749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Can I ask was that 50+ mpg on cbr 600 bike carbs with the k series exhaust? I did look in your thread but it didn't come up?
If it was can you remember what size you made your main jets? As mine are 150s roughly (drilled out with a 1.5mm dill bit so will never be accurate) and she's overfueling a lot and as calculated today only getting 25mpg

As with all minis when you get them back on the road they tend to break
And this is mine on the side of the road when she conked out


Called the Ms (mum and sister) and they came to the rescue to pick me up and take me home to get fuel and fuel hose to return and fix mini

Main issues from this breakdown were as follows
>petrol feed pipe to fuel pump partially blocked by something of unknown origin
>fuel levels so low crap from tank entered carb float bowls so they had to be removed cleaned and refitted.

No idea where the crap in the tank came from as it was flushed only a few months ago. Also found out that not only have I lost space from where I relocated the fuel filler cap of approx 1 gallon but also due to the angle the tank is installed And how I've done the cutout ive lost about another gallon, some of which is lost as can't be sucked up. So I've got about a 5 gallon tank of usuable fuel and I've done 150 miles hence needing a topup!

Mini is back home now but I really need to look at the fueling and balancing the carbs. Saturday will be a tinkering day
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

Edited by lawrence, 22 January 2015 - 09:56 PM.

[l_jonez]

Yep averaged 42 when first set up with a 1.55 main jet. I'm fairly sure it got swapped to 1.4 when I got 50+ and decent fuel ratio's. Then I moved to ITB's as I got fed up of messing with the carbs. Have you got a AFR gauge?

[miniobsessed]

Oh wow. Just spent the last couple of hours reading this from start to now...

Lawrence, your determination through all of this is inspirational. Yes you've made some mistakes along the way but who doesn't hey - it's all learning. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is glad you've stuck with it

Looking forward to more updates.

[lawrence]

Well ive put a smaller jet on now and she seems to be running well, averaged 30mpg over a 100mile run. I think I need to get the carbs completly balanced before I play with the fueling anymore.
I haven't got an air gauge and was trying not to due to the cost. Do you recommend it? As I understand the logic and it should help me get bang on fuel ratios!

Cheers miniobsessed, glad you found my build entertaining! I have made a lot of mistake I know that but I think I'm getting on top of them finally!

So then, update time. Got her home so tucked up safe and sound under her snow blanket
No photos of how I fixed her, she had a blockage in the fuel feed from he petrol tank so I attached my bike pump to the end and blew the blockage out, can't see what it was tho so bike pump has been added to spares in the boot!

Poor baby when I took her bonnet off on one of my days off she was covered in oil , checked dipstick and just covering minimum, no wonder she was leaving dots on the floor. Hadn't realised as she was parked on the gravel drive
Shiny oiliness

The blanking plug I had made to block the distributor hole had ruptured. So made a new aluminium plug out of the Micra distributor

Where the plug goes

Fitted oh so snug

Wish I had a lathe

Took her to get 4 wheel alignment done with a laser alignment kit.
Tracking was adjusted and and she handles loads better, may need to look into changing the lower arms at some point as the negative camber on the front isn't very equal. One is 2.5 percent and the other 0.5 so I think my bushes may be tired.
Took so photos underneath.


So dirty and only done about 500 miles tops

However I spotted this issue
.
I've got a small exhaust gas leak but the bigger issue is the exhaust is about a mm from the rear subframe so that could account for some of my vibration and reverberation issues I have been having at certain revs.


So onwards. She needed to have more clearance, was catching on too much road . Numberplate position adjusted and all suspension raise for the winter

Sumpguard trial fit

And fully fixed on

She is attached with 4 bolts at the front but the rears are on sliders that go into the box section that the subframe is made, it was an idea that I had when making the frame and deliberately left open two bits of box section on either side of the subframe. Means that there is some movement of the sumpguard

Fog lights fitted and test wired

Annoyingly illegal blue sidelights that I'll look into changing if I can


So guys that's mini up to date, I also had a wiring fault which was edis playing up but that's fixed now with some elecrical contact spray.
Plan today is relocated wiper motor back to engine bay, looses style points in the bay but gives back practicality. Need new wiper blades too
Also want to take off the exhaust and fix that leak. Will add a silencer from my rc40 system to quieten it down slightly

Feel free to comment. Phot update to be added tonight if girlfriend allowes :)
Lawrence

[l_jonez]

It's a must if you are doing the tunning yourself. They take all of the guess work away.

