208 replies to this topic

[woody17]

looking good, keep up the good work. were were your mk2 lights from?

[yorkshirechris]

Bought them brand new from Minispares, cost *gulp* £48.67 per side. They came with bulbs though, and nuts and bolts, so that makes it worth it
























Doesn't it?

Didn't take her to the car hospital today because, well, I was hungover and didn't fancy a 15 minute walk home and a 15 minute walk back in the freezing cold & can't afford a taxi after spending £84 last night so I think I'll be taking her another day this week. She's fine, just scared that the spraying water will damage the flasher units (they're in the firing line). Keep topping up with water and she seems ok

Edited by yorkshirechris, 19 February 2008 - 10:37 PM.

[Racer_Pete]

You can never spend to much on a Mini!

[yorkshirechris]

Took her to the garage tonight and tomorrow she is having the following work done:

Thermostat housing replacement.
Thermostat replacement.
New thread drilling into head, the front one which the bolt for the thermostat housing bolts into.
Timing Chain Cover removing, and the dodgy bolts which don't tighten properly are going to be removed, and new threads drilled. All this can be done with the engine in the car because the mechanic has angled drills and stuff something which I will never get my hands on...
Timing chain replacing, while it's all out. Seals and gasket checked & replaced if they're not upto scratch.
Clutch re-adjusting, in the hope it will clear up the problems of changing down a gear (especially into 2nd). I hope to god the gearbox synchro isn't worn/on its way out because I don't want work of that scale to need doing

[yorkshirechris]

All this was done today:

Thermostat housing replacement.
Thermostat replacement.
New thread drilling into head, the front one which the bolt for the thermostat housing bolts into.
Timing Chain Cover removing, and the dodgy bolts which don't tighten properly are going to be removed, and new threads drilled. All this can be done with the engine in the car because the mechanic has angled drills and stuff something which I will never get my hands on...
Timing chain replacing, while it's all out. Seals and gasket checked & replaced if they're not upto scratch.
Clutch re-adjusting, in the hope it will clear up the problems of changing down a gear (especially into 2nd). I hope to god the gearbox synchro isn't worn/on its way out because I don't want work of that scale to need doing

Steve also said the carb may need re-setting, and he will do this for free if it does need doing. But I will see how it goes.

Got delivery of replacement Bonnet Straps from Minispares, now I just need to figure out how to screw them into the bonnet without a drill and without dinting the bonnet

Also I've noticed the driver side rear lights and brake lights are brighter than the passenger side

[sazal]

Is she all fixed now?!

[yorkshirechris]

Is a mini ever all fixed?

Nope, still a few things to do... *wonders off to update the "to do" list on the first post*

[sazal]

Very true! Ill rephrase that! "Is Evelyn now running with now stutters or leaks?!"

[yorkshirechris]

She's not stuttering... leaking slight bit of oil but doesn't every Mini

[sazal]

Mine does! See the Insom thread!! Hehe!

[rallyrat]

Nice Retro mini, thinking of going back to 3.5x10 steels, what they like forgot been running 5x10 and 165x70x10.

what tyres you running?

[yorkshirechris]

They're 145 R 10's.. thats all I know they're a bit C**p around corners actually, I was used to 12x5's on my old mini which also had solid subby mounts and tower mounts, so overall the handling of Evelyn feels really spongey yet comfortable compared to Bumble (my old mini).

So the leak from the timing chain cover is now resolved but there's a leak from the gearbox housing (?) just in front of it, lower down, where it's sorta pushed up against the subframe. Engine out job but it's not that bad, so it's staying as it is for now.

Also it's been STINKING of petrol since I changed the rear lights, and, well, I didn't know that the fuel tank has a breather pipe and that it'd come off and fumes were drifting into the car so after re-attaching that it's fine now . Steve also noticed today that the clutch slave cylinder is wrong?? It's a verto and it should be a pre-verto and fluid is leaking out slightly so apparently I need to get the slave cylinder changed for a pre-verto type, also need the return spring and metal plates to match...

Got my chrome rocker cover today and realised it didn't come with a oil filler cap (which I thought it did, my mistake) and it's not a standard type so I'm a bit puzzled as to where to buy one

Got the front speaker pods at the same time too, which I'm going to re-cover in black vinyl... does anyone have any spare black vinyl they can sell me? Just enough to cover two speaker pods which fit 10cm/4" speakers. Ta

Edited by yorkshirechris, 23 February 2008 - 03:42 PM.

[yorkshirechris]

Who thinks a Mk1 Straight Grille, with accompanying moustache (no whiskers) and overriders would look good on the front of Evelyn? I want to keep her original looking, but I think the Mk1 bits would look really good. Here's a pic below, don't know if anyone would be kind enough (please ) to photoshop it for me?



And I'm talking about THIS kit.

Also thinking to add THESE grille buttons, so its easier to take off the grille

Also, I obviously have to take the existing chrome bonnet lip off. Will that leave holes in the bonnet, or does it just pull off and clean up with a bit of T cut (hopefully)?

Thoughts?

[sweetser]

i think it will look much better if you put the mk1 grille on, i think if you put overriders on you should put them on the front and the back.

im not sure but if you take the chrome bonnet lip off i think you have to cut the lip it mounts to of the bonnet or i think you can drill out the spot welds

[yorkshirechris]

Today I got a special delivery of new (to me) Mayfair Seats from Bean and Old Bean - thankyou also got matching doorcards, don't know if I'll be fitting them yet...

So with the delivery of seats it put me in a mini mood and I decided to make a start on the carpets/seats. Because I wasn't sure how much daylight was left I just did the rear carpets . There was a few drips of water so I made sure these had gone... think it's because I'd left the doors open and it started raining

Before - the old grubby carpet which had turned brown


During... the immaculate floors


During... laid the underlay using strong double sided-tape and my amazing cut-to-size skills ( )...


After what do ya reckon?


I used double sided tape between the floor and underlay, and also between the underlay and carpet - although this wasn't really required, the carpet has a nice grippy back but the tape holds it securely in place
I am also going to make a point of adding the following picture, my cutting skills aren't too bad afterall


I put one layer of underlay in the back, because I never have people in the back, but I put underlay in anyway as a bit of sound deadening. I'll be having speakers under the rear seats too, so it acts as a bit of a sponge to make the speakerboard fit snugly.
In the front I think I'll put a couple of layers of underlay on the floorpans, and just one up the arches. Depends how well it all sticks together - on Bumble I had 2 layers of rubbery type underlay, and this new spongey underlay I'm using is much thinner we shall see. Don't want to spoil how the carpet "sits".

Oh also I laid the speaker wire under the underlay, held down by sticky clips the same ones I used on the boot light wiring.

Edited by yorkshirechris, 24 February 2008 - 06:36 PM.