156 replies to this topic

[The.Yellow.Mini.Guy]

looks great

[miniBrain]

looks great

Thanks mate, appreciate it!

Another quick update: Fitted the engine today. No great dramas but here's a few pics.

Raised the engine using a block & tackle attached to the shed roof beams then maneuvered the car into position on its wheels:



Then slowly lowered the engine. I connected the speedo cable whilst there was still room from above:



I had to leave the wheels (thus swivel hubs and driveshafts) on the car since I had to move the car to the engine rather than engine to car (because of the fixed hoist). I tied the driveshafts up so that the pot joints would slip past and let the engine sit on its mounts. Then I would withdraw the swivel hubs and driveshaft and fit them properly. This worked fine on the right side since this side has the longer shaft and there's plenty of room. But on the left side I had to jack the car up and remove swivel hub and driveshaft since I didn't think there was enough room to free the driveshaft once the engine was in place. I eventually got a bolt into the right engine mount first then joggled the engine until the mounting holes lined up on the left.



All snugly fitted and ready to equip:



Hope to get the engine fitted out and running this weekend.

Thanks for looking!

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 05:30 PM.

[GraemeC]

The clutch master is on backwards - which in itself shouldnt make a huge amount of issue to how it works, but in trying to visualise it turned round I suspect it might be a brake master, which have different internals and hence might not work optimally.
It was the wrong way round when you got the car, indicating that someone has meddled in the past ;)

[skoughi]

Looks good, keeps the enthusiasm bubbling along!

[miniBrain]

Thanks for commenting guys, much appreciated

Graham, read your comment just after I'd filled the clutch master cylinder and tested it out! I think your right though - there's no way to get it to fit other than the way shown but it would fit in the brake master position, indicating that its actually a brake master cylinder. Well it worked when I drove the car down the drive into the shed and it seems to work ok now which isn't saying much. Hope to get the engine running and suspension finished in the next week or two, so I'll soon find out if I need to buy a proper clutch master

Thanks,
Bob

[miniBrain]

Hi Folks,

A quick update:

Got the engine running over the weekend so here's a few pics and notes:

Fitted a Minisport stage 1 kit – I.e LCB manifold, exhaust, inlet manifold, carb spring and needle. Everything fitted well and I'm pleased with the kit so far. The exhaust sounds great – quite quiet and a bit grunty.





Before starting the engine I checked each of the essentials – oil pressure, fuel flow, mixture, spark and static timing.

The oil pressure warning refused to go out even after turning the motor on starter for well over a minute. I therefore primed the oil pump as described elsewhere on this forum - I used a syringe to inject oil into the pump whilst pushing the car back in 4^th gear getting the pump to suck rather than blow.





After priming I eventually got the light to go out but not happy with the apparent lack of oil pressure. Everything else looked OK so decided to press on. The engine started almost on the first turn with very little choke. I leaned out the mixture since I set it rich to start with and the engine soon started to run smoothly.

The oil warning went out but flickered on slow idle. I took out the pressure relief valve and found it was badly scored. I cranked the engine with the relief valve out to see what the oil flow was like and maybe to clear out any debris that had gathered in the port. I soon had a pint of oil on the garage floor but was sort of happy that oil was pumping in fair volume. I put the relief valve back in and then removed the pressure switch and again cranked the engine to check the flow and clear any debris.

On subsequent startups the oil warning went out in a few seconds so cleaning the relief valve and/or the pressure switch port had some effect. Will need to get a new relief valve and probably an oil pressure guage just to see what I'm getting. The engine's had a hard life just like the rest of the car so it wouldn't surprise me if it needs a rebuild too!

At least now I can drive the car in and out of the shed, I can select all the gears and it starts instantly and runs smoothly.





I've since been fitting new headlamp bowls, Wipac “Quadoptic” headlamps and rewiring the front. After that I need to sort out the brakes. I've only fitted the front-rear brake line of the braking system so far but will be starting again since I'm not happy with the flares I've made using a cheap flaring tool (~£9). I used the same tool to make the short clutch line and it works fine with no leaks. But the flares were poor so I decided to get a quality flaring tool to make sure the brake lines are done properly.

Thats it for now, thanks for looking!

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 05:31 PM.

[miniBrain]

Hi,

Another quick update: I bought a cheap Silverline brake flaring tool as shown below and found it pretty hopeless:



I'm using copper-nickel (cunifer) brake pipes that are harder than copper only which would partly explain the poor results I've been getting. Its my fault for not checking I suppose but the advert for the tool didn't say anything about suitable materials.

Here's an example of the results I was getting - even after hours of internet research and dozens of attempts I still couldn't get a flare I would be happy to use on the brakes:



Still trying to keep costs as low as possible I eventually bought a Sealey PFT08 tool for £70. This is about 8 times the price of the Silverline but still cheap for a flaring tool.



Whilst this tool is far superior its not infallible. I had to make 5 or 6 practice flares before I achieved a decent standard. Eventually managed to make consistently concentric flares with no distortion.





On the electrics I've been installing the Wipac halogen headlamps:



When I stripped the car the indicator/sidelights just disintegrated except for the lenses which were the only parts worth keeping. I found the cost of replacement Clubman sidelight/indicators astonomical even 2nd hand so decided to trial a home-built unit.

I made up a steel backplate in the shape of the lens with nuts soldered in for the lens retaining screws. Behind the backplate I used some dense foam (Depron) and for the light itself I've used a 24 LED module from a cheap torch. I'm not installing a sidelight since the Wipac headlamps already include a sidelight which I've wired up instead:





Fitted to the car with nylon nuts & bolts:



And working:



The LED module needed a 47ohm resistor to limit the current to around 200mA. And since LEDs use far less power than the original bulbs I had to wire in a 6.8ohm “ballast” resistor to draw enough current to get the flasher to operate. Hopefully this will satisfy the MoT tester


Thats it for now, thanks for looking!

Edited by miniBrain, 17 August 2013 - 05:32 PM.

[m!n!]

Really good work, glad to see another GT getting restored.

Keep up the good work

[1275gtowner]

i wish i had half the knowledge and skills you have pal keep up the already very good work

[BusheyTrader]

That's inspired making the indicator / sidelight assembly from just the lens...............

Aren't you tempted to fix a sidelight bulb next to the indicator, just a little bit?

Adam

[minimuk]

Well done sofar,...great project read your tread just now, good progress at a steady pace and nice roof finish, that jig certainly made it easyer too. Not far to go now

[miniBrain]

m!n!, 1275gtowner, Adam, and minimuk, appreciate the comments!

Aren't you tempted to fix a sidelight bulb next to the indicator, just a little bit? I am, but I'm trying to get away with the minimum work - but the MoT tester might have a different view!

[fattail95]

Excellent build - will be following this

[mini_in_progress]

thought id see how far along with this you were since i last looked and woooooo lol, youve done loads.... be ready for mot soon

[rich2]

Its really encouraging to see the standard of paint finish you have managed to get for relatively little outlay (+ elbow grease!). Paint is one of the big expenses I have always worried about so its great to see good results without sending the car off to a paint shop. Also - top work with the indicators!