767 replies to this topic

[Chris1992]

Oh.

What did it fail on?

 

Ben

 nothing too major really

 

- hand brake only works on one side

- steering rack is too tight (could be the ball joints are too tight)

- front ball joints apparetly arnt tightened or locked properly, and theres 'excesive play' on the nearside hub 

- missing passenger side seat stay

- headlights need adjusting

 

on top of that, the speedo and fuel gauge dont work...

 

so it could have been a lot worse to be honest. i should be able to have it all sorted for the retest in 10 days 

[Ben_O]

That seems ok really. Only minor jobs it seems.

Just adjustments rather than replacing stuff. My kind of MOT failure!!!

[Chris1992]

That seems ok really. Only minor jobs it seems.

Just adjustments rather than replacing stuff. My kind of MOT failure!!!

 

haha yeah im pretty relieved to be honest, was expecting much worse

[Chris1992]

so i descovered that not only were my front ball joints loose, but i had also forgotten to tighten up my adjustable bottom arms  ... smooth

 

anyway, got that all fixed and now im confused as to why the steering rack is tight. they thought it could be the ball joints but i disconected the track rod ends and each hub swings freely so it can be those.

 

anyone else got any ideas? 

 

cheers

[Chris1992]

update time 

 

and the main thing... its finally taxed and MOT'd!!!

 

i also found out why the steering rack was so tight. it had been put on and tightened up before the steering column was put in, meaning they didnt align properly. fixed this by loosening the steering rack U bolts and jiggling the steering and it eventually rotated slightly to align itself... (not quite sure how much of that made sense, but hopefully you get the idea)

 

anyway, everything was sorted last week so i had a bit of time to sort out any teething problems before MITP. one of which was the hose going from the bottom of the radiator to the water pump developing a very sudden split, leaving me stranded in the middle of town while my car empited itself of all the antifreeze id just put in 

 

easy fix though. got a new hose fitted and so far no more problems... except for discovering i never tightened up the top of the rear right shock absorber... *facepalm*

 

so, on to MITP... so much epic in one day, i even pick up a new speedo for £12. was absolutely brilliant, saw a lot of cars i recognized as well 

 

anyway, have some more recent pics of the mini in its natural habitat for your entertainment 

 

[Chris1992]

so the last couple of days have been moderately productive... ive been trying to make a few styling changes which ive had in my head for a while. 

 

started off yesterday by attempting to tint my rear lights black, and it didnt go so well... how the hell do you guys do it!? ... it went like this; i began by prepping/cleaning them (i didnt sand them though, which may have been the problem) then began spraying. it instantly started reacting/bubbling/running, etc... oh joy. and before it was even dark enough, i ran out of paint.

 

so, i deemed that to be a failure and set about trying to remove it. i tried white spirit but to no avail, so i attacked them with an electric sander, which did the job. this is where there is a bit of a silver lining, as i also managed to sand off all the numbers and stuff on the lenses, leaving them completely smooth, which i like. its also left them slightly more opaque, which i also like... i think they kinda look like ice cubes ... i intend to spray them again, but i think i may go for completely red this time, as i dont think i can go as dark as i would like with black and still keep it legal. what do you guys think?

 

 

 

so, after the confusion of the lights, i moved on to the speedo which wasnt working.

 

i managed to pick this up at MITP for £12. all in perfect working order, so on the whole im pretty chuffed. 

 

 

the chrome rim is a bit of a mess, so i used the one off my current speedo (the broken one) which is pretty much perfect.

 

i dismantled it, gave it all a good clean, painted the back, added a little custom flare... and there you have it.

 

 

wasnt sure how the red would look, but im pretty happy with it actually 

 

moving on, i had decided a while ago that i wanted a black grille, but since im running low on wonga, i decided to just paint my current one and then get a new one later when all the paint has chipped off lol.

 

anyway, i began by giving it some abuse with the electric sander, followed by a few coats of primer, then a few coats of matte black spray paint. i also cleaned up the grille corners as they were a bit of a mess.

 

before:

 

 

with the grille off (i think it looks kinda badass  )

 

 

grille corners cleaned up:

 

 

after:

 

 

i think it turned out pretty good. its not quite as dark as i had hoped but i think thats just due to the light. also, it now matches my stripes 

 

note the addition of tape to one spot... a bit of tape, for a bit of fun 

 

and lastly... can you tell im not a massive fan of binis? 

 

made this and mounted it on the back shelf

 

 

another little touch. ive had this can lying around since i went to America last year, and i figured everyone uses a red-bull can... so...

 

 

and i didnt want to waste the top... so... 

 

 

thats it for now, ive got more plans for the wheels though so will update pretty soon

Edited by Chris1992, 13 August 2013 - 08:43 PM.