As for the rest of the problems you will get there, once they are sorted you will love it.

[lawrence]

I'll look into them, the only thing that's putting me off is the cost of about £150 for a reliable and accurate one.

So then, today has been productive. Started off with assessing the exhaust system and its faults. Need to give it more clearance and a silencer.

That's as it was, clearance tight on the left by the old battery cable girdle slot, so wanted to move the exhaust to the left with a kink.
Removed and next to spare rc40 to be slaughtered for the cause

Donated parts cut up and realigned

Tacked together for test fit

Refitted and its bang on where it needs to be

Loads of clearance for the silencer
No longer mm close to the subframe


Removed and fully welded up

Final fit back to car.

All welded and clamped joints sprayed in zinc primer to clearly show rust pinholes

Took mini for a drive, if say it's about 30percent quieter so should be nicer when I get to speeds of 50mph or so. Vibration is defiantly down too! :)
However two issues flagged up
>it was raining and my alternator belt was making a lovely whine so that's something to be fixed, just needs tightening so simple fixed but a wheel off jobbie to do due to my design
>she conked out completely, carb vacuum gauge said carbs working. Megajolt light still on, fuel running fine in the system. Wobbled the ford edis module wiring and she fired to life so got an issue there

I'll fix the alternator another day as its livable for the time being as squeaks only happen at a low idle before she's up to temperature so nothing major there.

This afternoon I relocated the wiper motor back to the engine bay and it's much better, especially in the rainy weather we've been having, no photos as it was pissing it down but I really wanted to get it done.

I'll do another update sometime this week when I have time. Oh and the ignition key looks fractured so I need to find my spare till I ca get another cut

Feel free to comment. Sorry for all the text haha
Lawrence

[miniBrain]

Hi Lawrence, Its coming along nicely. 

 

Sorry to bug you with questions, but what's it like for routine maintenance - e.g changing the oil, etc. Looks like a cambelt change is an engine out job? (I'm thinking about a Micra conversion myself).

 

Thanks, Bob

[lawrence]

Hi there minibrain, I've got no issues with answering questions. Changine the engine oil should be fine as there is access to the drain plug easily, the oil filter is a spin on type. Gearbox oil isn't changeable with my frame type as I've blocked the drain plug off by my frame design, miscalculation by me, also to refill the gearbox you need to remove the speedo drive, again that's not something I can't do with my frame. However gearbox oil isn't something you need to change often. Engine is a cam chain so no need for belt changes so long as the servicing is kept up to date. Clutch change is an engine out job. Upper timing chain can be removed with the engine in situ so cams etc can be swopped, however care must be taken to the max not to drop bolts into the lower timing area as it will then be an engine out jobbie. Headgasket change also possible but it's a Micra so won't eat them like the a series do.
Any more questions please ask on here of via messages.

So time for an update.
>Exhaust is massively quieter! Really made the car more sociable, however at speeds around 40-60 there is alot of cabin noise, I want to look into getting some bulkhead sound deadening and fitting some blanking gromits.
>Need to look into the petrol smell I can't seem to get rid of now! girlfriend is getting moody as I smell of petrol all the time
>still got a wiring issues, conking out is sorted with some elecrical contact spray. However the radio is resetting itself by turning off occasionally over bumps, think it's an earthing issue but I'll look tommorow
>freaking screen wash bottle has been hit by a stone and its leaking! So i need to remove it and fix the leak, gunna wrap it in rubber to prevent future stone chips.
>Got a slow puncture on offside front. Cba to fix it as it'll be £15 or so for a repair and I'd like some better tyres on the front anyhow
>cheapy chinese aerocatches are both broken now but can't afford the £40 or so for genuine ones yet
>carb sliders are sticking after prolonged cruising. Meaning if I'm cruising at 50 and have an incline putting your foot down does nothing, have to drop a gear and blip the revs. This is due to my carb inlet angle design so gunna make a brief silicone spray in the carb sliders part of my weekly regime

On the plus side got economy of 45 on average, that's a mix of city and a/b road driving. Oh and she warms up pretty fast on these cold mornings due to how the micras coolent system is piped. Engine temp is 75 on cruising. Rises to 85in medium traffic. Max I have seen was 95 and that was Creeping along in full on rush hour traffic (Micra stat start to opens 82, fully open at 95)

I'll do an update tommorow afternoon. No pics in the update sorry
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Sorry I lied there is a photo or two. Paint have finally cured so I tried some flatting back :)
Small trial

One wing flatted and polished up.


