96 replies to this topic

[MaxDempsey]

Since I finished my final sixth form exams last week I decided it was time for me to make a thread showing my work on my Mini. I bought it (with the help of my parents who have since been paid back and after years of saving) in 2010 when I was 12 as a road worthy slightly tatty Mayfair which had started as an auto but had at some point been converted to manual. The plan was to keep the car road worthy for me learn in. First job though was to fit Italian Job Style lights! It failed the first MOT under my ownership with two pages so slowly we fixed everything, which included new front cones and HiLos, various gaiters and having the steering rack spline re cut. It eventually passed the MOT but soon after wouldn't start. After messing around for ages with new distributor parts it was discovered that the dizzy itself was worn so that solved the issue.

 

Bodywork wise I have rubbed down some areas of surface rust and painted them and as a temporary fix until I can weld used filler between the front panel and wing where it had dropped and rusted away to keep it looking okay. I hope to learn to weld in my apprenticeship I'm started this year and an engine builders and general engineering workshop. 

 

In the last couple of years or so I have got to the point where I have gained enough understanding and confidence to work on the car myself which has helped speed up the rate at which jobs are done. I learnt to drive in the Mini mid way through last year and drove it school daily for a couple of months before facing issues. Whenever I stopped it cut out and then my headlight dim dip relay failed so I took it off the road for what I planned to be a short amount of time. Due to exams it ended up being 6 months! In that time I rebuilt the carb, did the head gasket and reconditioned the head, fitted a new clutch master cylinder and bypassed the head light relay. I then took it for an MOT and it failed on brakes so I decided since I wanted to do it eventually to do the cooper s conversion. This was 3 days before L2B. I did the conversion and got the MOT at 3pm on the Friday before L2B and the Mini made in to London, and then to Brighton and back without any issues.

 

As the Mini stands now

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

 

The new brakes - (I have fitted the split pin)

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

Tatty but functioning engine

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

My future plans are to have it rolling roaded (booking for end of next month), fit ten inch wheels and it really could do with one new sill, one wing, both A panels and a new front end quarter as well as various patches.

Edited by MaxDempsey, 27 August 2017 - 05:51 PM.

[MaxDempsey]

In order to keep the rust under control today I have been rubbing down and painting the rear subframe and both out sills ideally the O/S sill could do with replacing but until I can weld and afford it I have just tidied it up.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

Edited by MaxDempsey, 27 August 2017 - 05:54 PM.

[Zeemax Adventure]

Nice mini you have there :) Ahhh the joys of mini ownership, you fix one thing then something else goes wrong

[slidehammer]

Nice looking Mini, looks like the basis of a nice daily driver that can tidied up as a when. Mai thing it is on the road being enjoyed.

[MaxDempsey]

Nice mini you have there :) Ahhh the joys of mini ownership, you fix one thing then something else goes wrong

 

Thanks   on that note I have just discovered that one of the outer CV gaiters has split so that's a job for after the bank holiday when I can get the part.

Nice looking Mini, looks like the basis of a nice daily driver that can tidied up as a when. Mai thing it is on the road being enjoyed.

Thank you, fundamentally it is solid and reliable just needs tidying up as you say.

[MaxDempsey]

Today's job was to replace the rear brake shoes. Since the fronts are all new I thought it would be good to renew the rears as well so they are all done. It took hours to do one side but then twenty minutes to do the other as I had learnt the technique to removing the drums and shoes. I did however notice that the old shoes did have a fair amount of meat left on them but since I had it apart no reason not to change them.

 

Drum before I started

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

New shoes fitted

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Finally I gave the drums a quick coat of paint which I've been meaning to do for ages as they looked rubbish through the wheels.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

I then did the other side 

Edited by MaxDempsey, 28 August 2017 - 08:22 PM.

[Vinay-RS]

Really nice car and a good set of upgrades that you're doing to it. I think the learning process when doing jobs on a mini is part of the fun 

[MaxDempsey]

Really nice car and a good set of upgrades that you're doing to it. I think the learning process when doing jobs on a mini is part of the fun 

 

Thanks, one big thing I learnt which was quite embarrassing was realising that as well as being a sort of square cam the drum brake adjuster also goes in and out for further adjustment. Took a lot of effort to take the drum off and fit the new one before I realised that 

[slidehammer]

 

Really nice car and a good set of upgrades that you're doing to it. I think the learning process when doing jobs on a mini is part of the fun 

 

Thanks, one big thing I learnt which was quite embarrassing was realising that as well as being a sort of square cam the drum brake adjuster also goes in and out for further adjustment. Took a lot of effort to take the drum off and fit the new one before I realised that 

 

He who never made a mistake never made anything, we are all learning all the time, however many years we have been playing with these little beasts.

