780 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

the standard of work on this is exceptional, I'm well impressed

 

it's the little things that get me, like the battery cable bracket

[alex-95]

So a puddle of oil formed and gradually got bigger, I had a couple of long journeys planned so thought I'd better sort it out. It was coming from the diff cover gasket, so removed all the bits required and replaced it with the engine in the car which is a little awkward.

 

 

About a week later when I moved the car backwards, there was an even bigger puddle . So off it came again, I figured you can do it without removing the exhaust which made the job a little easier. I thought of a few issues that could have caused the leak such as the diff cover not being flat  or the o-ring not sealing. To check the flatness of the cover I machined a bit of ally the same depth as the locating ring on the diff cover and added so emery paper. I could then put it on and grain the face as in the below photos.

 

 

Low spots where the pen hasn't been removed

Flat!

 

Put it all back together with and there were no leaks! Next thing thats been on the cards for about 2 - 3 years is headlight stone guards, The brackets that come with them are rubbish, so finally came up with a solution, not perfect as I was hoping to make them easily removable but at least I won't lose them.

 

 

Had to make them so they were upright

 

 

On the last MOT they mentioned one radius arm lifted easier than the other which was a bit strange, I thought at first the arm had seized but both had only done 10k miles and had been greased regularly. I figured that it must be the rubber cone, Luckily I had 2 in stock for another project. Normally you'd have to remove the tank to get to the shock bolt, I've done it before and its a pain and I always have a full tank of fuel when I need to do it . I then remembered 'cooperman' posted that he cut a hole in the rear seat, so thought that would be easier . I marked it out using 'cooperman's' photo and measuring off the drivers side. I marked it out and used a 'Multitool' to cut the hole out. Made a plate to cover the hole hand screwed it on. It made the job a lot easier and for in the future, If you do this to your's don't post it on facebook as the know it alls come out

 

 

With the hole cut out, the old cones were removed, new ones fitted and put back together.

 

Got lucky with spotting CV grease leaking out the boot!

 

Then It was time for the first show of the year, Cornish mini club's Riviera run at Pentewan sands.

 

AC Dodd attended again, the opportunity of an overdue tune was taken (I was supposed to have it done at IMM 2019). He done a cracking job once again and the car runs perfectly!

 

 

Show and shine on the Sunday and came away with 2nd in class!

And made it into Miniworld

 

 

And some other random photos

 

 

I'll update the rest soon...

 

[alex-95]

the standard of work on this is exceptional, I'm well impressed

 

it's the little things that get me, like the battery cable bracket

Sorry missed your reply. Thank you very much, Haha, it's all in the detail!

[Retro_10s]

I'm a big fan of the van grill on a saloon, looks great.

[alex-95]

The final update to get up to date

 

With the ARP headstands being black, the thermostat and heater studs + nuts looked a bit out of place being silver. Could have painted them but that always looks a bit rubbish So I got some new studs, shortened them and turned the ends to make them look nice and chemically blackened them with a kit I got.

Blackened, I also got the nuts done and turned some washers up, 1 being thicker on the thermostat to accommodate the radiator bracket that the other 2 sit on .

 

Then got as many other bolts done as well. Machined some washers for the wiper motor bracket and got the wiper cover screws done as well.

 

 

 

At the end of May we went up to Goodwood for the retrogrades weekender, which I was hoping to get the mini to in 2018 but some specialists can't build gearbox's properly so never made it.

mini got filthy on the 200+ mile journey there and half way up the oil light started flickering, luckily I have the gauge as well as that was still showing the normal pressure.

 

While I was parked at the show I noticed a few drips of oil on the ground, I thought it was the diff cover again but couldn't see any oil on the engine anywhere. Once I got home and lifted the bonnet I found oil all over the engine bay A quick look around found it to be coming out of the oil pressure sensor. The diaphragm had split inside which let oil pass through the terminal all over the engine bay.

I had to make a spanner to remove the gauge

 

So a new 20PSI gauge was ordered from Minispares, Which turns out is an adjustable one that it roughly set to 20PSI... I made a test rig with a tyre valve, foot pump and oil gauge and got it so it switches off at 20PSI and for good measure drilled and tapped the body M1.6 and put a screw in so it can't move.

 

Then We took another long drive up to caffeine and machine and garden mini and metro day.

Stopped off half way up to find the rear part of the chrome trim missing on both sides  , we did hit a very big bump

 

At C+M which was very good and got to park in front of the new painting (in progress in the photo)

 

And then the next day to the very wet and disappointing mini and metro day. I think the rain put a lot of people off and maybe made them bring their Binis? Like nearly every other mini show the Bini ratio is far to high for my liking  . It did dry up though and had a look around, there was only one car that really stood out and that was OAP's innocenti which was absolutely stunning! It was worth the visit to see the museum and meet up with a few friends.

