670 replies to this topic

[big-jay]

I've got an update to do, just haven't got round to uploading the pictures yet. Will try and get one up tonight or if not it'll be tomorrow for sure.

Well...That went to pot !

I'll be honest, I've been really rather lazy of late but this weekend I decided to pull my finger out and get some more progress made on the Mini.

I'll start with the bits I purchased.

Few bits from Minispares -







And some rubber wheel arch moulding trim -



So, first job of the day was to get my wiper mechanism built up, I've replaced the 'worm' and also painted up the tubing that it sits in -



Then I plumbed in the washer tubes using the t-piece I bought -



And fitted the washer jets and stainless wiper hole blanker's -



I also fitted the wiper mechanism but forgot to take a picture of that in place. Next on the to do list was fitting the door mirrors so I got the rivet gun out and fitted some aluminium M5 rivnuts -



I used some stainless button head Allen bolts to secure the mirror to the door -



A couple of shots of the mirror fitted -





Rinse and repeat for the passenger side.

That took me until midday-ish so I decided to crack on and finish getting my headlights and front indicators in. First off a bit of wiring was required, I swapped the bullet connectors for some spade connectors on the main loom so I had to modify the headlight looms to fit those.

Here's the wires all connected up -



And then shrink wrapped -



I bought some ready made indicator looms for an MPI Mini from Minispares so I had to modify those to fit my indicators. Here it is out of the packet -



Snipped the plug end off -



And soldered on some male spade terminals -



Here's both the looms ready to be fitted -



With all that wired up and some Osram Night Breakers fitted into my headlights, this was the result -



Whilst I had the soldering equipment out I also changed the wiper motor plug as I didn't spot that it was quite corroded when I refurbed the loom.

Here it is soldered up and shrink wrapped -



And then wrapped in loom tape -



Fitted the horn along with a Smiffys stainless bracket -





And finally I thought I'd fit my speedwell petrol bib and oil tag -





I've also started to fit my wheel arches so I'll have a few pictures of that tomorrow.

Jay.

[big-jay]

Is this all finished now then Jay?

Sorry for the slow reply Ben, It's not too far off bud.

Jay.

[Jared Mk3]

Finally, an update! Lovely as always Jay. The petrol bibs aren't to everyone's taste, but I like it. Can't wait to see it with the arches fitted.

[alex-95]

Any updates Jay?

[big-jay]

Any updates Jay?

Hi Alex,

I've actually done a fair bit since my last update. All four arches are now on and I've also fitted the grille and bonnet catches etc...

I've also had to have the whole rear subframe off to replace the rubber mountings as they had all split/perished, really annoying as the car hasnt even seen the road yet ! Swapped them out for poly replacements anyway so should be ok for the foreseeable future I hope.

I've also had to replace all four rubber suspension cones, non genuine may I add, for some Minispares genuine ones. Should of bought genuine in the first place really but lesson learnt ! Seems to me like a lot of the rubber components available for Minis aren't up to the job !

I'll get the pictures uploaded to photo bucket at some point and get this thread updated !

Jay.

[alex-95]

 

Any updates Jay?

Hi Alex,

I've actually done a fair bit since my last update. All four arches are now on and I've also fitted the grille and bonnet catches etc...

I've also had to have the whole rear subframe off to replace the rubber mountings as they had all split/perished, really annoying as the car hasnt even seen the road yet ! Swapped them out for poly replacements anyway so should be ok for the foreseeable future I hope.

I've also had to replace all four rubber suspension cones, non genuine may I add, for some Minispares genuine ones. Should of bought genuine in the first place really but lesson learnt ! Seems to me like a lot of the rubber components available for Minis aren't up to the job !

I'll get the pictures uploaded to photo bucket at some point and get this thread updated !

Jay.

 

Sounds good, shame about the rubbers, I'm hoping mine doesn't do the same when I get round to fitting them, might get them them out and see what they are like. What was wrong with the cones?

[big-jay]

Any updates Jay?

Hi Alex,
I've actually done a fair bit since my last update. All four arches are now on and I've also fitted the grille and bonnet catches etc...
I've also had to have the whole rear subframe off to replace the rubber mountings as they had all split/perished, really annoying as the car hasnt even seen the road yet ! Swapped them out for poly replacements anyway so should be ok for the foreseeable future I hope.
I've also had to replace all four rubber suspension cones, non genuine may I add, for some Minispares genuine ones. Should of bought genuine in the first place really but lesson learnt ! Seems to me like a lot of the rubber components available for Minis aren't up to the job !
I'll get the pictures uploaded to photo bucket at some point and get this thread updated !
Jay.

Sounds good, shame about the rubbers, I'm hoping mine doesn't do the same when I get round to fitting them, might get them them out and see what they are like. What was wrong with the cones?

