749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Messaged you about them

[lawrence]

So I've had a play in the garage today. Not for long tho as I have a night shift tonight and so didnt get up till 11am! 

 

wasn't sure what to do today so had a tidy of some of my roses tins full of bits and pieces, 

found this beauty!

20170907_102832 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

which meant I could get on with this!

20170907_110656 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So, brakes all bled, no issues there! :) nice firm pedal just how we like em!

 

Also, cable tied the rack gators, no pics, use your imagination, and I have torqued up and fitted the driveshaft split pin on the OS

 

Just ordered a gasket set too for the exhaust, valve cover and inlet mani.

 

So whats completed currently:

 

Brakes

> Bled and handbrake adjusted

 

Suspension components 

>New shocks and red dot cones for the front

>All new bushes at the front

>NSf new wheel bearing

>All torqued to factory recomendations 

 

To do list before I can start the engine

>Fit new gaskets when they arrive. 

>Wire in megasquirt

>Compete squirt pre programming

>Charge battery

>Turn key

 

Thats all for now folk

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Right guys, so there`s been issues plaguing my mini project. Its my uni work which at the end of the day is more important, however 6 weeks left and counting so its doing down.

 

Ive had 2 days working on her since last update

 

So the other week I did a bit more work on the exhaust, was ok just need to order some new centre pipe and a 90deg bend.

 

This week did a bit more, stripped bits off the engine to change some gaskets

20170925_130425 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

got my endoscope I ordered the other day too so checked all the inlet valves to make sure nothing has fallen inside

170925_141309 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

made a small cable for the ignition coils, all waterproof connectors etc.

20170925_125627 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

valve cover off to put in a gasket

20170925_131408 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

lastly finished off my rear engine mount which Is good, didn’t take long either in the end

20170925_153247 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

There is a new inlet gasket on and ive cleaned up all the gasket faces of course so should keep everything sealed. Also got the TBs back on but didn’t take a photo.

 

Lastly ive played about with my endoscope, most of the photos are a bit hard to recognise but this one is easier

170925_142849 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

it’s the inside of the roof rail

 

see if you can guess this one

170925_142343 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Interestingly this is the front of the sill on the driverside

170925_142442 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

back when I welded her up I poured some leftover paint through the door clevis pin hole, looks like its given some protection!

 

So that’s all for now people.

New update in a few weeks maybe as ive currently got assignments due in early next month

 

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Right its time for an update people

True I should have been doing uni work today but I wanted some time off to play with mini and my parents new campervan needed a mod.

 

Mini first

20171005_105530 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

made up my ht leads for the engine, ill make some more when the engine is up and running

 

Wiring

20171005_123530 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

TPS is threaded through the bulkhead, as is the injector wiring and as is the edis coil.

 

Back together

20171005_131550 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

cleaning up the gasket faces

20171005_145459 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

finished welding up the exhaust

20171005_145501 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Y-Piece ready to go on and lambda installed, gasket pasted added also

20171005_151846 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

new gasket applied and manifold all installed

20171005_152945 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

nicely clamped on

20171005_153003 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

headshield back in place and exhaust painted in black

20171005_154105 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

In addition to this I have ordered a new radiator and new radiator fan, I also want to order a new set of HT leads as the ones ive made I don’t have confidence in to not fall off when driving as the clips that secure them are so worn, they will work for now tho.

 

So onwards to Thornton the camper

Got a cig lighter charger that I cannibalise

20171004_204655 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

bought a replacement blanking plate and then cut a hole in the middle

IMG-20171005-WA0002 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

and in situ, looks pretty good and functional too

IMG-20171005-WA0005 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So plan for ken is to try and wire in megasquirt and then I can start the bugger. May fit a straight pipe on the exhaust, depends on the money situation as im already overdrawn

 

Ttfn

[lawrence]

Right then guys and gals, update from today

I did a night shift last night and was planning to do uni work today but it didn’t happen, just couldn’t concentrate on anything as I was too tired. So I decided to do some small bits to mini in the hope the cold and windy day would keep me awake. I managed a few bits and pieces

 

Fan arrived. Proper fast delivery considering I ordered it yesterday!

20171006_162310 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

I was planning on doing some interior wiring however noticed it was a bit breezy inside the car when the bonnet was off. Think some holes needed filling

 

Soundproofing off and roughed up around where the old heater pipes used to go through

20171006_162314 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

bit of plastic and some tigerseal later

20171006_163211 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

also put gromets in all the other holes I could find. So much better now

 

Then did a niggly bit. Wiper wheelboxes removed.

20171006_171234 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

There was loads of slack in the wiper boxes, adjusted that out. Also spun the gears to a less worn area. Re-greased back up and now the only play is in the rivets of the arms and where it joins to the motor

20171006_180717 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Taking the motor off tomorrow and will try and remove more of the play, might need to make some bushes etc inside to take up the slack but ill see tomorrow. Also got to make the lower mount of the restraining strap more solid to mount the motor better.

