740 replies to this topic

[MrBounce]

hmm, an update of general positivity and good progress being made is very out of character 

 

what have you done with the real MrBounce ?

 

He's under the patio 

[Ken555]

It's the resin fumes its caused a slight hallucination effects.

[Ken555]

It's the resin fumes its caused a slight hallucination effects.

[Ken555]

Next he'll say hes seeing double. ;)

[MrBounce]

Today is yet another tale of bumpers and sanding. However, it is a HAPPY one. 

 

After the last lot of sanding I grabbed the front bumper and had a look at it. It seems that this was the bumper I had done most of the previous work on so aside from a few cobwebs, it was in MUCH better condition than the rear one. I spent a while looking at the minor imperfections on it and after some gentle work with the sanding block and some P38 I was relatively happy with it. It needs some very minor bits doing but it won't take me nearly as long.

 

Moving to the rear of the car, the other bumper just needed a little bit of further fettling. I got the Dolphin Glaze out (man I love that stuff!) and spent what seemed like 3 days getting it super smooth. Let's just say that I needed to hoover the workbench area 3 times, and my shoes are now an interesting shade of grey. Daisy the kitten came in at this point, gave the Midas the once over, pronounced it ok and flounced off to chase squirrels.

 

I then put the rear bumper on the stand, took it outside and gave it a coat of primer. Aside from 4 or 5 very minor blemishes (each about the size of a pinhead) I am very pleased with how it's turned out. I have DG'd the front bumper too. I shall sand that later.

 

Front bumper needed a lot less work.

 

 

Daisy's CAT scan revealed all was in order.

 

 

And rear bumper in primer. AT LAST!!

 

[MrBounce]

Apologies for not posting much for a week or so. I lost a very close friend last weekend so haven't really felt like doing too much car-wise recently. We had a big curry on Sunday to give Tracey a decent send-off, and although it's desperately sad to lose her, she was in a lot of pain, so that release has been a merciful one. Rest In Peace Fancy Pants x 

 

Back to the bumpers: I have looked at the rear bumper and given the small imperfections a further dab of Dolphin Glaze - a further coat of primer will follow. The front bumper has been well-sanded and chucked on to the stand. I have given it a coat of filler primer (it was on the shelf and I thought I'd use it). As expected there are a few minor imperfections - about 6 in total, so another bit of filling and sanding and all will be hunky-dory and ready for paint.

 

A contact through the Mini Forum has sorted my gauge issue by sending me a voltmeter and oil pressure gauge. These are in really good nick and come out of a Reliant, hence the "R" script on the face. I actually really like this so I might just leave these as they are. Thoughts?

 

Front Bumper in primer, Still a little bit of work to do.

 

 

And new gauges courtesy of @Udo Cheers!

 

Edited by MrBounce, 21 May 2020 - 07:53 PM.

[KTS]

sorry to hear that MrBounce.  

 

i'd keep the R's; maybe one day in the future the motoring gods will spot the Reliant reference and bless your car with all the positive aspects the word bears.  That, or it'll spend most of it's life in the garage being fixed, or if not in the garage being fixed, being driven to a new and uninteresting place to break down

[MrBounce]

Although I have done a little bit more final finishing on the bumpers before paint, that's boring. Nope, today I will be talking about... cables. Or, more specifically, handbrake cables. The one that came of the car looked like a much bodged Mini rear cable (it looked like it had broken and had been somehow put back together using a huge bolt) and instead of a front cable, it had a solid threaded bar and a homemade pulley thing. It didn't look like it would work very well. Plus the handbrake on the car had no button. It was, for want of a better word, knackered.

 

I made enquiries on the Midas Faceache page, and Mk2 owners said theirs was standard Mini, although the front cable was shortened a little. So I went internet shopping. I already have a standard Mini handbrake to go in (with a bit of modification to the mounts) so I got myself a Mini rear cable, the compensator bracket, the front cable, locking nut and the little plate that the cable goes through. What did I forget? The little forked bracket that attaches to the rear of the handbrake itself. I took a look and thought there's no bleeping way I am paying £4 postage plus another £4 just to get a piece of bent metal with 3 holes in it. So I made one.

 

"Simple enough to put together", I thought. I grabbed a small piece of Jaffa Cake packet and made a template. As luck would have it, I found a piece of 2mm sheet almost exactly the right size. I used the pillar drill and step drill to make the 3 holes, then used a bit of 1" square metal tube as a template to bend the ends to the right angle. Then I further bent the "arms" using a bit of 3/4" bar in the vice. It's now in paint. And rather than shortening the cable, I will just site the handbrake a little further back. A good evening's creating.

 

Cables - I now have 2, along with a bracket and a nut.

 

 

CAD template and conveniently sized piece of 2mm sheet. (I did trim it a little before the picture)

 

 

And finished bracket. Everything fits. Yay.

 

[GraemeC]

Nice fab work, but the rear hole in your bracket doesn’t look big enough - the fancy shaped adjuster nut should go through the bracket with the hex part pointing along the cable.

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

Edited by GraemeC, 23 May 2020 - 09:56 PM.

[MrBounce]

Nice fab work, but the rear hole in your bracket doesn’t look big enough - the fancy shaped adjuster nut should go through the bracket with the hex part pointing along the cable.

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

Cheers Graeme - I shall get the step drill out again! 

[GraemeC]

Obviously work out how it goes together and check it - it could be a misleading photo angle.

 

This bit confused me: “And rather than shortening the cable, I will just site the handbrake a little further back.” Surely if you mount it further back it will need to have an even shorter cable?

[MrBounce]

Sorry @GraemeC it's my bad explanation of what the Midas guys said - their handbrake had some sort of spacer on the back of it to make the cable the "correct" length. Rather than add the spacer, I'd just mount the handbrake a little further back. Hope this makes a bit more sense.

 

Since the last post I have been doing a number of little things. 

 

1) I finished off the handbrake forked bracket by making the rear hole big enough to accept the special flanged nut on the cable. It fits beautifully, the flange sits where it should and it can be adjusted in situ. Success.

 

2) The bumpers have had their first coat of paint. NO MORE SANDING! Whoop whoop! I am now out of paint, and they do need some more but it's nothing to worry about. More paint soon!

 

I have started doing some further dashboard work, but took no pictures of this. I am deciding where to put gauges, switches etc. I think I will need to do some serious reconfiguration. I am expecting much head scratching. More will follow.

 

Nut in right place. Works perfectly. Good.

 

 

Bumpers painted. Yeehaa!!

 

 

[MrBounce]

Both bumpers need to be properly mounted and the painting finished, but... here's a little tease! 

 

[MrBounce]

Yesterday I had a clear-out in the garage, pushed Zippy out and gave him a clean. He brushes up quite nicely!

 

[GraemeC]

Fab!

 

(or F.A.B. as there is something slightly Thunderbirds about it in that bright, bold orange   )