852 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

Cleaning up the engine bay involved various Drill and Angle Grinder wire brush attachments, mechanical scraping and nearly a whole bottle of Bilt Hamber Deox Gel.

Worst locations were in the corners by the Tower Bolts, on the underside in the same location and the RH toe board corner. As well as a few odd spots here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the pitted and embedded rust here:

 

 

And here:

 

 

As well as old paint, which I had brushed on in the past.

 

 

Slowly, slowly, clean, wash, gel, scrub, scrape and bit by bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost there:

 

 

Due to fitting the Weber Box, I had to locate a new hole for the Speedo Cable. After fitting the MCs I decided where it could go.

Not the best view but the speedo cable will fit past the clutch MC.

 

 

 

Also decided to do the job properly and weld up the old hole.

 

 

 

Then drilled a new hole for the wiring loom, for these holes I used a Step Drill:

 

 

Also need to find a new location for the Fuse Box, this would mean extending the relevant bits of the wiring loom.

 

 

MCs are only there to identify obstructions.

 

This took forever and could not paint as I ran out of days, so I had to spray everything up with WD 40 a couple of times to stop it rusting.

 

Plug welded and dressed back the rust holes behind the washer bottle bracket.

 

 

Whilst the welder was out, I made up a small bracket to support the lower dash, cutting in the weber box breaks into the existing flange at the back that is spot welded to the firewall. In haste I forgot to put any weld through primer on it :-(

 

 

Due to a seepage of brake or clutch fluid, the footwell would need painting, also this was the first time it had become completely accessible.

 

 

 The footwell was cleaned up much more than this.

[JonnyAlpha]

Painting the Engine Bay and Inside the Dash and Footwell

 

Finally some time and warm weather coincided so it was two days of non stop work to get the paint on. I did have to do a couple of small jobs, such as drill and fit some Rivnuts along the top edge of the Weber Box and also to hold the Fuse Box in it's new location.

 

I used MIPA Epoxy Primer, Tiger Seam Sealer, U-POL Gravitex Stone Chip, and Cellulose Body Colour (Almond Green).

Couple of coats of epoxy primer, seam sealer, gravitex stone chip (below the cross member and down, lower inner wing and inside the front valance), then another coat of epoxy primer, followed by four coats of cellulose top coat. 

 

Inside Primed:

 

 

 

Engine Bay Primed:

 

 

 

The following day I applied some seam sealer where it was needed, then another coat of MIPA epoxy primer.

Then four coats of colour, wet on wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course the same for the weber box:

 

 

Now I can take a rest.

 

Next job, I think I'll fit the weber box and put the interior back together, but before I start putting in the subframe I need to order a few bits, such as the boots for the steering rack and a fews bolts, washers, screws and grommets.

 

Annoyingly, looking through these pictures, I didn't re-route the battery cable!! I didn't want to drill into the paint, but hey ho. 

[alex-95]

Nice work Bill! It's looking good! Are you fitting the webber when the engine is NA now instead of the HIF44?

[JonnyAlpha]

Nice work Bill! It's looking good! Are you fitting the webber when the engine is NA now instead of the HIF44?

No, going to do what you guys suggested at first. Fitting the HIF with yellow spring and IIRC a BDL needle to run it in lean. Once run in I should hopefully have stripped the Weber and check / get the correct tubes etc for it, then the Weber is going in. No extra performance and extra fuel, but the look and sound all out weigh that

[alex-95]

 

Nice work Bill! It's looking good! Are you fitting the webber when the engine is NA now instead of the HIF44?

No, going to do what you guys suggested at first. Fitting the HIF with yellow spring and IIRC a BDL needle to run it in lean. Once run in I should hopefully have stripped the Weber and check / get the correct tubes etc for it, then the Weber is going in. No extra performance and extra fuel, but the look and sound all out weigh that

 

Ah right, makes sense, certainly worth doing it that way to make sure it's not  over fuelling. 

[JonnyAlpha]

Still got a few ancillaries to refurb, but now that the engine bay and inside the car that needed it had been painted, it was ready to start re-assembly.

 

First up was the Weber Box. Before fitting I applied some Butyl Sealant that I had left over which would be great to seal around the edges.

 

 

Borrowing an idea used on a Mini that @Tones61 helped with I ordered some anodised aluminium washers.

 

 

 

Once the Weber box was in it was time to refurb the last few bits of the car (although I'm sure there will be more).

Everything needed to be cleaned up ready for painting. 

 

Steering Rack and Gear Selector Mechanism

 

 

After the initial clean up, I removed the jubilee clips and gaiters and cleaned up the pinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Still catching up with work that I did a few weeks ago. 

When I removed the Heater Unit, I realised it was in need of a damm good clean up. 

 

 

I stripped it apart (not many pics) seems that there is no damage to it, although some of the sponge on the matrix part was wet and corroded underneath, this may have simply been the hose dripping back onto the unit?

 

 

 

 

I rubbed the rusted areas down with some wet and dry, mainly around the edges where condensation had been collecting.

