664 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

Had a phone call from the MOT place today, the car sailed through the MOT with the exception of the n/s handbrake action, it was virtually none existant. I already knew the handbrake wasn't very good as they're the original drums and have been freed off a few times now due to the little use the car's had over the past few years, plus I left it parked up for 2 months with the handbrake on in the garage..... oops!

So, they're stripping the rear brakes for an overhaul on Monday so I should get it back Monday night with a fresh MOT, then I can tax it and start enjoying it!

[M44K TS]

Ahhhh yeah!!!!!

[M44K TS]

Got the car home this afternoon, clean bill of health, one fresh MOT, rebuilt rear brakes and 2 new rear brake lines as one was weeping slightly which the MOT man must have missed. So, went straight to the post office and got the tax put on.

So, let the lunacy commence all over again!

[M44K TS]

Took the car out for some pictures for the insurance company for the agreed valuation, took the long way home round some cool very twisty B-roads I used to use coming back from work when I used to work for Barclays, always found that blasting it round the twisties helped if I'd had a stressful day.

Anyway, a couple of small things to sort with the car, (some very trivial which I haven't got round to sorting)

1, Mixture is way out, it bogs down a big in 3rd gear on partial throttle at around 30mph and splutters a bit, fine throughout the rest of the rev range but it smells like it's overfueling a bit. I already knew it needed set up again after I swaped to a different airbox. It also needs the tappets adjusted as I think they're way out.

2, Jumped out of 2nd gear as I was slowing down for a junction a couple of times, gearbox seems fine every other time but could be connected to number 3 on the list...

3, Engine moves about a bit under sudden acceleration/deceleration, maybe an engine mount (which I doubt) or might need the extra steady bar fitted back onto the bulkhead.

4, Passenger door alignment is annoying me, hopefully it just needs a couple of shims or the hinges moved about

5, N/S/F arch needs a secured to the front part of the sill as it's a little loose causing the arch to body rubber trim to come away from the edge of the arch.

6, Needs lowered a bit, it's sitting a bit high for my liking

7, Vibration from the side of the bonnet that meet the wings at certain rpm, looking at putting a rubber seal all round the bonnet

8, Front number plate vibrating against the front bumper, 2 small sticky foam pads should sort that.

9, Bolts for spotlight brackets are rusting, going to change them for stainless ones

10, Rear 1/4 windows will be swapped with my originals as one has a scratch and reg no. etching from another car

11, Dealer sticker to be removed from rear window

12, Vibration from the boot on deceleration, I suspect it's the boot lining kit pushing the headrest poles against the seat back

13, The new drivers window runners that clamp to the glass have came off, gonna try and bond them on aswell as nipping them up, electric windows will be fitted soon anyway though with a bit of luck

14, Mini badge of the steering wheel is starting to come off, need to glue it back on

Finally, 15, going to grind the radius arms, front tie bars etc back with a flap disc as much as I can and give them a nice coat of satin black.

So, all in all, probably a days worth of work (excluding the engine tweaks) but will be well worth it.

Don't you just love a Mini's constant want for attention!

[M44K TS]

Took the car out for a half hour drive last night just for some much needed stress relief, it seemed pretty hesitant and seemed to splutter a bit at lower revs, noticed the fuel level was low so maybe thought that the year old petrol and maybe some crap that was rattling round inside the tank, (which didn't want to come out before I fitted the tank back into the car) maybe had something to do with it, so brimmed the tank, well, £20 quids worth

Seemed much happier, but then got on to the motorway and the short final drive is just too unbearable, 70ish in 4th is knocking on for 4000 rpm.

So got onto the blower to Green & White and enquired about a slightly taller final drive which should bring the revs down to a sensible level at motorway speeds. He mentioned that it's easier to drop the engine out of the car to swap it over, so asked about a livelier cam at the same time, Ian recommended a 266 cam which should be the best all rounder as it should give a little bit of low end torque improvement and a bit more mid range and top end power but retain a smooth idle Add to that maybe a set of roller rockers depending on his suggestions and it should be quite lively. So the car's booked in for the 14th June to have that little lot done.

