54 replies to this topic

[warhonowicz]

Love the colour! Please promise me you won't turn Cecil into a red mk1 lookalike.

that's an easy one ... promised ... I don't want another red Mini and if I wanted something that looked like a MkI I would have bought a MkI

[warhonowicz]

so, I started by removing the flywheel from the engine. The main problem was that I have not breakers bar to undo the big nut that holds the flywheel ... so I used a bit of cut of exhaust from the Metro.



a few moments later and off came the flywheel. It looks rather knackered though



I then cleaned the clutch housing cover and also did a bit more cleaning of the engine. As it then started to rain, I pushed the engine back into the garage and put Cecil on axle stands to have a look underneath. It seems that the oil leak has stopped, but what seemed like water was dripping from somewhere (pic to follow).

And that brings me to a question. Jacking the car up, I started jacking it up but at first and for what seemed rather long, only the shell was moving up but the wheels stayed on the ground. This seems wrong, so what is shot? The shocks?

Edited by warhonowicz, 08 February 2009 - 08:05 PM.

[warhonowicz]

Justin came over to give me a hand with the engine and by the end of the day it was in pieces ... quite a good day actually and learnt a lot. The engine itself doesn't look to bad, the gearbox looks positively good so the next job is to find a place that can convert the head to unleaded, drill a hole for the heater take off, skim it a bit and then overbore the block to 1293 and skim it as well.





The gearbox probably just needs a good clean up but I'll get some expert advice on that.




We then turned our attention to Cecil and tried to get the indicators to work ... only half lucky there though. The drivers side works but the passenger side refuses to. We've measured basically all the wiring and according to the beep we got they should be fine but there just is no voltage coming through ... a bit bizarre.

[warhonowicz]

when we had the head off the engine I was looking at it and saw this



a blanking plate where on a Mini the heater take off is connected to the head ...

I then took the plate off and saw this



so why the plate??

I also got this in the post this morning

[warhonowicz]

the tasks on the list for yesterday were to fit the 6*9s in the parcel shelf, connect up the fog and reversing light, fit he dash and get the bit around the rear window primered. I didn't get the dash done ... because it didn't fit first time and I ran out of time, or should I say light.

As for the rest ... I started by marking the holes for the speakers, only to discover that I did not have metal blades for the jigsaw ... so that was put on hold.

I then went to mix up some filler and use it to repair some sections around the read window ... it takes quite long to dry when cold.

To fill the time I tried to solder the wires for the fog and reversing light but the wires coming out from the car are old and didn't like being soldered. We had the same problem last week with Justin when we connected up the front indicators.

So, once the shops had opened I went down to Wickes and Halfords and got some bits and pieces. When I got back home I had a break for lunch with the family.

Back in the garage I cut the holes for the speakers ... quite scary to cut metal (first time I've done it) but it worked and they fit. Need to get some bolts and nuts though, the self tapping screws that came with the speakers won't hold them in place for long I would guess.

The fog and reversing light then got treated to some bullet connectors which worked quite well, though here is a lot of wire to be hidden behind the bumper. I might go back and cut some of it off at a later stage.

All of this had given the filler enough time to dry so out came the sandpaper and a bit later the air was filled with dust ... but the window surround looked a lot better. Cleaned with some white spirit, surrounded with masking tape and newspaper the first layer of primer went on.

Whilst that was drying I tried to fit the dash. It looks like the middle part sits in front of the oval dash, so there is no need to take that out. That fits okay, not perfect but it should work. The right hand panel went in with a bit of pusing and shoving ... but the passenger side one refused to go in. Not quite true, it kind of went in between the metal at the top and the bottom but not far enough to the left hand side for the screw to line up with the hole in the center piece. I played around for about 20 mins and then put another coat of primer onto the back of the car. After that it was just after 5pm and it got a bit dark so I decided to call it a day.

Here's a couple of pics of the day's progress

[deemo]

Cecil Is a lovely car!
I really like her.
Good work too, Done any more since?

