33 replies to this topic

[themaninthesuitcase]

Thought I'd put my project on here as I am starting to use TMF more and be nice to get some new view points!

I am copying this across form a different forum so sorry of bits make no sense as I am going to try cut out any chatter.

[themaninthesuitcase]

1st some back ground. I got my estate waaaay back in the glory days of 2006, good petrol was under a £1 still and minis where still cheap (ish). I decided I wanted an estate so £1300 later I had one. 2 MOT fails, 1 VOSA voided MOT (viscous *illegitimate person*s, it was 1 snapped cable tie) and a 4th MOT I was on the road in the glorious sunshine. Until a Micra used me for brakes. This put the estate into the hands of the insurance who gave me £1250 for her but let me keep her, all of this cash getting spunked on silly things like food, water and electric at uni.

Post uni I decided to send her off to the menders an over winter appointment was booked with ML Motorsport and she over wintered there and at Palmer Bros who did the accident damage and paint. £offensive later I have a rock solid shell with some decent paint on it with lots of past it running gear, and a VERY past it engine (think top up the oil check the petrol type past it).

So a little like this (pic circa Jan 2008 as I don't have any new ones)


As it stands:
Since that pic was taken very little has occurred. It moved into the garage, and the engine is sat on its mounts ready to be pulled. The nice new bonnet is currently sat on the spare bed covered in clothes and no doubt has been bent by some idiot.

Edited by themaninthesuitcase, 11 May 2009 - 01:12 PM.

[themaninthesuitcase]

This post should show roughly what the state of play is and roughly where it's heading.

Stuff what doesn't work/is broken:

• Steering column is firmly welded to the rack, the grinder looks more and more to be the cure for this one, thankfully I have a spare of both (but will exchange the rack for a fixed one)
• Engine is well and truly screwed. Threaded bolts and oil leaks are the order of the day. And that's before it burns all the oil that's not leaked. Also it's a 998....no good for fast.
• Rear drums are probably for show only, new ones will need to be ordered.
• The front to rear brake line is a liability, its rubbing on the front frame and is cable tied on.....new lines all round are a sencible idea.
• The engine loom, while functional is a bit butchered so will either be rescued or swapped.

That's all the major stuff that's bollocksed. Now onto bits that would be prudent for the intended "make go fast" result.

• Fronts on drums, fine on the daily commute not fine at 60-70 odd on the down hill approach to breidscheid, discs are required. What discs is currently unknown but Fiestas are possible as are some MiniSport Alloy jobs if I can wangle a deal for some.
• Currently the car is on el boggo suspension which seems to be ok at the moment as its got new dampers. This lot will be getting binned and some shiney new suspension with twiddly bits and poly bushed will go in. Then it will be set up properly.....10deg of neg camber is not cool. Neither is not being able to get over a speed bump.
• Battery is sat under the rear bench which won't be there for long so should probably get boxed in.
• A proper seat will need to go in, the std cluby seat isn't most supportive of items a driver harness will probably happen to.

Past this lot there are a number of possibilities (cages and such) but these can wait till the car 1: works 2: has proven reliable.

So yes there we have it...Clubby, not going fast but might one day.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Well I have spent some money, a std 1275 head is getting collected tomorrow so I now have an exchange unit if needed or if I can't get my other casting modded on the cheap

I popped out to the garage to get some current pics:


Engine stash. I sold off a 1275 block and some gearboxes as they where just getting in the way but this should cover things.


The engine bay will need tidying, but the engines coming out tomorrow if I can borrow the crane from next door.


This is where most of my bits have gotten to, I have no idea what's in that pile.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Engine didn't come out as hoped. The scooby took me longer than I'd hoped (and now needs a new calliper carrier so more time needed) and I had to go collect the head. I got the crane from next door, apparently I was the last to use it over 18 months ago and I can keep it as long as I want so I don't need to return it till after the new engines in. Bonus.

