180 replies to this topic

[alex-95]

I've had to replace 2 year old front flexi brake pipes due to them perishing, They'd only done around 5000miles if that

 

I made some silicone dust covers for the radius and front top arms from some 30mm ID silicone tube.

 

I also saw this on Facebook about the handbrake seals. http://waynesminipro...ten-rubber.html

Edited by alex-95, 05 July 2016 - 05:56 PM.

[tiger99]

I suggest using ONLY Goodridge braided PTFE hoses in the interests of safety, if the rubber items are thought of as being suspect. I have used Goodridge on every car that has needed a hydraulic overhaul, and they save money long term because they generally don't need replacing again.

[Mini Manannán]

A bit minor maybe but frustrating all the same.  The rubbers that go under the door mirror mounts have started leeching black goo.  I was washing and waxing the car at the weekend , when I got to buffing around the mirrors it was smearing.   Verrry tedious after having spent 2 hours cleaning. 

[Midas Mk1]

A bit minor maybe but frustrating all the same.  The rubbers that go under the door mirror mounts have started leeching black goo.  I was washing and waxing the car at the weekend , when I got to buffing around the mirrors it was smearing.   Verrry tedious after having spent 2 hours cleaning. 

 

My new 'genuine' mpi still trim keeps doing this, again from Minispares. When your Mini is bright orange, its looks awful with the gunk after its washed, as is properly hard to remove. Thought from buying from Minispares it'd be alright...

[FlyingScot]

A bit minor maybe but frustrating all the same.  The rubbers that go under the door mirror mounts have started leeching black goo.  I was washing and waxing the car at the weekend , when I got to buffing around the mirrors it was smearing.   Verrry tedious after having spent 2 hours cleaning. 

 
My new 'genuine' mpi still trim keeps doing this, again from Minispares. When your Mini is bright orange, its looks awful with the gunk after its washed, as is properly hard to remove. Thought from buying from Minispares it'd be alright...

Have you raised it with them?

FS

[JBW]

I suggest using ONLY Goodridge braided PTFE hoses in the interests of safety, if the rubber items are thought of as being suspect. I have used Goodridge on every car that has needed a hydraulic overhaul, and they save money long term because they generally don't need replacing again.

 

I had to replace a set of Goodridge hoses because the fitting were seriously corroded & I knew of someone who had one fail, albeit after 10 years of daily use.

Replaced them with Hel ones as the fittings are stainless as well.

 

http://auto.helperfo...com/austin-mini

[tiger99]

Well, that is useful information. I have to wonder about the environment in which the vehicle was operated (salt water?) as I have not seen significant corrosion on the Goodridge items, which are plated, presumably with zinc, and passivated. The colour looks like cadmium plate, but that has been illegal for ages, and I am told that passivated zinc can be made to look similar.

 

The wrong kind of stainless is lethal in certain environments, including again salt water, however the right type is highly dependable. But, there may be a serious problem if the tube nuts are also stainless. They may be impossible to remove, as a problem somewhat similar in its effect to cold welding occurs between stainless parts. In a brake system you can not solve that by using the appropriate anti-seize compound, as if a trace gets into the hydraulics there will be serious seal problems within weeks.

 

So, quite possibly stainless hose end fittings and brass tube nuts might the the best. But I don't like brass for tube nuts as the hexagon tends to lose its corners too easily. Which brings us to stainless for the hose ends and standard plated steel for the tube nuts. Cunifer pipe of course, for safety's sake. And still a recipie for dissimilar metal electrolytic corrosion...

 

Suggestions?

[tiger99]

But getting back on topic, the quality of rubber parts, I see that GKN still seem to be very much alive and have things like CV joints and rubber boots. If we look hard enough there are likely to be sources of all the other rubber parts, or suitable substitutes, from reputable manufacturers.

 

http://www.gknservic...cars/boots.html

[sonikk4]

For the amount of hand wringing I'm seeing here about so called Chinese parts ( where's your proof) has anybody directly contacted the supplier to see where they are buying their parts from??

Also for those who feel they have found someone who could possibly supply a better quality part, again have you been in contact with the suppliers of the faulty items to suggest a possible alternative supplier??

Now I am not having a dig here but surely if you felt that strongly about it would you not try and start a dialogue with the people you buy your parts from??

As it happens I have talked to Simon@minispares about certain products and quality control. At the time he said they were looking into the quality of these parts to see what could be done.

[gav]

 

I suggest using ONLY Goodridge braided PTFE hoses in the interests of safety, if the rubber items are thought of as being suspect. I have used Goodridge on every car that has needed a hydraulic overhaul, and they save money long term because they generally don't need replacing again.

 

I had to replace a set of Goodridge hoses because the fitting were seriously corroded & I knew of someone who had one fail, albeit after 10 years of daily use.

Replaced them with Hel ones as the fittings are stainless as well.

 

http://auto.helperfo...com/austin-mini

 

 

 

All our Goodridge hoses now have Z1 OEM coating, this is tested for a minimum of 960-1000 hours in a continuous salt spray environment, so they will now last even longer!

[MontpellierVanMan]

The eye-wateringly obscene multiples that are available to retailers sourcing parts from China (trust me, I worked in vehicle-spares sourcing and have seen the prices, albeit mostly from eastern Europe) means that they would happily live with 10% of their customers who thought their products were ******* rather than do anything about it ; if you can buy perfect-looking Lucas distributors for $5, and retail them for NINE times that amount, why would you bother trying to justify a better product that retails for £100, on which you've only got a 40% margin, to the 10% of customers that care  ?

 

When you know someone else will still be selling "the same" 5$ product at less than half your price to the other 90%.

 

Until we have a (moderated) "******* Parts" section where we all post an account of the latest junk we've bought, I can't see things changing.

 

PS "Customer Feedback Matters To Us" - I pointed out some glaring inconsistencies to MiniSpares about the 1275 Primary bush info given on the web-site on May 26th and a) never got a reply and b) the info is still up there.

Edited by MontpellierVanMan, 12 August 2016 - 05:07 PM.

[tiger99]

Well said! It is the same in other industries.

[FlyingScot]

Any proof this is related to the topic in question.....?

Or just general muck slinging ?

FS

[Shooter63]

I was going to start a thread ranting about crappy rack gaiters, but I see I'm not the only one suffering.

Shooter

[86mayfair]

I must say that I'm now very frustrated too. Having been away studying for a while, I've come to set up my suspension (the car has not been on the road yet, and the suspension has only been on the car for about 2 years) to find that the hand brake seals have perished, as have the knuckle covers, and the lower arm bushes. Incredibly annoying for a car that has not been on the road, and only been on wheels for about 2 months, to know that I have to buy it all again, take it all apart, replace everything, then spend all the time resetting all the geometry, just to get a bloody mot, only to have to do it all over again for a third time in another year or two.

Edited by 86mayfair, 12 August 2016 - 10:14 PM.