I've done some shopping, got some paint cutting back stuff from machine mart and some polishing pads, also got a de nibber block to remove runs!

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Right then guys, haven't had an update for nearly a month as in all honesty she's doing fine :)

Previous issues were
>Petrol smell in the cabin.
Caused by lack of breather pipe on the fuel tank to export fumes outside. Also small leak from carb t pieces, petrol resistant o rings fitted so all sorted
>Wiring issues
Conking out solved, Radio earth assessed and redone. No more issued
>leaking screen wash bottle
Hole cleaned up and petrol patch putty applied

Wrapped in rubber to prevent reoccurrence

>Got a slow puncture on offside front.
It's slow, I'll ignore it till it annoys me then new tire
>Cheapy aerocatches broken
Been paid from work so will buy some genuine ones sometime this week
>Carb sliders are sticking after prolonged cruising.
It wasn't the carbsliders like I had previously thought as it continued to happen. It was lack of fuel instead so I drilled out part of the pilot jet and its been fine since

Continuing on from the previous post I have brought some compound
On rear ¼

After polishing

Side

Back


Parking sensors also removed as when they got covered in dirt they were constantly on and it was annoying!

As she stands she's being a good girl mostly. Some new issues however
>In the rain the clutch goes very grabby on gearchanges and pulling away, this I think is due to the bellhousing being open to the air at the bottom in places
>Slow throttle return. Taking foot off accelerator for gear changes leads to engine holding revs and constant power shifting therfore grabby clutch. It's just annoying and all it needs is a stronger throttle return spring
>Oil leak. The nice shiny bung I made in the previous post is over pressurising the valve cover making an annoying oil leak but only At high revs. May need to rethink smooth valve cover design
>Got a clicking noise at revs above 3000. Sounds driveshaft related and could be down to the inner or outer cv joints but I'll look into it

Also bought some new main jets to re jet the carbs my current choice is 110. 150 and 160.
110 is too lean 3500revs onwards but ok at low revs. 150 and 160 rich everywhere and uneconomical but will happily Rev past 7000. I've bought a load of jets between 120-138 and I'm hoping somewhere in there I'll find my sweet spot :)

Here's a little video to keep people interested :)

[miniobsessed]

Looking great Lawrence

Love the vid too! Any chance of a longer one? Maybe a couple of drive-bys and some in-car... Just love seeing these cg minis in action and there's not a lot of footage around.

Again, great work and good luck on sorting out the last few niggles

[lawrence]

Cheers mini obsessed :) I can try and get some more footage, drive bys are more difficult but I can get some in car footage on a nice day.

So addressing the four issues I had
>grabbing clutch in the rain
Planning to make some cover plates for my clutch tommorow on my day off
>throttle return slow
That seems to be due to the carbs and the fueling, I have changed the jets and its pulling great through the Rev range for the last week. I shall pull the jets tommorow and see what the spark plug colour is
>Oil leak
Half fixed, no leaks at low revs, leak at high. Needs revision tommorow
>clicking noise
Definately nearside inner cv, my rubber is still chafing on the frame unfortuatly so the inner gaitor is damaged and spitting grease, I need time to take apart and asses what I can do to fix it.

So then, I have been doing not alot. As a student I am poor, major poor
But I did do a few bits, changed the catches on the bonnet for genuine aerocatches and now they are tip top! Also got some gromits to use on the engine bay to try and stop some of the petrol smell coming through

Got a nice picture at the park and ride


Needed to do some work on the front end, so took off the spotlights that I never wired in

Now I need to fill some holes and re do the exhaust cut out


Panel made



Camouflaged the mini

Part welded

All welded up

Ground back and filled

Ready to paint

After two coats

And after four


I've left it to dry overnight and then I'll refit the grill tommorow :) happy with the finish too!

