1065 replies to this topic

[Kam]

There is a method to my madness, please remember that

Not much of an update (yep another one of them ones) but I was in the garage working away so I might aswell bore you with it, I'm sure theres someone somewhere wanting to kill some time

First up my mates daughter was disgusted how dirty the car is! She's only ever see it polished up so was a bit upset but decided to teach me lesson and scrawl on it!





Well she's only 5 so I'll let her off

Chucked the brake servo on



You can see how close it is to my ford DIS pack, and why the guys using the original honda dizzy (which sticks out further) have to 'bend' the servo bracket out a tad



Plumbed in the braid from the servo to the regulator, look theres loopy lou......



Had a slight prob with the original breather pipe near the rocker cover



It does poke out a tad too much so was gonna cut it shorter for the breather bit on the end but as above you can see where the bottom section which holds coolant runs in a loop, so just looped the pipes below



Which shortens the top section, simples



Three washers gives enough clearance now to the manny



Temporary wrapped the coolant expansion bottle to the servo with some plastic cables for positioning, there is room there but will get some metal cables on it as and when



I know alot of people dont bother with the bottle but if you got room?

Picked up a new battery for a pug 306 diesel as my old mini one is a bit goosed



What does this sign mean? Dont buy this if there are children crossing with a naked flame? Answers on a postcard to the usual address



Snug, sorted



Ran my air filter ducting, its a bit tight!



Runs under the servo nicely



Then the method of my madness, my braid which I am now calling loopy lou, she comes in handy.......



The perfect loop for the ducting!

Clubbys have more room? Really? Its a bit effing tighto in there mate!





Big kudos to Gingermonkey, how he got all his 1.8 under a standard length nose is quite something, which you appreciate when doing a build yourself, awesome work fella

As for my lowly 1.6 with the more space clubby bay, I decided to get some heat wrap for the exhaust manny



Wasn't gonna get this as I wanted to show off my very cheap manny but this kind of stuff can reduce engine bay temperatures upto 70%

Ok thats what it says on the packet but I did look intelligent, for about 2 secs

This stuff is more of a PITA than it looks to put on

[Kam]

But its on, gotta get some metal clips tomorrow to hold it in as there was none in the pack I ordered, I dont think parcel string will withstand much heat



Got some carpet and underlay/soundproof, black carpet



Yes folks I know I'm putting in a faster engine so any power to weight helps but its also nice to get somewhere quick with some comfort! Besides, it has to look and feel mini inside, ok the exhaust shaking the whole chassis may be a give away but c'mon is that any different to most minis.......

Got my fan come through, 9 inches, size matters



Was purchased in haste before rad was in place, pictures makes it look worse but could easily fit a 10 or 11 incher in there! (ooh er missus) actually maybe even a 12 or 13 bad boy! (ooh ooh er indeed missus)



These fans only have a 55cm depth, also known as slim



I'm hoping to sort out the exhaust tomorrow as its needs 'fettling' with, what that means is it dont fit brilliantly at the mo' so needs my tender touch.....after that I can chuck some fluids in and start it up, I know I've had it started up before but theres been a couple of changes on the back of the inlet manifold......so we'll see

I got a call earlier from Track n Road to say the monday rolling road session for the mapping cant kind of go ahead as its kinda of a bank holiday? This was the date they gave weeks ago? Told him I'm taking this car to Le Mans and our leaving date is the 10th June, so he's gonna try and do something as they are booked up rammo and the next gap is the 18th, he's hoping to pull a few strings and go for the 8th......which means no shakedown time!

We'll see....

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Sound's good mate! must've been the biggest update so far!?

[Kam]

Sound's good mate! must've been the biggest update so far!?

Yes I did feel slightly exhausted after that update, did take it out of me, mainly on the keyboard

I promise the next one will be better

[ginger_monkey]

good stuff mate. Same fan as me. Might need a bigger one though as I don't think the area it cools is big enough.

Also the battery signs mean no burning women and children unless you use chemicals or explosives

[Kam]

This update is only for the exhaust fitting side of things, if you tuned in to see me ragging this car on a test drive around my local private airfield then your gonna have to wait a bit longer as its refusing to start! Could be anything so will do my usual......not sure what that is yet?

