315 replies to this topic

[pete]

DD, if you need a hand fitting the windows let me know. It's what I do for a living . If I recall your only in Oxford area so can pop over and throw them in for you if you get stuck. Wouldn't mind having a look at it in the flesh.
If not then fit rubber onto body. Fit glass into rubber by stretching rubber around the glass using a plastic tool. Then fit the locking strip with correct size filler tool.
Back windows the same but if your using perspex they can be harder to fit as the perspex isn't shaped the same as the glass.

Pete

[markrally]

Well, I've finally got brakes, and hopefully a clutch, but what a nightmare!

After bleeding the best part of 3 litres of brake fluid through the system, and still having the brake pedal go right to the floor, I started to get the feeling something wasn't right.

Now, this may be a completely obvious thing to most people, but it took a while for dumb-ass here to realise that of the 3 bleed nipples on metro calipers, one of them should be at the top to let the air out- not the bottom! It turns out I had my calipers on the wrong wheels i.e they needed switching left to right, and vice versa.

To cut a (very) long story short as soon as I swapped the calipers over and gave them a quick bleed I instantly had brakes, so to anyone else out there who is thinking of fitting metro calipers, make sure you mount them with the bleed nipple uppermost!

If I never have brake fluid dripping off my elbows again it'll be too soon.

Anyone got any tips on fitting the windscreen? Trim strip in first, or last?

Bye for now
D.

DD, dont forget to check the lower banjo bolt for trapped air aswell, theres bound to be some lurkin in there!!

[Dick Dastardly]

Pete, that sounds like an offer too good to turn down. I was getting a little ahead of myself as I don't have the perspex yet, and really the glass should be left until last (ish) as it's handy being able to access things through the apertures while there's no glazing in. I'll certainly give you a shout though when it's ready to go in, (probably mid to late April) - cheers!

Mark, thanks for the tip- I did have some air in there!

I've spent most of the day working on the airbox and bulkhead, but I took a moment and actually drove the car out of the garage under it's own power . I was sat on the floor, and it only went 15 feet max, but it was still a huge buzz.

I just can't wait until it's done. I have neglected the car side (as opposed to the engine side) of the wiring, things like lights, wipers etc- so that's pretty high up on the list of things to do next.

D.D.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ordered the "glass" today. Should be here in 2 weeks. I went for clear "flexiglass" in the end as I've heard rumours that the MSA are going to ban heavily tinted glazing, and I plan to do some hillclimbs in the mini.

I would have preferred some lightly tinted flexiglass but sadly this was not an option.

People will be able to see my scared expression now!

D.D.

[dean_chad]

Dean i cant wait to get that far! so how long has it taken you from start to finish? anything you would have done differently?

[Dick Dastardly]

I started in September 2004! but I tend to do a lot of standing and looking, and thinking, rather than doing...

Things I would have done differently-

I would have cut the rear valance for the exhaust I'm using- not the one that came in the kit.
I would have bought AO48's not A539's (still gonna!)
I would have put the front brake calipers on the correct sides BEFORE filling the system with fluid!
I would not have worn baggy overalls while using my angle grinder mounted wire brush
Similarly I would have moved the bin liner full of old dog teddy's/toys away from the area I was welding in!
I would have had a bucket of water handy while welding (see above).
I would have started with a complete car, not a bare shell

Mostly though I'm very pleased with everything as I haven't had to make that many compromises really- I might put a carbon fibre front end/doors on it at some stage, and I'd like to put the new front subframe on that Chris now makes, but I'll see how it goes first.

If I think of anything else. I'll let you know...

All the best
D.

[TJenkos]

Where did you get your bootlid fasteners from D.D?

This is such a beautiful car! My favourite Mini on this forum i think!

[Alburglar]

Well those dzus fastners may end up on the regrets list. I hated them on the minus, one bonnet and two bootlids later!
Trick is, to gaffa tape the back of them and this should prevent them from moving with vibrations.

[Dick Dastardly]

Isn't it all about the amount of tension you get in the dzus fastener? I have to give them a fairly hefty twist to get them to de-latch, but vibrations are strange things I suppose so warning heeded- I'll keep an eye on them.

I got the dzus fasteners from Demon Tweeks I think. They're available for different panel offsets, but you don't need to be too precise as the mating part of the fastener is adjustable to some extent.

D.D.

[R1minimagic]

I have them on the front of my bonnet. I was driving along once and all of a sudden (at about 40mph) the bonnet started to lift and reached half way up the windscreen :'( :'(

I was a bit worried after that about it happening again so i thought about taping over them with white tape to stop them popping out. Anyway, now i have got the tension correct they have been fine for ages. I have done quite a few track days etc with no problem. You need to have them set so that you push quite hard with a screwdriver to lock them in place. Besides, dragcars use them and think of the vibrations they have and the speeds they reach!

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for putting my mind at rest. I couldn't bare the thought of losing a bonnet.

We used to use Dzus fasteners at TVR on the Tuscan racecars, which is one of the reasons I thought of using them in the first place.

[F1 Mini]

There's only one problem with them fasteners, I lost my GT40 bonnet because of them... Driving along at 50 mph when it flew off was quite dramatic....

The problem being "YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER TO DO THEM UP[i][u]" DOU...

[Dick Dastardly]

Some latest photo's....

CLICK

CLICK

CLICK

More soon...

D.D.

[biggav]

AWE..................SOME

[* Specialized *]

Fantastic!!