850 replies to this topic

[jsyjamie]

My cousin owns a garage in Queenstown.

 

http://www.m-developments.co.nz/

 

Sure he'll be keen for a beer and some car chat if you're passing. 

[Steve220]

My cousin owns a garage in Queenstown.

http://www.m-developments.co.nz/

Sure he'll be keen for a beer and some car chat if you're passing.

Thanks mate! Not sure what the itinerary is for the south island at the moment!

[kenny ken]

Wow!! Took a few days but managed to get through this thread, hats off to you for all the work. Think I would have thrown the towel in after seeing that rust! What sort of power do you expect from that engine build?

[SE10 Mini]

A very quick winter updat. The mini is still at my folks, however, after 8 months waiting I've finally got my wheels! I have little confidence in the company that sold them me and frankly will never deal with them again as far as I can help it. Poor comms throughout and a product I wanted at Easter, I get for Christmas. Anyway, here they are.



Because of the bare alloy finish, I got hold of a pot of very special rim wax from a friend when he started his company up in Scotland. This stuff has been used on my wife's Kuga wheels and brake dust just falls off the surface with a gentle soak. I'll leave it until tomorrow to remove to make sure it cures rock hard.



I also treated myself to the Black Friday deals that Minispares were having. First time I've visited the potters bar store and was very happy with the welcome, banter and layout. More bits to add to the collection ready for the restoration. Still in 2 minds about what direction of forced induction to go down, I've had petrol turbo cars since I was 18, although I like the linear delivery of the supercharger. Hmm...

 

 

 

These are the wheels I am looking for. I can only find one supplier, can you PM me who you used.

 

cheers

 

Ed

[Steve220]

A very quick winter updat. The mini is still at my folks, however, after 8 months waiting I've finally got my wheels! I have little confidence in the company that sold them me and frankly will never deal with them again as far as I can help it. Poor comms throughout and a product I wanted at Easter, I get for Christmas. Anyway, here they are.



Because of the bare alloy finish, I got hold of a pot of very special rim wax from a friend when he started his company up in Scotland. This stuff has been used on my wife's Kuga wheels and brake dust just falls off the surface with a gentle soak. I'll leave it until tomorrow to remove to make sure it cures rock hard.



I also treated myself to the Black Friday deals that Minispares were having. First time I've visited the potters bar store and was very happy with the welcome, banter and layout. More bits to add to the collection ready for the restoration. Still in 2 minds about what direction of forced induction to go down, I've had petrol turbo cars since I was 18, although I like the linear delivery of the supercharger. Hmm...

These are the wheels I am looking for. I can only find one supplier, can you PM me who you used.

cheers

Ed

Huddersfield mini spares. Never again though.

[SE10 Mini]

Huddersfield mini spares. Never again though.

 

 

 

 

I found them somewhere else.

 

Cheers!

[Steve220]

Right, all back from NZ so best get on with the important stuff! Whilst i had a bit of free time, i put together a list of things to do. First thing was to raise the front left suspension as it settle a little lower than the rest of the car. Whilst under there i removed the old catch can.

 

Onto the dash board, I've ordered an AEM boost gauge that should be with me shortly, the great thing about this is it can also provide a 0-5v feed as a MAP sensor! So it's a kind of back up at the moment. I got round to fitting a 12v and USB charger in the glove box.

 

 

 

The feed for them is from the sunroof wiring loom that all the MPi mini's have, its ideal!

 

As Matt has done a great job on creating a breathing system for me, i got it all plumbed in. A bit of 25mm and 13mm ID hoses and a T piece, and all complete!

 

 

Had a bit of a head scratch about mounting the ECU. I've been playing for months as to where to actually put this. I almost ended up extending the loom and mounting it behind the dash, however after sitting and staring that the engine bay, i found the perfect place! Using an original threaded hole on the inner arch, a bolt and a 10mm cut off of fuel hose, i made a mounting bracket. The wiring loom took a bit of convincing to move to its new home, but its sitting nicely! The brown wire is the positive feed for the chargecooler from the fuse box.

