585 replies to this topic

[colinf1]

Picked up a few pieces today, Leyland grill and top and lower dash rails.
Mine are beyond repair.



Back very rusty..


Picked up the grill as I don't like the chrome one that was on it.



Also picked up a NOS AA badge that should look nice when car is fully finished..

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Looking good! 

[colinf1]

Thanks Craig..

Finished stripping down the radius arms, also removed all wheel bearings and rubber cones from rear trumpets.

Knuckles put up a bit of a fight but eventually came out..



Nice amount of rubbish for the bin..



Made a start on rear subframe with knotted wheel on grinder, seems to be coming up nice...

[colinf1]

Got another mini in my life now, so this will be but on the back burner for a while...new mini is 7lb 14 and a boy called Lucas...anyone seen any sleep anywhere?

[colinf1]

Got a wee bit done today, removed all core plugs and gave the engine a going over with power hose.

Still a fair amount of mud coming out of water jacket, also a few clumps of metal floating about there too, maybe flakes of old core plugs.



Core plugs all very corroded, anyone could have burst if I had to have run the engine for any length of time.



Had hoped to have received my minispares order by now to get started on suspension rebuild, but hasn't even dispatched yet as they're waiting for inner wings to be back in stock...not like I have much spare time but wee lad is finally starting to settle into some sort of routine...for the moment ?

[colinf1]

Seem to be getting more done to the mini than proper sleep at the moment, but unfortunately its only been an hour or so a day...

 

Got a nice delivery from minispares, lots of suspension and subframe bits. Annoyingly its another part delivery from DHL, box 2 is supposedly "Access restricted by the Consignee or Regulatory body" and "Delivery will be arranged when restrictions are lifted"

 

I had painted the upper arms last week after blasting them a few weeks ago. New bearings installed along side new swivel grease nipple and a new knuckle joint and lower shock absorber pin.

 

 

Got some blank period style number plates delivered this evening, couldn't resist offering up my 3d printed numbers to see what they will look like.

 

 

 

I removed the head from the engine to see if it had any work done like unleaded valve seats, but doesn't look like it.

 

Also found out that the engine is not the original I had thought it was. 

Logbook recorded as 99H791PZ 134199 and engine block has 99H997P 134199. Not that it makes much difference but it would have been nice to have it matching.

When I looked at it first, I think I just seen the 99H and the 199 either end and disregarded the other numbers and letters.

 

 

Guessworks engine decoder is giving me this info for 99H997P134199

 

 

A+ 998 cc Transverse mounted 

 

Lucas 16AC alternator with -ve Earth

1st Alternative compression ratio

Mechanical petrol pump

ADO 20 Design variants

 

Std. Ratio Rod Change gearbox with Pot Joints 

2.95:1 Final Drive 

 

and this for 99H791PZ 134199

 

 

A Series 998 cc Transverse mounted 

 

Lucas 16AC alternator with -ve Earth

1974 requirements

Mechanical petrol pumpGearbox features : 

Std. Ratio Rod Change gearbox with Pot Joints 

3.44:1 final drive 

A Series Gear Ratios (A+ Mainshaft) 

Edited by colinf1, 29 October 2020 - 11:35 PM.

[colinf1]

Part 2 of my minispares parcel finally arrived today. Lots of shiny new parts!

Got my repair panels for most things apart from inner wing. Now need to see about welding them in...?

[TahitiSprint]

Got another mini in my life now, so this will be but on the back burner for a while...new mini is 7lb 14 and a boy called Lucas...anyone seen any sleep anywhere?

Congrats with the newborn!

Being a dad myself (3yr old boy and 3 month old girl), I know it takes all your time. It amazes me that you still find some time to work on your project

Good luck with your mini's!

[colinf1]

Thanks @TahitiSprint..

Stuck my 3d printed numbers onto the plates this evening, drew up a guide to help with keeping it all in-line.



Polyurethane adhesive on the back of printed parts, should be more than strong enough.



Then added some industrial weights. Let it set overnight.



A nice, relatively clean job to do at kitchen table rather than in a cold, breezy garden shed...

[colinf1]

All fully cured, hopefully they won't fall off...

[GraemeC]

They look great - the printed digits are spot on.

[colinf1]

Sent the shell off to be media blasted today, bit of a rush job getting last few bits stripped. A bit of careful maneuvering to get it from concrete pad at bottom of garden, across the grass and down side of the house to be loaded onto a trailer at the front.  

 

 

 

Bonnet got slightly squashed on one side when moving it, hopefully that will pull out of it

 

Nuts on door hinges were a bit awkward to get off, especially on passenger side where they had been covered in body filler and silicone. A few sheared, but the main thing is the doors were off.

 

Got to the blasters and realised I forgot to take the VIN plate and door striker plates off. I have to drop round my alloys to get done so I'll take them off then.

 

Both sub-frames and bumpers sent also, be a few weeks before its back, but I'm not in any rush.

 

Found this stamp on the rear subframe, looks like its the original subframe

 

 

Separated the old cones from the trumpets on the front, I honestly dont think one of the cones was threaded onto the bolt at all, trumpet was full of gunky water and thread on the cone was extremely corroded.

 

 

The totally opposite on the other side...it was full of bone dry sand!

 

[Retro_10s]

Great progress, there's something really special about cleaning up parts and having them laying there looking lovely and new, ready to be fitted to your shell when it gets back. Fingers crossed you don't have too much of a surprise when it returns from the media blasters. be surprised how many holes start appearing!

 

look forward to seeing more progress as/when the new addition to the family allows!

[colinf1]

Cleaned up the backing plates for the brakes, fronts were very rough, all bent out of shape from someone prising the drums off, but apart from that they were fine.

Also cleaned up the hub flanges, have removed the short studs ready for longer ones for spaced drums.

One of the drive flanges looked to be damaged, had material squashed onto the mating face, so the drum would never sit on properly.

On closer inspection it looks like 2 cuts in a v shape, then hammered/squashed to stop the stud from spinning...hmmm...



Removed the stud then flattened down the mated surface, pressed stud back in and tested the stud for spinning, seems to be holding fine

There was also some material on the mating face of the other drive flange, but this just needed to be filed flat.

Gave them all a quick coat of rust remover ready for some satin black tomorrow.

[colinf1]

Dropped off my wheels to be blasted, had a quick peek at the shell while I was there...???

A few more holes, but nothing that's too bad..

Long dent on rear quarter,



Boot floor bit worse than I had initially thought..



Bit gone on corner of parcel shelf..



Passenger side rear window




Passenger step was biggest surprise...so far...



Bottom of passenger a panel



Drivers step, small hole on top of door frame





Engine bay and bulkhead looks good, even front half of inner wing looks fine..



Also got new bearings in both rear hubs, also new longer studs for the stepped drums. Didn't grease them up yet, I'll wait until I get a radius arm finished so I can bolt them up and put grease caps on.

Cleaned up and painted one of the radius arms and one lower front arm.

Was a bit of damage on lower arm mating face, just needed flattening down.