749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Morning people. Time for a little update

I haven't done anything to her for over a month apart from pat her in apology for her not working, poor thing.

I've been having loads of fun on my bike tho :) buzzing around everywhere and going for lots of unneeded detours!
Her mot is due 5th of next month so I gave her a check over last Sunday and then took her in for Monday after my exam (25th)
£30 and a mot with no hassle, winner winner.

On the bike I decided to change the horrible standard levers for some shortys from Ali billet:)

Before

After


Mmm shiny :)

So back to poor mini.
Currently my financial situation is poor I can't do anything to her as I've got nothing to do to her that I can afford
I've got megasquirt understood in my head tho and am going to make a start at modding it to run with edis soon so that's good at least!

I put the battery on charge yesterday and decided to fix the crappy wire that stops the boot opening too far

New straps made, part of an old cycle machine I think haha!

I'm planning to research into what I need to convert to injection fueling wise next :)

Current plan for life has changed also. Moving out next January with my girlfriend :) place isn't going to have a garage unless by chance so mini will stay at home for at least a year!

Next week I'm off uni. On one of my free days I'm going to make a plan for the car as well as making a wiring diagram for the future

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Hello people. I thought I would do my last update of 2016. There have been things changing in my life mostly uni and my girlfriend and many things haven't gone to plan!

So poor mini, where do I start. She isn't exactly very well currently. Hasn't been started since I sold the megajolt march time

What have I done. Fitted a new front splitter :)



Yep it's wonky, only realised when it was all fitted, I need to file some of the holes to straighten it up. Unfortunately I've got a pattern front panel so where I measure from isn't equal both sides of the car!


I've worked out a plan to how to get around my driveshaft gaiters been ground to death by the subframe whilst avoiding having to remake all my engine mounts! More on that next year.

Radiator now :)

Cardboard mockup of a modern front mount one (cinquecento 1.1)

Wrapped the exhaust more


So basically I am modifying the cooling system yet again! I decided as she is off the road for a while now I may as well do the job properly and fit a front mount rad from a more modern car. She only started to get warm in traffic but as I am trying to make her more reliable and modern I though a front mount radiator is the way to go. More on this in the new year too!


Quite tight round by the wheel. However I am looking to get some lock limiters anyways so that should give me clearance and until I have the rad the cardboard mockup is oversized to help me.

So uni - I've passed second year of nursing by the skin of my teeth! Onwards to my last year now!

My partner has bought a dog


And I bought another car



I drove it 32miles including the drive home from the dealer and the engine seized on the way to work. Towed it back and got a refund, now insure on my mums convertible that is visible in a few of my photos.

So next year
>living at home –bit of money but not much. I owe my parents a grand for my bike and have no savings. Told myself I'll only buy stuff for mini if I sell stuff for her first! So next year lots of selling of my accumulated spares.
>to do. Coolent system,. Megasquirt. Inlet mani and driveshaft gaiter

That's the blog up to date :)
Lawrence

[McMini 22]

Looking forward to the Megasquirt install as it's something I am considering for the future.

That dog looks like a Schnoodle?

[lawrence]

nope it's a cockapoo (it's a bit special)


So car.
Poor think doesn't know what's hit it!
Coolent system
New rad has arrived. Scruffy and cheap but doesn't leak (apparently) but it's ally so I thought if I damage a new one I'll be annoyed so gone second hand for now, not that I'm planning to break it!
Stupidly didn't take any photos but I'll take some Tuesday when I do some hose mocking up. Found a cheap silicone hose place too where I'm sorting the piping from.
Pipe wise I need. 1 90bend and 1 180bend to make the top rad hose and then a 130bend and a 45 for the bottom. I need to buy some lock limiters first tho, depending on how close the rad outlets are to the tyre.