 

 

Onto the driver's side wheel arch. I bought a new stainless mounting bracket for the plastic duct junction box thing from Smiffy's bits. This solved an issue i was having with this damn thing, so win win! Pipe installed.

 

 

Time to get the cam run in! Tripple checked all fluids, sanity checked the engine, uploaded a revised base map and gave it a turn over. Didn't take long to start but took some convincing to idle. Got the RPM to 2k rpm, adjusted the fueling for an AFR of 14 and left it for 20 minutes. After, dropped the oil and replaced the filter. Yes it is tappety in the video.

 

 

 

 

Next day, re-torqued the head and re-adjusted the tappets! (much smoother now) Annoyingly, as i approached the garage, i saw a pool of blue liquid coming from the door. Turns out the car decided to dump some coolant, all from the joiner for the heater matrix. I replaced it with an item from a pond shop.

 

 

Once all sorted, ran it at idle for a bit to check for leaks. There are 2, but i'm working on them!

 

 

 

[Chris.Williams]

That breather on the rocker cover looks amazing, beautiful job!
And it sounds really good too, beautiful on tick over.

Edited by Chris.Williams, 15 December 2018 - 07:51 PM.

[Steve220]

That breather on the rocker cover looks amazing, beautiful job!
And it sounds really good too, beautiful on tick over.

Thanks Chris, just hoping I can get her running as well with the rest of the map!

[Statham]

Spent an hour reading this thread today - fantastic! You've obviously saved a small fortune on labour costs Steve, but how much do you think the whole project's cost? Ps Love the new wheels!

[Steve220]

Spent an hour reading this thread today - fantastic! You've obviously saved a small fortune on labour costs Steve, but how much do you think the whole project's cost? Ps Love the new wheels!

Thanks chap!
I have a rough figure, but I don't disclose it as the car is a labour of love and will be a forever car. The cost is irrelevant in my eyes as I wanted to have a super clean, unique mini.

[bdean]

Slight bit of an update as i'm still waiting for incompetent companies to send me things they promised weeks ago.. But alas! I keep finding things to do!

 

First was getting the silver filler strip in! Again, a big thank you to Shifty for lending me the correct tool and some helpful advice! I got the strip in within 2 minutes! I guess i've been lucky!

 

 

Next was the fuel tank - this wasn't so easy. It got stuck on some of the wiring so had to re-think where to route it. It eventually dropped in and managed to get all the new pipes on with stainless hose clamps. Fitted with a new tank strap that i covered with sticky back foam.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the N/S wheel arch, i got the fresh air feed sorted and cable tied in place - got the idea from Pete's build!

 

 

And because i'm a massive tart i got the rear badge on!

 

 

Did you go for the aluminium or steel protech shocks. Just considering any inherent pros/cons other than weight saving? 

[GreaseMonkey]

Sounds great, look forward to seeing some vids of it on the road. 

[Steve220]

Slight bit of an update as i'm still waiting for incompetent companies to send me things they promised weeks ago.. But alas! I keep finding things to do!

First was getting the silver filler strip in! Again, a big thank you to Shifty for lending me the correct tool and some helpful advice! I got the strip in within 2 minutes! I guess i've been lucky!



Next was the fuel tank - this wasn't so easy. It got stuck on some of the wiring so had to re-think where to route it. It eventually dropped in and managed to get all the new pipes on with stainless hose clamps. Fitted with a new tank strap that i covered with sticky back foam.



Meanwhile, in the N/S wheel arch, i got the fresh air feed sorted and cable tied in place - got the idea from Pete's build!



And because i'm a massive tart i got the rear badge on!

Did you go for the aluminium or steel protech shocks. Just considering any inherent pros/cons other than weight saving?

Alloy. Gave them a few coats of wax to keep them safe. They are very light!

[podifold]

I haven't read all the thread so may have missed it, but have you tightened that nut up on the Protech shock since that picture? It doesn't look like the thread's engaging with the nylon insert in the nut all that much.