153 replies to this topic

[rob963]

just get a supercharger and twin webers.. they're cheap...

Haha yeah, real real cheap...
Massively cheap
although I do like superchargers, over turbos anyway...

either twin turbo's or superchargers, dont like lag
Although im not to sold with the whining sound..

Haha no it has to be said, lag sucks, which is why I would rather keep it naturally aspirated, also, less parts to go wrong on it..
Hmm ya see, I actually much prefer the whine of a supercharger of the suckiness of the turbos, and turbos also make the car quieter generally and you lose some of the engine tone...
That said, it does have to be the right tone of whine, prefer deep to tinny/high whines...

I've always preferred the deep muscle car sound compared to... a formula 1 car sound for example, although.. i do like the sound of straight cut gears. I'm a bit just weird haha

what does make that deep tone? how much lift the cam has? or does that just make it sputtery?....so many questions.. hehe

Oh yeah for sure, Muscle car of high revving speed machine...
yeah straight cut gears do have quite a nice sound to them, I like it too, maybe we are both just weird... or cool, I prefer to think cool
I am not entirely sure, but I have a feeling that it might be to do with the actual size of the supercharger, as a bigger one would need to spin slower to force the same amount of air in? possibly..?
I am sure there'll be someone else who knows much much better than me
Yeah there are lots of questions, and when they are all answered, there'll be even more!

[The.Yellow.Mini.Guy]

I agree we're just cool..

Yeah good point

Yeah haha we just think of the idea's and let others show us how to do them!

[rob963]

I agree we're just cool..

Yeah good point

Yeah haha we just think of the idea's and let others show us how to do them!

Haha yeah definitely cool!
Other peoples opinions may differ but hey

That's just the only thing i could really think of that would make some form of sense...

Haha that is certainly the best plan for the time being, until I know enough, then I can advise others as to how many thousands of problems they'll run in to along the way

[The.Yellow.Mini.Guy]

Can't wait for the day when i don't need to ask for help haha

[rob963]

Can't wait for the day when i don't need to ask for help haha

Haha I know, neither can I,
I also can't wait to be able to give advice out to others
Although, I think it is quite a long way of as of yet...

[rob963]

Right, so this is a re-post due to the silly hackers

Anyway, Tuesday, I got hold of my new gear knob and handbrake handle from my friend, and fitted them relatively quickly
They came from Minispares, so hopefully they'll last relatively well..
Pickies:




And then yesterday morning, lots of things happened,
I went to collect a parcel that I missed due to an exam, and got another shiny thing to attach:



And so promptly attached it to him :



I also made some progress with my annoying chromy pedals, I found that my feet had a tendancy to slip off them if either my shoes or the pedals were wet..
Until now, they have defeated me as the nuts that held them on were typically a size that I didn't have a spanner in
but I found that I had a 7mm socket and that seemed too work a treat
However, they are still a mystery, they look like this:



and they say 'John Cooper' in handwriting on each of them, anyone know what they are from/for? apart from the obvious pedal covers that is..
These got replaced with standard rubber ones from Minispares, so my feet don't slip any more

Aswell as all this happening, I received this in the post from Amazon:



as I don't really want to be rear-ended again, and hopefully this'll help

So there's another long and picture heavy update from me

[rob963]

Sooo, not updated this for a little bit of time,

I finished my exams on Friday
before this, I had to make quite a large order from Minispares (for me anyway, maybe not compared to others.. )
the first thing out of this order that I fitted, was the clear indicator set. which I certainly prefer them to the orange ones.
As some of you may have seen, I gave the orange lenses that I took off to J322OverTheTop.
Time for some Picies:




During the next week, I have got a fair few jobs to get done before London to Brighton next weekend
I have to wire in and install a whole audio system, as there is currently nothing in him

The cigarette lighter (phone/satnav charger)

The third high-level brake light at the back, I've had this for a while, just never had a chance to get it installed as of yet.

I also have to replace the brake pads, which came as part of the Minispares order, as they are squealing like piggies on relatively light braking. But I have also finally gotten a Haynes manual along with some Copper Grease so I'll get them done tomorrow, and make a start on the rest of the stuff too.
Got a friend to come over and help me fathom the electrical system, as i just don't understand it
I'll probably update tomorrow and see if I find other problems whilst changing things over, With more pictures, Fingers crossed it'll all go smoothly
Quick picture of all the parts that need to be fitted this week:


And here is the rest of the stuff that came in the Minispares order that'll need to be fitted at some point...


