591 replies to this topic

[colinf1]

Some goodies arrived thanks to Neil in Richmond Classic Car parts.

A neatly packed brake pipe set, very good to see each part labelled clearly and labels to show which end goes where. That will come in extremely useful when forming the bends, at least I can form it knowing which end is which.

Also a new kit for the 59d4, new HT leads and spark plugs and engine steady bolt kit.



Also received a new clutch slave cylinder, push rod and radiator bolts from Bull Mofit Spares. Plenty to keep me occupied, but first I need to have a shed tidy up!

[Viktor]

Lovely delivery! How are you going to bend the pipe? Is there a special tool for that, or just heat it up and bend?

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

Hi Victor, they are easy bend copper pipes, so you can form them by hand. I have all my old pipes there as templates, apart from front subframe one but that's just 3 bends.

I was watching a video by "Upbuild" on YouTube, he show a good tip of using some heavy Strimmer cord on the inside of the pipe to prevent any kinking, so I think I will try that method.

Edited by colinf1, 08 January 2023 - 07:03 PM.

[colinf1]

That's the Lucas 59d4 distributor stripped down, body and internals cleaned, outside of main body given a quick coat of paint. New points, condenser, rotary arm and cap. Also new cap clips. Bolted on in roughly the correct position, hopefully good enough for an engine start soon.



Had sandblasted and painted a few parts during the week, but the paint seems to be taking too long to dry, so might blast the again then get them powder coated..

[colinf1]

Got the small bolt and spacer sorted for the clutch slave bracket. Old oil pump bolt with an old engine steady sleeve for the spacer. Had to add an extra washer as the bolt wasn't threaded enough.



Also made a start on cleaning up the grille that would have been the proper type for year of car. Layers and layers of hammerite that even the sandblaster struggled with. Left it in a sealed bag with plenty of paint stripper smeared over it to try and soften it. Decided to split the weather shield part to get better access to the back side. Slow progress but getting there.

[gaspen]

Lovely delivery! How are you going to bend the pipe? Is there a special tool for that, or just heat it up and bend?

 

Victor.

 

If you wish nice bends get a pipe bender ! 

 

Attached Files

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[colinf1]

Been putting off doing the driveshafts for quite some time now, knowing how dirty and messy it would be, but got stuck into them today.

Done a quick assessment of each CV joint, outers seemed to move freely, inners felt a tiny bit stiff. Opening the inner boot first revealed the grease had turned to liquid on both of the inner joints, but once I had cleaned it up it looked fine.
Cleaned out the outer joint too, painted the shafts and reassembled the shorter one first.



The longer one is cleaned, ready to be greased and reassembled.

Both pots cleaned and put onto the differential, this will allow me to get the engine oil filled and hopefully fired up soon.

[Viktor]

Looking good Colin. When are you expecting the shell back from the paint shop?

[colinf1]

Got the other driveshaft reassembled this evening, pot joint end wrapped in plastic bag for now.



Also filled the engine with some oil, nice leak from the rocker cover gasket, hadn't tightened up the rocker cover bolts enough..
Went to wire up the electronic oil pressure, but think I threw the gauge part of it out a few months ago 🤦‍♂️ it was pretty rusty and wasn't any particular make...

Managed to find a Smiths "GP" mechanical gauge and pipework, so will take off the sender unit and replace it with this then it will be time to crank it to see if I get oil pressure 🤞

[colinf1]

Got the other driveshaft reassembled this evening, pot joint end wrapped in plastic bag for now.



Also filled the engine with some oil, nice leak from the rocker cover gasket, hadn't tightened up the rocker cover bolts enough..
Went to wire up the electronic oil pressure, but think I threw the gauge part of it out a few months ago 🤦‍♂️ it was pretty rusty and wasn't any particular make...

Managed to find a Smiths "GP" mechanical gauge and pipework, so will take off the sender unit and replace it with this then it will be time to crank it to see if I get oil pressure 🤞

[colinf1]

Got the oil pressure capillary pipe onto the engine and gauge, cranked over with a "fully charged" battery, one I had bought just after I got the mini, managed a few rotations before it ran out of power.

Stuck it on charge, but charger only charges it for a while the goes into maintenance mode, so think the battery is goosed!

Took the battery out of my daily driver and cranked it a few more times, oil started to flow up the capillary pipe eventually and was reading 55psi. Think that's good enough pressure to allow to go for a engine start.

Gotta figure out how to wire up coil ballast etc, attach exhaust and radiator before I can go any further...

[colinf1]

Picked up a set of 8.4" disc brakes from Woody on the Irish mini forum during the week, have a pair of new GKN cv joints and can reuse the new bearings and ball joints from the drum hubs if I remove them carefully. Then CV boot should be usable as they're the universal drum/disc.

Stripped them down and started cleaning everything up. I'll need new discs and pads as old discs were 8.3mm so under the safe limit. New caliper pistons and seals and they should be good to go.

Attached the radiator and exhaust to the engine today, wired in an old coil and added some fuel to a jam jar. Cranked it over to verify oil pressure and spark, then gave it a go for starting. No joy, checked timing, 180deg out, tried again, no joy.

Took off float chamber cap and added some fuel, then used gravity feed for fuel rather than fuel pump. It started then cut out 5 seconds later. It would only start on full choke but only for a few seconds at a time. Not sure timing is 100% correct or if the carb mixture is right.

Also have a small water leak from thermostat housing studs, bit of an oil leak at the oil pickup banjo bolt.

Some research to be done on getting carb and timing set correctly....

[colinf1]

Not been getting a lot done the past week, priority has switched to my wife's car which needs an exhaust temperature sender sensor.

Did get a bit of time to continue cleaning up the disc brakes. Back plates sandblasted and painted, caliper halves cleaned out and painted.

[colinf1]

Nice bit of progress on the hub rebuild, one side fully cleaned and rebuilt apart from bearings. Couldn't get the seals out of the hub without destroying the spring inside it, but was worth a shot. A final layer of paint applied to the caliper, need to order the rebuild kit for these soon.

[Viktor]

That looks great!