 

 

I need to find some, felt and sponge etc and work out how to refurb the inner parts, but for now the outside can be painted.  

 

Here's the stripped heater unit and some of the last bits prepped for painting.

 

 

I used the Epoxy Primer and Epoxy top coat that I had left from the last batch of painting. The primer goes on nice, but the top coat is a bit of a pain, does't spray well (maybe should have tried thinning it a bit more). Spraying in a not to well lit garage is also tricky but in the end, apart from a few small areas, it went well.

 

And here are the results.

 

 

Steering rack is leaning up against my trolley on the left.

Edited by JonnyAlpha, 28 October 2022 - 02:18 PM.

[JonnyAlpha]

I left the paint to cure for a couple of days and then it was time to rebuild the steering rack.

New lock nuts, new Rod Ends and new Gaiters and filled with some SAE 90 (which I got from the local garage).

 

 

 

 

Now that the steering rack was back together it was finally time to do some rebuilding. The last thing to be removed was the steering rack, so I figured that's were I would start.

 

Tricky on your own, but luckily the front wheels were the perfect height to prop the rack on, whilst I attached the nuts and washers on the 'U' bolts.

 

 

To line the steering rack up, I'd need the steering wheel (although I also need the wheels on and lined up) but before the steering wheel can go in, I need to fit the Pedal Assembly.

Some of the non painted parts still had some rust on, even after wire brushing, so into the citric acid they went. Only for about 20 minutes and then out, washed, dried and oiled and ready to build up the assembly.

 

I used some copper grease on the moving parts.

 

 

I had to look back at the pics I took when I removed it to work out how it all went back in.

Still not quite in exactly the correct position, I think the steering column top bracket needs to be a little to the left, but each part is correctly fitted.

 

 

 

I forgot to fit the brake switch and it's adjuster :-(

Also still need to fit the accelerator pedal, but need to suss out this crazy little bracket that has a piece of rubber held in with a butterfly pin.

 

 

 

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Nearly updated now, a few days ago I started fitting the Subframe, first I check all the bolts and nuts on it had been done up correctly, then I had to work out how to get it into position. 

Jacking it up was proving tricky, balancing it in one point was impossible, so I decided to use the crane. I found a lifting strop the other day, it had literally fallen off of the back of a lorry, but typically, now that I needed it, guess what, I could not find it

 

So luckily I had a smaller strap rated at 125Kg.

 

Before lifting the Subframe into place I had to scrummage around my boxes of bits and prepped all the correct nuts, bolts and fittings, also watched a couple of videos (William Murfitt and Lee Baker 'Smugwood Mini'), as well as looking at some of the diagrams on MiniSpares, to work out what was needed.

 

I was fitting solid tower mounts and rubber front and rear, I cleaned and painted the rear fronts the other day, but forgot to repaint the new TearDrop mounts, so I had to sort that out first.

 

I also need to do some research to find out which way around the solid tower mounts went on. Very little info online so once I found out how, I made a video.

 

Once the front, rear and tower mounts where in place I slid the subframe into position and rigged up the lifting strop.

 

 

Using some old sheets to protect the paintwork, I started to lift it into position.

 

It proved quite difficult to get the tower mounts lined up, but incorporating the help of my son, who was visiting, we got it done and both lower tower mounts were sitting flush to the underside of the Cross Member.

 

 

Still got to sort out the gaps between the subframe and front of the car, but that can't be done until the car is back on its wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KTS]

good work !

 

for the gaps between subframe and front panel, use metal shims to pack the gap.   putting the car on it's wheels won't make any difference to the gaps (..well it shouldn't)

 

Lastly - fitting the brake and fuel lines should really be done before you fit the subframes....

[Retro_10s]

I have just done the same to my heater,... the correct 6mm foam you need is available from 'demisterman' on eBay. it only costed £2.64 for a sheet.

[JonnyAlpha]

 

Lastly - fitting the brake and fuel lines should really be done before you fit the subframes....

 

Damm!!

 

I have just done the same to my heater,... the correct 6mm foam you need is available from 'demisterman' on eBay. it only costed £2.64 for a sheet.

 

Thanks, i'll look him up. 

[GraemeC]

I would advise either all solid or all rubber subframe mounts - don't mix and match.

 

The little bracket with the rubber on is the throttle pedal stop and fits under the bottom left pedal box bolt.

[JonnyAlpha]

I would advise either all solid or all rubber subframe mounts - don't mix and match.

 

The little bracket with the rubber on is the throttle pedal stop and fits under the bottom left pedal box bolt.

 

Interesting, there's a lot of conflicting information on this. I have read that, fitting solid mounts to the front, in place of the Tear Drops, doesn't allow any flex and can cause cracking under the headlight area?  

[JonnyAlpha]

I have just done the same to my heater,... the correct 6mm foam you need is available from 'demisterman' on eBay. it only costed £2.64 for a sheet.

 

Just been reading your project build, seems you started and then had to pack the mini away to get on with life  

 

Just reading the heater resto bit here