Look for the next update tommorow night
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So then,
Today's update.

Throttle return is sorted, carbs just needed a bit of adjusting
Oil leak is sorted too hopefully, remade bung with liquid metal


and a day shot of the bodywork I did yesterday


Front is looking tidyer now, I'm thinking of making a braket to lower the numberplate back down and onto the front valance, it'll give me more engine bay airflow too. In addition I am contemplating making the front panel the older style with the corners smoothed off

Other than that I didn't do very much, cleared up the oil leak and am intending to give it a check over half way on my journey this evening. I also pulled the plugs and it seems to be overfueling ever so slightly so will lean my carbs off a half turn or so

Next week depending on car situation I may have a look at the clicking cv and paint the bonnet again

Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Well guys, this update starts off with a rubbish note!
9:30 pm just finished placement for uni so driving home,
About 7 miles from home my drivers side main headlight goes. I assumed it was a bad connection like these things tend to be so pull into the next garage about a mile later

I get there and find my light ballast bracket had broken, rubbing on the aux drive belt (waterpump+alternator)
It had rubbed a nice gouge down the middle essentially making two belts out of one. Decided that it was ok to limp home sticking to back roads and sub 1500revs. Only have 5 miles or so.

Pull out the garage to pootle along at 30mph to limp home, all of a sudden alternator light come on, burning rubber smell, squealing, the whole works basically. Bang her to neutral and come to a stop at the crest of the hill I was going up and wonder what to do.
Options were, roll down the hill to the next lay-by and leave here there overnight or turn round and go to a friends back the way I just came. Chose the latter, so pushed her round (baring in mind this is a main road but haven't much choice!) and rolled her down the way I just came to my friends (1/4 mile or so), rolled her part way up said friends drive when I then called her and she and her kids gave me a hand to get her safe and sound.

Checked mini over
>hid ballast broken
>drive belt shredded
>oil everywhere
>outer cv gaiter slashed by drive belt, cv grease everywhere

It's now 10:30 pm and I've been up since 6 so very pissed off called my mum for a lift home.
Cue this afternoon, loaded up panda with tools, got changed after placement and headed to Friends house to commence works :)

Tools unloaded a work to commence


Cue first *******up.

I took the alternator charging cable off the alternator, totally forgot its attached to the starter motor and battery! Cable taps frame, creates short. I grab it to stop short. Fine for a moment but the the insulation I wrapped around the frame by the starter motor has gone and melted therefore battery is now shorting straight to the subframe. Entire car fills with burning starter motor cable smoke (cable runs inside) Rush to the boot to disconnect the battery. Can't find the freaking spanner! meanwhile car is billowing smoke and I'm in the boot trying to disconnect he battery! Lever off the negative earth clamp breaking a screwdriver but breaking the short.

Photo was taken while waiting for the smoke to clear whilst holding the fire extinguisher.
What remains of the starter/battery cable


So that's the bad news. It's gunna get better now
Cleaned up the engine bay, took off alternator, checked it, totally fine just oily. Waterpump not seized so that's a good sign too. Checked oil, no sign of headgasket failure. Low water in rad but that's normal for her. So far thinking I got off lightly!

Go for a drive to wilco to pick up new aux belt and fitted with no issues.
Start mini up, check aux belt area and a fine spray of oil covers my face. Thanks mini


All that area was clean moments before

So in conclusion.
>aux drive belt sorted
>new oil leak
>need a new battery main cable
>new outer cv gaiter needs replacing

Oil leak looks to be coming from two places
>timing chain cover and crankshaft oil seal. I'm putting this down to overheating and causing the seals to breakdown/ fail.

Plan for tomorrow.
>limp home (5miles or so)
>fit new battery cable
>check spares for another cv gaiter and fit
>buy some degreaser and find the source of the oil leak!!

Feel free to comment on this stressful day!

