33 replies to this topic

[themaninthesuitcase]

3 days in a row? Bloody hell. Will this unprecedented madness last?

Started by removing the last 2 bolts for the closing plate which was awkward but they gave up eventually. Got the grinder out again to quickly clean up the paint lip where it was over painted before.

This done I started masking up the outside panels as I only want to paint the engine bay.
This was almost done masking:


Once everything was masked off I started priming.


Most the bays done now, just need to do the bit under the wiring-loom-in-a-bag.

I now have tomorrow free so I will finish priming and then pop into town to get the satin black for the colour coat. With any luck the bay will be done and ready for parts by the end of tomorrow. Just hope I didn't miss any masking as I really cba to clean up any over spray.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Started off today by hanging the wires up out the way with some wire to the roof. This meant I could get at the whole bulk head. This done I finished priming then went and had some lunch while it dried.



After lunch I cracked open some satin black. Looks pretty good couple of light runs but it's an engine bay so I will get over it.

Paint done but still with paper on:


Paper off. You can see a small bleed where the masking tape lifted when I was priming, this is an easy fix later on tho.


Other side:



Once all this was done I cleaned up the inside bulk head and fitted the pedal box back in. This was a bit of a pig to get in and lined up and the hammer was a waste of effort. Needed a twist and shove but got there eventually.

Finished off the evening by tapping out the 1/4" UNF captive nuts for the engine bay earth and also where the PWDA mounts (although I am junking it I still need the hole).

[themaninthesuitcase]

Got some more work done this evening.

I decided to swap to the wiring loom so I can use the inertia starter and solenoid and also means I am not using a hacked up loom. Well that was the theory.

The starting point:


The practice was as follows:
1st I replaced the iffy red crimp that was used to extend the oil pressure sender line, this was a simple cut out the connector and solder in a new bit of wire (hopefully long enough else it's soldering in situ, which will be fun)

I then found the reason my wipers never worked properly on the car that donated the loom: some tit cut one of the lines. To fix this I cut out about 1.5" of wire and replaced it with a length cut from a rear loom as this won't be used.



Next I looked at one of the in line fuse holders that had been bodged out in favour of a blade fuse. I didn't do much initially bar cutting out the bodge.

While I was inspecting the rest of the loom disaster struck! It seems something had hit the bundle of wires near the alternator connector. After cutting away the loom tape the extent of the damage could be realised. There was only 1 cut wire (tacho feed from the coil), the rest amounted to the large +ve feed was a bit crushed with some damage to the outer and a few more damaged outers. A bit of electrical tape over all these should prevent any mishaps. And again 1" of wire was soldered in to fix the broken line. This all sorted I put 1 wrap on tape round to hold the bundle to endure the fix was ok. Once I am happy I will wrap it properly.

Before:



After. note the tape on most wires and the new section which has been shrink wrapped as have all new joins.


I finished up by replacing the fuse holder. Whilst digging in the big box of mini stuff to get the rear loom I cut bits from I found a section with a fuse holder in VGC. This was cut from the rear loom and then spliced back into replace the bodge for the blade fuse.

I am hoping I now have a serviceable loom and no more fixes will need to be done beyond replacing some blue crimp female spades once I order in some proper ones.

Also need to try prise the bullets out of the front to rear join, other wise I will just cut them off and use new spade connections.

Oh I also discovered there's a section of wire for the ignition where a safety switch would go on auto's to stop you starting the car in drive. I am tempted to use this to put in some form of basic immobiliser, but we will see as it's also 1 potential thing to go wrong.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Got a fair bit this morning.

Started by removing the old loom which was pretty easy as it was all unplugged anyway, just a case of feeding through the bulkhead. This done I fed through the 'new' loom. Turns of one of the grommets was missing (the one where it goes through the dash floor) so I cut the one from the other loom and put this into place. Despite the cut this is plenty to stop the loom getting damaged.

Had a small issue where one of the interior light wires snapped at the connection. Fortunatly it snapped right at the join into one of the switches so I can just replace the connection and all will be fine.

This done I started putting things into place on the bulk head. Before fitting the fuse box I greased up the rear of the terminals to stop them corroding further (as its the original fuse box).



Finished up in the bay by fitting the wiper rack from my donor car as it had already been cleaned up and so was in much better condition.



Last job I did was to swap out my sun visors as my other where in much better condition and had been cleaned. Though this is shown how dirty the head lining is and so I need to clean that too at some point.

Next step is to match up the front and rear looms (need to replace the connectors) and then try match the wiring up for the lighting and horn. Looks like I might need to make 1 or 2 extensions here as the loom came from a saloon not a clubman, good thing here is I now have a full look of colour coded wire to use to make these with.

[beaubrad]

you done a great job mate ,you doing anything to the engine while its out?? brad

[themaninthesuitcase]

Original plan was a 1330-1380ish with a Morspeed phase 3 cam but in a case of baby changes plans it will now be my other 998 with maybe a stg 1. I will change the clutch and HG, also going to change most the oil seals while it's out.

