829 replies to this topic

[timmy850]

This is still my favourite car on this site. Another year on the road

Thanks Jared, really appreciate your comment!

[timmy850]

Recently I've been helping my friend out with his supercharged mini. 

 

We checked up the timing, and checked the AFR and adjusted the jets. It goes like an absolute rocket! I also started checking through the jets on my car

 

Last Sunday we had a drive around with the MITG crew. It turned out to be a pretty nice day!

 

 

 

[timmy850]

I had some free time yesterday and thought I'd try and get the tune a bit closer on the Dellorto. Time to get out the jet kit again!

 

Quick jetting/tuning guide:

Idle jet - idle mixture and initial takeoff

Main jet - cruise to full throttle

Emulsion tube - mixture during cruise and full throttle

Air corrector - high rpm 

 

When we first set it up on my car we just chose the leanest jets out of the selection we had and it ran really rich everywhere. On the AFR gauge it'd show 9.0 to 11.0 which is really rich! Luckily it still ran well and never fouled up plugs but I wanted to get it tuned better. I ordered in some 45 idle jets (was 57) and 140 main jets (I think it was 155). This made a bit of an improvement but it was still on the rich side - this was around 11.0 to 12.0 AFR pretty much everywhere.

 

The next thing for me to try was the emulsion tube. I had started with a 7772.6, which is the richest available and is suited to 1275 or bigger mini engines. The one recommended for 998 and 1098 engines is a 7772.7, but I didn't have one of those so I changed to a 7772.5 (lean to rich is .5 then .7 then .6). This made it leaner while running but now it was a bit lean at full throttle - 12.5 to 13.5.

 

To make the top end richer I tried reducing the size of the air corrector (less air) from 180 to 170. This didn't make a huge amount of difference so I ended up increasing the main jet back to 155 and put the air corrector back to 180. Now it's getting pretty close to being correct with using the jets that I have at the moment. Now the cruise is approx 12.0-13.5 which is good (but still a little rich), and full throttle starts around 12.5 and goes down to 11.5 as RPM increases. 

 

I've found Dellorto tuning to be easier so far to fiddle with than SU needles. Each different tuning part for the Dellorto plays a different part in overall tuning so it's been easier to work away at each circuit to get the tuning correct. Ideally you'd have a complete range of jets over a range to get all the parts exactly right, but that ends up getting really expensive for just one car. 

 

Final setup:

Idle 45

Main 155

Emulsion tube 7772.5

Choke 32

Air corrector 180

[Clip]

I think your thread all the info I need thanks Timmy 850! Just love your story and reading through it all gives me so much more to think about, as I'm just starting on a similar journey to you. Congrats on a great build. A shame you don't live a little further north (like Qld), or I guess I could move back down to my home town near Jervis Bay. Would love to see your mini in the flesh for sure. 

[timmy850]

I think your thread all the info I need thanks Timmy 850! Just love your story and reading through it all gives me so much more to think about, as I'm just starting on a similar journey to you. Congrats on a great build. A shame you don't live a little further north (like Qld), or I guess I could move back down to my home town near Jervis Bay. Would love to see your mini in the flesh for sure.

Thanks Clip.

I think the most important thing is make the car yours and enjoy it how you like. My car definitely isn’t perfect or original, but I drive it everywhere and have a great time. You can definitely have fun on a budget and you don’t need 100hp to have a fun time!

Most of the mechanical stuff is pretty straight forward and there are plenty of workshop manuals and videos on how to do jobs. You’ll probably also find some like minded folk up your way, most are extremely helpful and can give you a hand with things.

We are going down through Jervis Bay this weekend actually! Starting on Saturday at Albion Park, Jervis Bay for morning tea, down the coast to Batemans Bay then inland to Braidwood for the night.

[timmy850]

On the weekend we had a little trip away with some local Minis. Day 1 was about 300km and started at Albion Park. 

 

We took the tourist road down the coast and the first stop was at St Georges Basin. It was a perfect quiet still day (or at least until we turned up)

 

 

We had a nice morning tea at the Pelican cafe and from there we headed south to Batemans Bay

 

 

After a fuel stop we had lunch at the Clyde River just inland of Batemans Bay.