My deadline finishes next thursday (bank holiday monday today) so looks like it aint gonna happen, still needs to get a MOT as its far from road legal, rolling road mapping session has been booked now for next monday, so seven days to get it usable for them....hmmmm, I think I might need a trailor as the engine refuses to start and the clutch refuses to bleed, and whos gonna sort the suspension out? Me??? Doubt it!

As for the exhaust, I was on a high after spending a whole day doing the gear linkage and getting all gears, and then got shot down in flames the next day day with the above two problems but carried on regardless

Started off looking at the roll tip which lets face it, I dont like



So went for the slash cut jap look, well it is a honda?



After mocking up my link pipe between the custom manifold and Play mini rear silencer, I found I was a few inchies short << that dont sound good

Luckily my mate gave me a couple of link pipes long ago he didnt need, one has a flexi but is 1.75" and the other is 2" with no flexi, got my few inchies I needed allbiet with no flexi



Picked up a 2" internal bore connector from Merlin Motorsport lovely jubbly



Drilled out hole for the lambda sensor after mock up



Took time but I got there (note sledge hammer on rocker cover)



Welded in the nut for the lambda



From collector







Clears the gear linkage with all gears - just, Lambda clears fine



And just enough stealth pipe as I wanted



Tomorrow will mainly be getting the engine to start up, which I'm guessing will help a tad what?

Edited by Kam, 31 May 2010 - 11:52 PM.

[Chris C]

Exhaust is looking good!

[Kam]

Exhaust is looking good!

Cheers Chris

Took all day to do, I prefer plug n play stuff myself

[Kam]

Bugger!

I'm feeling stress now, was waiting for this all the time during the build and its hitting me now, have had a few things go wrong recently which puts the deadline out of bounds, but I've managed to work around or in some case through it!

Right, deadline leaving for Le Mans is thursday (yep the 10th), at the moment the mapping is booked in on monday, next day MOT, wednesday testing, then thursday off to dover for 716 miles.... So basically I'm going on the basis everything will work out and be a nice knock on effect.....

After finishing the exhaust the engine wouldn't start up, Bugger! , nothings changed? Its just been siting here? Honda reliability? No, looks like owner liability!

Before I found the problem (turn but not fire with the plugs bone dry) I decided the injectors may be blocked, so de-pressurise the fuel system and off with the injectors



Then the problem, how do you clean injectors? I aint got a scooby so just tidied them up and chucked them back on! Bugger!

Turn key......nothing again, Bugger!

By chance I found the crank sensor plug wasn't connected properly, looked it but wasn't, after it clipped in, turned key....

Then once again the GingerMonkey was spot on, my 9 inch fan would not be efficent for my standard civ rad, lets face it, it looks tiny in the picture, took his advice on board for a bigger rad, in the meantime I got the car running but used an extra fan to aid cooling, just in case



Cooled nicely with the extra fan so next time round I waited till mini gauge was getting to three quarter and switched off extra fan, after a short pause the 9 inch kicked in but the temp gauge never came down atall

Couldn't wait for a next day delivery on a new bigger fan and returning this one from Rally Design so decided to pop down to them the following morning, they are near dover and I'm from the other side of kent! Yep its that time factor again.....

New fan, 12 inch puller





Thats better

While I was there at rally design I picked up a new clutch res pot



I cant get my honda res pot to 'drop' the fluid into my master due to its location and the original brake servo bracket being in the way, there probably is a way round this but sometimes you gotta think on your feet?

As this drops from the bottom and my honda one from the side then gravity wont be an issue here - providing I can place it somewhere......

Chopped down the holding bracket and made the hole for a coach bolt



Due to the unique way I did my bulkhead box I only have room for one hole due to the width above the master cylinder area, so opted for a coach bolt so it wont turn?





Looks tight but theres ample room to remove and fill up the res

Then disaster! Finished bleeding the brakes and clutch around midnight, quick check round for fluids....Bugger! little bit by the outlet on the master leaking, tighten up union, little leak, tighten bit more, very little leak, tighten a bit more, snap! Bugger!

Broken union stuck in master, fluid pouring out from res pot, yeah all good at that time of night

Cleaned up, went to bed, start fresh in morning.....

Need 7/16 union....right, quick moment of brilliance and head to Pirtek, I'm sure 7/16 aint a plumbers size? But with Pirtek it is



Out with the AP master, somehow managed to get the broken union out, relief as this master aint cheap!

