1658 replies to this topic

[minivanman]

I'd go for the minispares kit. - with TMF+ discount its a very good price. Hardened ones are totally unnecessary for a road car IMHO - when have you ever heard of a standard drive flange going wrong? Come to think of it, what is there to go wrong with one? lol. The van isnt running a massive amount of power, and its probably the same weight ish as a standard mini, but the brakes really stand it on its nose when you give them some. I've not got a servo either, takes up too much room in the engine bay and I prefer the feel without. I'd go for the full kit instead of turning down discs - you can always get 7.5s off the shelf if you need to swap them quickly.

[Deathrow]

Well that's settled, I'll go for that conversion, as you say it's another £20 off because of TMF+ which lands it in at just over £250 for the kit, sounds good to me .

Thanks for your help minivanman, and you tedmcedd.

With any luck I'll be heading to the garage on Wednesday and getting some work done.

[tedmcedd]

excellent! should be smint!!

i also agree with no servo, they do take up too much room! lol

[analogue_radio]

Does breaking become much harder? I've considered removing it to free up some space but been advised not too..

[minivanman]

Nope, you just have to push harder - the braking forces are still the same, the servo just makes it easier to push the pedal. I've got a feeling you may have to change your pedal box though if you've got a servo already, although you may be able to just swap the pedal and spring. Either way, it means playing with clevis pins, which is a nasty job

[Deathrow]

My mothers MPi has a servo and I feel much more comfortable driving Elliot (when she was on the road) because the pedal felt nice and solid.

[Deathrow]

Sorry there's been no updates in a while, I have done a little work on Elliot, but I didn't post it because I'm not sure I'm even happy with it yet. I'll let you guys look at what I've done and see if you think it's a worthwhile repair or not.


Rusty hole in driver door step.


Rusty hole cut out.


Top of jacking point painted with rustoleum.


Section cut from a door step repair panel and welded in place.


Welds roughly dressed.

Now my issue is the fact the door step repair panel didn't match the profile of my step entirely, so I tried to persuade it to but as you can see the fold where the panel bends up to spot to the inner sill isn't quite as good on the repair section as it is on the original panel. Now I can't decide if I'm happy with this or not, as it stands it's going to need a good skim of filler, but I'm not sure I'm happy with that.

My other option is to cut the door step off the shell I have spare (has no ID so it's effectively waste) and replace most of the length of the door step (including another rusty hole I have yet to patch further along the step), correcting the profiling with a genuine panel off another car.

What do you guys think?

In other news, I picked up a set of 5 Exacton alloy wheels from GrameC (thanks for that mate ) a weekend or so ago, I'm going to have the tyres taken off and with any luck I'll get them sand blasted and start refurbing them. I also got my new grille from Mini Spares, I went for the wide slat style with cutouts for spot lamps and I have to say I'm impressed, this grille is built to last, it's a bit weighty, but man you can't bend the slats!

I've got three weeks of Uni left this term and then I have a month off, which is when I shall really get cracking with Elliot, no messing .

Keep watching guys.

Edited by Deathrow, 27 February 2009 - 06:38 PM.

[Deathrow]

Does no one want to offer an opinion?

[Jordie]

waiting for the next update fella

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

lol mini update on the mini good work mate

[BMC Paul]

yes, more updates !

[Adcuz]

Your welding is good for gasless. Mine always ended up all holey after trying to grind them down.

I'd say re-do the patch rather than remove a load of good metal.

[Deathrow]

waiting for the next update fella

Should be heading to the garage this coming Saturday, with a helper in fact! Should get some work done with a bit of luck .

Your welding is good for gasless. Mine always ended up all holey after trying to grind them down.

I'd say re-do the patch rather than remove a load of good metal.

Thanks chap, I know what you mean, I used to get that alot but once you get a knack to it they appear much less frequently.

The space between where this repair ends and the next would start is only about 2 inches, is it really worth it to save that much original metal? It would also provide better access to clean up the jacking support. Decisions, decisions!

I'm currently trying to mock up the sticker I want to get made for the rearquaters (a bit early I know, but I've nothing better to do at Uni haha). Does anyone know what font the original Mayfair writing is in? The script one.

Thanks for the comments guys .

[Deathrow]

Not a terribly interesting update but an update none the less.

Here are Elliots new wheels:




Wheel one, I've started sanding this one back already.




Wheel two.




Wheel three.






Wheel four, this might be repairable but I didn't feel comfortable using it so I sourced another.




Replacement wheel four.

I'll either be sand blasting these myself and starting the refurb or I'll take them to be sand blasted, then start refurbing, we shall see, no rush just yet.


This is Elliots new engine which I bought off Jordie a month or so back, I'm going to start collecting the bits and bobs I need to finish this off as I go. I'd like about 90bhp from it, but we shall have to see. According to GuessWorks' engine number lookup on his site, this engine is from a Cooper RSP, if this is correct, it should be a pretty decent starting block .

That's all guys, I've got a week left and then I have a month off. I'm going to put in some serious time on Elliot in that month, basically every day of the week the weather will allow me . Time to get a move on I think.

Thanks for looking.

Edited by Deathrow, 15 March 2009 - 07:53 PM.

[analogue_radio]

Those wheels 6x10?