589 replies to this topic

[colinf1]

I think I will keep it, but move it to the small switch panel that would have the rear fog light, that way it frees up valuable space on the main switch panel to have something more useful.

Another day of constant rain here, hoping for better weather tomorrow.

[colinf1]

Checking over the old paper work that came with the car, it seems like it only done 1 or 200 miles since 2010...

Took the dash and speedo out, turns out there's no drive cable present! God knows how many miles are missing from odometer..

IMG_20200704_195915 by Colin Doherty, on Flickr

Started to untangle the messy wiring loom, tracing back what is what.

Also had a look at the boot, it came with a new boot seal, so was about to fit that so took the lid off to clean it up a bit, bit it's very rusted at the bottom. I have the boot sealed up with a bin liner and duct tape for the moment, hopefully it let's in less water than what the boot lid was letting in.

IMG_20200704_195816 by Colin Doherty, on Flickr

IMG_20200704_200019 by Colin Doherty, on Flickr

Accelerator pedal was also a bit stick, so put my foot behind it to pull it forward and got jagged by 2 big screws holding on the bigger pedal....ughhh...

IMG_20200704_195939 by Colin Doherty, on Flickr

[colinf1]

Much better...

IMG_20200705_181339 by Colin Doherty, on Flickr

 

Picked it up for €35, not bad considering no rust and seal is pretty good condition.

 

Minispares order has been placed, hopefully have some nice goodies by end of the week...

 

The plan is to strip down the old boot lid and have a go at repairing it. I can also get some paint panel matched to the same shade of red

[colinf1]

Some more bits and pieces done this evening, in-between cutting the lawn..

Removed rear seat, lots of water under it, some rust around side window so I'd say that's the cause of it.



Passenger side doesn't look as bad, but probably needs sorting too



Doesn't look too bad, a few flakes of rust but nothing major...yet....



Also removed the chrome trim off wheel arch, just drivers side front and side seam strip trim done for now, chrome trim wasn't really appealing to me, but happy that there's a good set of wheel arches underneath.

[colinf1]

Got a few hours at it this evening, thanks to a break in the persistent rain.

Trying to tidy the wiring up in engine bay, took most of the insulation tape off, what messy stuff to get off your hands.

There's 2 wires coming from the starter solenoid that don't match up with any diagrams I have looked at. White wire with a yellow tracer, brown or pink wire with white tracer looping back into fuse box to a white wire.

I'll take a closer look at it over the weekend, but think I'll need to replace the solenoid as the white/yellow wire came out of its connection..

I also started to strip out carpet from front, pretty stinky so plan to power wash it and the underlay, should be fine once dried.

Removed instrument panel and pulled the loom back into engine bay, main bulk head panel looks good.

Minispares order has been dispatched, so some goodies on the way to look forward too.

Sorted the paperwork today and taxes it for the year, €56 /year vintage tax, let's hope its up and running soon!

[colinf1]

Nice weather to get some work done today...
Removed the loom, need to get some connectors to remove any bullet type connectors for something a bit more waterproof.



Once that was out of the way I started removing a few more engine items, starter solenoid, starter, alternator, radiator, water pump and thermostat housing.
Lots of crud build up in water channels, what's best way to flush that?






Radiator had a lot of damaged fins, so I think I'll replace that



Inner wings look good, some light surface rust in places, nothing too major..







My wife gave me a had cleaning up some parts, washer bottle nice an clean now, plus motor works



Headlights and indicators also removed, got plenty of small parts to shot blast next week



Got most of the interior removed, just the back carpet, going to power wash it all and hopefully it will still be usable.

Anyone got any ideas of how to remove these..there doesn't seem to be anything up in door cavity that I can feel, can only turn them a small amount before it touches the roll of door skin..

[colinf1]

Just a few minutes in the car today, finally found out what's holding the mirror base on, a bolt, all the way up inside the door, not sure how they got it on like that...



Got some engine degreaser, just gave it a quick going over with garden hose when I noticed a flake on 1 of the core plugs. Poked it with screw driver and sure enough it's busted. Just glad I didn't run the engine too much, or just service it to get it drivable like I initially wanted..



Minispares basket filling up again, other order hasn't arrived yet..

[MacGyver]

I think you need to get the window out, that's how I got to mine 20years ago...

