343 replies to this topic

[Retro_10s]

Gauge is now stripped, wasn't too hard to get apart but rust made it difficult to see exactly where the seperate parts were. The hair-wire appears okay, and when I test for connectivity across the terminals I see a change in readout if I manually move the needle.


Inside of the casing will be flatted back, rust removed,and painted silver/white/something bright and reflective

[Retro_10s]

A little more progress on the temp gauge, I've soaked the housing in Evaporust overnight and the results are incredible. I half wondered if this stuff was all talk and no trousers, but wow!

Here's the gauge when I received it before strip down


And here it is now after a night of soaking in evaporust, no agitation or wiping down,..




Really pleased about that. I thought the casing would need sanding down and wire-wheeling!

[KTS]

that works.  nice consumer product test 

 

for info SVC sell replacement o-rings that go between the bezel and the glass - there's probably other places to supply them as well

 

https://www.s-v-c.co...auge-rims-parts

[Retro_10s]

that works.  nice consumer product test 
 
for info SVC sell replacement o-rings that go between the bezel and the glass - there's probably other places to supply them as well
 
https://www.s-v-c.co...auge-rims-parts

Thankyou so much! I have been looking for that seal, and it's been surprisingly hard to locate the correct item. Seems like most people supply an o-ring, but I'm pretty sure it should be a sort of cork gasket, or neoprene.

Evaporust has blown my mind, Toolstation sell it at a reasonable cost, and it's reusable!

Thanks!

[colinf1]

You should be able to cut a thin strip of neoprene with a craft knife to create a seal, it's mainly to keep dust out and prevent the glass from rattling, so I think neoprene would be ideal.

[Retro_10s]

You should be able to cut a thin strip of neoprene with a craft knife to create a seal, it's mainly to keep dust out and prevent the glass from rattling, so I think neoprene would be ideal.

Cheers Col! Something for me to consider when I come to put it back together. At some point I'm going to have to work on the mini itself rather than little things around the edge

[colinf1]

True, but at least you have finished parts to put straight back in!

[stuart bowes]

I'm the opposite, I'm getting a decent bit of progress on the shell, but every now and then I look in the shed at the pile of parts and think oh god.. at some point I need to start sorting through that lot and cleaning up / repainting etc

 

it's all time well spent whichever way you attack it I guess.. although it's getting to that time of year where I'd rather be in the garage with the heater on working on small parts

[Retro_10s]

Right, back to it. Various things are in the way like decorating a house, holidays to Brazil, and generally not finding the time to get this project moving again. Piles of parts and wotnot everywhere!!

ANYWAY,... i have to try, right? So... here's a small update.

 

Cleaned the mechanism up for the Smiths gauge, and re-painted the needle

 

Etch primed, and painted the inside of the housing.

 

And buttoned it all back up

 

 

I still need to get hold of a little gasket for between the glass and the locking ring.

 

I've been having real trouble with the Welder recently, and once I'd googled my model (SIP Weldmate 170) i was met with a lot of negativity about this model,.. and I could only agree with all the criticism it recieves. Luckily there are plenty of people that have made modifications to it, to improve it, and I will have to do some of these Mods, as I wouldn't like to sell the welder on to somebody knowing it is a cursed Purchase.

 

I need to brace the wire feed/grip wheels

Fit a new liner to the euro torch, curtain wire seems to be really well regarded for this!

Possibly fitting a new, shorter euro-torch. 

The pin that holds the wire spools seems extremely tight, i just need to investigate that.

 

Once those things are done i will be able to have another look at welding up the toe-board damage. The garage needs a good clean out and tidy up, as it became a bit of a dumping ground again. Poor Reggie!

 

*edit*  My apologies if the photos are bloody massive. 

Edited by Retro_10s, 07 August 2023 - 05:02 PM.

[DUF2]

 

However, I have purchased a Universal 'headlamp' harness that has 2 relays, one for dipped and one for mainbeams, this will be spliced into the harness to protect the lighting switch and make things a bit safer + brighter. 

I fitted one of those headlight relay kits to Duffy, on the offside inner wheel arch. I did not want to run the heavy current through the original switch. Very please with it!

Edited by DUF2, 08 August 2023 - 12:03 PM.

[Retro_10s]

 

 

However, I have purchased a Universal 'headlamp' harness that has 2 relays, one for dipped and one for mainbeams, this will be spliced into the harness to protect the lighting switch and make things a bit safer + brighter. 

 

 

 

I fitted one of those headlight relay kits to Duffy, on the offside inner wheel arch. I did not want to run the heavy current through the original switch. Very please with it!

 

 

Yes I think they're great little kits, uncomplicated and reasonably well made! I have taken mine apart now, as I settled on using a slightly different solution  that will screw to the bulkhead, CLICK ME! like the fusebox..., however I've re-used the cable lengths, and the conduit from the lighting kit to make the runs from the headlamps.

[DUF2]

I thought my Duffy project had taken some time, but you beat me hands down!!

[DUF2]

This was where I mounted my relays.

 

 IMG_0513.jpeg   78.71K   1 downloads

 

They are mounted on the offside inner wing, 4 Relays, Main Beam, Dipped Beam, Auxilliary Lights & Air Horn. The screen wash bottle is in the boot, the servo under the dash on the passenger side and the air horn under the offside wing.

I tried to get as much room as possible under the bonnet, which is why I relocated these.

 

I also installed a better more modern fuse box.

 

 IMG_0273.jpeg   71.54K   1 downloads

 

One thing that does piss me off, I stripped the wrapping off the loom to identify all the cables colours and location, created a wiring diagram showing all these on my iPad. I then got a new iPad and foolishly forgot to save that file to my PC and lost the ‘kin file!!!

[Retro_10s]

I thought my Duffy project had taken some time, but you beat me hands down!!

 

Oh lord, yeah,... i know. I don't know how much you've managed to get through of this project thread but if you reached the point where it got painted I really thought i was closing in on the rebuild,.... I couldn't even look at the mini after a couple of months had gone-by and still with soft paint. Still,... Life has thrown many things in my way and fleeting motivation hasn't helped,.. but I'm enjoying working on it again, and that's a great weight lifted from my mind. The mini's presence in the garage was oppressive at times! I'm extremely glad i didn't give in and sell up. It's a good little shell, solid in the right areas, and in a dry (cramped) garage! 

 

Yes i saw the nifty little bracket you made up for the fuses! - I really enjoyed looking through your project,.. in some ways it reminded me of what i want my mini to be, a good honest usable classic.