108 replies to this topic

[malcs_miniturbo]

nice work mate

[adam_93rio]

i havnt been on here for a while really, not been driving the mini as the radiator is clogged. i suspect this is what caused my old engine to get so hot so quick and do the crank in. i fear it will take this engine with it if i carry on using it.

Effy just sitting waiting for some attention this winter





coming up to christmas my dad offered to pay for the crank regrind as my main present. So i started the strip down one night last week after work.

the engine has just been sat there since i changed it and i havnt had the money or time to do anything with it.

how i came to it


started with undoing the head and rocker gear off


rocker gear boxed


head off


top of the block to tdc


then took the timing gear etc off


again.. boxed


and this is how the garage looked after one nights work. it got a bit late and i couldnt be bothered with finding the flywheel puller.

The next night i found the flywheel puller and got cracking


i then took the flywheel housing off so i could detach the gearbox from the block.


gearbox isnt in bad condition, i know second gear crunches but ill be getting a straight cut box at london to brighton hopefully


i didnt think i had the right type of socket for these nuts on the crank but it turns out its just a multi-hex.


thats all for tonight because im bored of writing and its christmas eve. ill update again soon

[adam_93rio]

second part of the update,

ok so the next day i had taken my crank in to the engine builders, Arnett's at balby in doncaster, along with my con rods and pistons. he called back that day and explained that my pistons had scores on them.
when i got home i checked the block and the bores were also scored. i imagine this will of hapened through the oil baking when i last used her.
i got a price for a rebore, and then got cracking with stripping the rest of the block.

cant really see in much detail but the bores are scored.
1+2

3+4


lifted the block up onto the messy bench because my back was killing me from working on the floor the night before. (yes i am only 20)


oil pump has to be removed before to allow the cam to be slid out.


with that removed and the block leaning slightly back the cam slides out. (i leant it back so the followers didnt fall out and get mixed up)


cam on the bench


the cam followers were pushed through from the other side using a pushrod, and put in the same bag as the push rod that it was paired with.


and the fuel pump drive just slides out of the hole where the pump mounts.


thats all for now, the block was originally going to be bored to +30 thou (1310cc) but when i took the block in the following day i asked for a price for +60 thou to make it a 1330 (makes it the same size as my brother-in-law's marcos) he worked it all out and said if it didnt need a second pass it should only cost me about £10 more. +60 here we come!!!
think its having 10:1 compresion ratio pistons, but all of this is a bit of a learning curve for me.

hope you like!

[adam_93rio]

havnt updated this in a while, ive still not got the 1330 in. its still sat in my bedroom waiting for enough money to do something with it.

after this weekend it could be that i will have to build the engine up with the original components for now until i have more money again.

this weekend:

i only drove about 100 yards and in this time she had jumped out of first after struggling a bit, so i put her in second and as i lifted the clutch she stalled. i thought it was due to the choke not being closed and just blowing the cobwebs off as she hadnt been driven much lately. (only to test the wheel bearing i fitted last week). she rolled down the hill away from my house where i got under the car and had a look around the gear linkage. the reason for this is that there was a click moving the gearstick round in neutral. with everything under there looking fine i got back in the car and the gear stick started to move more freely. (this was all with the engine off) so i tried to pull away when a lot of smoke came up from the back of the bonnet.
quickly turned the engine off and looked underneath to find this...





ive been having a fairly loud noise when i set off for a while. after changing the engine steady and welding a stronger bracket on, fitting an ultimate engine steady, changing most of the subframe and engine bushes and buying a replacement steering rack with no luck. im now thinking the bang as i pulled away was the diff being worn. and yesterday it just gave up the ghost.

lets hope that when i get a new gearbox and diff that the banging will be gone, i just cant be bothered with that headache anymore

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Any updates on ths beast adam?

[adam_93rio]

She's coming back this year with a bit of a point to prove. My plans exceed my bank balance ten fold but she should be back on the road by London to Brighton once again. She needs a new front end, an engine and gearbox and a few other bits and pieces. Then she will be a rolling project except for the updates on how I'm achieving certain things will be top secret

[adam_93rio]

ok so it has been a while since i even thought about this thread, let alone updated it. a lot has happened since the gearbox gave up last year.

seen as my last post was about getting her ready for london to brighton.....again, ill pick up from that point. i was really rushed for time so theres a lack of pictures of updates, but there should be enough to tingle some senses.

so in may i decided to get rid of my daily driver at the time... an austin maestro, was a good car but nothing compared to the mini. used loads of fuel and barely ran because of the stupid auto choke system they used, despite being a 1275cc a series engine.
this car just cost me too much to run, so i had to get rid of it to allow me to pay for london to brighton.


and this is how effy had sat for a long time

i had sold the fibreglass front end because i wanted to go for a more classic look again, and the fibreglass just never looked right.