 

Lastly ill cut some more sound deadening on the bulkhead but without the holes this time

 

Like I said niggly bits but its something!

 

Im a day off tomorrow so going to get up nice and early to play in the garage till lunch and then do uni work in the afternoon

 

Plan is

>Wiper motor play

>New Sound deadening

>Wiring for fan (Waterproof connectors – no electrical gremlins here!!)

>Interior wiring for MS

 

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Well, this mornings update

 

Its been raining all day , ive tweaked the wiper motor, no play there. The other bits and pieces ive left for when its dry

 

Played with the heater today as the though occoured to me I cant start the engine without coolent!

 

Need to make it a bit more air tight to then fit it. Also need to fit my electric heater matrix

(VW PASSAT B6 05-10 2.0 TDI ELECTRIC HEATER MATRIX)

 

20171007_093449 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Slot cut to fit in the electric matrix

20171007_100931 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

protection on the edges

20171007_102455 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

rebending the heater panel

20171007_103957 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Heater back together, sorry for the fuzzy pic

20171007_114750 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

you can see where its rebent here

20171007_114754 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

wiring bits all back on

20171007_114833 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

fan and water matrix back in

20171007_123307 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

and new plastic front panel made

20171007_124808 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

and I bench tested it – all good

 

The electric heater matrix draws a hell of alot of power but defo heats the air well, considering the temp outside today and the half charged battery the air coming out must have been at least 15degs.

 

Plan is to leave it for now and just reinstall the heater but I will add a thermostatic switch so the electric heater matrix  (relay controlled) turns off when air coming out of the pipe gets to a certain temp (dunno what yet, 18degs maybe)

 

That’s all for now folks as only a part garage day

 

Lawrence

[l_jonez]

Nice! I like the idea of the electric heater, has actually inspired me for the kit car

[lawrence]

Cheers Lawson, I'm hoping it'll add that little 21st century driving experience to the old mini :) battery is on charge currently so ill be interested to find the output from a fully charged battery in terms of heat 

 

Little update from the other day, didn’t have alot of time. Found some stuff out, some good some bad.

 

Firstly I won a dash I was bidding on. Won it for 99p. didn’t quite realised the size

 

20171009_140127 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Going to be a lot of cutting and chopping to get it to fit. Might still scrap it. Project for later tho

 

New rad arrived so ive fitted it and fitted the new fan too

 

20171010_124658 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

very flimsy fins but for 20 I cant really complain too much! And I had to adjust the mounts a little too which was more annoying. All ok now tho

 

more annoyingly however I found a leak in my front brake line

20171010_113603 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

When I got a spanner on the join I found it was only finger tight, interesting how come the brakes bled ok. Anyhow its now done up properly and I shall rebleed the front brakes when I get a chance. Need to repaint the frame too L cleaned up the area for now

 

That’s all for now folks.

Update soon I hope

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Well people.

Last update was a while ago and to be honest ive done pretty much nothing, The exhaust still isn’t finished however I did pop to a nearby exhaust shop and picked up some straightpipe and a curved bit to make the back section. secondhand and didnt cost me a penny, even combined the journey!

 

20171020_151349 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

fairly rust free the longer section and the curved part im cutting up anhu

 

onwards

HT leads need making up,

Ive bought standard ford ones that fit my coil pack and although they will fit the micra end they wont be very waterproof

 

20171025_192648 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

bits to play with

 

and as you can see ive made a lovely fissan HT lead

20171101_120838 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Was quite satisfying making it and ill make the rest soon

 

Means I haven’t had to cut the HT lead so should have no chance of misfires

 

Ill seal them together when I know they work to keep out that water

 

In that photo is some exhaust flanges too, bought cheap and will be stored for a later day

 

That’s all for now.

 

17days left of uni. Not failed yet and im on the home straight now

 

soon this car will work

 

Lawrence

[lawrence]

So people

 

I have passed the hard bit of uni, all the complicated bits I am now completely signed off for and just have to pass an essay I've already given in but I'm not worried about that. 

 

Technically I've got a week left of uni next week but its mostly dossing around looking at the timetable 

 

A month or so to go an ill be a fully registered nurse, woop!

 

SO 

back to the important bits of this mini project!

 

firstly she looks depressed

 

20171109_170517 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Had a kitchen fitted and the fitter failed to let us know she would be covered in sawdust, he also kindly had leant stuff against her which I wasn't best pleased about.

 

My plan today is to give her a wash and make a big list of things to do that I can pick off bit by bit

 

Lawrence 

[thelegg]

Make sure you rinse all that dust off before you scrub it at all because it will scratch the paint

[lawrence]

Don’t worry my friend it totally rained loads and that’s cleaned her off, she still needs a good wash however.