[domdee]

love the wheels! make the deep dish stand out well!

and that little red ring in your speedo looks great.

not a fan of sticker bombing but on the front valence there, it looks subtle - smart!

lol'd at the fired bini too

[Chris1992]

love the wheels! make the deep dish stand out well!

and that little red ring in your speedo looks great.

not a fan of sticker bombing but on the front valence there, it looks subtle - smart!

lol'd at the fired bini too

 

thanks mate, i appreciate it  .

[Chris1992]

so as much as i like the black lips on my ultralites, i couldnt help feeling that they needed something. like i mentioned before, i felt that the black was hiding the dish and making the tires look to chunky. this was my solution. i took the wheels off, and one by one, i sanded and polished the very outer lip of the wheel. 

 

i think this as made a huge difference, and im now in love with these wheels all over again 

 

i also added a cheeky sticker to the driver side front lip...

 

 

havent got any full car photos, but ill go out and take some photos soon. 

 

 

also, some of you may know that i managed to blow up one of my spot lights by wiring it up backwards after disconnecting them to take my grille off so i could paint it.... i know right? bummer... ive been in contact with hudersfield spares and they said they will sell me one on its own for £25 so its all good i guess  . im going to have a go at fixing this one first though as lit looks like its only one of the wires inside the spotlight that has frazzled. ill report back on how that goes soon   

 

im also going to add in that deseaming it and filling the arches to the body was one of the worst decisions ive made on this car. its been on the road for about a week and its already cracking  . not much i can do about it so im just going to have to live with it and touch it up as it happens

Edited by Chris1992, 14 August 2013 - 08:20 PM.

[tomb1992]

liking the Progress!, managed to keep it old Retro Looking and have modern trend styling as well. the sticker bombed front valance look ace !. very clean and not over done :thumbsup:very jealous       

[Chris1992]

liking the Progress!, managed to keep it old Retro Looking and have modern trend styling as well. the sticker bombed front valance look ace !. very clean and not over done :thumbsup:very jealous       

 

dead chuffed reading this, thanks mate!  . thats exactly the look i was going for. kepping it classic, but bringing it into the modern era slightly 

[Chris1992]

quick little update

 

reached an important milestone in the life of any first time mini owner... i had my first breakdown lol... after leaving my garage yesterday it was feeling a bit jerky, and cutting out momentarily every now and then. i thought it might just be down to the weather being damp and the engine being cold, but about 5 minutes later the whole thing just died on me. had to coast it to the side of the road. tried starting it and it turned over fine but just wouldnt catch, so i got the bonnet up to have a poke around and eventually found the problem... there was a loose connection on the coil. it was a black and white wire which i think goes to the solenoid but im not sure. anyway, pushed it back on properly and it started first time, so drove home and squeezed it a bit with the pliers. all is well 

 

now while im on the subject of the solenoid, has anybody else bought this one from minispares?

http://www.minispare...px|Back to shop

im on my second because the tabs on the first one literally just broke off when i tried to push the connectors on due to being so flimsy, and the one i have now is just as bad. the quality truly is horrendous. so i was wondering if anyone knows where i can get a better quality one? 

 

moving on... managed to fix the spotlight! (with the help of my dad of course)... took the thing apart and replaced the earth wire which had been frazzled due to connecting it to the live. put it back together and tested it and it worked! quite chuffed as now i dont need to buy a new one  .

 

something else ive been doing is finally fitting my matte black checkerboard roof kit, its been lying on my bedroom floor since i got it about 2 months ago lol. its turning out pretty nice so ill put pics up soon when i get it finished. im taking the mini to a local show tomorrow so should have some fresh pics soon

 

thats all for now, cheers for the interest so far guys

[Chris1992]

finally some pics!

 

finished fitting my roof kit, and im so happy with it.... matte black checkerboard courtesy of Martin at Stickyfingers 

 

 

took that pic at a local show i went to today so here are a few more of the mini. dad took the sprite along too. (we got there a bit late so got stuck in an overflow field which wasnt great, but we managed to sneak both cars into the main show a bit later).

 

 

 

 

and just a few pics of some more interesting stuff that turned up...

 

 

 

thats all for now guys, thanks for dropping in

Edited by Chris1992, 22 August 2013 - 08:31 PM.

[scotty_1987]

Love this mini dude   !! I'll get you a MiniBallers sticker sent over when we gets them made up, my mates sticker guy isn't exactly quick, he took a year on the last batch lol   !! I think we'll get a new sticker guy 

[Chris1992]

Love this mini dude   !! I'll get you a MiniBallers sticker sent over when we gets them made up, my mates sticker guy isn't exactly quick, he took a year on the last batch lol   !! I think we'll get a new sticker guy 

 

awesome, thanks a lot mate!   haha sounds like a good plan