old engine with blown gearbox


the view from my garage


with my sisters and dads mini out of the garage i shuffled cars about to get effy inside, and pull the engine out


picked up a 998 engne and box for £40 from a mate of mine. so dropped that in hoping it would work



started building it up


and it worked after a bit of messing around with the timing, for some reason i had my old engine running 180* out and it worked fine, this engine didnt like it as much so it had me baffled for a while


then onto the back end, i decided to fit mk2 lights and adjustable lowered spax, along with a different boot lid
the strip down



mk2 lights have bullet type connectors which obviously wouldnt just plug nto the plastic moulded plug for the mk3 loom. so i sourced another set or lights and cut the plugs off and wired them up to the older lights to save ruining my loom


boot lid swapped for a rusty one i got at the same time as the engine.

didnt have the lenses fitted to the lights at the time of this picture because they were in the dish washer, but at least she was back on the floor

seen as ive always loved steelies, and 12's just didnt cut it for me, i got these


3.5" for the front and 4.5" reverse rims for the back

obviously these wouldnt fit over the 8.4" discs so i bought a fiesta set up complete off jordie on here. ive been told by numerous people that these wheels wouldnt fit the fiesta brakes so i set about proving everybody wrong.

i put these nuts on each stud so that i could see how much of a spacer i would need to fit these wheels, these nuts are about 10mm and i was previously told that they wouldnt fit, even with a 1" spacer


this is the clearance that i got, only a few mm, but clearance none the less.


although it would mean i would need longer studs


as i didnt want to change the studs, (or run spacers for that matter) i set about modifying my setup to allow clearance where needed and eventually i got it down to needing a 4mm spacer and clearance on both wheels.


got home from work one day to see this... my steel panels had arrived!


so i set about getting them test fitted, but ill update another day because it always take me forever to write these things, lets me know what you think... if you're on instagram you can search #effythemini to see all my pictures of her over the last few months and see what weve been upto.

[adam_93rio]

sooooo, have a bit of time so i want to get this caught up on. even though not many people seem to look

started to fit my front end panels...



rusty bonnet on there too


seam welded down the a panel seam


my bonnet badge was made from a belt buckle, i took the hooks off the back and used a cable tie to secure it over some leopard print duct tape.


i drew round that then took it back off, the cut it down using a stanley knife, then fastened it back on


whilst doing some grinding on the front end dressing some welds i managed to get my finger caught behind the guard, so spend a night in a+e to have it cleaned and the bits of metal and bone dislodged


put on my headlights, which i had to buy new bowls for. and indicator units too. all working? right, set off for MOT




first time testing the engine and gearbox was on the saturday of london to brighton, which, as always was my deadline again. first gear feels a little bit weird to engage but other than that the engine pulls well, changes gear smoothly and i was quite surprised with the 998 and its the first time id really driven one other than my dads mk1.

by the time i got my mot it was about 1pm, as she had failed on the indicators flashing too quickly. this was down to p&l minis supplying complete indiator units with low watt bulbs for some reason. they also supplied the white lenses and white bulbs so i had to fit some glass indicator lenses from a mk1.
i also forgot to refit my horn so i had to rush about sorting all this stuff out.

then i realised that whilst messing about backwards and forward like a mad man id lost my locking wheelnut key for my alloys. so i went home again, picked up my wheels and tyres, went back to the garage to have them fitted and balanced, came home, welded nuts to the locking wheels nuts so i could get them off..... and converted her to the tens!

went into town at half past 2 to get my tax then set off for london!

pictures from the run....

dad following me, in his 1964 mini


and overtaking me for the first time ever as i always had a bigger engine before....


in the services for fuel and a break, didnt have time to fit headlight rims... or paint the front end


a few hours later we arrived in london


so proud of my effy, fourth london to brighton in a row


my sister had set off earlier that morning, when we got there it was starting to get dark, so we met up with them and had a bbq and a celebratory beer. then woke up early to queue up instead of sleeping miles away from our cars by queuing them up the night before.... worst idea ever lsmoc


run went smoothly, first time my sister had ever driven in london too. she passed her test a few days before london to brighton!!! but we made it to brighton





instead of driving home sunday night we went across to a hotel and spent the night there, had some lovely a and b road fun on the way there too....



the next day we set off home and had a bit of fun in the dartford tunnel


my dads mini unfortunatley dropped a valve so had to be rescued and brought home the following day




my dad jumped in with me so we could catch up to my sister, and mum (my mum was in that mondeo carrying spares etc)
then my dad got in with my mum to keep her company and it was a long haul back up the A1 home


the only problem effy had was that the seal had gone, so water was dripping out of the grease hole. but the engine temperature didnt rise all the way home doing ummmm, motorway speeds

so i put her straight in the garage when we made it home sweet home


comments welcome, ill be updating again with what has gone on since... if people are interested

[iMurray]

That was adorable:-)

[ryan22_lgm]

love the new look! get rid of the rear arches !

[adam_93rio]

love the new look! get rid of the rear arches !

Cheers man, the rear arches will be going when I have time to strip the back end down and weld up the mounting holes for them. I've got a few things to update on here as it's still quite far behind. So I'll try to get on the laptop sometime this week

[adam_93rio]

And she looks even better now ;)

[designermatt]

Just read page 7 of this, top work and keep at it.

[Kieranlee999]

i know its an old post but i want to read more ;)

[minimissions]

Loving the look of this mini, always have a look for it at l2b think its just a cool looking car :) nice work pal...