723 replies to this topic

[Shifty]

Anything you want tell us Steve??

Anything at all?

[stevede]

Confused????

[Bean]

Oooh - what's going on here?

[Shifty]

Page 129 of this months mini mag....

[stevede]

Page 129 of this months mini mag....

Can't believe I've had that magazine over a week and never spotted it!!!!

I was told it was going in the April cover mag but was quite gutted when I got my copy and it wasn't there. (didn't say anything as I wasn't sure)

This dates back to Himley last year believe it or not, a wait to get the interior finished and the photo shoot was done in December.

Problem is, I'll be on me hols when the next issue comes out.

Well spotted Shifty, made my day that has

Edited by stevede, 14 March 2012 - 08:26 PM.

[Bean]

Cool!! Well done, Steve!! I'll have to go find one, now!

[Shifty]

I remember they showed an interest at Himley.

Its a full page picture of your car..........How could you miss it??!!

[stevede]

Hi all

Very quick update and will do a more detailed one tomorrow.

Moving on with the Megajolt, mainly because the existing electronic pickup in the distributor decided to die.

Conveniently at the side of a quiet residential street? Not a sniff !!

Slap bang in the middle of 4 lane traffic light junction opposite Manchester City at 5.30pm

At first I thought I'd run out of petrol because it was low, but after pushing to a safe spot in a bus layby (not one person offered to help push)! Some basic fault finding showed the problem to be the electronic module.

Call to Footman James recovery, and 20 minutes later a nice chap arrived and took us home. Can't fault that service at all.

My pal, (& his son James) who came to assist at first, couldn't resist taking pictures and emailing them to me with sarcastic comments. Well I'd do the same





Can you believe it, was the second classic mini he'd recovered that day !

More tomorrow

Thanks for dropping by

Regards

Steve

[rich2]

Congrats on the mag feature. Spotted the ad today and thought: "I recognise that car!"

Looking forward to seeing it.

[MGBailey007]

This is one of my favorite rebuilds i have ever read love it mate it looks amazing, and some good unique ideas

Matt

[stevede]

Evening all

Thanks for the kind comments Matt, much appreciated.

Well, I never got to the update last weekend, and work has taken me all over this week so not much chance to do anything in the evening.

However, best day of the year today (weather wise) and time to crack on.

To bring me up to date from last weekend, where I had the Megajolt with a basic loom out, and looking for a suitable spot to place it.

Up behind the radio seemed a good idea. Access to cables and an easy route through the bulkhead.

A check to see if it would go



Once that was confirmed, the radio came out and a permanent fixing was made, along with the routing of the looms. (one in the car, one out)



Getting the computer cable in was going to be a pain, so another plan was hatched.

A quick trip to Ebay for a connector. Glued on the back of the clock plate (excuse the tape but the clock is an old positive earth unit)



Easy access



Ultra neat



Vacuum pipe routed and fitted to the take off on the spacer plate that was already fitted, with a drip loop as advised. A small M4 allen bolt in the old fitting to plug it up nicely.



Couldn't resist playing with the LED's again and one of the outputs allowed me to configure the start button to be lit up on ignition, but go out when the engine was running. (had been illuminated all the time previously). A small circuit from Maplins gave an added effect.

Video not the best !



A loom piece made up for the VR sensor and ready to go.



Distributor removed, including the drive gear, and a DSN plug fitted in (engine needs a clean)



With all this going quite well, I was still uncertain how to mount the coil pack.

The idea for the front I had seen, was dismissed as the solenoid on the starter was in the way. Time to dig the welder out.

Second installment to follow, keep tuned.

Thanks for looking

Steve

[stevede]

Following on from yesterday, time to make a bracket for the coil.

Decided it really needed to go at the side of the engine, but wanted to make use of existing bolts etc where possible.

Tried a couple of ways and the pack seemed to fit nicely just above the transfer case, which meant the wiring could be kept neat.

Took the bracket off the engine steady and modified so that I could get another bar tight in.



Bent the bar to start gaining some shape



Another bit bent & welded on and it's starting to look something like



Final part welded in and an overall clean up.



Some holes and a lick of paint



Quite pleased with the finished result.







Had to move and re fix the main battery cable as the existing bracket was too high.



Bolted in place with some plastic caps on the nut heads to finish it off.



I then ran the wiring around and used some choc blocks to test all was well before final installation. Some new plug leads and a fresh set of resistor plugs in place, ignition on, hit the button and it fired into life first time. Well chuffed

The joy was short lived though as it didn't seen quite right and the link to the software kept dropping out. (car kept running via the EDIS, just the Megajolt dead)

Several sense checks, pulling out of the unit and a low voltage issue when plugged in. (okay when not connected).

Long story short, I finally traced the problem to a faulty terminal on the fuse box. Switched to a spare socket and all was good. (After I put it all back of course)

Have uploaded a map for a 998 stg 1 and will do an initial test drive this morning as I still have a couple of bits to tidy.

Engine sounds much crisper, but that might just be me, idles much better and comes off the choke far sooner. The proof will be in the driving, not that I am expecting any miracles

I also added a shift / red line light to the TIM / Smiths hybrid rev counter also and was pleased to see that it ran perfectly from pin 11 on the EDIS. (Will get some pictures)





Will keep you updated as to how I go on

Thanks for stopping by

Regards

Steve

[stevede]

Well folks

A few test drives now and the difference is remakable.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't turned the mini into a road rocket or anything, but it is like driving a different car.

Engine idles much better, pulls away cleaner and to my mind, is actually quieter.

I can only figure that the original distributor was past its best, and the stronger, more accurate spark from the EDIS is making such a difference.

If I'd realised that difference, I'd have done it months ago - Well chuffed.

Off on me jolly's in the morning, so see you all when I get back.

Thanks for reading

Regards

Steve

[MiniLandy]

Well folks

A few test drives now and the difference is remakable.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't turned the mini into a road rocket or anything, but it is like driving a different car.

Engine idles much better, pulls away cleaner and to my mind, is actually quieter.

Always said this about MJ. It's not just a power thing, it makes the whole car more driveable.

Glad to hear of the improvement!

[AaronRimmington]

Great thread, just spent the last 2 and a half hours just reading your comments and updates let alone anyone else's, Lovely rebuild, great fun to read gives me alot of idea's thanks and pinned this thread also