I did however sort the black hole under the bench, about 50% went in the bin! I now have a list of stuff I have and a short to do list which is mostly items that need a refurb and paint atm but once the engines out it will grow.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Engine status: Out.



Took about an hour and a half including eating dinner. Not too bad but all the bolts and wires where already undone, getting the crane built took the longest as its a pig on your own and had to be careful getting it past the car.

Managed to scratch some of the paint in the bay which is annoying as it was a bit I didn't have to clean up. I have touched it out with a small brush and I will do it again tomorrow to ensure its properly covered. Not overly fussed about this as it's only the engine bay and I am not exactly going for concourse, more I'd rather it didn't rot out straight away. Had a look up under the scuttle and its pretty clean only a bit of surface grot so will get some kurust and waxoil/underseal up in there once the bulkheads sorted.

Sorry there's not any more pics but the camera decided to not save any of them.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Last night I collected some pressed rockers (should be able to make 1 good set from the 2 I got) and a HIF44, was made up from a few they had lying around so there might be bits missing but I definitely need a dashpot spring, needle holder (are these the same as the HS4 ones?) and the needle & it's spring. Bar that all seems to be there.

Also carried on in the engine bay, the brake lines are all out now, mostly via cutting them but it's done the job. PWDA valve is in the bin, so I will either need to ensure I have the correct rear cylinders or get a in line adjuster valve, the first being by far the cheapest option. As the PWDA valve was handy for splitting down the pipe lengths a bit I will be using 2 line connectors P-clipped in the same place as it means if I make a duff hose I don't have to run the whole lot again, just the affected length. This should also help steady the lines a bit, as the std fitting style would fail SVA as they aren't secured enough!

Had a look at the wiring loom and bar the butchered in starter change (old type to new one, which in fairness did work, just means I may have to re-butcher it to use a old style starter) it's in pretty good nick despite my previous worries. So I will just use what I have and replace any of the pre-insulated crimps with decent ones and give it a bit of a clean.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Progress!

Today I started by rolling the car out and giving it a wash, which meant pumping up the tyre that goes flat every 2 weeks. To my surprise the only leaks where where there where holes in the engine bay that should have things in them so I was very happy with this.

With this done work progressed to removing the master cylinders, 3 hours later work continued. Split pins are horrid managed to get them out eventually though so with that done the pedal box followed onto the pile of mankey bits.

This done I got the hot spanner onto the stuck steering column which proved to be an utter utter waste of time and so there was 1 thing for it, cut the *illegitimate person* off.

1st I rolled the car back into the garage as this required steering to do then took the grinder to the column. This went through worryingly easily, I used a 1mm disc and there was minimal ware too. Seems Rover used cheese in place of steel, no surprises there then. With it all cut off I failed to see what was so stuck as it didn't seem that bad but there's a lot of surface area and so a little surface rust may well have been plenty. I managed to nick the floor pan but nothing serious so alls good. Blob of weld next time the welders out might happen if I remember. I have forgotten to put some primer/protection on this so will pop out after this post and stick something on it to stop the grot on this.

Finally I decided to strip my clutch master as it seemed a good idea at the time. Insides all seemed to be OK (which makes scene as it was working when I took the car off the road) with no rusty fluid in sight. I simply wiped off the parts and relubed with some clean brake fluid and then reassembled. I also took the chance to clean out the reservoir by shaking some brake cleaner in it.

Pics ahoy:
The crap tyre, I suspect theres a puncture or the rim needs cleaning


Theres so much room once the car goes!


The end of the cut column


The left overs, you can see where I caught the floor here


This shows the inside of the spline, not that bad by my reckoning


The broken bracket and the mess a previous fluid leaks made


End of play Wed 26th

Edited by themaninthesuitcase, 11 May 2009 - 01:16 PM.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Won some bargain new Rip speed type Hi-Los on eBay so that's one less thing to order. £60 posted will do me nicely. Shopping list for the front now is some adjustable bits, a pair of red dots and a recon/new steering rack. Everything else is bought

I do need to be careful of the bloody paint. Went out to grab something in the boot last night and tapped it with the torch and due to it being sub 0 temps a bit of top coat flaked off. Thankfully it's on a corner on the inside of a rear door so a touch up won't really be noticed, I just need to be a bit more careful.