Throttle bodies and mani.
So readers will see my poor mig welding of Ali, main issues were wire feed.
I looked into mig welders but need a fancy one for Ali and that's money I don't have. So looked back into mig welding Ali and it says it's a lot easier with a spool gun (top feed welding gun) so I've bought the cheapest one I can get (£30 from China). The few rubbish welds I did manage before (see previous posts) had penetration so I'm going to give it one last go. If it work it works and if it doesn't I'm only £30 down.
In addition I don't know what I was thinking but I was looking into fleuro lined silicone hoses for the connections of throttle body to mani but that was coming off about £50!! Chatted to a friend about the costs of stuff and he said how do they fit from factory? Cue a quick eBay and I've got the standard rubber connectors and clips for £14 with free delivery! So happy me! In addition addition the company that sells the silicone hoses sells ally 180 pipe. So plan is buy 2 the right diameter and cut em in half! Much cheaper than 4 90deg ones!

That's all for now folks. More Tuesday when I make rad mounts. Then we can all laugh about my migging of aluminium but god knows whan that will be as we all know stuff for China can take yonks to arrive!

Cheers for reading
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So ive had some time in the garage today :)
Found some suitable steel to make the lower mounts with and bent them up. Then I had the issue of preventing the steel rubbing through the Ali.
>First thought was rubber pads like before but they looked rubbish and not what this build is about, I'm not doing it on the cheap
>then I thought rubber wrap the mounts. That worked but then the superglue came off the rubber so I need something that will fix to the steel
>then I thought heatshrink, if I line the steel with rubber, then a layer of heatshrink itll give about 3mm of rubber protecting the Ali rad from the steel mounts as well as looking tidy. So I've ordered some larger heatshrink so hopefully that will come in a few day.
Photo of what I'm up to

You can see the rad isn't perfect but it'll do for mocking up :)
With regards to the hoses. Plan is 90deg 25mm piece to 25mm Steel joiner with t piece to 25-32mm reducer to 32mm joiner to 32mm 180 piece. I'm ordering them shortly, they only cost £18 which I think is pretty good value for silicone hoses but I did also find a discount code online ;)

I'll post again when I continue with my engine mounts, most likely next Tuesday when I'm not in uni
Lawrence
Ps: check out my stuff for sale! Blatant plug but got to fund the project somehow!! :)

[lawrence]

So people :)
Time for another update!
My spool gun has arrived

Very surprised it's arrived this soon. I've checked out the wiring and it doesn't look too difficult to wire in which is nice. Also spend 20mins or so wrapping the reel up with Ali welding wire. It's been put aside as I'm currently focusing on mild steel so not faffing with my welder quite yet.

So what else have I been doing, well luckily some kind mini owners are funding the next parts I need to buy for my project by buying my stuff. So ordering the coolent pipes tonight :)

Been playing with the driveshaft too.
Some of you may remember my plan to move the gaiter away from the subframe so it doesn't splatter grease everywhere as the gaiter splits.
Starting place,

This is where the cage part is on my current frame. The metal rim I am cutting off the inner cv joint

What I'm using to move the gaiter away from the frame

(It's actually the float chamber part from some old bike carbs!)

Chain drilled

Handy off cut of exhaust that fits perfectly in the gap that I've just chain drilled. A nice coincidence.


Mocked up





Last photo takes some explaining.

The top bit is the old gaiter that has been sliced by the frame. My whole plan is to move the gaiter away from the frame to prevent this chafing.

The bottom photo shows what the new gaiter set up will be. The outer retaining ring around the cv joint that I have cut off will be slotted back on and tapped around with a hammer to seal it. I'll also pop tack welds around it at regular intervals with some sealant to hold in the grease

This is just a prototype that I'll tack together to do a mockup and see how much movement I need around the gaiter area for the suspension travel. I will also make sure it is as symmetrical as possible once welded up to prevent off balancing the driveshaft.

Any suggestions tho people please do make them if you can see issues arrive.
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Good evening
All these updates to add! Had one of those days where you decide to change your plans for stuff, I will try my best to explain.

Driveshaft gaiter
Tacked

Welded and ground back


So I decided not to weld in the next part yet as I want to trial fit it all first. With the spare driveshaft I have I've got loads of suspension movement but I am not going to count my chickens until I have trial fitted it!
I made a metal template to ensure the domed bit was welded centrally as well as making measurements frequently when tacking, for once the cold weather means there's less chance of warping!
So that's ready to trial fit when I fancy rolling around on the ground.

