323 replies to this topic

[mumofoli]

news coming VERY soon!!!!!

[minili]

Looking forward to the update Lots of people would love to see this car finished

[Wozza]

Cant wait to see pics

[mumofoli]

I would like to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for updates. I will now explain why we have had to wait so long. Unfortunately the engine we collected from Morspeed does not match the specification of the engine that Oli purchased. Many discrepancies have been found and as Simon from Morspeed has not given any explanations for these apparent discrepancies and has not answered my request for a full refund, I have now been forced to take court proceedings.

The engine we collected therefore cannot be used in Oli's mini and has in fact been considered unsafe.
Work is however continuing on the mini, we just do not have an engine!!!!!
There will be some photos posted very soon of the work todate on his mini build thread. We are hoping to transport the mini for all to see to Castle Coombe on 27th September (minus an engine) >

[mumofoli]

Sadly I will have to wait until I can hopefully get the money back. It has all been too heartbreaking, desperately wanting to complete Oli's dream but it just seems to have turned into a nightmare

[sweetser]

I agree with imabitnaughty, i think that its appauling the amount of time you have waited for that engine for it to still be the wrong specification and for it to be classed unsafe thats disgracefull!! >

I wish i was going to castle coombe so i could see this car in the flesh, and so i could see Olis extrodinary friends and family who have continued on with his dream through this tragic time.

I wish you all the best with getting all of your money back for the shambles of an engine and for getting your sons dream up and on the road!

Luke.

[minimadjonesy]

Whilst I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events I must ask that this is not dragged out on the forum.

mumofoli has started legal proceedings and as such it is now a personal matter and should not be discussed in detail here. Once the case has completed I'm sure plenty of people would be interested in the outcome but until then please leave it to the courts to decide and don't make speculative posts here.

Also please note the following extract from the Guidelines Disclaimer

Please note that it is impossible for us to confirm the validity of posts on this forum. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages and are not responsible for their content. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information presented. The messages express the views of the author, not necessarily the views of TMF or its staff members.

[sazal]

Im really sorry to hear about the problem with the engine, I just hope it all gets sorted as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Just think though, once its finished it should all be worth it.

[Prawn]

Whilst I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events I must ask that this is not dragged out on the forum.

mumofoli has started legal proceedings and as such it is now a personal matter and should not be discussed in detail here.

Whilst what you say does make sense, in this situation, we feel it is appropriate to discuss details of the case in the forum, in light of the substantial donations made to this project by many forum members.

People will be wanting to know why there is an apparent lack of progress with the car, and it is only right that they should know what's happened.

The engine supplied by morspeed looked to be the correct one we had been waiting for, although considering it had apparently been ready for 9 months, we were surprised to find the block was warm and still smelt strongly of engine paint.

No exhaust manifold was given to us at Morspeed, we were told it was ready and waiting for us at Maniflow in Salisbury, I called maniflow myself there and then, to be told it had been ordered 15 minutes before we arrived, and was due to be made in the next week.

The engine had the 16v BMW head and throttle bodies, and all the associated bits of cam timing gear, and without further inspection it was impossible to further assess the specification.

Once back at the workshop, the engine was partially dismantled. This was done with an independent witness present. Film and photos were taken of the whole procedure.

It was then that the differences in specification were found.

 engine_comparison.jpg   92.01K   644 downloads

EDIT: It's just been confirmed that the crank is infact NOT EN40B at all. It's a South African 1071 made from EN16 instead.

This engine was collected from Morspeed by myself and Oli's Family, and the ordered spec was actually discussed by myself and Simon, which he confirmed was as ordered.

As well as these obvious differences, a report was done by a local Mini centre, highlighting a total of 32 faults with the assembly of the engine, some very serious.

External examination:

1. Clutch cover cracked where clutch plunger/clevis pin fits into casing.
2. 3 of the exhaust manifold studs have damaged threads, ranging from flattened to missing thread on its outer end.
3. Balancer pipe on injector unit split.
4. No lock washers on any of the flywheel housing bolts.
5. Clutch cover bolts too short and loose.
6. Flywheel housing has NO facility for engine breather AT ALL with the engine only having 1 breather point, which is insufficient for use.
7. Top 3 Flywheel bolts too short for application (should be at least 10mm into casing, as to fit flush with block casting) and where only 4-5 mm long.
8. Front gearbox bolts FAR too short for application barely being long enough to thread into block.
9. Bolt missing from back of gearbox casing.
10. Incorrect size flat washers fitted to spark plug cover (cover implies washers should not be fitted at all)
11. 1 cam cover bolt loose (further inspection showed that threads in cam carrier completely missing) another cam cover bolt loose (Further inspection showed thread in cam carrier severely damaged and showing vivid signs of being cross threaded) on testing the threads of the other cam cover bolts we found that 2 of the Allen bolts had severely damaged heads, which meant that we were unable to undo them as it is impossible to turn without further destruction being caused.

