749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Well I thought it would potentially block airflow but as a mini is about as aerodynamic as a brick she actually ran fairly cool/bang on temperature

I potentially could but they are fairly costly and I'll have to do a lot of work with the plumbing too.
Video of the overheating


So then I decided today was the day to change the engine
Started at 9:30 clearing the garage out


Ready to removed the engine


Old 998 back in (with lightened flywheel and 1275 cams)


How I left her for today


Only got the intake left to fit and the alternator and she should be ready to go tommorow morning.
Also compression tested the broken 1275. Got 170.180.160.200 dry and 210,210,230,230 with oil down the bored so definately fubared

Small update tommorow once she's all back together
Lawrence

[Minidarren83]

Seems fairly high on the compression not sure what these run as standard but didn't yiu skim a ******* load off the head? And if the headgasket is gone would it not just be best to replace the gasket?

[lawrence]

Standard compression is fairly low for micras, not sure about the psi but the original compression ration is 9.4/1 the skim will have perked this up somewhat :)

And yes the head was gone but the piston rings were on the way out as well. I had a difference of nearly 50psi between dry and wet and before the hg went I had a lot of blowby pressuring the crankcase which was what caused one of my previous breakdowns. In the space of a month it went from minor fumes to 1/4 filling my new catch can in 2 weeks with oil. The excess oil blowby was also playing havoc with my carbs

That's why I decided to change the whole engine as I need reliability from the old beast until I finish my first year at uni in November. I didn't want to change the hg only for the oil blowby to increse even more

[coopdog]

Rebuild the engine with head work and cams

[lawrence]

So people. Time for another update :)
That's the plan coopdog. The decision is do I go all out and stick with the 998 for a little while, go all out beast or go a bit less all out! I'm making a post to add to the general chat section later

So since the new engine has been fitted everything has been going fine more or less. She's completed a few 70mile round trips for uni the other week and behaved herself well. Heater has been reinstalled in the car so I'll be nice and toasty this winter. Everything is working as it should.
On my to do list is the nearside inner pot joint that needs changing and I need to check the wheel bearing also as it may be suspect too.

I planned to redo the undersealed floor of the car this weekend but when I had a look it seemed that when she had her big oil leak the entire underside has been liberally coated with a castrol layer so not going to bother this year! Bonus there I suppose.

So this week I sorted the front end filler I put on a few weeks ago
Sanded down

Primed

Painted

Also touched up the bonnet

And back together, finished painting the bonnet chrome piece also


And lastly took the knackered 1.3 engine apart.

Does anyone know why the side of the Pistons are so clean?

That's all for now. I've been researching the engine choices that I have bun can't make my mind up unfortunatly

Just going to continue to drive her now and will keep updating if anything important comes up.
Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[smudger068]

Lawrence, 

 

Don't hold me to it but can the pistons be super clean because of bore wash? 

 

Do you run the mixer rich? Are your bores nice and shiny? Does your oil have fuel in it or smell of fuel?

 

I maybe wrong.

 

Lee  

[lawrence]

Well the rings were shot so that could have lead to lots of blow by

So I've had a chat with a few people and I'm planning to make a beasty spec of an engine :)
Recommendations from the micra forum and proven ideas said this

Overbore worn out 1.3 engine block that I have to 72.5 mm bore from 71mm
Fit corsa Pistons to micra rods
Megajolt still for the ignition
Buy micra ecu and run it for the fueling on a rising rate fuel regulator
Weld up a new exhaust manifold to suit turbo
Research more into what inlet manifold to use as getting rid of the carbs due to too much of a faff to pressurise them
Throw it all together and pray it works :)

This is a long term plan however as money is extremely tight currently.
Plans are to sell the high comp head to raise some money's
Buy ecu and make a start on the inlet.
Run current engine with micra ecu to iron out kinks

That's all for now folks
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Tiny update. Little bugger has been messing me around with a minor oil leak onto the alternator belt which was making it slip and not charge so well

Cleaned up the cam cover and correctly torqued it all up


And touch wood it's been all leak free with no more spots on the drive! :)

However I thought the charge issue was sorted but it wasn't apparantly as it was a two part problem as I found this afternoon.
It seemed the cable I chose that goes between the alternator and starter was of poor quality braided copper meaning it had corroded internally causing my charging problem. It's currently sorted with another length of cable and some crimps but when money allowed will be replaced with a better quality one piece not a cut and shut cable.

