window tint and light tint so I can match the rear lights with the front ones
Hope you all like this update
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 01 July 2014 - 08:25 PM.