Apart from the Vacuum pipe, I didn't realise that the vacuum gauge comes with the pipe that it needs to be fitted.

EDIT: I also adjusted the mixture on the carb to stop it popping slightly and improve the way it idles, I am slowly learning

Edited by rob963, 13 May 2012 - 02:56 PM.

[rob963]

So it's been a while since an update on him...

firstly, the excuse. I was busy getting him ready for L2B, hence the pictures in the last thread with all of the parts that needed to be fitted... after this I haven't technically been at home for more than an hour...

Secondly, L2B was brilliant! (Even if it did take quite a lot longer to get there than we were anticipating.... Don't ask )
And I picked up these!




They came from a guy on here called 'icedaddyuk' who was very friendly (and had a nice clubby estate)
I am going to paint the spokes black at some point but leave the outside of the rim in silver, 2 of them still need to have a little attention given to stripping them completely and then they'll be ready to paint (properly, can't remember the exact order and how many layers, but I'm sure there is something on here about it )

I also thought I'd treat him to some bling seeing as he had done so many miles without a single falter
so yesterday afternoon, the insides of the doors went from this:


to this:


Although the lock surrounds baffled me completely, the little plugs and screws supplied didn't seem to make the plate stay on regardless of how it was attached
so if there is any advice on this, it would be much appreciated

I seem to be going all over the time scale so I may as well reverse to before L2B,
All of the parts in this picture:


bar the 4'' speakers next to the 6x9's were fitted before L2B

These are the old brake pads, retaining clips and split pins:



Here is the old aerial :





and the new aerial fitted (which has since fallen apart and no longer works ) - It refused to stand up straight anyway so I'll have to replace that again sometime :


That all managed to take a whole day to do with the help of a friend and a fair few people stopping to talk about how they used to have a Mini and they loved it,
so a couple of days later I got my friend back and we got the rest done, this included;
The ciggy lighter (charger device)


All wired into the fuse box as that was the easiest to access

A new stereo system:



which included the speaker board made by yours truly (although it is held on by some R-clips from Halfords )
We also discovered that the speakers at the back of the car worked so instead of having the extra hassle before L2B of trying to make some speaker pods for the front, we just wired them in
although at some point, I will do the speaker pods
We also had quite a lot of trouble with the earth as when we tested it, we just used electrical tape to tape it to the lower dash rail (the metal bit obviously) and it worked fine,
but as soon as we put it on the ring connector and bolted it in, it stopped working
so we had to start from the ground up and take baby steps to make sure it still worked every step of the way.
It did but I don''t understand as to why it stopped working with the first ring connector

Anyway, that's all for now, going to be trying to put a stage one kit on over the summer, I've already got all the parts for it (had most of them before the crash)
can't wait, after it's been rolling roaded hopefully it'll run really nicely

Rob

[rob963]

So,
Another update,
Finally...
I have been busy for a while again, but I have finally found time to start painting the other wheels, they are currently in-between layers of paint
but anyway,
I found something nice on fleabay:





It's a 12G940 which apparently came of a working 1275 engine got it for £40
Although I did have to go a fair way to pick it up and my stupid satnav took me down some stupidly thin roads on which I had to stop rapidly several times
But hey, eventually (when I have the monies) I'll get some work done on the exhaust valves to allow it to be fitted to my 998
So many plans... so little money

In other news, I had my front wheels off the other day to check my brake disks and for some reason,
the wheel nuts for my Pepperpots at the front are now completely shot so they refused to go back on properly.
So this is the solution I came up with:


And I really quite like the Revos on there...
soon there will be 4 on there

However I also didn't realise that this would happen:


looks like I'll have to find some wider arches, possibly at Bristol Mini Day (which I have yet to receive the tickets for )

Anyway, time for another coat of paint on the wheels

Bye for now

[rob963]

So today I managed to get tyres fitted across town, get back and fit the new wheels to flash,
then get back into town in time to pick up my girlfriend from the exam I dropped her in to
All in the time of 2 hours! Quite pleased with myself to be honest, even though it was tipping it down
anyway, piccy!