Hoping to get the front subframe off next Wednesday as I have the day off. Not progressing as much as I'd like but I have been busy doing other things.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Subframe came out today. Wasn't to hard but I did do some stuff in the wrong order so the car was jacked up and down a few times. Had to take the exhaust off first which was also awkward!



I also removed the old rotten bulkhead bracket and put some kurust on it to stop the rust, I will go out and prime it later to stop it rotting once it's had a chance to dry.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Front sub frame is almost fully dismantled now. Only thing left is 1 of the cones and trumpets as they are fused together and means it's stuck in the frame where the cone has deformed with age.

Bottom arm pins where stuck in really well but I soaked it in WD (I buy it in the gallon bottles so used more than a small bit) and this freed them up really well. I also soaked the cone so hopefully that will come out tomorrow.

So todays lesson is: don't be shy with the WD.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Got an Aldi special compressor and Impact gun at the weekend. Not had a chance to get it set up just yet, and probably won't until Tuesday(very busy these days)

Once the compressors in and I have re homed all the stuff I have had to move to get it in I need to make a start on cleaning up the front foot well and bulk head for a spot of paint (need to fit the new bracket too). I got a paint gun with the compressor but I am not sure if I will use that or rattle cans yet as the gun will almost certainly suck balls, I might how ever pick up a cheapish top feed gun rather than this HUGE syphon one.

Can anyone suggest a good article to read on how to start painting with a gun so I can paint a cheapo scrappers bonnet or something 1st before taking to the car.

The trumpet and cone are still stuck in the frame so I am going to get destructive with a hammer and chisel and see what occurs.

Edited by themaninthesuitcase, 24 June 2009 - 01:29 PM.

[themaninthesuitcase]

The compressors now installed and I am VERY happy with it. The tire inflater filled the ropey tire in seconds with 0 effort on my behalf rather than minutes with a bike pump and lots of effort. The impact gun will be useful I am sure but after spending some time getting all the joins sealed with PFTE tape I put it down and it's leaking again. I have a feeling its the mini oiler to QR connector join so will probably re do that one again and see if I can do a better job, either that or the oiler is leaking as I managed to unscrew part of it so may not be done up properly again. Best bit is it fits in brilliantly under the bench and still leaves loads off room for the crates of parts.

All for a shade over 100 notes at ALDI, I recommend this one.



In case anyone cares the label says is 2.5Hp 9.4CFM compressor which isn't bad at all but only 24L so pressure drops pretty fast. This isn't too big a deal as the pump could keep up with the output when I was testing with the blow gun and impact gun.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Finally managed to weld on a new engine steady bracket. With some measurements from Brocko to confirm my bolt it on and see method I welded it in place. It might be a tiny bit too high (1mm at most) but it lines up perfectly so by the time a gaskets added under the top plate should be perfect. If not I will micro adjust as needed.

Bracket bolted into place.


This was then tack welded at the bottom to hold it initially. A spot weld was next added at the top to ensure it was flat on the back. Next I plug welded from each end in, a total of 6 welds. I also added a couple more spot welds (that weren't my neatest so got dressed with a flap wheel) just to be sure.

Finally a healthy dose of seam sealer was applied. Primer will be tomorrow once it's gone off.


As my first mini welding task, I am very happy with the results. While I am not quite ready for welding in patches I am on my way.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Bit more progress last night. Cracked out the grinder and ground off the surface rust then got wild with the seam sealer. Tonight I need to get the last 2 bolts out the closing plate on the passenger side and clean up any rust. Once this is done I can start priming everything and see how far the primer I have stretches.

Think I got a touch carried away: