664 replies to this topic

[fattail95]

You're welcome! xD Don't you love being a perfectionist.

[M44K TS]

No!

Because it usually costs me a bloody fortune!

[M44K TS]

Finally got round to finishing the arm rest sides, I've carpeted them both sides and added the edging trim, pics are crap but they look quite tidy.

[bcjames]

That looks smart, should blend in well with the rest of the interior.

I just saw your mods on the dashboard a couple of pages back. My dash rattles sometimes and poking it in the middle lightly stops it. I'll have to check how many of those ratchet things it has.

Also, where did you get your top dash rail cover from? I'm still contemplating one. I'll just keep copying your interior

[M44K TS]

It was from a Mini 40 I think.

They came in red or black leather.

[M44K TS]

As some may have seen on the TMF Facebook page, I've taken it for a decent run with a tank of fresh super unleaded.

At first, it was running like a bag of ****, more than a year old fuel and the mixture way out because of the new air-box didn't help one bit. Within a few miles of the fresh fuel, it ran a lot better, I removed the snorkel bit of the air-box for now and it seemed a bit happier.

Couple of things I need to sort, first thing is the mechanical side. It has had a bent tie bar for as long as I remember So that need sorted, I want adjustable ones, then some negative camber bottom arms. That should hopefully tighten up the front end a bit. Then I need the wheels balanced, anything over 65mph and they're shuddering quite badly. When I get the new standard arches painted, I want to trim the front wings so I can lower it a little more, at the moment, it's stilling too high.

Then, I can move onto the interior, I've noticed Newton Commercial are selling door cards with a carpeted kick panel at the bottom, they're cheaper than what I was quoted to have mine retrimmed so I think I'll order some of those. One of bulbs on one of my extra gauges was flickering, so I need the dash back out to get to that, whilst I'm there, I'm going to slacken off the upper dash rail as it's tightened down too far and the dash doesn't quite fit.

It's all these little niggly jobs that take the longest time to sort. I also want my new passenger door painted so I can crack on and get the electric windows fitted.

Anyway, everyone likes photos, so here's one outside Nissan..



And safely back in the garage until the next hoon!

[Ace Alex]

Back in black!

Good to this project back again. Mini looks fanstastic in black!

I'll keep an eye out for you around Washington. A195 is good for roundabouts! Cool stuff


Alex.

Edited by Pedal Pusher, 08 May 2012 - 09:39 PM.

[M44K TS]

Cheers dude, it's not very often it gets driven so you'll have to be very observant to spot me!

The A195 is where I lost my exhaust after taking the now flattened off roundabout next to the Freemans factory/Manheim car auctions many years ago!

Loads of fun with all the roundabouts like you say.

[M44K TS]

One thing that was apparent the other day, the heater fan switch, (adapted MPI headlight level control) wasn't always switching off, meaning the heater was running on the slower speed. This was because the wires were soldered directly to the copper contacts on the PCB and as such, when switching it to position 0, the rotating contacts weren't always clicking on top of the wires and were being wedged into position 1 meaning the fan would run with the ignition on.

So, whilst browsing Car Builder Solutions, I noticed they did a rotary 4 position switch specifically for 3 speed heaters. So, bought 2 different ones, one had a bezel that the switch sat in with the 0, 1, 2 & 3 positions marked...
http://www.cbsonline...n_Switch_SWFAN2

The other was just the switch with a plain knob...
http://www.cbsonline...bber_Knob_SWFAN

Reason for buying 2, although the switches are the same, I wasn't sure if the one with the bezel would hide the oblong hole in the dash that was left when the headlight level switch was removed.

As it happened, the bezel was a little bit too small to cover the gaps in the dash.

I had also bought a blank warning light and a sheet of switch and warning light legends/stickers.


The light was roughly the right dimensions for the hole, the width was fine, but the height was a bit big for the dash, I did try and file the hole bigger, but these MPI dash's are really made from a solid slab of timber!


I chose to cut the top off the warning light so it was a snug fit, it still needs a little more taken off it for it to sit flush, but I'll need the dremel for that.



So with it all planned out, I made the new loom for the switch and light. I was going to have the light come on with the ignition, but thought it would be better to have it on with the sidelights. So it's no longer wired to the switched live as in the photo.


And as it's installed. I reused the original switch knob as it was made to be the right size for the cut out in the dash. Visually, at a quick glance, it doesn't look much different to the standard set up. Subtlety is the key.


A quick video of it in action.

[nev_payne]

Ooooo.... get you and yer fancy lights-r-on bleeper.

Show off!

[bcjames]

I like that! Your three fan speeds all sound much less annoying than the two MPi ones!

Lights on beep was the first thing I added on my car after the neighbours had to come and tell me I was lighting up the road a couple of times

[M44K TS]

Cheers dude, I had a few occasions when I used to work for Barclay's where I'd left the headlights on all day

It's a simple but effective mod.

[M44K TS]

Not a lot has happened since the last update, but, because I have never been 100% happy with the fit & finish of the passenger door, I've sent the new replacement for paint, as soon as I get it back, I'll be swapping the central locking mechanisms over, all of the door locking mechanisms, handles etc, and I might even attempt to tackle the electric windows to see how much of a pain they really are.

Expect another update in a few days or so.

[M44K TS]

Well, a few days has turned into a couple of months.

Haven't had a chance to sort anything with the Mini, been really busy with work, (new business premises, new apprentices started with us etc) then there's been the crap weather, then the hassle of selling my Mercedes in favour of this cheeky little scamp...



https://www.facebook...151084893769026

So sadly, the Mini has become neglected somewhat.

But, I intend to change all that, my mate who is sorting the new passenger door has been even busier than me, but made a start prepping the door yesterday, not that I'm in any desperate rush or anything, I know he's rushed off his feet at the best of times so don't want to hassle him with something that's not urgent.

Anyway, got a couple of picture messages from him last night, apparently the door had already had some sort of prep work done on it at some point, there were quite a few dents to sort too.

[bamby]

Question - how did you get your horn to work ? And secondly how do I wire up the wipers ? Tried looking at the pictures but I'm just confused