[MaxDempsey]

Since it's been on the road I've had small electrical issues such as my horn, lights flash and radio all going off. I saw that they were on fuse two, took the fuse out and attempted to clean up the contacts. Put the fuse back in and it worked. Then yesterday my indicators stopped working so did the same to fuse 1 and it worked again until the next junction. The old fuse box was pretty crudded up and a mess so I decided to fit  a new one. My indicators were also pretty slow and although a new flasher unit sped them up it had been suggested on the forum that a new fuse box could speed them up as well.

 

It was a pretty simple job and I tried to tidy up the wires a little and made sure each connection was going to the right terminal as per a list I found on the forum.

 

Firstly I covered the back of the box in vaseline to protect it from corrosion

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

The old fuse box

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

The new one in place with slightly tidied wires

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

 

While doing this I noticed my air filter had come apart which I think is caused by it previously knocking on the bulkhead, I have since machined down the spacer at a local workshop but I think I will need to fit an adjustable engine steady to wind it forward more. Means I can't really drive it until I get a new air filter. I'm just worried how long its been like that 

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

The plate has bent so it's not just a case of popping it back in, the rubber has also come away from the outside. The nut had worked its way off.

Edited by MaxDempsey, 28 August 2017 - 08:25 PM.

[MaxDempsey]

I've also found a couple of photos of the suspension work my Dad and I did a few years ago.

 

Old cone it failed the MOT on

 

384693_451274038228553_240350599_n_zpszl0ebnok by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

We fitted HiLos at the same time

 

430973_498005846888705_1844198073_n_zpsxatoiz7g by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

The track rod end was seized and with only access to a paint heat gun we couldn't get enough heat into it to separate the two nuts. In the end we used a slightly unorthodox method and eased the gaiters over being careful not to split them.

 

182367_498004423555514_2001002951_n_zpssfulxzvw by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Sure this isn't approved of but it worked so can't see an issue and has passed various MOT's since 

Edited by MaxDempsey, 28 August 2017 - 08:28 PM.

[MaxDempsey]

So this was how the Mini made it back from my holiday...

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

The steering column splines had worn and I didn't want to risk driving it home as I'd heard stories of people loosing steering completely so after the play in my steering increased rapidly I decided to have it towed home. I got home and took the column off and saw, as expected, that the spline had smooth spots on it. Also on removing the inner column from the outer the bushes fell out and were fairly chewed up so I decided for the price it was worth replacing them.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

A quick trip to Mini Spares and I bought a new inner column, pinch bolt and bushes. The new spline.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

To fit it I loosend the U bolts on the rack and used a drill bit to align the rack as stated in haynes. I also left the U bolts loose while lining up the column to avoided ruining the splines after a few miles.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Once the job was done I went to reconnect the battery and foolishly left my 10mm on the boot lid and it slipped between the two skins. I whipped off the bootlid and while tipping it up found another free spanner and various nuts and cable ties which was a nice suprise.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

The steering now has no play and lined up the column so the indicators actually self correct now which is a luxury I'm not used to when driving the Mini. The steering is heavier with the new bushes but I've read it'll lighten up and I don't think it is the splines meshing badly as I was careful to make sure I aligned it all properly.

Edited by MaxDempsey, 28 August 2017 - 08:32 PM.

[blueovalcraig]

• Looks a great wee car

[MaxDempsey]

A few weeks back I bought some wheels, I had never seen any like them before. From looking on the wheel dictionary I think they are weller motorsports although 5x10. When I bought them the tyres were shot and the wheels were tatty but in usable condition. I thought I'd give them a lick of paint and stick them on the car but since I can't afford tyres for the moment I thought I'd spend a bit more time and take them to bare metal before painting.

 

Wheels as I bought them.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Took them back to bare metal, tried nitromors but wouldn't get through the powder coat so in the end I spent hours with a wire wheel on a drill.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

Then a coat of filler primer.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Then white primer.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Then finally many coats of anthracite.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Although the tyres are knackered they held air long enough to test fit them.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Nice bit of poke.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

I'm happy with the result and plan to stick red and blue weller stripes on them at some point. 

While fitting the wheels I was reminded that my outer CV gaiter was split so replaced that as well.

 

Removed the Driveshaft with the ripped gaiter.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Couldn't knock the CV off the shaft so put the gaiter on the other end and also replaced the inner gaiter at the same time.

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

 

I took my younger brother on a charity bike ride which meant an excuse to stick two bikes on my roof :)

 

Mini by Max Dempsey, on Flickr

 

Thanks for reading.

Edited by MaxDempsey, 15 April 2018 - 06:57 PM.

[MaxDempsey]

 

• Looks a great wee car

 

Thanks :) Just don't look too closely