112 replies to this topic

[Zeemax Adventure]

Good project matey. Coming along nicely.  My engines in bits, exactly how it was when i bought it, not even sure what goes where.  However pistons etc are still in place but i think ill strip it right back.  Luckily i have a receipt for a gearbox overhaul and its not been refitted yet, so fingers crossed

[domdee]

looking forward to more progress!

[Down&Out]

As for the engine, yes, you might as well do the rings and bearings. Gearbox, no, run away, my dad was an engineer by trade and told me a mini gearbox is the most complicated one he ever rebuilt.

 

Could do it if you really wanted, but ive never had a crunchy gearbox on a mini, and it will take you ages!

[HarrysMini]

Cheers guys, yes I will replace all the big end/main bearings and the rings. The crank is quite rough on the journals as well, so I may need to get that reground.

I will leave the gearbox for now and hope that it is okay. Judging by the condition of the pistons I would guess the 35000 miles is genuine, so that's good.

 

Empty block; no cracks or anything unsightly so that's good.

 

 

You can see some scores on the crank, so will probably get that reground.

 

Pistons came out fairly clean

 

However...

I wasn't ready for it to fall out, all I did was move the block over on the bench and it fell right out! Shows how little wear the engine has. Will I be able to sand this and reuse it or is it scrap?

 

No teeth missing in the 'box, so I suppose that's something

 

Some parts in the washer, I think that cam is in good condition, although I'm not sure what those black marks are on the lobes...

 

The big news is I made another purchase the other day

10x6 Mambas, they are in need of restoration however I only paid £80 for them and one of the tyres looks almost brand new. My plans for these are to strip them fully with Nitromors and repaint the centre in black and use a polishing kit to give the rim a mirror finish.

 

That's it for today, nothing much has happened. I haven't heard anything from the body shop as yet, however as long as it's done properly I don't mind if it does take a while.

 

Thanks for reading

[HarrysMini]

So I found out that the slight damage on the piston is fine, I'll just give it a bit of a rub with emory paper to smooth it out a little. 

 

Been busy working this week to get some more monies for engine parts. I'm deliberating whether or not to buy a blaze breaking tool, to hone the bores a little before fitting new rings.

 

I want to get the subframes stripped, painted and nearly built ready for the shell in the next couple of weeks, however, that depends on what the weather's going to be like as it all has to be done in the back garden. I'm going to build up the disc drive assemblies off the car and then bolt them onto the arms when the subframes are on the car to save the extra weight when trying to locate mountings etc. 

 

I did get one small thing done though, I finished building up the rear brake back plates, with Mintex shoes, ready to bolt on to the radius arms.

 

Hopefully there will be a more interesting update soon, I just can't wait to get the shell back so I can start bolting stuff to it and actually turning it into a car.

[HarrysMini]

Long overdue update of this thread!

 

Got some progress from the body shop, they've blasted the shell and it's much worse than we first thought. 

 

Hopefully it won't take too much time to get it solid again and then in paint. I think I've decided on a colour too, pearlescent Tahiti Blue with a Platinum Silver roof. I appreciate it is definitely not to everyone's taste but I wanted something a bit different from the norm.

 

I've also started work on the wheels, getting all the paint and lacquer stripped ready for a coat of anthracite (probably) paint and highly polished rims.

 

The engine is in the machine shop now having a hone, crank regrind, new cam bearings and new piston rings. Hopefully that'll be back soon and I can get on with building that back up. 

 

I think that's all that's happened since I last wrote. I really need to start updating it more regularly, and now work has started on the shell, I probably will.

Edited by HarrysMini, 31 January 2014 - 03:36 PM.

[HarrysMini]

Haven't got a great deal to update this with to be honest.

 

I'm currently searching for a job which means funds are tight, and the recent weather means no work has been done. Ideally I wanted to have the subframes built up by now, but I only have the garden and a leaking shed to work in.

 

I went to grind in the valves the other day though, and the exhaust valves are very pitted so four of them have been added to the growing list, hopefully there will be nothing major to buy after that though.

 

I'm still deciding whether or not to get the seats recut, I can't afford to get an unleaded conversion done at the moment, that will have to wait.

 

No more updates from the body shop either, although I have been to told to expect it back by mid March (a funny 8-10 weeks), but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

My initial deadline of The IMM at the end of July is in tatters, hopefully it will be ready for 2015 show season though.

Edited by HarrysMini, 17 February 2014 - 04:12 PM.

[Down&Out]

I ground out worse than that not 24 hours ago. Just keep going at it till the mild pitting has gone. I did the whole head in three hours.

[Italian Joib 3]

Hey excellent project.... just read it all, looking forward to seeing it finished, well done excellent work, will be mint when finished!!!!!

[Covert]

Any updates harry ?

[HarrysMini]

Not really, the body shop are telling me different things every time I call them, as far as I can work out though, they're at the last stages of welding and it is nearly ready for paint.

 

I'm just preparing the engine for reassembly as I'm still waiting on some parts to actually get going

 

I built a workbench for the engine build as well

 

And these Mambas are taking ages to strip, with all the nooks and crannies 

 

I've been promised the shell back within a couple of weeks, but I doubt that'll happen 

[HarrysMini]

Got these today, they were a bargain at £45. Just need a rebuild and a few of Vizard's mods and they'll be cracking

 

 

Also, good news on the body shop front. I've been promised it back by the end of April.

[Wise Old Elf]

Any updates?

[Shawbags]

Hello Harry , I've got to say you have bigger balls than I had at 16 LOL ! , i'm about to start on an engine build project , well , when the summers goes away lol , I will build my engine first and find a good car to fit it into when i'm happy with the engine , good luck , Shawbags. 

[HarrysMini]

No updates on this, unfortunately. The shell is STILL at the body shop (10 months and counting), and as far as I'm aware, it hasn't even been painted yet. I can't get hold of anyone to get any news on it.

 

Thanks Shawbags!