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Well guys, this update starts off with a rubbish note!
9:30 pm just finished placement for uni so driving home,
About 7 miles from home my drivers side main headlight goes. I assumed it was a bad connection like these things tend to be so pull into the next garage about a mile later

I get there and find my light ballast bracket had broken, rubbing on the aux drive belt (waterpump+alternator)
It had rubbed a nice gouge down the middle essentially making two belts out of one. Decided that it was ok to limp home sticking to back roads and sub 1500revs. Only have 5 miles or so.

Pull out the garage to pootle along at 30mph to limp home, all of a sudden alternator light come on, burning rubber smell, squealing, the whole works basically. Bang her to neutral and come to a stop at the crest of the hill I was going up and wonder what to do.
Options were, roll down the hill to the next lay-by and leave here there overnight or turn round and go to a friends back the way I just came. Chose the latter, so pushed her round (baring in mind this is a main road but haven't much choice!) and rolled her down the way I just came to my friends (1/4 mile or so), rolled her part way up said friends drive when I then called her and she and her kids gave me a hand to get her safe and sound.

Checked mini over
>hid ballast broken
>drive belt shredded
>oil everywhere
>outer cv gaiter slashed by drive belt, cv grease everywhere

It's now 10:30 pm and I've been up since 6 so very pissed off called my mum for a lift home.
Cue this afternoon, loaded up panda with tools, got changed after placement and headed to Friends house to commence works :)

Tools unloaded a work to commence


Cue first *******up.

I took the alternator charging cable off the alternator, totally forgot its attached to the starter motor and battery! Cable taps frame, creates short. I grab it to stop short. Fine for a moment but the the insulation I wrapped around the frame by the starter motor has gone and melted therefore battery is now shorting straight to the subframe. Entire car fills with burning starter motor cable smoke (cable runs inside) Rush to the boot to disconnect the battery. Can't find the freaking spanner! meanwhile car is billowing smoke and I'm in the boot trying to disconnect he battery! Lever off the negative earth clamp breaking a screwdriver but breaking the short.

Photo was taken while waiting for the smoke to clear whilst holding the fire extinguisher.
What remains of the starter/battery cable


So that's the bad news. It's gunna get better now
Cleaned up the engine bay, took off alternator, checked it, totally fine just oily. Waterpump not seized so that's a good sign too. Checked oil, no sign of headgasket failure. Low water in rad but that's normal for her. So far thinking I got off lightly!

Go for a drive to wilco to pick up new aux belt and fitted with no issues.
Start mini up, check aux belt area and a fine spray of oil covers my face. Thanks mini


All that area was clean moments before

So in conclusion.
>aux drive belt sorted
>new oil leak
>need a new battery main cable
>new outer cv gaiter needs replacing

Oil leak looks to be coming from two places
>timing chain cover and crankshaft oil seal. I'm putting this down to overheating and causing the seals to breakdown/ fail.

Plan for tomorrow.
>limp home (5miles or so)
>fit new battery cable
>check spares for another cv gaiter and fit
>buy some degreaser and find the source of the oil leak!!

Feel free to comment on this stressful day!

Lawrence









So then guys, it's time for a bit of an update :)

I drove her home/limped along at 40mph on Saturday morning, engine feels fine although she did overheat slightly but I have no idea how badly as my gauge is situated in the radiator not the engine block
During the drive home there was a slight mist of oil gently spraying into the windscreen so I knew something was broken big time, it was just was it the engine or something easier to fix!

I took her apart when she was home, cleaned up the block to find the source of the oil leak.
It wasn't the cylinder head thank god, it wasn't the cam chain view port area, so could only be the timing chain cover a big engine out job!

So started her up with the alternator removed and it was instantly clear where the oil was from

Oil after two seconds of running


So it was the lower pulley oil seal! Awesome, should be a nice easy fix if the engine was in a micra as there is loads of room!
However this is a mini micra so room is tight! Luckily I could get the lower pulley off as if not it would have been an engine out job!
Remains of the oil seal


Just need to clean up the old seal area


New seal has been ordered and so has 5 metres of battery cable so I can start her again. I am hoping the parts will arrive tomorrow as I am currently without car but still have to get to uni and placement!

Oh and there is nothing wrong with the cv gaitor, I must have simply not done the cable tie up enough so it slipped off!

Feel free to comment!
Lawrence