54 replies to this topic

[grumpy2]

A couple of requests for a thread on my mini project so I thought I'd give it a go

Started with a wanted ad on here for a small project, had a few responses ranging from a total rebuild to needs nothing. Looked at a few that might fit the bill but all needed more than I wanted to give. Ended up spending more than I wanted but less than the seller wanted too. This is the car as advertised....



Needless to say the photo is very flattering and in the flesh the car looked very tired and displayed quite a few faults. So that made it ideal for my needs.

2 days later it looked like this



Here's a list of the issues I've found so far.......

All 4 tyres are very low, one probably illegal
Alloys are a bit tarnished
Once radius arm has loads of play - how it got through an MOT I've no idea
Rear near side brake cylinder is leaking
Exhaust blows from mid section and rubs on rear valance
Interior under carpet is wet, there's a 30mm split in the floor letting water in - again amazed it passed an MoT just a couple of months ago
Seat sliders mechanisms are both seized
Heater control cable cut so not working
Crankcase breather system open to atmosphere - another mot issue (not sure about this one)
Handbrake rubbish
Door cards damp and rotted
It's stupidly noisy
The speedo reads about 10mph out
There are holes in the dash where air vents should be

And here a some of the plus points....

The engine and gearbox are very strong
The seats are surprisingly comfortable and in near perfect condition
The body and chrome both polish up nicely
The body and subframes are very strong and contain no rot

I've got a budget of about £500 to get this to a state where I'm happy and it's good enough to take on runs and then to the odd show. My plans in order are....

Sort out the cracked floor
Get some decent tyres (maybe new wheels tyres and sell on the old to offset the cost)
Sort out the dodgy brakes
Fix the seats and fit some soundproofing

Then I can drive it for a bit and sort out the other bits and bobs at my leisure.

If there's any interest I'll bung a few photos and add a bit of a write up as I go along

Cheers

[mini 100]

I will be follow this topic

[grumpy2]

Made a bit of progress today. But the cars still 2 feet in the air!

Welded up the cracked floor and slapped a bit of undersell on for the time being. Put some sound deadening on the floor and refitted the cleaned carpet

Refitted the exhaust correctly so that it doesn't bang on the subframe or leak

Going to spend the week applying underseal and the rest of the interior so I can turn it around next weekend and sort out the dodgy near side brake cylinder.

Not a lot to show for 6 hours work really!, but that's what playing with cars is all about

[grumpy2]

New wheels and tyres today. Trial fitted

With or without centre caps?





I'm thinking without!

[Hegnirst]

New wheels and tyres today. Trial fitted

With or without centre caps?





I'm thinking without!

 

i am amazed that you have already changed the wheels on this car. thanks for not putting 13's on it! lol  Also, having stuff on the roof, nice way to scratch the roof! i would take them off dude!

i hope you look after this car....i have seen it for 4 years and know it quite well.

the exhaust, its quite noisy yes, but you won't find another mini with the exact same sound. sound proof the inside but leave the exhaust dude! its a sweet sound

[grumpy2]

Hi. The roof is fine, there's felt under the bits and bobs. The exhaust is (was) noisy because it's leaking and badly fitted. At the back it was puller tight onto the rear valance, needed the hanger dropping by about 10 mm, (done). At the front the joint pipe was leaking at both joints. It could be heard, felt and the soot seen, no sealer had been used. Again that's fixed now.

There's a nice car in here as you say but it'll take a couple of months to fish it out which is exactly what I want.

Ps the paint is as flat as a flat thing and will get a thorough mopping as part of the 'refresh'


Cheers

Ps don't forget to ask for the photos, thanks

[grumpy2]

Put new wheels on offside last night so I could get to the near side and do the leaking rear brake cylinder. Turned the car around and spent 10 min mopping a quarter of the roof.

Can you tell which side is mopped?, left or right?

[grumpy2]

Harrumphhhhh.

Now need two rear radius arms. That's £100 not bargained for!

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[grumpy2]

Started to do the brake cylinder last night. Jeez what a mess. That cylinder has been leaking for ages. These not just a bit a fluid in there it's so congealed it's like grease yet the adjuster is seized solid.

More and more convinced it's a dodgy mot. Starting to wonder about the photos? No sign so is that a sign of something bad??

Oh well buyer beware, at least when it leaves me I know it'll be right and the journey will be documented here

Think I'll post a pick of the removed brake shoes

[grumpy2]

As promised here's the brake shoes exactly as removed. Covered in greasy congealed goo. The rags wiped the goo off the inside of the drum. Took 4 rags a scotch pad and a mix of brake cleaner and parts washer fluid to get the crud off.



Closer



Goes to show folks that no matter what a seller says get someone competent to check out safety related issues. Even an MOT is no guarantee of a safe car.

Thought I'd a picky of where the magic happens too

[grumpy2]

Well it's back in one piece but





There's no brakes! Either I've bled them wrong or the master cylinder has gone kaput! Good news is I've fixed the blown bulb in the ignition warning light!

[grumpy2]

It's taken two evenings of work but I finally have four working brakes. After the saga of the soggy near side non operating rear brake cylinder there was still no brake pedal pressure. I finally tracked to to a totally collapsed flexi hose to the offside radius arm. Remember this car passed an MOT a couple of months ago! (Allegedly). It must have passed with absolutely no rear brakes and two very worn radius arms !!

A new flexi pipe and some vigorous pedal pumping got all the goo and old fluid out of the brake lines and restored all four brakes to full working order.

Decided to have a break (pun intended) for a couple of days before tackling some of the interior issues.

Not sure if anyone is reading or interested in this lot but I'll keep going anyway.

[myredmini]

Looking good! Roof looks better after the machine than the before half!

[pinkmini99]

Hi there I would like to point out as long as the car is road worthy at the time of mot it will pass not to say as soon as the car leaves the mot bay it my break down have leaky breaks.It up to the owner to keep it road worthy condition. I only point this out as I use the same mot station and my car is fine and I keep on top of it.

[grumpy2]

Agh there is someone out there. As the photos show those brakes have been leaking for months if not longer. Same with the blocked pipe, rear radius arms , leaking exhaust and bald tyres. No way should this have passed an mot recently. All these faults don't develop in a few hundred miles. No idea who did the mot or what the circumstances were. I'm suggesting to anyone reading that just because a car has a current mot that doesn't mean it's safe to drive and needs to be checked out properly by someone who knows what they are doing. I also don't want to start an argument about 'I'm a mechanic , engineering student , restorer '. I've met many rubbish cars owned by mechanics and perfect ones built by students. What you or I do is no guarantee of quality as much of the above shows.

It this case it's buyer beware. I started this in full knowledge of many of the faults. Their extent became apparent on examination and I've posted some pics to illustrate.

If some unsuspecting buyer had bought this on face value it would have no rear brakes , not enough tyre tread, and variable rear suspension geometry. The speedo would be inaccurate and the exhaust leaking.

It's also not a moan or a complaint against the seller or mot station. Perhaps I'll stop referring to the mot in future posts - we'll see what turns up next

Cheers🚙