111 replies to this topic

[liam_italian]

Success

She passed her MOT with flying colours, only one advisory and that was because I hadn't fitted the bonnet safety catch yet.

So I drove her down to town and got her taxed and also the tracking on the front wheels done at National tyres!

[nev_payne]

Hooray! Cracking job chap, don't you go holding back those tears driving down the open roads now will you..

[bcjames]

Congratulations

[liam_italian]

Well took her on a 50 mile shake down drive around Snowdonia which in some parts resembles the windy roads of the Monte Carlo. The drive was brilliant but did highlight a few minor issues that I'll be addressing over the next few weeks.

1. Weaving whilst driving over 40MPH - I have noticed some weaving etc whilst driving over 40mph but it seems to be mostly a problem driving on the rough B roads around here which are very bumpy at times. Im not entirely conviced that it's all down to bumo steer through so I will be replacing the lower arm and tie rod arms with uprated bushes from minispares.

2. Small leak from exhaust. - This seems to be coming from between the downpipe and cat so I will attempt to use some exhaust putty between the gasket as a fix until I've bought a complete Maniflow system.

3. Small knokcing noise on clutch release when changing gear/accelerating - I suspect this is probably down to one of the engine steadies being lose. I might even look into getting an ultimate engine steady for peace of mind.

4. Steering wheel is slightly off to the right - This happened when I got the tracking done so I will get this corrected when I take the mini down in a month to have it adjusted again (Free of charge). I think I might also get a 6mm pin type tool made up for locking the steering rack in place to ensure it's all centralised correctly when they do the tracking again.

5 . Small leak in sunroof - I've disclosed two holes in the rubber where the sunroof seal is and I suspect this is the cause of the leak. I've looked on Somerfords website and they possibly have a replacement so I will phone them first to check before ordering.

6 . Reversing light is intermittent - This appears to be a problem with the switch in the gearlever housing as if I keep the gear lever pulled back when in reverse it stays on.

No doubt there is be some other small issues that will crop up as the weeks go by, I'm just glad there hasn't been any major issues.

[1380roadmini]

sounds like they shouldnt be major issues, will keep you busy over the next few weeks

[liam_italian]

Well took the mini on a 60 mile round trip today and I'm pleased to say there where no mishaps. She goes at 70 along the dual carrageways very comfortably and the drive was nice and smooth. I've also noticed that the weaving/tram lining problem is worse when going downhill with the foot is off the accelerator. Any ideas?

I also managed to temporarily fix the leak in the sunroof by injecting windscreen sealant into the hole in the rubber seal, seem to have cured the problem for now.

Alo realised the knocking noise on changing gear/accelerating is the downpipe hitting the gearlever housing. Not a big issue as I'll be changing the exhaust in a few months. Also whilst I was under the car I adjusted the reversing light sensor and the reversing lights are now staying on :)

Oh almost forgot, I tried some exhaust putty between the gasket on the downpipe and cat but it hasn't made a difference. It's possibly where the downpipe connects to the manifold as this has been off a few times and the old gasket was reused.

Hopefully next week my new uprated bushes for the tie rod bars and lower arms will arrive next week so I can fit them to the car and see if it's improves the weaving problem.

[domdee]

nice rebuild! looks fab!