1979 Mini Ebony With Sc Injection

Great looking project and a great looking work space you have [...]

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, the workspace is great, although a pain to keep clean . It took me several iterations to get a workspace like this, but it is certainly a very nice place to be!

Yes, I will keep trying the welding, but I'm already sure that I will ask somebody else to do the actual restoration work. It's just not my kind of job. I like to do the mechanical stuff and refurbishing of old parts.

Got some goodies to continue the work:

* Top arm rebuild kit

* Copper rings for oil pressure relief valve cap

* Bottom arm to tie rod bolts

* Clutch slave cylinder repair kit

* Gaskets for clutch/brake master cylinders

* Braided hose for hard line to clutch slave cylinder

* New clutch master cylinder

* Blind bearing puller set (the one I had only contained a slide hammer to pull, but wasn't up to the job)

* Stack oil temp gauge (was not in stock when I ordered my other gauges)

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Then I continued taking the front suspension apart:

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After some fiddling, I got the suspension strut ball & cup out (I put the ball in the drill and forced it out while rotating, couldn't find another way...) and the rear bearing. The front one didn't come out using my "old" puller (it's only a few months old):

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I tried heating the arm & pulling, I tried WD40, nothing worked...

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But then I used my new puller, although there was not a lot of "meat" to put the legs on....

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Finally there was some movement!

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Although it almost broke while pulling it out...

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After degreasing I put it in a Deox-C bath for a while:

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Came out like this:

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Cleaned it up a bit more and degreased it using Brake Cleaner:

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First layer of Electrox:

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Took out the suspension cone and compared it to the new one...

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Mounted the new bump stop:

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And did something else; bought a Luisi steering wheel on Facebook, which arrived like this:

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And after some work, turned into this:

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Used Meguiars Leather Cleaner & Leather Conditioner using several brushes and microfibre towels & put some correct bolts in place. After closer inspection it appears not to be leather but rather some rubber like stuff.

Maybe I keep it, maybe I'll have it recovered in leather, maybe I'll sell it and keep my leather Mountney steering wheel. What do you guys think?

Finally put my engine on a stand. Took some time to get all of the spacing right, but it now fits using the oil filter housing bolt holes and the alternator bracket bolt holes;

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Then I continued the rebuild of the left hand driveshaft. I figured I would need to completely refurbish them now as opposed to just make them work, because otherwise I'd need to take them apart again for paint etc. As you might have read in my initial post, I first want to do a "dry build" to make sure all holes are in the right places and everything works and fits, before I take it apart to have the bodywork restored and painted and build everything up again. That means that while the bodywork is out for repairs and paint, it gives me time to refurbish all parts. Anyway, this is how it went;

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Used the CV puller to disconnect it from the shaft in a controlled way;

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Then the other side, which was a bit of a hassle;

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Cleaned it and removed the cap to be able to use a puller:

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Heated it, but didn't work, then used a bigger puller which did the trick;

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After some action with the drill and wire brush, it left me with this;

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Not too bad I would say, although there is some rust pitting.

Ooops! It's more than half a year ago since my last post... Time for an update. I must say I have not been doing a lot to my Mini, but the last few weeks, I found my motivation again and started working on it...

Finished one of the driveshafts:

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Got a nice package from Minispares (the tool on the side is not from Minispares, it's a tool to remove the retaining pin from the gear linkage coupling):

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Using a clearcoat that can be sprayed directly on bare metal to protect parts from rusting, without changing the appearance:

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Used it on the CV jointL

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Finished unit (stupid mistake, because now I cannot insert it into the subframe hole...):

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New rebound buffer:

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Track rod bushings:

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Front lower arm complete:

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Upper arm and hub ready to assemble:

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New front subframe rear rubber mountings:

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Used Mokespider's approach to install the Timken front wheel bearings:

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Reinstalled the subframe so I can move the Mini in order to remove the rear subframe in order to put the fuel lines in place:

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Used a different approach now the frontend is so light:

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Installed hubs & discs:

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Replaced the brake bias valve:

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Cleaned, sprayed (zinc primer, gloss black topcoat) and reinstalled the heater hose/engine steady bracket (I now use glass beads in my blast cabinet, which is a bit less aggresive when cleaning these kind of items):

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I hope to be able to post a bit more frequently the upcoming time!

Some very nice parts prep going on here - keep it up, Summer is coming!

This is a photo-heavy update which I will split up in multiple posts. Cracked on and got some results. Hope you like them.

Heater unit was looking sorry, so took it apart, cleaned it and replaced the matrix because I suspect the previous owner has used anti-leak stuff in the cooling system... Also replaced all of the foam and sprayed the flap. As the old heater matrix had some spacer brackets, I had to fabricate something to achieve the same and not have a rattling heater matrix in the heater unit. I used Innox FC-Foam, which is normally used in flight cases. Pretty expensive stuff, but it works great and it is easy to cut with a sharp knife. Of course, after the dry-build, I will address the rust on the control unit.

Then I mounted the left-hand hub. I had already partly refurbished this driveshaft, but I figured I'd do it the same way as the right-hand side, including spray painting the shaft (I know I swapped driveshaft sides by accident, will fix this later).



Messed up the seal a bit, but I think it will be OK...



Hub in place;



How it started;









Removing heavy grease/wax deposits;







Shaft cleaned;



Rust pitting;



Other side is better;



Gave it a coat of satin black;







Looks like someone cut it, not straight...





CV joint back in place;



Love these ultra-flat "tie wraps";



Wheels on;





And now the entire car is on axle stands, ready to remove the rear subframe in order to mount the fuel lines;

Edited by fokko, 20 April 2021 - 06:01 PM.

You bring bits back to life nicely 

Do the nuts and bolts that hold on rear backplates go the other way? / the brake springs may rub on them else?

You bring bits back to life nicely

 

Do the nuts and bolts that hold on rear backplates go the other way? / the brake springs may rub on them else?

Thanks, you have a very good point! I put them back the way they used to be, assuming it had never been taken apart, but apparently I was wrong. I will definitely fix this .

You bring bits back to life nicely

Thanks!

 

The nuts and screw holding on my back plates had the nuts on the inside (within the drum) and I refittted them like that when I rebuilt them. 

I think the springs I had were handed, so they should fit without touching the end of the screws. Once I rebuilt them, there is more than enough clearance between the spring and the screw, so I'd just check the springs if I was you!

As long as the springs don't catch on the nuts or on the hub then they'll be fine.

However I think you have the shoes in the wrong orientation - the leading/trailing edges are wrong.

The nuts and screw holding on my back plates had the nuts on the inside (within the drum) and I refittted them like that when I rebuilt them. 

 

 

I think the springs I had were handed, so they should fit without touching the end of the screws. Once I rebuilt them, there is more than enough clearance between the spring and the screw, so I'd just check the springs if I was you!

 

I checked the Haynes manual and there it appears the nuts should be on the outside. So in my case, they are the wrong way round.

As long as the springs don't catch on the nuts or on the hub then they'll be fine.

 

However I think you have the shoes in the wrong orientation - the leading/trailing edges are wrong.

Thanks for your thoughts. How can you see they are wrong? These new shoes are not very clearly sided, whereas the old ones were; you can tell by looking at the area that the friction material doesn't cover, which should be the leading side.