Coolant system
I have made both lower mounts, as I decided previously they are rubber lined and held in place with heatshrink. They look very tidy and hold the rad securely.
Left lower, welded and painted

Fitted

There is plenty of clearance around the exhaust, I still need to cut the bulky rubber mount part you can see in the photo off, that will give more clearance. No clearance issues with the bonnet fitted either.

Right lower mount, welded and painted

Fitted

It's hard to show in this image but there is now lots of clearance around the wheel area regarding how close it is to the radiator

Lastly here is an image of all the pipework that has literally just turned up, if I get my uni work sorted tonight I may do some trial fitting of the pipework tomorrow morning, if not it'll be next week when I get out to play again.


Throttle bodies and manifold
So the manifold rubbers turned up,
they are broken
So that's annoying straight away. Got a refund so that's ok and they will work for mocking up.


This is where it gets complicated. As you can see in the picture the steel pipes that made up part of the old manifold fit perfectly into the new throttle body rubbers.
Better photo to explain


As you can see someone has taken the time on the old runners to lathe them down for the old carbs.
However the lathing down is an absolutely perfect fit to the throttle bodies too!
(Which sort of makes sense as they are the throttle body upgrade from carbs as the bike was the cbr600)

So this is my fun situation,
>If I buy new alloy pipes I can't find them online ones that are the same diameter as the rubbers. The rubber is fairly stiff so I need Ali pipe that is spot on. God knows where I find it. So I need to do this
>I buy Fluorlined silicone connectors which again is not cheap but I can get the pipe sizes suitable easily.
Then
>weld everything together using my new spool gun to weld the Ali
=new manifold in Ali (cost £61.48(fluoro pipe and Ali bends))


Or or
>cut off the old manifold steel pipes (that fit perfectly)
Then
>buy some mild steel 90deg elbows
Then
>Cut the crappy parts off the manifold I had before giving me the flat plate part with the cutouts for the inlets as well as the bolt holes.
>weld the new 90bends to the recycled lathed down part
=
New manifold in steel (£27.78 (2x180 deg steel 38mm bends))

Now the price difference is £30 but I also need to get all the stuff for welding Ali i.e. (Steel brush,grinding disk suitable etc as well as gas (£18) in addition I need to learn to weld It!
Or.
I swop the argon cyclinder I have for co2 (free) buy two steel bends and bosh a steel mani together in a day!

So I am apologising to anyone who wanted to see some entertainment with my Ali welding but I haven't got the time or money to go that way currently. I'm sure others would make the same choice tho.
That's all for now folks
Lawrence

(Ps: I have got one bottle of argon still that I can't take back so I will be making a fool of myself sometime in the future.

[Marco1972]

Nice work Lawrence

I like the way you find your way around the problems that you get from an alternative engine very ingenious
Keep it up

Mark

[lawrence]

Cheers for the comment mark, always appreciated.
I think this is one of those projects that is me basically talking to myself on here and coming to conclusions without other people's input mostly!

So I've mocked up some of the pipework.

I need to get some nice shiny ally connectors for the top rad pipes.
I've had a discussion with frank (micra guru) and he reckons I can ditch the thermostat link pipe that's in that mockup photo. This is because it's only fitted due to the micra having a heater valve that restricts water flow to the heater matrix and on mine there isn't. Heater is on or off as for all the years I've owned mini the valve has sat there attached but never ever used so removing it will mean I can simplify the coolent system (and potentially make it flow better as more water will go through the front mount rad)

That's all for now folks,
I've ordered 20new cutting disks as investigating into my grinding/welding box I have discovered only one disk left and that's a fat cutting disk not those nice slitting ones. I'm also on the lookout for some cheap 90deg steel bends too if anyone has suggestions?
Lawrence

[lawrence]

So, very small update today.
The cutting disks arrived so I cut the old manifold up to get the pipes off it I wanted.

As you can see they fit perfectly which is just what I wanted :)
I need to source some bends still but having issues finding mild steel ones in the sizes I need at the sharp radius too.
Any suggestions please let me know.

So what did I do for the rest of the day? Well as I was moving my drill on my workbench I saw that I had a gouge out of the insulation with flipping bare wire poking out, it's caught on the grinder when I finished off the edges of the pipe.