 

From there it was about an hour up a winding mountain road to Braidwood. It's a lovely country town, many of the buildings in the main street are relatively old (by Australian standards) and there are lots of interesting shops to look in.

 

One shop had these funky Mini ice boxes, although they were a bit pricey!

 

Day 2 started with some cooler weather and some nice autumn leaves starting to cover the car

 

There was an old van parked in the main street advertising for Oil & Kerosene Lamps, which seemed quite fitting for the age of the van!

 

 

From Braidwood we headed to Nerriga via Tarago in order to stay on sealed roads.

 

The last group stop was at Tianjara Falls for a look at the view before heading on home.

 

It was about 4-500km all up over the 2 days and the car ran perfect the whole trip. The average fuel use was pretty good too at just 7.0L/100km, not bad for a sidedraft Dellorto!

[Vinay-RS]

That's a really good fuel economy on the trip. I also love how you guys do proper road trips regularly, it looks like a lot of fun. That old school van is very neat.  

[rich_959]

Some great shots there!! Thanks for sharing. Your 850 is a beauty. 

[timmy850]

That's a really good fuel economy on the trip. I also love how you guys do proper road trips regularly, it looks like a lot of fun. That old school van is very neat.

  
I’ve been recording the fuel economy for the past 12 months (and we’ve done about 5000km in that time!). I’ve found that the fuel economy is worse when the car sits for weeks between filling up the tank - around 10L/100km. There is a fair smell of petrol in the garage and my thought is it’s either leaking or evaporating while sitting. I need to order a new seal for the fuel tank and go over all the rubber hoses in the boot and try and figure out the cause...

We have another couple of short runs coming up, and the annual 1000km run to Rylstone in August. Drives with minis are always a great time!

Some great shots there!! Thanks for sharing. Your 850 is a beauty.

Thanks Rich!

Today I sanded all the sharp edges off the alloy accelerator pedal, painted the body black and sanded the top edges down. It gives it much more definition than the all alloy finish it comes in

Edited by timmy850, 25 May 2019 - 05:52 AM.

[venoms]

hello there, nice car, i have a 1963 my self.

one question, i have some simular seats in my car and i would like the original back in , I am having a hell of a time finding the original seats , do you know where I could buy some.

 you can contact me at [email protected].

waiting to here from you.

thankyou

[timmy850]

hello there, nice car, i have a 1963 my self.
one question, i have some simular seats in my car and i would like the original back in , I am having a hell of a time finding the original seats , do you know where I could buy some.
 you can contact me at [email protected].
waiting to here from you.
thankyou

Hi there,
Your profile says you are in USA so I’d suggest asking on minimania or a local Facebook group to you. You’ll also need to know what trim pattern you need as there are many different styles depending on the model and year.

[venoms]

Thank you.

[timmy850]

Something I've been thinking about and working towards is getting the front grille lamps working.

 
They are period Butler "Highway" lamps and come as a set of one Fog & Spot. I found this cool add with them here: http://mk1-performan...light_read.html

 
They are even stamped BMC SPOT & BMC FOG

 

The bulbs used in these lamps are a very uncommon size and spec. I was able to find a guy selling some NOS ones in the UK for £20 pounds each + shipping, which is insanely expensive for something that might not even survive the post...


So I looked through some spare bulbs I had and decided that the H3 was the right length and was worth a shot (they are also dirt cheap at any parts shop)

 
To adapt the smaller H3 bulb to the lenses I bought some large 50mm washers. The outer diameter had to be ground down to 48.5mm and the inner hole had to be enlarged to fit the bulb

 
A little notch in the washer to match the original location 

 
The spring loaded contacts on the back worked great too. The old bulb had one contact for each terminal, but the new bulb has a separate positive terminal (the white wire). The red wire was cut from the base and a spade terminal was added to match the lead on the bulb.


 
I put the lamp all back together and found I had a visitor coming over for a look...

 
The test on the 12V jump pack was successful, now I need to complete the loom and get it wired into the car

 

Edited by timmy850, 06 June 2019 - 07:52 AM.

[Jared Mk3]

Nice job adapting the globes to fit. I do like the look of the car with the lamps fitted 

[Vinay-RS]

Those lamps look very good! A bit of a dumb question, but how do they attach to the grille?