44 replies to this topic

[iDemonix]

IT BEGINS!

[iDemonix]

In the words of Adrian Edmondson: "Can I just say, ouch ouch, ******* hell, it doesn't half hurt".

How in the name of all that is holy are you meant to get the radiator out - more importantly how do you get the bloody thing back in! I got everything off ok, then it came to the lower rad hose. Couldn't see the clip through the space where the grill was so had to lean down and loosen it but it was absolutely mega tight on, couldn't shift it for love nor money. In the end I got a chisel and from above I just leaned on it a few times and cut it off.

What's the best way to get it all back together - I have the heater take off hose too. What order should I do? Attach lower rad hose to rad, put rad in and do it? Put lower rad hose on the block + heater take off, then drop rad in and connect it?

My hands have so much blood on them, ahhh I've finally began my mini experience.

As it stands she's sat in the garage with no radiator, thermostat, fan, fan belt, water pump and upper/lower hose. Taken the day off work tomorrow to get it all back in but no clue how it's all going to go back in there!

Oh and it was the bypass hose. Took it off and it had a big split along the seam. Still replacing the water pump etc just for the sake of it.

[iDemonix]

DONE.

Oh. My. WORD.

What a ball ache it is to work on the right of the engine. Took all day! Seems to be working ok, but only took it for a 10 minute spin round the estate in case of breakdowns. Will drive it to work tomorrow and hope for the best! Heater still isn't working so need to check that valve at some point.

I got mega pissed off at one point trying to refit the fan, so I decided to take a 5 min break and then try and fit the internal bonnet release. No instructions, but it wasn't too difficult, got it all fitted except I didn't mount the puller to the dashboard as I'm not sure about my dashboards future just yet. Nice to have a working bonnet catch finally though!

So now she runs! Hopefully for a while! I will most probably leave her as she stands (wires everywhere, no dash, missing edges of grill, misfiring like it's going out of fashion) for the next 2 weeks, then I go away to Uni and she'll be under lock/key until I return in Spring. After that it'll be exams until June and then I'm finally free to start on the interior + odd jobs! Can't wait!

[RawlinsGTR]

Just seen this topic.

Looks a beaut :) To be perfectly honest, you're at exactly the same level as I am for working on minis, and your "to do" list looks very similar to mine!

Except that you're actually doing something about it at the moment.

Great work.

[iDemonix]

Cheers dog!

My mates little brother stopped at my garage door just as I was finishing (I took him for a quick spin round the block!) and he gave me a hand positioning the radiator. He said "I'd love to get more in to car mechanics - like I need to change my discs + pads, but I don't have the know-how like you". It's funny what you can blag haha. Mechanics is all just reading the manual, going at a steady pace and not losing/rounding bolts. I'm hoping mechanically she'll be sound for a while now, will have to address this misfire at some point though! That and the very blowy exhaust.

[iDemonix]

Small update:

Borrowed a mechanic friend of mine's lift for an afternoon and got Ivy in the air!



Was a good opportunity to give the underneath a good look at, my mechanical friend John took a look too and didn't find anything earth shatteringly wrong with her! The rear subframe has a bit of rust across the main beam (nearest to the driver) that will need to be wire brushed down and treated at some point. The exhaust looks pretty solid which is good, means it's only leaking from behind the engine, will sort that at some point.

As you can see in the pic, the oil is being drained in a remote pan. I changed the oil, oil filter, put a washer on the sump plug, spaced the alternator a bit to the right with some drilled out washers and changed the fan belt. John was a very good help and used to build mini's back in the day, in fact I believe he bought about 28 of them officially on the road (so if anyone has a D reg built by him, he might want to buy it! ) He also showed me how to remove the dashpot and needle to clean + change the oil - mine was awful, the bit that holds the needle (idk the name) hardly moved and was very stiff. He stripped it all out (and nearly got hit with a spring haha) gave it all a soak with carb cleaner, rebuilt it then topped her back up with oil, when cold she really used to bog down and you had to pull off at snail pace - now it's much better and the revs don't dip as much.