Ben

[colinf1]

Attempted to do some small pieces in a small sand blaster cabinet at work, it wasn't working very good so may need some new blast media or a filter to stop the bigger pieces blocking the suction tube.

Was trying to get headlamp bowls and number plate light holder done on my lunch break but was so slow.

Disassemble the interior heater unit this evening, all came apart nicely.
Foam on the inside has all disintegrated so will need replacing, but matrix looks good on outside.
Ran some water through it with garden hose, some seriously brown stuff coming out of it for a good 5 minutes!

I will run some coolant flush through it and then pressure test it for leaks.

Also disassembled the grille, frame is a bit tatty looking and a few fins need straightening, but should be salvageable.

[colinf1]

Got a few bits and piece done today, sandblaster cabinet is still hit and miss, but managed to get the radiator cowling done. Got half way through the number plate light housing and gave up because it was very slow progress.

 

 

 

Gave it a go with my DA sander, but it decided to give up, started slowing down then smoking from the top. Not bad from Lidl back in 2009.

 

After reading a comment about the sound deadening bitumen panels give a false impression on Ben_O's mini advantage project I decide to chip away to see what was lurking beneath...

 

 

 

Pretty solid in the rear, not as bad as I thought it would be at the front, if the massive dent from incorrect jacking wasnt there I could probably get away with treating it and cleaning it up.

 

About 3kgs lighter now...

Edited by colinf1, 16 July 2020 - 07:55 PM.

[colinf1]

Had a bit of a clean up around the garden today, had the power washer out so gave the mini a bit of a clean on the underside. Lots of red paint flaking off, plus found a few more areas that need attention once most of the dirt was washed away. The original brown paint coming through looks like rust at first glance...



Front shock absorber mounting plate is pretty rusted on both sides, debating whether it would be easier to replace inner wings rather than patch them? Is it possible to remove the wings to reuse them?



Some silicone smeared over the inner wing to hide or seal the holes...



Floor underside looks a bit cleaner, still all looks solid apart from the front.



Gave drums and hubs a good wash, all looking ok, have new bearings and ball joints on the way from minispares, so all of that will be removed for refurbishment.



Rear hubs look good too, rear subframe is solid but needs a paint.





The doors are blue on the inside suggesting they had been replaced at some point, but found some blue paint on the sill seam, only a small patch though..



Hopefully get some more stuff done tomorrow, maybe try and finish off the heater instead of starting multiple jobs at a time lol

[johnR]

Nice weather to get some work done today...
Removed the loom, need to get some connectors to remove any bullet type connectors for something a bit more waterproof.



Once that was out of the way I started removing a few more engine items, starter solenoid, starter, alternator, radiator, water pump and thermostat housing.
Lots of crud build up in water channels, what's best way to flush that?






Radiator had a lot of damaged fins, so I think I'll replace that



Inner wings look good, some light surface rust in places, nothing too major..







My wife gave me a had cleaning up some parts, washer bottle nice an clean now, plus motor works



Headlights and indicators also removed, got plenty of small parts to shot blast next week



Got most of the interior removed, just the back carpet, going to power wash it all and hopefully it will still be usable.

Anyone got any ideas of how to remove these..there doesn't seem to be anything up in door cavity that I can feel, can only turn them a small amount before it touches the roll of door skin..

How did you end up with all that pubic hair in your red bucket?

[colinf1]

How did you end up with all that pubic hair in your red bucket?

Two birds, one stone...

[colinf1]

Going a bit too far with the heater restoration??

Disassembled the motor, cleaned years of dirt build up on the blowers, I think I'll put a small pollen filter in when reassembling it.

All parts ready for sand blasting, then zinc primer and matt black top coat.

I've even cleaned the wires for it ?



Disappointed my minispares didn't arrive for this weekend, think they forgot to send it initially as I got dispatch email last weel but didn't get tracking info until Friday which said it had only been picked up....

[sonscar]

Myself I would go for localised repairs,fiddly but cheap,and you can drive it relatively quickly.Done with care you can get many more years out of it.Or you could strip it and restore it,may be a better end result but can take years and can be expensive(could also be an unfinished project),your car your choice.It looks to me as if it will respond well to some love.Good luck.Steve..