151 replies to this topic

[rally1380]

Hmmmmm off the top of my head last night i wrote down a list of jobs - 

 

Cut inspection hole in outer sills to get access to the subframe mounts and patch repair inner sill/check condition of inner sill

Patch the inner sills

Remove rear subframe and swap out for better condition rear subframe

Replace fuel lines and place grommets where it passes through bodywork

Sort out the engine earth strap

Adjust rear drums brakes,/handbrake

Get brake lights working

Fix passenger seat and fully weld up drivers seat mounting

Fit trip meter sensor into speedo cable

Wire in trip meter with external power

 

and add to the fact that this is a mini and that you can times all the jobs and the precieved time they should take by 3, and 3 days might have been optomistic.

 

Might I also suggest you start a build thread in the 'projects' section on this forum rather than in this section?  No problem with you using this section, just seems that you are in for the long haul with this project and would be nice to see it get the traffic it deserves and you'll get more folk looking at it and offering advice.....which reminds me - I must pull my finger out with mine!!!!!

[28hodge]

Soooooo

3 days spent scratching in under over and around the mini, I had a list of required jobs to get through so how far did we get.......

Cut inspection hole in outer sills to get access to the subframe mounts and patch repair inner sill/check condition of inner sill - Check
Patch the inner sills - Check

This took a bit more time than we wanted and running out of gas midway through was t a great help. They were a little worse than I had thought they would be on the drivers side really. As the rot had spread to under the cage foot but essentially the inner are really good apart from in the rear bins, I have a borescope for my phone and had a good look up the sill with is and it's really solid, the old outer sills have been removed and over sills put on, why this was done is beyond me, I'll get some proper sills on order and fit them when I get time before the oversill start causing excessive damage.

The subframe mount bolts are all freed up and easily removable, but the inspection hole was a god send for this as getting 2 days worth of plusgas and heat onto the rear of the bolt/nut made them possible to remove without shearing.

Remove rear subframe and swap out for better condition rear subframe - having had a really good look over the subframe it's actually solid and ok so rather than create unnecessary work we left it as it was

Replace fuel lines and place grommets where it passes through bodywork - I ballsed up and got the wrong dia pipe, so this was parked but I'll get it done between now and going back to work on the 3rd

Sort out the engine earth strap - ready to be fitted but the car is starting 100% now so not urgent, again will be done before the 3rd

Adjust rear drums brakes,/handbrake - found a leaking cylinder on one side so I had to go to the motor factors and get 2 new ones which then didn't fit the backplate, which was annoying and meant welding up and re drilling the backplate, and remaking the brake line as there was no chance the fitting was coming out without snapping it.

Get brake lights working - the brake light is on a pressure switch if the connectors are removed and touched together nothing happens, if I wire up a external 12v source the lights work so I need to figure out the 12v lead to the circuit as its not getting one.

Fix passenger seat and fully weld up drivers seat mounting - done, twice in fact as I welded it up once then realised it was on the wrong marks so had to cut it off and reweld onto the correct marks

Fit trip meter sensor into speedo cable - fitted and 5amp fused spur power fitted, trip all up and running

Wire in trip meter with external power - done

And as always these jobs mean I have a new list of jobs to tackle!

The alternator is squealing when the lights are on so will need to adjust that and/or get a new belt, spare will always be handy anyway.

The handbrake cams on the rear subframe are seized up and need plusgas and freeing off.

I've driven it around a little yesterday on a private road and the clutch is not clearing 100% it's not crunching anymore into reverse but is bad coming back from 3rd to 2nd I've bled it once but will do it again other than that I'll get a rebuild kit for the slave cylinder and see if it's just the seals that have gone hard with standing.

MOT is pretty close but the brake lights and brakes need sorting as the lights are obviously a fail and then the brake efficiency currently may also be a fail.

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And then this,

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£94 delivered to my door on Xmas eve, happy with that!

[28hodge]

Entry in!!

 

IMG_7745

 

And i sent payment at the same time, i dont have a MSA licence as yet its currently in the system but I have my licence number, what with the MSA and ACU licences that I need for the bikes it soon starts to get £££££

 

All we need now is a car, having a problem with the brake lights, it is on a hydraulic switch, i've got 12v to the switch and when this is connected to the switch and the pedal pressed i have 12v out the other side of the switch. however if i connect it up i have nothing.