The only other things noticed were that the rear drivers side tyre is bald on one side and is in dire need of replacement (I'll get a new set soon) and the air filter is about as dead as can be - maybe convert to cone?



As above, she's now all tucked away and covered over until Easter when I get back from University. Hopefully I can save some cash whilst at uni and when I come back I'll have a few goodies waiting like:

• new tyres
• dashboard
• dash rails
• Cibie H180's

We'll see how the cash flow is.

Only fit her in the garage with 'Holly' the VFR tucked in with just an inch to spare! Very glad I got both in the garage though, much better peace of mind than leaving the car on the drive - she's now chained to the bike in an alarmed garage, phew!

My only issue is that the clock reads 8000 or something very low, but the last (fairly recent) MOT is 70k or something as the clocks were changed (either that or she did 1000 miles a day during the rebuild somehow) and Footman James are demanding to know my mileage so I'm just going to have to give them the low number or count 8000 as 0 then go from the last MOT? I'll start a thread about this in mini chat.

I'll keep this thread updated, if anyone is reading, with bits and bobs that I'm buying, then hopefully in Easter I can have a good day of fitting new stuff - woop!

Thanks for reading,
Dan

[iDemonix]

A small update. I'm at University until April, but I've got the following parts waiting at home, it's going to be like christmas!

• Cibie H180 headlights
• New rear lights + chrome
• New fuel cap
• New door cards
• New dash rails
• New oil filler cap
• Dash tray
• New registration plates (show plate style, no other writing but the reg)
• New headlamp rings
• Dashboard air vents (will be cut up and modified in to speakers with mesh)

That's it for now! I'm hoping to get a dashboard sorted before march and that will do until I get more money together. After money rolls in I'll be hunting down a new steering wheel + some cobra classics.

Can't wait to go home!!

[iDemonix]

Update time!

Got home from University (finally) and hauled her out of the garage (after a quick blast on the bike first!) and put a few miles on her. Drove fine all day long, probably did about 60-70 mile. Filled the tank and parked her up. Next day I probably did about 50 miles just fetching bits/bobs for the bike and etc. A friend comes round to see me, I take him for a 5 minute spin around the block, didn't hit a bump, no harsh acceleration, just a tootle, parked her on my drive and killed the engine, walked in to the garage and looked back and she was leaking oil fast.

Got a makeshift oil pan under there (from a set of drawers ) and she spat all of her oil (almost) out.



It's not possible to see the seal with the car on the ground and all the engine accessories in place. Mechanic friend is coming to look at it on monday and probably tow it to the garage for fixing. I'm looking at 1275 engines at the moment though and if it's going to be £100 or whatever to fix it, I'll just put that on a new engine and take the auto out.

Well since, annoyingly, the mini is now broken, I might as well strip stuff out as it's not going anywhere soon. Retro Retrims have told me I should have my new doorcards tomorrow and my dash rails + dash tray. Excellent news. Didn't get much done today as I had to paint the decking too.



Some of the crap from behind the dash ^

I took the chrome strip off of the lower dash rail but I'm currently struggling to get the switch panel out. I managed to unbolt it and free it, but I'm trying to get the heater adjuster cable free'd and it's just not playing. The screw is held in with the force of a thousand angry gods.





It's the little screw on the clamp holding the cable in place. It's round as hell, so I tried running a hacksaw across it and using a flat head screwdriver, but it's crap and the screwhead is just distorting. What's the best way to get it out? Just get a drill bit and persevere?

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the dash covers off, switch panel removed (if that screw gets out!), doorcards removed (front and back) and if the new stuff arrives I'll hopefully get that fitted. I need to order some flashing tape to sound-deaden my bulkhead.

[iDemonix]

BIG UPDATE!

I've bought a 1275 engine from abe46 on here! It's a manual 1275 with a hif44 carb and running electronic ignition (like my current engine).



The above picture is from the seller, I'll get some up when it arrives.

