740 replies to this topic

[benb12]

This is awesome! Will definitely be keeping an eye on it

[GraemeC]

Nice project.

The front indicator/sidelight units look like Clubman ones - be careful with them, replacements will cost you a pretty penny
Also the brake master looks like a Cooper S one - worth hanging onto (it can be refurbed with new seals)

[MrBounce]

Nice project.

The front indicator/sidelight units look like Clubman ones - be careful with them, replacements will cost you a pretty penny
Also the brake master looks like a Cooper S one - worth hanging onto (it can be refurbed with new seals)

Have new gaskets for the lights - they're serviceable and will be fine after a clean

@Ben. Thanks!

[minimat]

Nice project Dave

[MrBounce]

Ok, so Saturday saw me off to Southern Mini Days in Kent with the sole purpose of picking up a few parts. So I now have some captive nut engine mounts, a pair of rear wheel brake cylinders, a gearshift gaiter, a set of caliper seals, a couple of stainless caliper pistons (for some reason known only to myself I didn't buy 4), a couple of dashboard vents, steering column surrounds and another heater, which the vendor assured me was in good working order and didn't leak.

However I put all this to one side as I wanted to clear as much stuff from the engine bay as possible. This meant firstly removing the wiper motor and wheelbox assembly. It came out nice and easily and was well lubricated but like most things on this car, it had suffered a bit with the 10 years of standing. It was a bit...well...brown. No problem! 5 minutes with my friend the angle grinder and wire brush had it looking good. I've put it in the corner out of the way.

I have also removed the bonnet stay which then got the same treatment and once I'd removed all the brackets and screws that didn't involve me needing an assistant, off came the bonnet. I then utilised the man-room hoover to suck up all the horrible dust, broken clips etc that had accumulated in the engine bay over the years. It still needs to be properly cleaned, but maybe I'll get on with that at the weekend.

As I still had a few minutes I thought I would just take a quick look at the heater matrix in the "new" heater. "Good working order" and "doesn't leak" eh? Thank you so much for relieving me of a tenner to take away some of your crap. The matrix was almost as bad as the previous one. Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy a new one - it's the only way to be sure...

Wiper wheelbox before...



...and after!



Bonnet stay before...



...and after!



Bay getting cleaner



Heater in good working order, allegedly. I beg to differ...

Edited by MrBounce, 08 August 2011 - 09:53 PM.

[MrBounce]

Managed to get away from work nice and early today (bonus when you start at 7.30 - you can finish at 3.30 )

Thought I would clear a bit more of the engine bay and set about removing the radiator. Now this was supposed to be an Allegro item - I think not as the top hose connection is on the wrong side of the engine bay. I think it's more likely to have been from something with an inline rather than transverse engine so possibly a Marina? Anyhow, undoing the 2 bolts on the front panel under where the bumper would normally sit was a doddle, presumably because they weren't rusty. The rad just lifted nicely out. It does look a bit knackered though at the bottom - a layer of rust probably means it's had a small amount of water sitting in it for several years and has started rotting out. Replacement is on the cards. If anyone works at a Motor Factors can they let me know of a radiator roughly 270mm x 500mm (excluding end tanks) that has a top and bottom hose connection on the left? Much appreciated

The fan was bolted to the radiator by means of some extremely rusty bolts, 2 of which sheared immediately. These needed drilling out. I shall probably re-use this as apart from the rusty bolts, it looks in good condition.

Now the rad was missing it was easy to remove the wire mesh from the air intake - it was held on by 3 rusty wingnuts. The numberplate brackets were taken off (2 more sheared bolts...) I also took my time removing the weird engine steady bracket from the passenger side of the car. This took some time as the bolts and the bracket had become one mass of rust. Still, no match for my spanner and 2ft extension bar and socket. Apart from the various bolts that need to be released from inside the car via use of a helper, I am pretty much done in the engine bay now.

Rad out, rust at bottom... (rad is upside down...)



Electric fan removed



A gaping hole at the front now



Strange bracket (broken). I'm sure those bushes will go again...



The pile of nasty, rusty seized bolts and knackered bushes from just tonight's work. Stainless next time methinks...