In the meantime, I think I've managed to kill a year old battery, (good old 5 year guarantee, "Hello, Halfords, I need my battery changed..." ) It just doesn't really want to keep it's charge for very long. I can't think of anything that should be draining it so fast too, It took a few mins of it on the dodgy battery charger (only kicking out 12.45 volts on fast charge) last night for it to fire, then tonight, it was pretty slow to crank over. I'm going to try the other charger I have as that ones quite new and kicks out 14.5v. and has an auto maintenance mode.

Mind you, I was hooning about alot of country roads with all 6 lights going at once, I don't think the standard 45amp alternator could cope very well as the volt gauge was only reading 12.5v with all the lights on, but happily back up to 14v with just the headlights. I've seen a 70amp replacement for £60 brand new with no surcharge from Mini Spares so I'm going to order one of those along with a new grille.

At the minute, I have a wavy slat Mk1 grille, but I'm not massively keen on it with the spotlights, so I'll be changing it for a Mk1 Morris Cooper wide slat grille....

Current

With no spotlights


Mk1 Morris Cooper

And how they look fitted to my favourite Jap Mini. ( I love the front lip and the 10" split rims on that thing!)


I think I'll still keep the wavy slat as I quite like it with no spots on, so might change the look of the car every now and again with it.

But for now, I best get saving, that little lot soon mounts up

Would take my running total to, well, infact I don't know because I stopped totalling everything up 3 years ago when I bought all the body panels and that had slowly crept up towards £2k... I'd hate to think what it's at right now!

[mighty mini jack]

Looks awesome without, loving it!

[M44K TS]

Haha Cheers, I'm tempted to leave them off for a bit until I get the flat grille.

[evansisgreat]

Finally finnished reading through (so many missing pictures!) I'm so jealous of the stage you're at,I can only hope my mini looks half as good as yours.
Also you could put your spots on a removable bar so you can take them off easily. That's my plan.

[M44K TS]

Cheers mate, there's still a few things I want to get done to it, maybe new arches and some 13x7 Alley cats, but don't know if I want to just yet as I'd have to change the arches and chop the front wings, there's a black alcantara headlining on the cards in the near future and I wand to get the leather refurbished so still a long way to go yet!

As for the missing pictures, I'll have to go through them and see what's missing, in the meantime, all the Mini pictures are on my Fotki, including the whole 830 or so resto pictures.....

http://public.fotki....r-stuff-1/mini/

[evansisgreat]

Yay! There goes my saturday!

[AndrewJ530]

Personally mate, i think it looks best with the wheels and no spots. Are G&W retuning it aswell?

[M44K TS]

Cheers Andrew, yeah G&W said they'll give it a it of a tune up too when it goes in on the 14th, I'd love to get it set up on a rolling road though, but not sure of anywhere local that know Mini's. I quite like the clean look without the spots too, but at the same time, I love the spots on the car. I'll change the grille and decide from there.

As a tiny update too, I've decided I'm going to ditch the front bumper for a genuine one as it just doesn't line up properly with the front panel holes. I'm also going to see if I can get some genuine headlamp rings too as I'm sure I noticed when washing the car yesterday that the ones that's one are starting to pit already.

Cheap parts = false economy.

[AndrewJ530]

I thought G&W have a rolling road out the back?

I know how you feel with the cheap chrome bits. Mine have all pitted which means a new full set of chrome around the car (except the rear bumper but that doesn't really get hit by anything).

I think the spots will look better with the flat morris grille but i still prefer the wavy austin one without the spots.

EDIT: I know it's a bit far, but ron harper in faceby can work wonders with mini's. A few lads from the local club (including myself) have taken cars to him and he's made them run like a dream. If you can do the 40 mile journey i'd say it's well worth the travel.

Edited by AndrewJ530, 04 June 2010 - 09:28 PM.

[M44K TS]

As far as I know, G&W take the cars somewhere to be set up on a rolling road. 40 miles is nothing really, considering I did a 560 mile round trip for an interior

Have you got any contact details for Ron? Wouldn't mind giving him a ring and seeing how much he would charge etc.

Cheers.

[evansisgreat]

You could try giving the headlamp ring a good clean and polish, then use some chrome protecting stuff? Or get some stainless ones and use a polisher and lacquer them so they stay shiny, then you could put a few layers of wax on them to protect them? Not too sure how that would turn out.

My inner rings have been on the car for 6 months and have started to rust. Bought some new ones which I'm gonna paint, nothing chrome lasts these days.