Unfortunately, as the engine was an unforeseen expense, I've blown all of my cash on it. Meaning the project is going to have to take a break from getting new parts for a while whilst I save up to pay for someone to fit the engine to the car. My mechanic is coming down tomorrow to assess what's weeping oil from the engine, hopefully it's a seal and I can get it repaired for the time being. Although I've started stripping, so if it gets fixed it'll be a bugger to get started as I removed the choke cable and broke it.

Hopefully will receive doorcards + dash rails tomorrow. Managed to get old ones out, was a nightmare and required a second set of hands (thanks Adam!). Think I'll just bite the bullet and remove the windscreen to get the new top one in when it arrives.

I'm starting work tomorrow, 6 days-a-week, so things are going to be slow but I'll get there. Next jobs:

• Remove doorcards
• Get gunky crap off of dash rails
• Hopefully get engine repaired
• Replace choke cable

Plodding along.

[abe46]

wow, didn't realise the engine was going in this beauty!

I have a secret passion for white minis, I think they look awesome! :)

Good luck with the project, might be worth seeing if you can start putting the engine in yourself while you wait for funds to clear up for other parts. You never know!

[iDemonix]

I did toy with the idea Abe, but since it's new subframes too it means I've got to get the mini in the air ideally and I do all my work on my own with no second set of hands. If it was a manual-to-manual I'd consider hiring an engine crane and having a go, but as it's subframes too I think it's more than I can chew!

Still no sign of doorcards + dash rails from retro retrims :/

Going out for a meal tonight + girlfriends birthday tomorrow so the mini is having a backseat for a few days, although hopefully my mechanic will find time to come inspect the engine tomorrow and have a guess as to what the problem is. As I've said, if it's simple then I'll get it sorted and drop the 1275 in some other time, we'll see how it goes!

Dan

[iDemonix]

Engine should arrive tomorrow, yippee!

I trial fitted my rear doorcards (they finally arrived) and they look ace. I took them back out though as there's other stuff to do back there such as arch covers + bin liner.

Decided to strip the rear arch covers off + remove the horrible things that are currently the rear bin liners.





Nice.

Whilst I was working in the back of the car I discovered that the sun visors actually have a much better function:



In my quest for a perfect mini, I've also stripped a load of the horrible rotten noise cancelling foam from the bulkhead engine side and car side. Had to remove the fuse box + air box but it's all gone. When the engine comes out I plan on giving the bay a proper degrease and hopefully touch up any paint that needs doing.



Crap from the bay.

Jobs done yesterday:

• Rear seat out
• Tatty rear arch covers removed
• Bulkhead foam removed
• Dashboard foam removed
• Fitted new chrome rings + headlights (properly this time)
• Removed bin liners

Next I need to white spirit the rear arches to get a nice clean surface to stick new covers to. It was discovered that the oil leak is from the gearbox oil seal, so I've ordered a new seal and choke cable (snapped the old one) so hopefully that'll arrive soon and can be fitted then she's drivable again!

Oh, just in case anybody ever buys Cibie H180's but doesn't buy bowls to fit them, using a hacksaw and a pair of pliers, some jiggery pokery will allow them to fit in the standard bowls with the sidelights:



Put some new proper connectors on too, future proof!



A tip for getting the Cibie rubbers on (as the rubber is hard as nails) to the light bulb so the connector fits on snug, is to turn the rubber thingy inside out, wedge it on to the light as far as it will go and then turn it back the way it should go and it'll form a proper tight fit.

Slowly plodding along.

Dan

[BusheyTrader]

How on earth do you get the bike to do that?

I used to have your bike's bigger brother, VFR800, and there was no way I could have got mine like that even with a wider garage



Adam

[iDemonix]

Haha many have asked.

I wheeled the nose of it in and did as much back/forwards as I could to get it in but the back wheel stuck out, so I went round to the side where the car is and just dragged the back wheel in haha.

[iDemonix]

It's heeeeeeere!