1843 replies to this topic

[Richie83]

Glad to see you're back Pete. Nissan looks mega.

[Petrol]

Thanks for the kind words about the Nissan

 

I'm not using any of the original gauges. I'm going for black dials

This is the oil temp gauge I bought

 

 

I'm aware of the the shortfalls of the voltage stabliser fitted to the speedo assembly on later models as It pulses the voltage. I tried wiring it to an early centre speedo voltage regulator but it gave the same reading. I will sort it.

 

Lots to do now

Lots to think about

Purist' please don't look

 

Since it's my last car build / refurb, I have decided to up the game a bit on this one.

What have I let myself in for?

 

 

[Ben_O]

 I have decided to up the game a bit on this one.

What have I let myself in for?

 

 

Can't wait to find out

[timmy850]

Does that type of gauge require a voltage stabiliser? Sometimes the aftermarket ones don't use one

[73MkIII]

Read this thread over 2-3 days having started following the thread 2 years ago. Glad you are finishing this off now. Staggering amount of work and unbelievable the lengths you have gone too. Hope the rest of the build goes well for you.

What happened to the other blue mini you bought mid thread. Did you move it on? You mentioned it was going to be next ;)

[Petrol]

The gauge I bought should be wired through a voltage stabiliser. The battery voltage changes with useage like headlights and heated rear window, wiring through a stabiliser prevents fluctuations in readings

Still got the other Mini 73MkIII

Ben..... I'm getting rid of things I'm not happy with and replacing with better parts.... Like the Hilos and many engine parts. There's a lot of chinese cheap crap parts about

 

Injection shells had stiffeners on the C pillar
I bought a new interior but not for an injection.

The rear seat covers are pre injection

Complicated?

 

Yup

 

OK this is what I'm doing. To get the rear seat frame to fit I had to chop it

 

 

 

Weld in new stiffeners

 

 

 

Trial fit

 

 

 

Then de rust and prime

 

 

 

Things are bit fragmented at the moment. I'm trying to sort out many problems.....

Like the carbs

 

The float chambers should be level.

 

 

These are 1 1/4 SU carbs on a AEG573 manifold

 

To rectify the problem I need to replace these bushes with 30 degree ones. This will make th float chambers vertical

 

 

I have loads of parts on order now. Hopefully more progress soon

Thanks for looking

 

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mini Waco]

Pete,  If I may ask..  what are the outlined plates that appear to be welded to the firewall and are the black braces on either side something additional?  I don't see these items on my Mini so I'm wondering if these are beef-ups you have made.  Love the adele clamps holding the lines going aft...  

Attached Files

•  Pete's undercarriage.jpg   270.4K   8 downloads

Edited by Mini Waco, 27 September 2017 - 01:43 AM.

[73MkIII]

Pete,  If I may ask..  what are the outlined plates that appear to be welded to the firewall and are the black braces on either side something additional?  I don't see these items on my Mini so I'm wondering if these are beef-ups you have made.  Love the adele clamps holding the lines going aft...

Those plates were load spreader he made up onto the toe board to reduce the chance of splitting around the mounts when he removed the rubber bushes of the late injection shell to firm up the ride similar to the MkIII and earlier shells with solid mountings. The MkIII subframe has a larger contact patch to do this I believe.

[Petrol]

In the mid 70's they changed the subframe and shell in order to reduce road noise and make it a more comfortable ride by rubber mounting the front subframe. In doing this the mini lost its Go kart appeal.

 

This is how the early subframes mounted. You can see that it extends under the floor pan.

 

 

 

 

You cant fit a Mk3 subframe onto a later shell because the tower bolt arrangement is different.

What you can do though is solid mount the subframe by replacing the rubber bushes like this

 

 

 

 

 

As 73MK111 says, the early subframes have a larger contact patch as they extend under the floor.

I Made the plates which are both bolted and bonded to the shell to compensate for solid mounting the subframe

 

 

 

I'm trying to build "the best of Mini"

Mpi shells are stiffer than Mk3 shells but for the "real" Mini feel the front subframe has to be solid mounted.

 

This car is totally Non originali

I should take it to a concourse show when it's finished and watch the judges put their head in their hands

 

 

[pete l]

Hi, what makes the MPI shell stiffer ?

 

Pete.

[73MkIII]

I would love to see that. A friend of my dad restored a frogeye for concourse and lost a couple of shows due to some nuts under the engine hidden away being the wrong colour. Can't remember which way but either painted and shouldn't have been or bare and should have been painted. The car was impeccable.

[Mini Waco]

thanks for the history Pete (and 73MK).. I will have to re-read this a few time and compare to what I have trying to make sense of it all... 

[Petrol]

Hi, what makes the MPI shell stiffer ?

 

Pete.

 

Additional welding on the rear arches
Parcel shelf to C post stiffeners
Solid NS inner wing though I fitted a MK111 to mine
Stiffer front panel upright
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

I’ve been told and I don’t know if it’s true or not, when BMW bought out Rover and decided to fit injection, they went from 1.5mm sheet steel to 1.0mm steel for the shell to save money. This is a considerable weight saving.
 

 

I would love to see that. A friend of my dad restored a frogeye for concourse and lost a couple of shows due to some nuts under the engine hidden away being the wrong colour. Can't remember which way but either painted and shouldn't have been or bare and should have been painted. The car was impeccable.

 

A friend of mine had the same problem with wheel nuts on an Escort

I'm trying to build this car to a high standard. I'm hoping the finish on everything is pretty good but it's an unusual build

It should look like a pretty stock Mini when finished but when it starts up and drives I want a bit of pantomime

 

thanks for the history Pete (and 73MK).. I will have to re-read this a few time and compare to what I have trying to make sense of it all... 

 

NP. U know where I am if you have any Q's

 

Parts are now arriving
KYB AGX adjustable shocks
 

 

 

Better HiLO’s
These are from Mini Spares and it looks like they are using the Ripseed design / casting
 

 

Adjustable rear castor / camber brackets, again from Minispares. These look far better than the Minisport ones as they have a bolt to wind in the camber. The Minisport ones are just friction adjustable

 

 

I bought an old but brand new Ripspeed \ Jack Knight straight cut gearbox kit but was short of a straight cut reverse gear.

 

 

This is also from Minispares. So far, I’m impressed with the quality of their parts.

 

 

[MacGyver]

Glad to see you're back on the mini! This is actually the first build I read on here back in 2013, became a member after that because I wanted to see the pictures... 🙄
Minispares have good quality stuff and when there's a problem they usually find a solution to keep clients happy. 😀


Edit spelling

Edited by MacGyver, 29 September 2017 - 11:08 AM.

[Petrol]

Plenty more pics to come now MacGyver

 

Factory and aftermarket suspension components are only given a quick coat of colour. It doesn't offer much protection though.

3 coats of Max Mayer Clearcoat should help.

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a full Cobra interior for the car. The package only came with covers for the back seat though. I want a better fit than just covers to give the "lush" look.

This is the cover for the seat base which has a draw string at the bottom.

 

 

I removed the fabric from an old seat base and washed it in the bath with washing powder. I don't want it to smell of old car

 

 

Its important that the cover fits the contours of the foam tight. If you look at the seat base you can see where the adhesive was applied at the factory. I replicated this when I fitted the cover.

With the adhesive applied I used a piece of cardboard and weighted it down to ensure it fit snug

 

 

I did it one section at a time. With the top fitting snug.....

 

 

I pulled the cover back and glued the rest of it

 

 

Looks like this fitted