[warhonowicz]

done more work but no more photos

current state of play:

the rear window is back in
new shocks in at the front
the old engine is out
the exhaust is off
the new block is built up and timed
the gearbox has been taken apart and put back together, didn't even need too many bits replaced

plan:

get the engine finished and put in the weekend after this coming one, which makes it the MITP weekend
rear brakes need doing as they simply don't work
new upper ball joints at the front
one front indicator has mind of it's own
rear shocks need doing

[sazal]

Aww shes a cutie

What are your plans for her? Please say your keeping her looking the same!

[warhonowicz]

yep, won't change the outside looks much, apart from the mirrors which will be rectangular not round and a new centre exit exhaust. New engine will be 1293 with Kent 266 cam and the twin carbs that came with her. Also to go in are a rokee dash and a more modern stereo.

[Down&Out]

Love the colour .

[warhonowicz]

after a weekend of working on the Mini this is where we are:

Saturday:

picked Alec up at 9 am and drove back to my place. A few quick jobs such as tightening the front wheelnuts and then we pulled it to his place using my Vectra as the towing vehicle.
At his place we played Mini puzzle until they were in the right place and then got down to work. Job one. assemble the engine. The main pieces we had, gearbox, block and head plus all sorts of little pieces. We actually put the gearbox and block together upside down, which made tightening the bolts much easier. By the end of the day we had the engine more or less assembled and it only took one trip to Allparts for a new waterpump and to Justin for a 1275 head gasket. Plus several trips to Alec's parts bin.

Sunday:

Back at Alec's house for around 9 am to get the engine into the car. Quite a bit of fiddling later and it was in. It is turning over but not starting ... so in the end we gave up for the day.

Today:

Trip to Minispares to buy electronic ignition to replace the old points (rather than than more points) and a few bits to stock up Alec's garage. Hopefully tonight we will get the engine running

Will post some pictures when I remember to bring my camera home with me ...

[warhonowicz]

so, last night we fitted the electronic ignition (not difficult, but you have to modify it to fit ... bit strange on a brand new item), fitted the coil from the green Mini (had used the Metro one before) and then, after a bit of trial and error (connecting HT leads to plugs in the wrong order) we got it fired up

http://www.mmc.uk.co...d/newengine.avi

and some pictures

assembling the engine





end of Saturday



going in

[miniman86]

looking good so far mate!! keep up the good work!

[warhonowicz]

the latest

got the rear brake shoes changed, tightened the nuts on the timing cover than I could reach to hopefully stop the oil leak I had and managed to finally fasten the driver's side rear shock. Decided that the rubber bushes were too thick, so I cut one in half and used those below and inside the boot. Worked a treat.

So, work to be done for the MOT ... second rear shock, that stupid front indicator and the handbrake, looks like the quadrants need a bit of persuading to move ... engine is runnig but a bit rough so I'll get a friend who had twin carbs to take a look and also take it to his MOT place

Hopefully I'll be at Minis by the Sea

[warhonowicz]

so, I put loads (and I mean loads) of grease into the radius arms at the back and some more WD40 onto the quadrants, trying to aim it where the screw/pin is that they should swivel around ... will see if it has worked tomorrow

then I removed the Paddy Hopkirk accelerator pedal which means I am now left with a tiny pedal ... but at least it goes down further. Also found that I under the pedal I had

1) a black mat
2) the normal carpet
3) one layer of padding
4) another layer of padding

So I will probably remove the mat and one layer of padding ...

I then turned my attention to the driver's seat and why it wobbled so much. Turns out I will need some welding done. Where there should be two (I guess) mounting points for the seat brackets in the crossmember, I only have two large holes! And my guess is that a seat kind of is an requirement for the MOT

I also noticed that it is getting dark quite early by now ... which makes working in the garage inside the car (i.e. under the dash to remove the extra pedal) quite difficult.