 

 

The journey home was a little eventful too, unable to dodge this on the dual carriage way due to a car beside me I hit what looks like a squashed oil drum  , which bounced off the exhaust all the way under the car, I think I was lucky i had a centre exit to be honest.

Nice little dent in the manifold and split the exhaust clamp

 

Then went to a few local shows etc

 

 

Fitted new trim, which came off again, and agin 

 

Then it was MOT time again, the last one that I have to actually go to! (More looking forward to the free tax!)

Best check all the lights etc ... no brake lights   2 hours before the MOT. Luckily I quickly traced the faulty brake lights to the switch melting and failing and luckily had a spare switch. Fitted that and was working once again and the mini sailed through the MOT. I remember people having problems with the mini brake switches before as they are poorly designed and made. A quick search led me to these (Brake Light Switch fits BMW 518 E12 E28 1.8 74 to 87 Lemark 1368786 61311350645 https://www.ebay.co....tm/234645174263) switches which are a straight swap and much better quality.

I ended up turning up a cover to protect the terminals as I believe the fresh air pipe was rubbing on these and thats what damaged the old switch.

 

Drilled out the tower bolts so I don't have to take them out to adjust the ride height.

 

Another machining project was to make another clip for my rocker cover, got the old one traced out in CAD, programmed and machined a new one out of Ali and then got it anodised black to match everything else.

 

And looks a lot better than the chrome one.

 

 

Which brings the mini up to date finally. 

[ajperry]

lovely work as always!

[alex-95]

lovely work as always!

Cheers Mate!

[alex-95]

Quick update on the mini, I haven't really done a lot to it, A lot of ideas and things that need to be done but have no enthusiasm to do it (or any other of the minis). What I have done, replaced both rear cylinders as both were leaking after about 10k miles, which ended up being a right pain to do, the clips come out the groove that holds them in so spent ages getting them on correctly mainly because the I have the banjo type pipes so that got in the way. Then the from calliper bleed nipples kept leaking, luckily I had 2 new mini spares callipers I could borrow the bleed nipples off, Unfortunately the manufacturer used all the Newton metres when they were screwing them in and damaged them both.

 

Then I had a rumbling noise from somewhere, I noticed the pot joint was spraying out grease everywhere, A bit of investigation found it was knackered, I think the exhaust has been melting the grease and then not giving the pot joint the lubrication it needs. So had to replace that.

 

I've used a hammer and punch previously but decided to have a go at making the correct tool that fits in the groove and pushes it off..

 

Been to some shows and meets, Got 2nd place at Riviera run again.

 

 

 

 

And lastly for the update and if you haven't already seen the latest Mini magazine, I got featured in it! I never thought I'd get asked to be featured in the Mag especially 6 years after it being on the road. The photos were taken in December 2022! Heres some of the photos from the shoot....

 

 

[JXC Mini GT]

Great looking car, the attention to detail is excellent, it looked even better in the flesh when I saw it at the Riviera run

[alex-95]

Great looking car, the attention to detail is excellent, it looked even better in the flesh when I saw it at the Riviera run

Cheers! It was great to meet you and have a chat at riv run! I did spot you at Beaulieu last weekend just as you were leaving!

[gaspen]

Is that a Dulles type dash or custom made ?

[Speedymad]

New member and I’ve loved looking through the build.  Lovely example and great to see such attention to detail. 
 

wonderful car 

[alex-95]

Is that a Dulles type dash or custom made ?

Custom homemade dash mate, theres some more photos on pages 39 -41

 

New member and I’ve loved looking through the build.  Lovely example and great to see such attention to detail. 
 

wonderful car 

Thank you! Glad you've enjoyed looking through it, that must have taken a while!

[classictinkering]

Great looking car!

 

I've used a hammer and punch previously but decided to have a go at making the correct tool that fits in the groove and pushes it off..

Nice job, I've been thinking of trying to make one myself, always love to have the right tool for the job :) Any tips for getting the right profile on the edge that slots into the groove? That groove is so shallow, just seems like it would be a bit of a nightmare trying to file the edge to a good enough match that it would 'grip'. Cheers!

[alex-95]

Great looking car!

 

I've used a hammer and punch previously but decided to have a go at making the correct tool that fits in the groove and pushes it off..

Nice job, I've been thinking of trying to make one myself, always love to have the right tool for the job :) Any tips for getting the right profile on the edge that slots into the groove? That groove is so shallow, just seems like it would be a bit of a nightmare trying to file the edge to a good enough match that it would 'grip'. Cheers!

Cheers!

Yeah me too, usually makes the job easier! I'm lucky I have a CNC mill at my disposal   But even then I had to file it to fit as I didn't allow enough gap (but didn't want to make it too big either!). Without a Mill I think hole saws, grinders and files would be the only way.