 

HT leads sorted

20171113_110307 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Stainless exhaust flanges fit well, ill add them to my project section

20171113_102934 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Its been bitterly cold here recently, so done a little wiring

20171113_114305 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So bits of other things im doing, sorted out the garage, and worked on a few small projects.

Stripped down the hubs I bought the other day

20171114_170047 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Got some lovely spares,

Reclaimed CV joint gaitors, great condition and fit,

2 outer cv joints, again cleaned up nicely for my spares box and 2 drive flanges also that ill put up for sale along with the brake caliper that came apart (other one sheared a bolt and nipple, shame)

20171114_180056 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

And ive finally finished making my garage creation car!

20171115_161959 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

20171115_163447 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

and next to my bike I also made

20171115_175925 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So plan is to finish off the wiring when it warms up a little and plug her in, all that jazz. Next update probably Saturday if im not too hung over!

 

Lawrence

[mini_matt_106]

[/url]IMG-20171005-WA0002 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
Ttfn

Couldve put it in straight 😝😝

[lawrence]

Good evening people

 

Well that photo did just show it all together, pretty sure I glued it in straight, hmm you got me doubting now haha!

 

So where am I currently with me and mini

 

Well uni is finished, degree completed, officially start on the 2^nd jan in my new job! J, secondly wow im overdrawn a lot!! Not only do I have a credit card 485 of a 500 limit but I was 1400 into a 1500 overdraft!

 

So recently I've been working a lot to try and get this down, the -1400 is going to be -650 on Friday and the credit card is 0% for 2 years so ive sent up a direct debit to clear it slowly

 

But what I do have no is time off to do what I want when I want it! So ive done shopping and all that jazz for Christmas

 

But you don’t care about that, what have I been doing with mini?

 

Well new terminals arrived for my battery cable where it links to the starter motor, I had an odd electrical problem that I could not work out but its sorted now

20171127_123714 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

There’s a multitude of clips around there due to the starter cable, fuel return and coolant lines all in close proximity to each other, now nothing chafes or touches

 

Ive also done a bit of rewiring, more on this soon

20171127_163550 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

10 points to whomever guesses what this is?

 

New rear lights being made

20171201_142659 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

now up to 50% brighter

20171201_142615 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

I've also done a few bits of general stuff, nothing too fun.

 

Onwards to today tho, got quite a few bits sorted

Started off bright and cold, also note builders about again too

20171204_113247 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

20171204_144911 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

So engine bay.

 

Whats left to do? Nothing, done the last bits today. Fan wired in

20171204_144916 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

New waterproof connectors and as ususal all cables p clipped etc.

 

The engine bay is completed. All back together, just needs the heater fitting to add some coolant!

 

So yeah heater

20171204_162607 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

shes no looker but the air isn’t escaping through cracks here!

 

Plan with the heater is to get it fitted back in the car, contemplate running the electric demist system on it and fill the coolent to check for leaks

 

I intend to purchase a car builder solutions compact heater sometime next year as well as a heated windscreen potentially, very tempted by the CBS air con combi system as potentially it wouldn’t be the hardest thing to fit air con to my engine if I wanted to!!

 

Exhaust

V band in place

20171204_171945 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

tickled with the welder

20171204_181809 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

painted

20171204_184222 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

and ready to fit back on

20171204_185750 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

As back boxes go this one is beastly heavy. An all-steel construction with much fancy trickery inside. Might dig out my borescope and do a small video tomorrow

 

So tomorrow

>Heater being fitted

            >Hopefully coolent added too

>Exhaust back box fitted and centre section mocked up and hopefully made

>More wiring more megasquirt

            >?look at the Bluetooth adaptor ive bought for her

 

There we are people

Up to date, ive done a few other bits and pieces but nothing special

 

Update tomorrow night

 

Lawrence

[lawrence]

Good evening people,

Today, unfortunately, didn’t quite go as planned, considering I am on holiday and quite frankly have got to get up until I want to I didn’t get up till 10 which meant I didn’t get in the garage till 11ish!

 

So all I got done was the exhaust

 

Firstly find your assortment of exhaust bits your borrowed/ collected over the last few months

20171205_110656 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Remount your backbox and piece of pipe that’s already completed

20171205_112054 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Create a fairly sharp 90 bend and weld v band on

20171205_122031 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

drag welder outside onto the gravel

20171205_131815 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

And grovel under the back of the jacked up car to do some welding

20171205_131829 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Take off, finish welding and then paint with some exhaust paint

20171205_140558 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

And refit it to the car, sure that bit of pipe is made from 5 parts all welded together and yeah some are a little wonky but if your willing to scrub around on a gravel drive in December covered in wet sawdust and leaves then send me a message and you can make me a new one!

 

So exhaust is sorted, lovely v bands all there and working great. It's in 4 parts so can come apart easily. What I may do in the future is add a rear support for the backbox to ease assembly but to be honest its made hard due to lying on my back to do it

 

That’s all for today folks, making a to-do list tonight

Lawrence