Save yourself the headache and go straight for poly, this is the state of mine after a few months -



The trunion rubber has completely split in half if you look closely. I know the rubber is back to front but it wouldn't have made any difference anyway as the other side was the correct way round and was just as bad. The dust shield on the radius arm had gone brittle and cracked so I've had to replace those aswell.

All four cones had perished and collapsed mate.

[alex-95]

 

 

 

Any updates Jay?

Hi Alex,
I've actually done a fair bit since my last update. All four arches are now on and I've also fitted the grille and bonnet catches etc...
I've also had to have the whole rear subframe off to replace the rubber mountings as they had all split/perished, really annoying as the car hasnt even seen the road yet ! Swapped them out for poly replacements anyway so should be ok for the foreseeable future I hope.
I've also had to replace all four rubber suspension cones, non genuine may I add, for some Minispares genuine ones. Should of bought genuine in the first place really but lesson learnt ! Seems to me like a lot of the rubber components available for Minis aren't up to the job !
I'll get the pictures uploaded to photo bucket at some point and get this thread updated !
Jay.

Sounds good, shame about the rubbers, I'm hoping mine doesn't do the same when I get round to fitting them, might get them them out and see what they are like. What was wrong with the cones?

Save yourself the headache and go straight for poly, this is the state of mine after a few months -



The trunion rubber has completely split in half if you look closely. I know the rubber is back to front but it wouldn't have made any difference anyway as the other side was the correct way round and was just as bad. The dust shield on the radius arm had gone brittle and cracked so I've had to replace those aswell.

All four cones had perished and collapsed mate.

 

Christ, Hopefully my genuine rubber that I got a few years back are ok, Can you get poly for the radius arm seals? May have to get poly then . Luckily I'm putting solid mounts on the front.

[Gillybobs]

Absolutely Love this build! What a stunning car!

[minimissions]

This is a stunning car just had a quick flick through. Nice work. Loving the overall look and those wheels are something else

[FAZ]

updates?

[big-jay]

Absolutely Love this build! What a stunning car!

Cheers bud !

This is a stunning car just had a quick flick through. Nice work. Loving the overall look and those wheels are something else

Thanks mate, the wheels really set the car off !

updates?

Soon FAZ, been really busy of late sorting out my new daily.

I've got a good few pics that I haven't uploaded yet of my arches fitted and what not, should have the daily finished Friday so that'll free me up to work on the Mini again. Itching to get it finished ready for the summer shows !

[big-jay]

Update,

Long overdue I must admit !

Well I've finally finished sorting out my daily so now I can fully focus on getting my Mini finished and back on that road where she belongs.

I went to the Himley Hall Mini show the weekend and picked up a few bits and pieces that I needed. Here they are -



And a few bits I purchased prior to the show -



So with those items in hand we left the show early as I was itching to get back and work on the Mini.

Before I get started though here's a couple of pictures of when I changed out the rubber bushes on the rear subframe for the poly replacements -





Ok, with that out the way I started by fitting the fresh air blanking plates, these are stainless steel items I purchased from a seller off eBay -





Got my new fog light fitted, just got to drill a hole in the boot floor to pass the wiring through and connect it up -





And I finally fitted my walnut door pull handles after I bought an assorted pack of stainless self tappers -



Then it was onto fitting my inner arch liners.

Now they do supply a fitting kit with the liners but I didn't fancy using self tappers and rivets, plus there mild steel so it would only be a matter of time before the fitting's started rusting, so I decided to use aluminium rivnuts and stainless button head fitting's. That way it'll make for a much tidier job and will be easier to remove in future.

So we drilled holes in three places and fitted the rivnuts into the inner wing -





And then fitted the arch liner into place and bolted it up -







Rinse and repeat for the drivers side -





Fantastic idea these arch liners, makes you wonder why they were never fitted from factory !

We also got the grille fitted along with the bonnet catch mechanism. I've again used aluminium rivnuts to secure the grille to the front panel and we also fitted the grille buttons I got from Smiffy's Bits -







Still got a bit of adjusting to do with the bonnet to get it spot on but all in all I'm quite pleased with that.

That's about it for now guys. I did have all four arches fitted but I had to remove the front two to fit the arch liners so I'll get those refitted, take a few pictures and post them up on here for you to have a look at.

I've also fitted some wheel spacers on the front and rear so the wheels pop out the arches a touch now, looks mean !

Jay.

[Jared Mk3]

That sneak shot with the arch on the rear looks really good!

[grahama]

Looking great.

Why did you use aluminium rivinuts instead of stainless steel?? I am just thinking of thread softness on aluminium. Did you use a proper tool or just a screw arrangement?

Graham