26 replies to this topic

[Jimi30]

Hi I'm half way through doing a centre binacle conversion for my mini sprite, got all the bits I think I need; binacle with clocks thats all nicely xcleaned up now, wiring conversion from minispares and the speedo cable from minispares. I'm now at the stage where I've removed the top dash rail fascia, and all the old dash board bits, drilled a hole in the bulkhead for the speedo to go through, my only problem is that because of the amount of wiring coming through the centre of the bulkhead I can't get the binacle to sit flush to the bulkhead to attatch it. Any tips on how to do this? If anybodies done this to their car pictures would be great.

Thanks

Jimi

[Jimi30]

Heres some pictures of what I'm looking at if this helps:

 IMG_0184.JPG   1.63MB   26 downloads
 IMG_0185.JPG   1.46MB   17 downloads
 IMG_0186.JPG   1.84MB   25 downloads

[Bungle]

steve someone did this conversion with a new ish mini and started a topic in the projects section

cant remember his name but someone should and he should point you in the right direction

[Jimi30]

I think your talking about a guy called steve blacker who had a sprite and did this to his car, think it was featurted in minimag. Trouble is I can't find a project thread as such by him on here or minifinity.

Tis very annoying all I need to do is connect the two wiring harnesses together which will take me 5 mins and fix the thing inplace and I'm done. Need it done by Friday morning to take it to Jonspeed to have the engine side of things done lol...time is running out, typical I decide to start a job at the most inopportune time lol

by the way As far as I know the binacle bolts straight on to the bulkhead without any kind of brackets, am I right?

Edited by Jimi30, 30 May 2007 - 04:24 PM.

[Dan]

See that big black plate in the middle of the car? That's there on offset clock cars to cover up the hole that the centre clock speedo fits into.

[Bungle]

steve blacker and his spright

yep thats who i'm thinking of

if you cant find his topic you can always send him a message through tmf

[Jimi30]

See that big black plate in the middle of the car? That's there on offset clock cars to cover up the hole that the centre clock speedo fits into.

Ah I did wonder whether that was the case, so I'll take that out tomorrow nite, and all should be well thanks very much for the help guys! I'll try get some pics as I do it, for anybody who wants to do it in the future

[Jimi30]

Right I've got a bit further with it since then...not much I've just done a bit in breaks from revision...which pretty much amounts to being able to undo 3 screws in each session lol. I've got it so that the cowling will now screw into the dash when I want to do that. I've wired the adapter harness to the old harness...doesn't seem to work as yet but I expected to have to fiddle a bit so I don't mind that. Two questions tho::

1. Has anyone fitted the minispares conversion harness- if so could they tell me what bulbs fit in it, becuase the std ones dont and also if they were clever enough to make a not of the wiring they did for it including which bits of the adapter harness goes to which connections on the speedo and also at the other end what wires go to what wires...I know it should be colour to colour but I seem to have more wires on one side than the other and not all the right colours if you see what I mean?

2. Does anyone know where to get the dash insert trim panel things which line the rest of the dash because I cant find them on minispares etc...maybe I'm being dim.

[choodalls]

Right I've got a bit further with it since then...not much I've just done a bit in breaks from revision...which pretty much amounts to being able to undo 3 screws in each session lol. I've got it so that the cowling will now screw into the dash when I want to do that. I've wired the adapter harness to the old harness...doesn't seem to work as yet but I expected to have to fiddle a bit so I don't mind that. Two questions tho::

1. Has anyone fitted the minispares conversion harness- if so could they tell me what bulbs fit in it, becuase the std ones dont and also if they were clever enough to make a not of the wiring they did for it including which bits of the adapter harness goes to which connections on the speedo and also at the other end what wires go to what wires...I know it should be colour to colour but I seem to have more wires on one side than the other and not all the right colours if you see what I mean?

2. Does anyone know where to get the dash insert trim panel things which line the rest of the dash because I cant find them on minispares etc...maybe I'm being dim.

Probably lots of places do the trim panels, but one place i saw them (have catalogue in front of me) is Moss part number is DPK9002X for "centre binnacle panel kit (3 gauges with vents)" or DPK9001X for "centre binnacle panel kit(3 gauges no vents)" both kits are £26.95.

On the wiring question, the bulbs etc. are of course of the old type originally supplied for the centre binnacle cars, I did my conversion with a binnacle and wiring bought off ebay from an original car and then made up a new plug to join into the loom. You are right of course that there will be some wires left over - such as the white/black that would go to a rev counter - just insulate the ends of those wires and hide them away neatly. A Haynes manual will explain any of the other wiring colour codes for you.....

[Jimi30]

Right I've got a bit further with it since then...not much I've just done a bit in breaks from revision...which pretty much amounts to being able to undo 3 screws in each session lol. I've got it so that the cowling will now screw into the dash when I want to do that. I've wired the adapter harness to the old harness...doesn't seem to work as yet but I expected to have to fiddle a bit so I don't mind that. Two questions tho::

1. Has anyone fitted the minispares conversion harness- if so could they tell me what bulbs fit in it, becuase the std ones dont and also if they were clever enough to make a not of the wiring they did for it including which bits of the adapter harness goes to which connections on the speedo and also at the other end what wires go to what wires...I know it should be colour to colour but I seem to have more wires on one side than the other and not all the right colours if you see what I mean?

2. Does anyone know where to get the dash insert trim panel things which line the rest of the dash because I cant find them on minispares etc...maybe I'm being dim.

Probably lots of places do the trim panels, but one place i saw them (have catalogue in front of me) is Moss part number is DPK9002X for "centre binnacle panel kit (3 gauges with vents)" or DPK9001X for "centre binnacle panel kit(3 gauges no vents)" both kits are £26.95.

On the wiring question, the bulbs etc. are of course of the old type originally supplied for the centre binnacle cars, I did my conversion with a binnacle and wiring bought off ebay from an original car and then made up a new plug to join into the loom. You are right of course that there will be some wires left over - such as the white/black that would go to a rev counter - just insulate the ends of those wires and hide them away neatly. A Haynes manual will explain any of the other wiring colour codes for you.....

Thanks very much it waqs the bulbs themselves I was talking about which werent standard, because when I bought the binacle on ebay the bulbs in the original harness were screw cap but the new harness takes the slot in type. Luckily I realised the slot in type were the ones that are in the nippon seiki clock I just took out so just swapped them over, nice and simple.

Ah the spare black and white are for a rev counter! thankyou that helps alot, I'm getting there now. Will have a look at moss later.

Thankyou!

[Jimi30]

Right got the mini back from the garage yesterday and its been there for about 3 weeks so I'm not much further oin than I was before. I've got the wiring pretty much sorted now but I'm still having trouble fitting the actual binnacle, if you look at the pictures i posted earlier there are 2 heater hoses coming through the bulkhead just to the left of the centre. These prevent the binacle fitting flush to the bulkhead, the only things I can think to do is cut slots in the binacle for the hoses to fit in which I would rather not do or have the centre binacl...slightly off centre...which I really don't want to do as I know it would really irritate me ove time lol. How has anybody else got round this?

[dklawson]

I can only offer suggestions based on what the original center binnacle cars did and since my car is left-hand drive, some of my comments will have to be changed as necessary for your right-hand drive.

On the Mk1/2 cars the heater hoses did not pass horizontally into the passenger compartment through the bulkhead like they do on your car. The plate that supports the top engine-steady had two large clearance holes for the heater hoses. The heater hoses passed vertically through this plate into a little pocket/box area below the dash and then made a 90 degree turn toward the heater connections. Again, this is on a left-hand drive car. I believe your clutch and brake master cylinders are in that location so I don't know what was done on right-hand cars. Perhaps they routed longer heater hoses over to the left side of the car and down through where the brake/clutch masters are on my car, then over to the right inside the car.

I can take pictures of what my early car is like but you would benefit more from pictures from someone in the U.K. with a right-hand drive Mk1/2/3 .

[Jimi30]

Oh pictures would be very very helpful. Also if you've ever taken your dash trim panels out do you know if the heater funnels look any different to the ones in my picture...I'm thinking smaller possiby becuase i've bought the panels but it just seems like the funnels might be sticking out too far. Thanks very much

Edited by Jimi30, 20 June 2007 - 08:16 PM.

[Jimi30]

JUst had a look on the mini and I don't have the holes you are talking about in the box section... hmm wondering how hard it would be cut 2 holes in it and re route the hoses through those?

[dklawson]

Being left-hand drive, my photos won't be of too much help but I'll see what I can do. I'll also look through some of my older manuals to see if they have any sketches of where the plumbing went on the early RH drive cars.

In the meantime, I was only able to find a few pictures online that hint at where some of the hoses may go if you relocate them. It looks like one goes in vertically on the left side of the engine bay and the other from the heater valve goes through somewhere on the right.
http://www.smithmaps...6c/67engine.jpg
http://adgodwin.co.u...normal_mess.JPG
http://minicooper.1h.../web_mini_5.jpg