Edited by MrBounce, 11 August 2011 - 10:05 PM.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Coming on lovely! I love how you use the headlamp reccess' as a tool shelf!

[MrBounce]

I have been given an oil cooler by a mate (well I swapped it for some scampi tails...) but the scrap pipes on it were so solidly on there they wouldn't budge without extreme force. Now, as it's an OIL cooler and therefore has oil in it, heat would be a problem, especially with a naked flame. So I chucked it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer overnight. Took it out this morning (after about 10 hours) and said unions undid easily. So that's my top tip of the day.

I then got the heater I'd bought and thought if I am going to put a new matrix in it, I need to make sure it's not covered in rust and crap. So out came the angle grinder with wire brush attachment and I sorted the heater side panels no problem. However, the main heater body was scrap. I brushed of the paint and the wire brush went straight through. So that's another punch from me Mr Dodgy Mini parts vendor. Perfectly serviceable my donkey! Amazingly the main body from the heater that had been left in the Midas for 10 years cleaned up ok, so I'll use that. Just need to sort some paint now...

Frozen oil cooler union



Pipes off! Woo-hoo!



Rubbish heater, part 2



Cleaned bits ready for paint.

Edited by MrBounce, 13 August 2011 - 03:26 PM.

[MrBounce]

As it was a sunny afternoon it was time to push the little beast out of its brick prison and give the thing a proper clean - its first in about 10 years judging by the amount of moss and other interesting marks on it. Luckily for me my father-in-law runs a chemical company which manufactures car cleaning products (wholesale) and he has an excellent general purpose cleaner which will shift most things.

So I pushed the car out into the sun and taped up every hole which led to the interior. This would then give me an idea of just how shot the door and window seals were. So I spent the best part of 2 1/2 hours giving it a good scrub and hose down. I also was able to get an idea of the last few little jobs left to clear out the engine bay and interior, as it's not always apparent in the tiny garage I have. As I was cleaning it anyway, I gave the wheels a squirt of alloy cleaner to see how much work they'd need to refurbish. Still a lot. Ho hum...

And of course it all filled with water. My drive is on a slant, so it all collected in the rear. It took a while with a sponge to clear it out. The sun helped dry it out too. Still, it's now much cleaner (although still in need of a further deep clean) so will be nicer to work on. And I'm not too worried about the other marks as they're all going to attacked with an orbital sander and resprayed anyway!!

Dirty Car!



Moss growing on the rear end...



Holes taped up in the front...



...and the back



Bang! And the dirt is gone!!



Clean!



Bonnet off and cleaner engine bay



It's full of water!!



Clean-ish alloy



Back in the garage

[Youngowner93]

You might get away with something like a VW Bora radiator. They have connections on both sides however im not sure on the dimesions of it.

Have you got any more room or does it have to be really close in terms of size? I'll have a look at work for you tommorow

Edited by Youngowner93, 14 August 2011 - 05:31 PM.

[minimat]

How did you know Dave owns a bora as well?

[Youngowner93]

How did you know Dave owns a bora as well?

Haha good guess i suppose

[Ethel]

Montego radiators are a good fit - and cheap new. I suppose you might have difficulty finding one in a scrappers, but they also have a push fan that creates some space under the bonnet. The later Renault Clio expansion tank all gets a recommendation.

Drill a couple of small drainage holes in the floor, in the unlikely event you ever persuade the seals to keep the water out you can soon fill them in. If you haven't already sussed, the drain for the rear screen is hopeless - rigging up an alternative for each corner of the gutter will help when you're not parked on a dead level surface (most of the time).

[MrBounce]

Ethel, the underbonnet space i.e depth back from the rad is fine - there's loads of room. I've got a working fan that's quite big but fits with room to spare. Just can't have the rad too much wider

And, Matt & Young Owner, the answer is no. It is staying in the Bora!!

Note have just looked it up - the Bora one's way too big!!

Edited by MrBounce, 14 August 2011 - 09:18 PM.

[Midas Mk1]

My dads had both metro and allegro rads fitted in his mk1, need to find something better though for when the 1293 goes in...