Plumbed it all back in



Bled clutch, and all fine

Need to test clutch, cars on axles with no wheels.....

Started it up, went through all the gears, yep fine, nice biting point aswell still could do with more bleeding but its there, pushrod under the master can be adjusted aswell for more of a pedal feel but sod that nonsence - it works, if aint broke......well yet!

Remember, I have swapped the original honda final drive in the gearbox and bought the Watsons 3.4 final drive, not only is this meant to be nicer for 12" wheels buts it also makes it geared to 186mph - which helps on the school runs

So got it into fifth with no accelerator pedal or wheels as its on axles and I'm pretty sure this is the famous what I'm gonna call now the 'Watsons Whine'



I dont mind a 'slight' straight cut sound, but anything more will start to cheese me off, this 'whine' came in just after 3rd gear

So took it for a spin to test the gears under load etc as axles stands dont really do much for feedback









Its been 7 months since I last drove a mini so was a bit elated to say the least got first and reverse and got into second aswell but way too bumpy down the alleyway for second! Stalled it about 50 times as its needs revs quite a bit and sometimes it will hold idle fine and other times not. I'm not too worried as the throttle pedal is a bit sticky anyway and still needs adjusting and the rolling road will sort out the rest.......I think

Back in the garage and got the front bumper on



The front end is basically nothing short of ruined, it dont line up etc and after trying the bonnet it overhangs the drivers side by well over an inch! I blame the person who fitted it for me.....

Its definately gonna be a trackday front, but I need to figure out what I'm doing with the overhang tomorrow as it can only be done tomorrow due to unforeseen circumstances this end....

Original mapping day was 31st may, they call back a few days beforehand and say sorry 31st is bank holiday our error but next free date is 18th june Bugger!
I say no, deadline is 10th June, after a couple of days and them moving people around they call and say 7th (monday), I agree, went and saw a mate for a MOT, he's rammo on the day (tuesday 8th) but will squeeze in a MOT first thing
Arrange with my cousin to trailor this on the monday to the mappers. Get call late wedenesday (just gone) he's got a hospital appointment now monday morning he's wife has just reminded him about! Bugger! So cant help out but I'm welcome to borrow his trailor
He dont live near me so out of the question and I dont have a tow bar anyway! Bugger!
Thursday morning wake up in a panic as I cant get the car to the mappers without a trailor???
Friday got a tow bar fitted to the 'family vehicle' and booked up to hire a trailor monday morning!

to be honest, if all goes to plan its mapping monday, MOT tuesday, get tax with MOT cert tuesday afternoon, shakedown test wednesday then 716 miles return trip to Le Mans on thursday?

Its a knock on effect so will do my part anyway although the car is far from ready for a MOT, but the I aint giving up yet!

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

You don't half update at odd time's mate. But wow what progress! and almost times for Lemans again! exciting times

[mini_mad69]

Beautifull car mate!

Should be pretty nippy once it's done.

[The Matt]

Dammit! You beat me!

Good work, Kambo!

[ginger_monkey]

Great work mate IT'S ALIVE let us know how the tuning place is as I might be coming down to use them soon if it's all good.


p.s WHAT ARE YOU DOING LOOKING AT THE FORUM. GET BACK OUT THERE AND FINISH YOUR CAR, SLACKER!

keep it up mate your doing well. Also the bigger fan is a good idea as I nearly cooked my engine on the way to Bristol mini day today.

[Kam]

You don't half update at odd time's mate

Just for you then Craig, here we go again

Got into garage at 11am, and finished just after midnight, and took a massive two pictures

Reverse selector hooked up



Front lights working, still need to put the indicators on anyway



to be honest I couldn't be bothered to take any pictures as I spent the rest of the time sorting out the front end and getting some brackets on to hold the bonnet etc, right PITA, I'm really not a fan of fiberglass There are huge gaps but its on, just hope it dont downpour when I'm out driving in it

I gotta pick up the trailor in 6 hours now then head to the rolling road for mapping, few hours kip should help......fingers crossed and everything else, not for the rolling road but for me as I've never driven with a trailor!

[Rhys]

Wow this was an inspirational sprint finish, hugely impressed and feeling quite ashamed now as well for my lack of progress! Anyway good luck getting it all finished in time!

Rhys