More updates soon, mini is embarking on an adventure to darkest Great Yarmouth tommorow morning
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Time for an update of her daily running :)
>no more oil leaks!
>running lovely currently
>no more overheating
>managing about 35/40mpg

What have I been up to them
>changed the jets to smaller ones, running alot smoother and not overfueling so much. Not perfect but much better
>made an exhaust baffle. Has reduced the booming from the exhaust massively. I'll keep the baffle in for the time being but the system really needs to be redeveloped sometime in the future
>changed osf suspension cone for a part worn one, smoother ride now and more comfortable. Previous one was knackered
>been using her as a daily and she's been a good girl so far

What's broken recently
>thermostatic radiator module died, now a switch again till I think of a better solution
>lower arm bushed shot on osf, noticed it when changing cone, replacements ordered. Steering was getting annoying with drifting as I drive!
>ahh the alternator keeps loosening, really need to add a tensioner! Current needs a 300mile tensioning service and it's getting annoying
>nsf wheel bearing growls. New one ordered
>slow puncture on Nsr tyre

To do list
>change lower arm bushes both side
>change top arm rebound stops both sides
>change tie bar bushes both sides
>change nsf suspension cone
>re do ball joints on both front hubs if required
>fix choke as its sticking, may add a return spring to the mechanism
>new fan thermostat module or I'll wire it through a megajolt output, not sure yet in that, open to ideas
>redesign alternator mount perhaps with a smaller lighter weight alternator, again any suggestions?
>new/second hand front shocks to improve suspension as funds allow
>new wheels nsr wheel bearings to be fitted
>new front indicators and side repeaters to be fitted

I'm off uni in two weeks time so they will be my jobs to be getting on with :) that's all for now folks. She's been very well behaved having to do 75mile round trips 3days a week! Who says a mini can't be used as a daily!

Lawrence

[Archived2]

Just read through the whole thread. Well done for sticking with it. Thats a huge amount of work youve put in mate.

[thelegg]

Hey mate just finished reading this absolutely amazing all the work you've put into it, such a shame you've had such bad luck with your engines tho

[lawrence]

Cheers for the great comments chaps, both much appreciated :) I'm impressed you managed to read all 25pages of me banging on about my car too!

I agree it is a shame about the engines but at least the current one makes a nippy daily that still suprises people off the line! (In the dry, my ditch finders are awful in the rain) Plus the new engine should be a bit of a monster when I get the money together but considering I'm a student with not unlimited funds it's still a distant idea however I do keep an eye out for bargains when them come up!

My minispares order arrived today's which is awesome!
Also bought some second hand spax shocks all round to accompany the new front cones (rear cones changed last year)
And lastly got a new much smaller alternator from ebay that should hopefully arrive soon!
I've got three days left of uni, one this week and two next week then it's time for some fun fitting new parts!

Plans for the upcoming weeks
>New steering bushes in the column
>refurb entire front suspension with new parts
>reshim ball joints as required
>replace nsf wheel bearing as was noted to be grumbly last mot
>fit new/second hand spax shocks
>new nsf inner cv (was dying on original micra when I first got it) that's ready to fit in the garage
>new side repeaters and front indicators
>new lightweight smaller alternator and mount with tensioner (needs to be designed still)

Basically new front end running gear! She should drive like a new old car
Also got some money set aside to get the front alignment laser checked as changing all the worn bushes for new ones will most likely put everything on the squiff

So all fun for me!
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So then guys, I needed to do a proper update really don't i!
I've been sorting out the new alternator that I got the other day
A nice comparison between the two. It's loads smaller but also the pulley is the correct size so no change of belt jump etc

All new parts to be fitted!

Started up making the mount

I wanted it to be as close to the block as possible so added an idler pulley to redirect the belt

New mount of alternator

Measuring for a new belt

New belt bought and fitted

Tensioner planned and made

That photo is with it nice tensioned and I've got place to add more tension should the belt stretch somewhat

And that's the mount fully made up, just splashed some paint on it too. It's nice and close to the block and made from 6mm steel so should be very sturdy I hope!

Plan tomorrow is to fit it to the proper engine. It's taken me about 8 hours to get the whole lot correctly spaced and planned to get the best method of running the belt. Am not doing it again in a while!

Feel free to comment
Lawrence

[coopdog]

Looks good!

How long until you build a crazy spec micra engine? Hah

[lawrence]

Cheers coopdog,
to be honest I do not know. It's going to cost me about £500 ish and that's with a second hand turbo and ancillaries. I want to get a wideband lambda sensor next time I have money but they are about £150 . Current issues of suspension and steering need sorting first as I can't have a powerful engine in a car that's suspension isn't top notch!

Time for today's update
I've started taking apart the suspension but it got dark and I got depressed.
Dark when it was all apart, stupid winter

Had real trouble getting the top arm shock pin out, the thread was suspect so I though I would change it with the replacement I bought ages ago, had to use heat and a grinder in the end. Also Had to cut the lower arm off as it was completely rusted to the subframe
Look how buggered the bush was! When I took off the tie bar there was a ridiculous amount of play in the bush and joint. No wonder it was like steering a boat!

Cleaned up the lower arm too. It's got a number 15 stamped on it? Anyone know what that means?


That's all for today guys. Was helping a mate with welding his van this morning so only had from 3 to play with mini
Also now ordered two new lower arm pivot pins as the other side is bound to be as bad but why should I waste an hour trying to get it off when a new pin only cost £10!

Feel free to comment guys, I wonder that that 15 means too. Hmm
Lawrence