 

The circuit is good as if i hotwire the switch and connect the 2 wires together the brake lights work, I have a bad earth somewhere as it'll only work if the battery has plenty juice in it and the washer jets will only work if the battery is above 12.5V, but that can be sorted and shouldnt stop the switch working i dont think?

 

Bit lost as to whats stopping the the lights working I am not great with electrics but I can't easily figure out why it wont work when connected through the switch despite the switch putting out 12v. For the sake of £5 I'll try a new switch in it but I don't see how that's the problem.  

 

Once the brake lights are done then just a few little touching up jobs needed and it can go for an MOT, I think it will fail on the brakes as no matter what I do I can't get the rears to not bind, I am getting close to putting the shoes on a belt sander as they are brand new and the shoe thickness is an issue. The fronts need some use really to get them cleaned up and working.

 

Last day off today before back to work tomorrow but the other half and daughter are still away till the 7th, so can still get some jobs done at night. Today's jobs are dressing welds and seam sealer/undersealing the sills where the inspection holes were. Bleed the clutch again to try and get rid of the crunch coming down the box and then sort the engine earth.

 

Aso need to get an alternator belt as I can spin the alternator by hand with the engine stopped currently as the belt is so worn. I have adjusted it and it better but not great.

Edited by 28hodge, 02 January 2018 - 10:56 AM.

[GraemeC]

I would suspect the switch - it probably can't cope once there is load across it rather than just a meter.

Rear brakes - are they new shoes?  There are some cheap aftermarket ones around that are too thick (there have been threads on here before about them).  Go for a good known brand like Mintex and you shouldn't have an issue.

[28hodge]

Cheers, yeah they look brand new so I'll get some mintex on order tomorrow and see if they sort it out.

Got a switch on order but might see if the motor factor down the road from work have a decent quality Lucas or hella one.

I'll ring round tomorrow and try and get an mot booked in for next week. See what comes from that.

Edited by 28hodge, 02 January 2018 - 07:08 PM.

[28hodge]

Entry confirmed an accepted, need to sort out the girlfriends licence and butter my mum up for some childcare duties over night on the 2nd now!!

 

Hopefully the switch will arrive in the post today and I can get that fitted and working as I don't want to book an MOT till i know I have that sorted. I'll grab some brake shoes tonight from the motor factor down the road from work and see if that solves the rear brakes binding, if not I'll have to have a look at the MS72 valve that's fitted and the rear brake cylinder and maybe swap them out for the 1/2" cylinders, as apparently the rear brakes are a bugger for locking up when the pedal was pressed hard.

[Cooperman]

If you fit the speedo sensor into a standard cable the sensor is very close to the exhaust manifold and can fail due to the heat (had that!).
Best thing is to use a longer speedo cable and run it into the car near the wiper motor. The sensor can then sit behind the navigator's panel where it is cooler.
You need a 90 deg elbow to fit the cable onto the speedo ans Speedy Cables sell these.

[GraemeC]

Personally I wouldnt use a speedo cable mounted sensor.

[28hodge]

Hmmm Cooper man I have exactly what you described! The sensor is close so I will have a look at what you suggested. Are wheel sensors legal? I thought I'd read they weren't, but might not have done?

I need to sort some hs4 carbs or a single hs6 and the flywheel and starter for inertia setup.

I picked up some new rear brake shoes this morning so will fit them now and see if they solve the rear brakes binding. Brakelights are now working as I swapped the switch last night.

Slowly getting there.

[GraemeC]

I'm not aware of wheel sensors not being legal and I'd be very surprised (and not too concerned) if they were.

One in each rear hub and switchable should one fail.

[rally1380]

I'm not aware of wheel sensors not being legal and I'd be very surprised (and not too concerned) if they were.

One in each rear hub and switchable should one fail.

 

Yeah, I don't think they are illegal.

 

I think one of the top mini HRCR crews does run rear mounted sensors....i'm assuming it's so they get a more accurate reading as it factors out any wheel spin which i'm assuming would make the distance reading slightly inaccurate......not that i'm ever that accurate!!!!!

 

I ran mine on the speedo cable between the speedo and the bulkhead inside the car with no need for a 90 elbow but I do like that method.

