75 replies to this topic

[LuckyThe1275]

Thanks Jon. Yeah, will do. Will poke and sand away until I get to good metal. Shouldn't be too far. Then i'll probably weld a little plate in and grind it back, filler, smooth, sand, primer, sand then spray. By then, i'll be driving, in a club, and may be able to find someone to weld it up for me?

Also, what discount do we get with MiniSpares? Noob question! Do they have an Xmas promotion on?

Discs with drive flanges from Moss after just arriving home and looking in the catalogue, KAD/Metro discs are £30 ex. vat.

Minspares have 8.4's too, but without the drive flanges for £80 inc VAT for the pair, vented and drilled, niiiice. If my drive flanges fit, great, otherwise they'd be £120 for the pair all in with flanges and the discs... bit rich.

If we have a discount and an Xmas promotion though that'd be so damn sweet!

Edited by LuckyThe1275, 22 December 2009 - 07:49 PM.

[xBR4DLEY]

There was never a christmas promotion it was a VAT free deal as he forgot about it
You have to have TMF+ to get a discount and they have stopped it for a while to do something with the backlog
Good luck with the project

[xBR4DLEY]

Any progress mate?

[LuckyThe1275]

Nah, bar putting up some pictures at some point, I won't be doing much for a while, maybe not till the new year, have to see how it goes. Too bloody cold to start off with! I can handle it, but my mum's bf can't

Spending half of Xmas with my Dad, and got alot of college stuff to do, but I might spend an odd day back in my home area and get some stuff done.

I'll sort my pictures out later and post a few.

Edited by LuckyThe1275, 22 December 2009 - 10:17 AM.

[LuckyThe1275]

Right, a few pictures I snapped while busy.


Nasty arch! Paint really flaking off. Will get genuine sportspacks and 13x7 softline superlights with black centres hopefully in the new year


One of the rear brakes checked over, and cleaned up a bit. Handbrake mechanism greased a bit too behind, and at the triangle where it splits from a single cable, to two.




Rust in arch.


A little closer.


And here. Plated these up and undersealed the whole arch. One more coat to go. Pictures of it next time i'm there.




Needed cleaning, rubbing down and undersealing.


Wire brushed.


Was a bit more of the orange stuff over here!

Wire brushed and cleaned the whole arch, after plating the little holes on the left. Now has a coat of tetroseal on it

Fortunately, no holes in any of the other arches, but I will underseal them when I have time.


Drum all back together. Will wire brush and paint black probably at some point, but i'm tempted by superfins or something in the new year. Look lovely through the spokes of some fat wheels. Maybe silver drums with black centred superlights, or boring black? Red wouldn't suit Tahiti Blue.


Another cosmetic thing to sort, i'm picky I guess. Does this happen on all mini boot hinges, or is mine adjusted wrong? Will have to buy some Tahiti Blue paint and can fix some chips, spray my arches when I get them, and sort my rust. Might just put chrome ones on so it won't notice, but i'm not sure how it'd look?


Mum's boyfriend was servicing mum's car. Did alot of the work myself and learnt alot

Forgot to take pictures of the discs up front, but single pot AP calipers, braided pipes, and 8.4 inch discs. Big ridge at the edge of the disk, looking pretty thin. Need to replace. Was going to go for the £80 a pair vented and drilled discs on Minispares, but after seeing the non vented (£10 ea) and vented (£16 ea) - even some packs with EBC (blackstuff?) kevlar pads (x4) and discs (x2) for £32 a set vented, and £24 a set non vented, I think i'll skip the drilled ones - for now. With the 13x7 black centred superlights I have planned you won't see the grooves much anyway. Won't be getting the sets though, as I don't think they're the right pads for my AP callipers. Need to do some more research. But much cheaper than I expected - will do to get an MOT and get on the road cheap - can always upgrade them next time - More of a reminder to myself, but I need new clips too! The drivers side one is about to snap in half

Can't wait to get some christmas money in my bank account, order the bits I need and get fitting! Then MOT time, then driving and cosmetics time - right now, I feel it's a bit of a shed - Well, i've seen worse, but still!

Loving the Mini experience anyway! Can't wait to join a club

Matt

[mini-man-dan]

Decent looking Mini you got there!
Does look suspiciously like a 998 tho Better check that one!
And can anybody figure out why, on a B reg car, there's a 2nd electric fan built into the inner wing? I swear that was only 1996 ish onwards...? Strange! Next time your with the car, run your fingers under the scuttle panel, a little to the driver's side of the carb, on the lip. If the car's a later shell you should feel some numbers there, that's the old VIN number! If not, then it's just me being a muppet!
Not meaning to burst your bubble mate, still is a bargain for £650 whether it's a 1275 or not!
Dan

Edited by mini-man-dan, 23 December 2009 - 01:55 PM.

