170 replies to this topic

[ryomini]

Bits and bobs for now - Gordon Bennet it ain't half hot mum !  Most days are well in the mid 30's with stonking humidity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ryomini]

It certainly gets busy in that SPI engine bay

 

Raised the hi lows so that I can get under more easily - looks like a truck now

onto DIAGNOSTICS now

 

brake fluid leak from the drivers side banjo - and unfortunately for me it is nestled dooooown at the bottom, so that I can get a good look at it, I shall remove the cooler rad and then the ECU, hopefully that will enbable me to bend around the clutch cover and see what's amiss

 

order will be brake fluid, clutch fluid, water (coolant later), oil, petrol, battery and electrics tests

still some ways to go

 

[Vinay-RS]

 

Your little cat is adorable. So cute, sleeping in that bag :) 

[ryomini]

Vinay

good to hear from you

yes he's funny he loves little spaces, chairs, under the table and in the clothes basket.  He's quiet though.  His very stupid brother is the chatty one, lol (do you have pets too ?)

 

Had a supa dupa leak on the left side caliper, took it off and cleaned the connector hose, added a copper washer and it's all fine now.  Got a half decent brake pedal coming along and a very mushy clutch.  Looks like I still have a few more mountains to climb, oh well.

[blueovalcraig]

The joys the joys. Hydraulic clutches can be a nightmare to bleed sometimes. When I worked in the garage we sometimes forced fluid up through the bleed nipple and into the reservoir if we were having problems getting a good pedal

[Vinay-RS]

Vinay

good to hear from you

yes he's funny he loves little spaces, chairs, under the table and in the clothes basket.  He's quiet though.  His very stupid brother is the chatty one, lol (do you have pets too ?)

 

Had a supa dupa leak on the left side caliper, took it off and cleaned the connector hose, added a copper washer and it's all fine now.  Got a half decent brake pedal coming along and a very mushy clutch.  Looks like I still have a few more mountains to climb, oh well.

Hey man, nope, no pets for me the place where I'm staying at the moment doesn't allow one to keep pets. 

 

Sorry to hear about the leak, but glad you were able to sort it out.

 

Looks like you made good progress on the engine build too :) 

[ryomini]

sometimes you wonder

a) why you bother painting your mini when you then spill brake fluid all over it

and

b) why you bother putting bits back on when 10 minutes later you have to take them all off again

 

sometimes just walk away and have a cuppa :)

[ryomini]

Update

got the banjo leak sorted

got the brake line leak sorted

got some kind of brake pedal and a little clutch pedal

maybe enough to be going on with for now

 

fixed a leaky rad pipe but the water pump (and yes I was warned and advised) is Niagra Falls

so new one on order, but rad has to come out again, getting good at this putting it in and taking it out again - but

probably par for the course on any low budget rebuild

 

waiting on oil filter and vacuum lines - about 2 weeks for the parts to arrive I should think

thanks to brexit parts from the uk are now cheaper - so thanks folks !

[ryomini]

Not much happening

 getting the front grill sorted for the day that I may need it

[ryomini]

Hot hot hot hot hot  - it is hot, can hardly think straight

 

anyhoo update

vacuum hose on

and

a VERY BIG THANKS to all on the forum for getting me this far

 

 

so got an old battery in and

 

and

 

and

well it STARTS - so that's good, it wont run

it starts and then doesn't run

if I pour about 1cc of petrol into the throttle body it starts and runs about 3-4 seconds and stops

 

if I pull the petrol hoses orange and green - they are full of petrol

if I pull the bolted hose from the throttle body there is petrol

if I undo the top of the injector unit - with the star srews there is petrol

 

but there doesn't appear to be a regular flow or injector pulse of petrol -

or something, pretty close now but just not there

 

and this causes me 2 big problems

1 - the battery goes flat quickly and needs to be charged

2 - it's not building bigger oil pressure and is not good for the new camshaft which needs a good dose of oil pressure around 2 - 2500 rpm for 30 minutes or so

[ryomini]

Bibbedy bobbudy boo

calamalamakazoo and all that good stuff

 

 

THANKS TO ALL

 

        Yes a very big THANK you to everyone who gave advice, suggestions, posted problems and solutions

 

                  thanks a million !!!!!

 

Thanks to posters, to forum operators, newbies and oldies, a huge thank you and thanks for more help to come as problems and trouble arrive and need to be solved. 

 

Hopefully now I will be able to help a few folk too

 

Of all the crazy things, the rubber 'o' ring in the head of the injector, the yellow thing that looks like the top of a submarine with a single star (how I hate these stupid star bolts - yukk) bolt holding it down.  The 'o' ring was worn, put a new one on and it started first go, on the nose with a worn out old battery that I was using for testing

 

 

 

YES It runs, got some pops, smokey smells, and so on, ran it at 2000 - 2500 rpm for 2 shortly spaced 10 minute sessions.  At the time the rad had a small leak but nothing major

 

I then ran it at idle some time later for 10 minutes.  I then drove around my cul de sac in 1st 2nd and a very quick step into 3rd and 4th.  I did this about 5 times in all.   It actually steers too

 

Now it stars on the button and revs calmly at 1100 rpm or so, purring away like a little green kitten

 

new problems are - the radiotor seems to leak under pressure.  I can't really see where the leak is and it does not appear to be a hose ( so looks like a new rad is in order)

 

next I still have mushy break peddle but I guess that can be sorted by more bleeding when the missus is up for it

 

and second to last as soon as I connect the battery the rear lamps in the centre (under the red plastic) come on all the time - can't get them to turn off so I took the bulbs out

 

and last for the time being - the darned petrol guage don't work which don't suprise me given the state of the tank when I stripped it down.  I'll have to post to get help on some of these issues

 

I am trying to upload some awful youtube video but am stuck with the horrible 0percent processing message

 

cheers for now

whistle whistle whistle - in a good mood yeah

[ryomini]

Da video (thanks to some software called 'handbrake'

 

 

more to come hopefully - but need to get and install a new alloy rad and the screw in type sender unit

once again a couple more weeks before we go road testing again

 

then spare tyre needs putting on rim and a new set of tyres for the mot

some electrical problems which I will post in the problems section

the rear lamps in the middle part, the red plastic, come on and stay on as soon as the battery is connected

the only solution I had to stop them was to remove them

but the indicators work now

 

and the fuel guage doesn't work yet either

[blueovalcraig]

Sounding good my friend

[ryomini]

Thanks for the kind words

indicators all work - changed one bulb and cleaned contacts

brake light switch needed adjusting so brake lights are off when running but come on when pedal is depressed (sounds sad doesn't it)

 

fuel guage does not want to play ball - so maybe another part that has died

 

got an ally rad to replace old one that blew.  Had to do some grinding on the bracket to get a good snug fit around the large welds, but all in and runs without leaks now (relief).  I am wondering do you get a medal for installing the rad in a Spi mini - it's quite a job!

Needs flushing to clear water, then a new temp switch and then new coolant.

Hopefully some tires will arrive sometime

[blueovalcraig]

Glad to see you are getting somewhere my friend