[28hodge]

Ok, I'll have a look at modifying the speedo cable route or look at fitting a wheel sensor. To be honest trying to manage the speed changes will probably take a bit of a back seat and I think we will concentrate on going the right way to begin with.

I swapped new shoes into the rear brakes and fitted a fresh cylinder clip on one side over the weekend and then *******'d around with the handbrake cams to free them up as they were seized up pretty bad, but think I've sorted the rear brake issues, I can roll it back and forward with a nudge now and the hand brake will hold it on an incline. I want to tighten it up a little as its only grabbing it at the top of the handbrake pull. I also need to do a small weld on the handbrake mount as I noticed it was cracked the other day, I'm guessing this would be a MOT fail.

I insured the car on Saturday so that I am at least covered if anything should happen, I have a length of private road about half a mile down the road from us so I have been using that a bit to see if all is well, it's not. The carbs need setting up and I need to check the ignition timing but I'll need to get a strobe gun, I think there is one at my dads, if not I'll buy one.

The car I think is really rich, it stinks when at idle and once warm it won't idle so I need to have a look at the slow speed idle and the mixture but it's that rich I think it may also need a different needle. The car has the std airbox on, I'm thinking it's been set up to run with a free'r flowing airbox/filter setup and this has been removed but the carb setting not altered, if I floor it I get a bit of missing and bogging and it'll give the odd pop and bang, it's not pinking.

I'm guessing though, so I will get the ignition timing checked and if needed adjusted and then have a look at the carbs, the hif44 will need to come off it anyway so I'm not after perfecting this setup but I'd like to get it running ok with it.

I have sorted a pair of twin hs4's but need a manifold for them and more than likely a couple rebuild kits, and then some filters, which when added up starts to get expensive pretty quick. So I'm starting to think just getting a hs6 that will go on the same manifold as the hif44 is the better option out and out performance isn't a massive requirement at the minute.

I also need to run some lead additive/octane boost in it, any suggestions?

It has a 1/8th of a bottle of some castrol in the rear bin, but I've googled that and it's NLA.

Also I have no reversing lights, did a 71 clubby not have any as standard? the rear light clusters don't have a reversing light in them. It does have a mg metro engine and I am presuming box (actually it's a MED 3 synchro box) so I am assuming this will have the sensor for the reverse light. If so is it just a case of wiring this up and fixing a spot light the the bootlid?

If it doesn't have the sensor I am guessing I wire in a manual switch for it.

I also want a left hand wing mirror for it, feels a bit alien to me to not have one.

I am going to run through everything with my mate an then book it an MOT and go from there.

Edited by 28hodge, 08 January 2018 - 11:07 PM.

[rally1380]

Also I have no reversing lights, did a 71 clubby not have any as standard? the rear light clusters don't have a reversing light in them. It does have a mg metro engine and I am presuming box (actually it's a MED 3 synchro box) so I am assuming this will have the sensor for the reverse light. If so is it just a case of wiring this up and fixing a spot light the the bootlid?

If it doesn't have the sensor I am guessing I wire in a manual switch for it.

I also want a left hand wing mirror for it, feels a bit alien to me to not have one.

I am going to run through everything with my mate an then book it an MOT and go from there.

 

 

No, that age mini did not come with a reversing light.

 

What gear linkage does it have......remote or rod??  Isn't the switch at the gearstick end anyway?  I only fitted reversing lights as I was doing night rallies with mine.....not sure it's an actual requirement for daytime events??  Certainly not a disaster to fit though.

[Cooperman]

You only need a reversing light for night rallies.

Most old rally cars had manually switched reversing lights so that it could be turned on to warn other competitors if you went off the road. A manually switched light needs a warning light as well.

[GraemeC]

If it's a 3 synchro remote box the reverse switch fits on the front of the box, but you may struggle to get the plunger if there's presently no switch assembly fitted. If it's a rod change then the switch is in the gearstick housing.

For the age of car, a remote box would be what it left the factory with, although almost certainly 4 sync. However an MG Metro engine would've had a rod box originally.

A 4 sync would be better than a 3, especially on daytime events where you'll potentially find yourself dropping into 1st quite often

My reversing light has the gearstick operated switch and a manual override switch on the dash.

Edited by GraemeC, 09 January 2018 - 06:49 PM.