Taking a step back I had the realisation that there's a bit of a health and safety nightmare in the garage.
Sure I have a fire extinguisher etc. But wiring wise it isn't great, I've got an extension cord running across part of the room and electrical devices all piled up everywhere! There's also a massive pile of tshirts and misc clothes etc that you can see in the background behind the carbs.

So I've tidyed the wiring and wall mounted the extension lead.

Cables etc pinned with wood nails bent to L shapes.

And I've put up more shelving.


Its much tidyed now and all the power tools etc are on a shelf together

So yep that's it, people if you have garages that are as untidy as mine then take a step back and look at possible risks
That's all for now.
More next week
Lawrence

[benm]

for 90' bends ive bought these and cut them in half, works out cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.u...ZgAAOSwPcVVuIYr

[lawrence]

Cheers for that suggestion benm, I had though of cutting a 180 in half but I need too tight a radius that makes it impossible unfortunately.
lawrence

[lawrence]

Right,
I've ordered a few bits,
>One overflow tank in shiny alloy from china, much shine very bling
>2x180 deg pipe bends ( did finally find some!)

So I can make my coolent system properly and also my manifold :) when they arrive that is.

Also.


I lowered the suspension to major low.
Two reasons,
My morale as she does look cool :)
Need to check the suspension clearances on the front arches and dam and driveshaft.
Therefore have a few deduction.
Need to modify my “gaiter transfer sleeve” (what I'm gunna call it)

Ergo

Bit of hammering and bending later.

I also found my top arm lower bump stops are perished so going to find some poly ones to replace them with.

Oh and the monkey who fitted the arches (yep me) fitted the rears wrong, well I know that but it's twice I've done them wrong now. Need to take some photos to explain but it is going to require me to do a bit of welding on the rear q me thinks. Boo. But it is the OS rear so that side I did leave holes in but plugged them with sealant so I can do it properly this time!

That's all for now folk, next update will be next Wednesday. Time to do some uni work :)
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Few bits,
Expansion tank has arrived

Welds not the best but it was a very good price for what it is. I haven't measured it yet but it's quoted as a 1litre size but I'd like to check.
Not sure where to mount it yet but currently thinking on the inner wing as that would make the most sense, fingers crossed the input pipe is the high point in the system, if not it'll have to be bulkhead mounted which I would rather avoid.

Bends arrived also

Only looked by eye but they seem to be spot on the size and radius I wanted, nice and smooth bends also.

That's all today folks.
Tune in next week for some plumbing welding and grinding bought to you by the guy who's making this up as he goes along. And if anyone's good at literature searching for dissertations feel free to give some tips!

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Time for an update from the other day.
>Coolent system,
The expansion tank I've bought unfortunately can't be wing mounted like I initially wanted to. I'm going to have to mount it here.

The outlet is right at the bottom as you can see

This means it has to be at the high point of the system, because my radiator is mounted fairly high I've got to put it there. At least it's shiny!

Photo taken on the level from the front of the car, the outlet on the rad is now level with the expansion tank outlet. I just need to work out how to mount it now as to not squash the insulation especially as it could get a little warm when the engine is running, and also allow me to open the cap!

Mocked up with the throttle bodies and there is plenty of clearance with no chafing etc.
Just need to do a few bits of welding and some plumbing now. I forgot to add that since lowering the car there is still clearance for the radiator and pipework in the arch by the wheel. I also need to look into making some sort of shield for the back of radiator to prevent stone chip damage etc.

>Inlet manifold
Dug out my cylinder heads for mocking up.

I've decided to order some cap head Allen bolts to attach the manifold, will make it easier to fit and remove as it could be a little snug around the inlets with my welding.

Part way through drilling the new manifold.

I burnt out a few drill bits and then realised I had some bolt holes out so gave it up as a lost cause.

So made a mess and ground off the old manifold giving me with the plate and correct drill holes.


Plan for tommorow is to tack together the manifold using the cylinder head on the bench to keep the mounting face flat now I have hammered it flat again. I'm also going to make it spot on with the head to encourage best fuel air flow.

Next update tommorow afternoon.
Lawrence