664 replies to this topic

[wardyxxx]

That airbox complements the bay nicely!

[M44K TS]

Cheers dude, the flash is quite harsh on my camera and never does the engine bay any justice, it looks a lot neater in person

[liirge]

Nice! will be interesting to see how much difference that air filter housing actually makes!

Good work as always!

[M44K TS]

Thanks mate, I'm hoping it reduces the induction boom I used to get with the other airbox

[M44K TS]

Couple of bits ordered from Mini Spares last night, a new pair of gutter trim blips, I'm currently missing one and the other is scratched, a new temp sender for the engine block as mine is quite tatty and the spade terminal looks like it's ready to snap off, some shiny new thermostat housing and rad cowling bolts and a black silicone top hose as the tired old one looks a little odd next to the new thermostat housing.

Only thing that concerns me is getting the old temp sender out, is it an easy thing to do or is it likely to be seized in solid?

[CaptainBland08]

never had a problem changing mine... they heat up and cool down so often that they arent likely to seize THAT bad...

you could always run the engine first to warm it up... should come out easy then... just be prepared to have the nice hot coolant on your hand/floor:P haha

[wardyxxx]

never had a problem changing mine... they heat up and cool down so often that they arent likely to seize THAT bad...

you could always run the engine first to warm it up... should come out easy then... just be prepared to have the nice hot coolant on your hand/floor:P haha

And 49857 hours waiting in A&E.

[mini_mad69]

The senders come out very easily.

You realy are going all out now, changing the temp sender because its tatty.

[M44K TS]

Cool, I'll give it a whirl and see what happens.

I have a very temperamental temp gauge anyway, I changed the gauge on the dash and have check the resistance of the wiring so the only thing left to change is the sender, plus it looks a little worse for wear anyway. Mainly though, it was boredom + Mini Spares

[CaptainBland08]

lol i always change the senders first:P they are what get the most abuse:P

[M44K TS]

I should have thought really, just the dash gauge stopped working, checked it on another mini when the dash was out and wouldn't work, so replaced that first.

[MiniLandy]

Look into a capillary temperature gauge mate, the electrical ones have a reputation of being a bit pants.

Although it'll leave you with the elctrical one doing nothing, as i have now..

[M44K TS]

Nah, I'll stick with the standard setup, the temp gauge on the dash has lasted for 20 years so I don't think it's done too bad.

[M44K TS]

Went over to the Mini today, mainly to wash it as it was quite dirty, the last time I drove it properly, it was raining, then I didn't get a chance to wash it afterwards.

So today, gave it a good going over, snow foamed twice, wheels cleaned with bilberry wheel cleaner, hand wash then rinse and dry, going to go back tomorrow afternoon/night when I finish work and polish it all.

Fitted the new black silicone top rad hose, water temp. sender, so that looks a bit tidier and replaced a couple of the bolts for the fan cowling. I still have the thermostat housing bolts to swap to new shiny ones, but I forgot to do them, only remembered after I topped up & bled the cooling system up, I think the bottom rad hose is still weeping slightly as the water level was quite far down.

So, with the engine bay all cleaned and dressed, some half decent pics of the engine bay as it stands at the minute.




Also found a new brake test switch rolling round in the boot of the Range Rover, must have bought it and forgot all about it. The original one, the plastic had started to fade and was going grey, so swapped for the late style one (left) I'm sure there's a new hazard switch to fit too due to the old one fading.


After jet washing, I found that one of the relays for the front fog lights behind the grill had filled with water and stopped working, so I think I'll need to fit a relay box behind the slam panel as this isn't the first time it's happened. Plus it will help tidy up some of the wiring that's tucked behind the grille. Thing is though, I want a relay box that fixes on from the side, all I can find are the type that fix from the bottom, so might have to make some small brackets up to fit one.

Lastly, I figured out a way of getting the 3 speed heater fan working, so tested that.

For those that haven't seen, (or rather heard) an MPI twin speed heater working, there's quite a difference between the 2 speeds, I've always thought it could do with a middle setting so, before...

Before... (Original 2 speeds)
H0OzWWC_rlU

After... (3 speed)
8_wR8cUanEQ

Much better. So with that figured out, I can fit it up.

[bcjames]

Great photos above, really smart mini!