Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 24 September 2018 - 05:50 PM
Small update. I bought some black leather dye this weekend and decided to tidy up the headrest. Sanded and painted the arms silver and then applied a number of coats of the dye to the leather. It seems to have worked quite well. Hopefully, it lasts and doesn't come off on my head/neck/back.
And fitted back into the car.
I think you get some leather patchwork stuff to fix the small rip at the base or perhaps I can get an upholsterer to restitch those places.
Has a small thing but it does make a difference
Posted 24 September 2018 - 06:27 PM
Looks cool man ![=]](https://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.gif)
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 24 September 2018 - 06:32 PM
Looks cool man
Thanks, man :)
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 03 October 2018 - 02:24 PM
Small update from the weekend. We took a lovely drive to the Whales and Wheels car show in Hermanus.
Here are some of the pictures of the cars on show.
First time I've seen a Fiat 500 in the metal:
Quite cool to see a Holden in SA:
And first R32 GTR that I've seen too:
And some of the Minis:
Drove in convoy with my friend's Mk1 S, to and from the show.
Any my Mini :)
And this fantastic show from the window of my friend's Clubman on the way back:
Driving through winding mountain passes in fantastic weather!
Up Into Fourth
Posted 03 October 2018 - 10:33 PM
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 04 October 2018 - 05:03 AM
Very nice! Looks like a good variety of cars there. Your R32 looks like more like an R33?
I think you're right.
Up Into Fourth
Posted 04 October 2018 - 06:58 AM
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 17 October 2018 - 02:32 PM
Picked up a Wingard dipping rear view mirror.
And fitted it.
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 02 December 2018 - 05:39 PM
No real update, as I've been lazy to work on the car and busy packing up everything I own for a move.
Got the handbrake cables (which really need to be swapped out), but found out I need a second person to loosen the little brackets by the handbrake lever.
Cleaned up the car super quickly on Friday evening with the fading light. It actually didn't come out too badly. Hoping they eventually lift our water restrictions and we can use proper car soap and water to clean the car.
Then got to meet up with a couple of friends and their Minis at a street show (cars, stalls with food and handmade stuff) on Saturday. We want to make this a thing and just meet up regularly (weekly or every two weeks) for a drive or just a cup of coffee.
This was the photo of the day IMO. Stunning picture taken by a friend.
There were also a few other cool classics at the show. A split window VW Van, a convertible Beetle and a Lotus Elan were the cool mentions.
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 20 January 2019 - 12:26 PM
So, the car has been running well since January, so I've not really done much or felt the need to do much.
On the to-do list, is to get the car to a body shop to sort out the faded paintwork and surface rust. I also need to place a Minispares order to get some small items to sort out things like the mkII taillights, the pressed rockers and the GTS box. In the meantime, there was a car show yesterday, so I took some time to wash and polish the Mini (which helped lift the colour a little).
While the engine bay was open I noticed the water level had dropped a lot (which is quite strange), also even though the oil level was fine, there was a greasy stain around the spark plugs, which some friends suggested might be due to the rocker cover gasket not being seated properly. Picked up some Prepsol to clean the greasy area and some gasket maker to seat the gasket properly. I was a bit too tired to do this job yesterday, so will try and do it today.
I picked up this really cool framed print of a red Clubman that I am going to stick up on the wall in my bedroom. I also picked up a fake leather tool roll for some car tools at the autojumble yesterday and it was a good size for all the old imperial spanners that I have.
I'm wondering if it would be worth getting the extra two head stud holes drilled into the block and fitted. Maybe I should take the car to an experienced engine builder and find out.
Up Into Fourth
Posted 20 January 2019 - 01:01 PM
I'd given the exhaust manifold to the electroplaters a little over a week ago and I had a chance to pick it up yesterday. I'd requested just nickel plating, to keep the costs down, but they added a chrome plating too (for free :) ). I'm so chuffed with the results. They look amazing. Almost too good to fit... almost.If I can work out how to split the welded join on the existing manifold, I'll try and get these fitted soon.
Those do look good, I've just bought the same manifold and was thinking about painting in VHT paint but I think I may re-consider and get a price for plating.
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 20 January 2019 - 01:39 PM
I'd given the exhaust manifold to the electroplaters a little over a week ago and I had a chance to pick it up yesterday. I'd requested just nickel plating, to keep the costs down, but they added a chrome plating too (for free :) ). I'm so chuffed with the results. They look amazing. Almost too good to fit... almost.If I can work out how to split the welded join on the existing manifold, I'll try and get these fitted soon.
Those do look good, I've just bought the same manifold and was thinking about painting in VHT paint but I think I may re-consider and get a price for plating.
I think it'd be worth it. Even if they don't get seen too often, I have heard it helps with longevity (especially for us with the salty sea air).
Camshaft & Stage Two Head
Posted 20 January 2019 - 01:56 PM
Snap, bargain ebay find 
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 20 January 2019 - 02:00 PM
Snap, bargain ebay find
Very nice! And they did the plating for you too! Definitely a good purchase :)
Put's foolish ideas in peoples heads
Posted 14 April 2019 - 05:14 PM
I haven't updated this thread in a while, mostly because while there are quite a few jobs to do on the car, I've not really had time (or some of the spares) to do the jobs.
Anyway, I finally ordered stuff from Minispares, and once SA customs had sorted out their issues, the parcel was delivered.
The first job to tackle was the rocker set. I had bought a couple of sets of pressed rockers with the oval pads and I'd ordered a new heavy-duty rocker shaft. I cleaned up two sets, found 8 rockers that were in good shape and assembled the set.
I had heard from fellow enthusiasts that it's worth flushing the coolant and changing the oil when fitting the rockers, so this seemed as good a time as any to do a quick service. So oil, filter, and coolant were replaced along with the rocker set.
Today, I asked a friend to give me a hand changing the handbrake cables. I really can't see how I would have managed on my own. Also, used the opportunity to fit a set of the finned spaced drums. I'd bought them because they weren't particularly expensive and I thought they were cool.
I didn't fit new discs when I did the conversion from the drums, so I thought this is a job worth doing too. I got a set of them but I've yet to fit them as I got quite tired spending quite a bit of time under the car.
I think I need to start going to the gym to build muscles so that I can loosen and tighten bolts and nuts properly. I couldn't break the locknut on the steering rack end and this was very annoying.
The next job is to build the mkII taillights up, fit some new bulbs and get it fitted and then solder the connections. I'm guessing the connections are the same... I should probably check.
Edited by Vinay-RS, 14 April 2019 - 05:26 PM.
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