[minivanman]

Are brocko and cal allowed to know you're on here?

If you've got a 1275 spare, put it in. 998s are painfully slow, even when they're tweaked. Mines got cam and head with MJ and its nowhere near good enough.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Are brocko and cal allowed to know you're on here?

If you've got a 1275 spare, put it in. 998s are painfully slow, even when they're tweaked. Mines got cam and head with MJ and its nowhere near good enough.

Think Cal does know!

1275 needs a rebuild 1st and I really can't afford it, that said clutch just went in the scooby so I can't afford anything at all atm.

[themaninthesuitcase]

First off al some of the shiney's I have acquired:


KAD tower mounts, Brocko Co. piston gear knob and some stone chip and a gun for it with disposable heads. Also not pictured is a stainless steel blanking plate for the 2nd hole in the bulkhead. I had this made but the large hole was a bit too small so I used a dremel to resize this back up to the same as the original part.

I have stone chipped the bulkhead now, no pics though as I was covered in the stuff. The disposable head was brilliant, cleaning consisted of removing the plastic head, binning it, and a quick wipe of the gun. Okay the heads need to be bought, but at about £7-8 for 6 it's probably not much more than buying the solvent to clean with anyway. Managed to get through about 500ml of stone chip though, I suspect I applied it a bit thick in places.

I also need to hurry up and replace all the connections for the compressor, one of the cheap Aldi female connections fell apart meaning it can no longer hold a male in.

[Down&Out]

Ah suitcase, i never knew you where on here . Welcome to the dark side! (im MF's 86MiniChelsea). Nice to see you around, now dont let Brocko know or he'll get stroppy . Great work you have going on there, look forward to more .

[themaninthesuitcase]

Did some more on the estate last night.

The stone chip had cracked while drying in a few places. Looks to be where the layer was really thin, so I scraped off the bad bits and re-applied. Hoping this will work else I will have to scrape it all off (oh joy ) and maybe try something else like waxoil.

Next I finally got the old cone out of the subframe. This time instead of WD40 I used GT85 which is essentially the same but has some PFTE (teflon) in it for extra slipperyness. 2 well placed hits from the BFH and it was out, simples.

This is the crud that was inside the cone:


Old vs New:


This done I cleaned up and sprayed the strap bolts for the rear subframe mounts. Didn't put huge effort in, more to stop them going crusty again instantly. Discovered they aren't UNF, guessing UNC but guess I will have to look it up.

Fitted the window catches I got via a TMF wanted advert(£10). Drivers side was simple just screws into the existing holes, done. Passenger the body holes where correct, but the ones in the trim weren't so I had to make new ones in the correct place. Was a bit awkward but didn't take too long.


While the paint was out I also painted the grill. It got a bit cold by the end and the black top coat may have bloomed a bit so may need doing again. Also had an idea for the centre badge but I will show that if it comes out ok.

In Primer:


Done:

[jayare]

Nice to see the window catches in their new home, even if one of them gave you a bit of grief!

JR

[themaninthesuitcase]

Went to minispeed today to save me paying the postage for some of the more heavy items I needed.
Came away with a recon rack, suspension cone, bottom arm pins, knuckle joint and a rack sealing ring. Got what can only be described a "rather good deal" I am sure there are items not on the invoice, and I got 10% off the rest of it.

Also had a look at the grill today and it has bloomed in places, and there was some grass stuck in bits so I need to touch up a few bits. Will grab some more paint on Tuesday and get it sorted.

[themaninthesuitcase]

Did some more last night:
1st job was to scrape off all the stone chip. Why? Here's why:





It had clearly reacted to something (not clean enough maybe?) so had flaked of over massive areas. I scraped off all the loose bits with a wall scraper, and then used a viscous *illegitimate person* of a wire wheel on e a grinder for the rest. Removing the stone chip also pulled off a lot of paint and also revealed some small areas of surface rust. This was all treated with kurust and then given a quick coat of satin black (as that's what I had). Next week I will stick a layer of Hamerite underseal with waxoil on to help protect things.

The removed stone chip: on the plus side the cars weight is now about 1.5-2Kg less than it was going to be!


I also had to open up the hole in the stainless closing plate a little more. Previous attempts with a dremel took to long, so out cam the big guns: A DeWalt die grinder and a carbide burr. This made short work of the stainless and the cut was then cleaned up with a stone again with the die grinder.

Hole marked to cut.


Ready for removal of material:


Hole cut (showing the 2p used as a template for the hole)



I finished of by sorting out the grill badge but I stuffed up with the clear coat on it leaving a massive massive run. So now I need to strip off all the paint and start over: *man danglies*.

[Retro_10s]

Suitcase! Crikey i remember you off Minifinity! Nice to see you project on here - The engine bay's looking sweet - doesn't it always make you feel good about the car to have a black engine bay

you've reminded me to grease the terminals on my fusebox - i knew i'd forgotten something...