Further examination upon partial strip down (bell housing and box off)

1. On removal of the loose clutch cover we discovered that the clutch pressure plate was a ‘National Standard remanufactured’ clutch this type of “Recon” clutch is totally inadequate for it’s intended use, the clutch pressure plate bolted on but with NO lock washers.
2. Clutch spring plates bolted to flywheel had NO lock tabs fitted, as flywheel had been lightened spacer washers should have been fitted, but instead nuts had been used as spacers (being made of ‘SOFT’ metal these could crack or brake up as nuts are not intended to be loaded under this way)
3. On removal of clutch pressure plate, it became apparent that a VERY early flywheel had been fitted (This type of flywheel has a central ‘bolted’ spigot and for a high revving engine would both allow the distinct probability of severe vibration, and as the bolts can come undone would render any ‘Balancing’ work a wasted job.
4. Flywheel was also fairly heavily lightened for a part that would be at least 25 years old.
5. The main central flywheel bolt was lock-tabbed, but was found to be BARELY tightened, when it should have been torqued up to 150 pounds foot.
6. With the flywheel removed the clutch plate was found to be f the same quality as the pressure plate (remanufactured) and again completely inadequate for the engines projected power output.
7. With flywheel removed Tail of crank shows signs of SEVERE wear and scoring making correct tightening and balancing of crank/flywheel assembly very hard or near impossible.
8. The motor was now drained of oil with barely a cup full of oil (about 250 millilitres) coming out (motor should be filled with 5 litres 5,000 millilitres), we inspected the wooded crate to see if oil had leaked there, but found only very very minor signs of oil loss, though the oil is new, clean and unused.
9. All the flywheel housing bolts lock tabs where missing and bolts and only flat washers where used (completely inadequate)
10. Engine has standard oil pump fitted and is totally inadequate for an engine with its projected power output.
11. With gearbox removed from engine gearbox was found to be of ‘Standard’ helical type as fitted standard to any Mini engine/gearbox unit.
12. Gearbox 3rd/4th gear synchro hub showed very apparent signs of rust infection, implying the gearbox had been left to the elements.
13. Competition central oil pick up pipe was fitted, but the stabiliser plate appeared to have been broken off, allowing the distinct possibility of stress fracture at it’s point of bolting to gearbox (would cause catastrophic engine failure).
14. Gearbox 3rd motion shaft bearing retaining plate bolted on with again NO lock tabs.
15. Final drive crown wheel bolted on to differential casing again bolted on with NO Lock tabs.
16. Final drive ratio incorrect being 3.44 to 1 ratio.
17. Connecting rods appear to be Standard 1275 GT type with the standard ‘Big end caps’ having only slight rudimentary modification work carried out.
18. 4 Bolt central main cap removed (showing again signs of rust contamination) main bearing ‘Shell’ appears to be “new” though “Thrust washers” appear to be old and both are of a low quality budget brand. Main bearing ‘Shell’ drops out of main cap implying faulty machining (possibly allowing main shell to spin under load)
19. Pistons appeared to be new from below and as we did not want to remove head we removed spark plugs (old) and the pistons where inspected through sparkplug holes and ARE new and un-run.
20. Cylinder head has a severe amount of carbon build-up in the exhaust ports, showing a large amount of use, with 3 of the exhaust crimp rings being severely damaged.
21. ALL gasket faces have had excessive amounts of gasket sealer used, this has both fallen into the inner workings of the engine, but with so much used, this implies inadequate quality of gasket faces, also such excessive use can cause false torque settings of those gasketed joints.







I would like to point out that all of the above is entirely factual and based on our findings so far.

Should anyone wish to dispute the validity of our reports they were done by an established Mini Centre of over 25 years, and we are happy for anyone to view all of the relevant documents.


Having waited almost a year for Oli's engine to arrive, can you imagine our dismay when we found it was wildly different from that which Oli wanted.

I am sure you can all make up your own minds on the matter, but if anyone would like a closer look, the engine, along with all the associated documents will be on display at Castle Combe on the 27th of September.

We thank you all for your continued support, and hope to be able to update this thread with good news in the near future!

Regards

Nick

Edited by Prawn, 01 September 2008 - 09:48 AM.

[Jordie]

That is honestly disgraceful service.

And i agree, keep us informed, i donated to this and will back it all the way.

[the.stroker]

im really sorry to here the latest setbacks and hope a satisfactory outcome is reached soon,not that this would make up for the grief and anger that prawn and olis family must be going through. i look forward to seeing the car at castle coombe,and hope this has highlighted if you ever need mini engineering work of any discription never,never go to a certain person at a certain so called company.
regards dan

[AdamandTracy]

Just been reading this thread from the beginning, what can i say? Prawn, my heart is with you mate for such a lovely gesture to your mate Oli, big hugs to his folks too. I really hope this is sorted(the motor), be so lovely to see the mini in question!!
Keep us posted!
Prawn, there's always a place to stay in cornwall if you fancy a "trip out!"
Well done mate.
Very proud of you.
Adam and Tracy

[jodysmini]

tribute to his family and what a sad thing to read ....

[mumofoli]

Hi everyone,
I am now pleased to be able to report that a decision has been made in the Courts. A County Court Judgment now stands against Simon Morson of Morspeed and he has been ordered to pay me the refund for the engine plus costs.

Although pleased at the outcome of this case, I feel very saddened that the whole matter came to this. how one person can cause so much heartache and grief.

All we now want to do, as has been the case since January, is to get on and complete Oli's dream.
So I await payment and then we can proceed.
Thank you all for your support and kind words. I will of course keep you all updated on progress from now

Carol

[CharlieBrown]

Hi Carol,

Thank you for taking the time to let everyone know.

I am sure that you are aware that there are many many TMF member (myself included) that will be releaved and very please that you have be awarded this refund.

I hope now that the dream of completing Olis mini can now be finished and I wish you and everyone involved all the best!


Charlie