I'll get more tomorrow probably as that picture doesn't really do them complete justice, but I will say that they do fill the arches better now

And I have some plans
I'm going to be travelling up to Redditch to visit J322OverTheTop as he'll be helping me fit my stage one kit from Saturday into Sunday as no doubt it'll take longer than expected, as always
and I have new disks along with a couple of other things on their way to me now, mainly because the disks are ever so slightly warped and judder slightly when braking from high speeds

That is all for now,
I'll update after the weekend to let anyone who can be bothered to listen how it went

[rob963]

So I promised some more pictures last time, and so I deliver!




So it has been a busy week,
this arrived in the post:


and with everything opened:


and now all I have left to fit out of all that are the brake disks and pads as the rest got fitted over the weekend,
so I finally have a working aerial now!
some of the changes:
from this:


to this:


And from this:


to this:


over the weekend, the main aim was to fit the stage one kit that has been sitting around in my room since march
and it went very smoothly apart from a tiny blow from the Y-Piece and sheering a bolt on said same item, both of which are now sorted
PIccies:




I also managed to get my vacuum gauge fitted at the same time!



I know it's in a bit of an odd place, it is only till I make and install my own centre console when it will go into there

and decided to replace my HT leads and spark plugs (yes I checked the gaps)


doing my ball joints, brake disks and pads today
that's all for now

[rob963]

So today I got both the ball joints and the brake disks and discovered that 2 of them were loose, they are now much tighter
the brake disks were mullered and now they are nice and shiny and new


Although it hasn't stopped the slight rattling on the front end
so that will be investigated more tomorrow...

I also have discovered that he needs a really big tune up,
Below 2.5-3k rpm, it struggles quite a bit
After that though it pulls really really well!
overall, quite chuffed at how the stage one kit has gone on

That's all for now,
I'll try to update tomorrow with what i discover about the rattling...

[rob963]

So, I haven't discovered what the little rattle is
Although Mak said it could be knuckle joints?
If so, I'm confused as they were done in January

In other news, finally got my tickets for Bristol mini day!
Hopefully I'll see some of you there!

And my brakes are now much much better and I have replaced my vacuum advance pipe this morning

Rob

Edit: the vacuum advance pipe needed replacing as I broke it putting me stage one kit on, but when I took it off, the dizzy connection for it fell apart anyway

Edited by rob963, 13 June 2012 - 07:41 AM.

[rob963]

So again I have left this for quite a while without an upate...

A few things have happened, although it isn't much....

At some point in the past, there was Bristol Mini Day, where I spent more money than was probably sensible too...
But I did need a new throttle cable, as me old one was a bit sticky...
hey ho, it's now much much smoother

not that you can really tell it's new

I also decided to buy a new badge for him, which may not be the right one, but I really like it and wanted this one to begin with :

(changed the winged type to this... )

I also bought a new switch panel (5 hole rather than my 4) and took it to the sticky fingers stand to get some stickers:

(including the one for the switch panel)

I also got some spacers for the rear wheels, as they were a little further in than the front and it was a tad annoying for me
so they are more even now:



the day after Bristol Mini Day, I went to a Rolling Road (Slark Race Engineering) and a quick needle change and timing tune, and he was driving happy as larry!
(before it struggled below 3k rpm - now it sings and goes much better )
However, he did insist that I replace my air filter as me old one was falling apart, so I went for a K&N:



And seeing as I decided on the interior being blue and grey, I also got a blue brake pedal cover:


switched from the red one previous:


So I have managed to get the new switch panel in finally, took long enough:


Although when I was taking the old one off, I didn't realise it was just two nuts, so I went through the whole rigmarole of getting the clip off the choke cable and the nut off the heater cable,
only to discover that I also needed to take these off


the one I got off ended up like this :


it was a huge PITA trying to get the nuts back in the right place (many dents/cuts in my hand)
must have spent about half an hour like this:



And now, some thing else that needs sorting:



stupid arch breaking off

However,
I have now decided that I want to get it on 10'' wheels,
which won't be cheap, but I'm going to need new arches anyway due to the wheels sticking out,
so I might as well go for it now, especially with the group buy on the conversion to 7.5'' disks going on,
it all seems to be falling into place!
anyway,
enough rambling,

that's all for now

hopefully soon there'll be more interesting things to update on

Rob

[The Otter]

Nice progress, glad to see you're set on 10's! I think you should take all the plastic arches off and run it archless for a while, looks nicer that way I told you that ******* switching panel would be a fun job, good to see you've got it sorted now and all the switches are in the middle where they should be

Keep up the good work