[xBR4DLEY]

Yeah dont always listen to what the previous owner says , they think people will buy it if it has a bigger engine
The previous owner said mine had a 1380 and I had a 998
Doesnt matter though and Dan its obviously been resprayed as in 1984 there was no Tahiti Blue option
Hope it is a 1275 and good luck with your rebuild mate

[LuckyThe1275]

Yeah, I think the previous owner just listed it looking at the documents... On the DVLA stuff it's registered as a Mini 1000 City E. I thought there was some talk of it having an engine change, to supposedly a 1275, but looking at the auction, I see nothing about this, so it must have been in person if at all.

I thought when it was mentioned that it may be a 998 that maybe it was originally a 1275, and had a 998 put in, but the DVLA not notified, however, you'd notify the DVLA when doing that, as you'd pay less tax right, so I don't see why the previous owner to the previous owner wouldn't have done that?

And, the Mini 1000 was always originally a 998 no? So the only option is that the engine was changed, and the DVLA were notified right? However maybe someone made a mistake, and it ended up as a 998. You wouldn't do it on purpose, as you'd pay more tax! It's got to have had an engine had an engine change in the past as it would have originally have been a 998 as a Mini 1000 City E right? So, supposedly it was changed to a 1275, maybe they made a mistake and it's actually a 998, we'll see, however that probably explains why it's got the "1996ish onwards" fan, as the previous owner did nothing to it, and he acquired it in late 2005, so if the previous owner changed the engine (as I'm sure I was told he did) then he probably did it in the 90's, or early 2000's, explaining why maybe it's a late carb engine with the fan you're talking about? I don't even know the fan you are talking about, but whatever

Can anyone shed any light on whether a 1000 City E would have definitely originally been a 998? Might help get to the bottom of this confusion... Like I said, I must be right on being told it had an engine change, as IF a 100 City E was originally a 998, not a 1275, you wouldn't downsize to a 998 and NOT tell the DVLA, as you'd not save any money, so it must have had an engine change as I believe I was told, and if a 1000 City E was definitely always originally a 998, it's gone up to what was thought to be a 1275, and the DVLA have been notified, however, whoever did it may have accidentally put a 998 in...

Anyway, what i'm trying to get down to is whether it has had an engine change or not, as maybe it never did, and thats why it looks, and is a 998, however I think I was told it had had an engine change, but you guys are making me doubt what I thought I was told now, i'm thinking about it too much!

Logically, it seems to have done, but I can't be sure until I know what engine a Mini 1000 City E originally would of had.

And yes, it's had a colour change.

Ramble over.

Matt

Edited by LuckyThe1275, 23 December 2009 - 03:00 PM.

[LuckyThe1275]

I've contacted the previous owner, as I remember he contacted the owner before him midway through the auction. The previous guy was a Mini head I think, so he should be able to shed some light if he's still got his details. Be nice to know some history, but I reckon he did an engine change if anyone did.

Matt

[jaydee]

Probably they fitted a 1275, then registered V5. Tehn before selling the car, swapped engine for a 998, that engine has nothing of a 1275..998 head, 998 breathers, plus i suppuse it has tappest covers to...
At least you can insure it as a 998 for a couple of years, and when you're upgrading to big bore, you v5 is already registered as a 1275.

[LuckyThe1275]

If it's a 998, which it seems to be, it'll be a 1380 by 2011 ready for Brands Hatch to the ring when i've finished my exams, and sixth form, and will be old enough to drive through France and Belgium

[xBR4DLEY]

Yeah the City E was a 998 my 1983 is
If you can see the colour of the block a 998 will be yellow and 1275 will be red but these are only factory people have been known to paint engines
It doesnt really matter if its not a 1275 because like I said I was told that my engine was a 1380 which it wasnt but I still have plans to buy a 1275 and bore it out to 1380 or even just buy a 1380 when the funds allow and when my insurance goes down
Have you looked at the engine number stamped on the block ?
It will either start with "99" or "12"
Or maybe even 1098 which I think is "10" (can correct me here if need be)
If it has had an engine conversion it could be any of these 3

[jaydee]

Anything above could be bodged by the previous owner.
Take rocker cover off, and look at the casting nr of the cylinder head, if its CAM4180, then is a 998, or in the luckiest scenario, could be a 998 rebored.
Look at the back of the engine, just below the manifolds, if you can see two small covers with a bolt at the middle, then its a 998. The only 1275s with tappet chest cover are the rare 'S' blocks.

[LuckyThe1275]

Ok, thanks for all the tips and ideas! I'll be sure to have a charged phone to read all of this when i'm next in the workshop

Got lots of tools today from family, including AF sockets, ratchets, AF spanners, mainly from the guy who went to look at the mini with me, and trailored it back, so finally more AF sockets to add to my Mum's boyfriends meagre set in the workshop - Something so manly and wicked about building up your first tool box! My dad has thousands in tools, and has built the lot up over the years... Just love tools! Rachets <3 - Got my own finally!

Also the M&S Mini Cooper keyring, a mini calendar, and a t-shirt with the front silhouettes of the three Italian Job Mini's on it

May also be moving house, Mum and her boyfriend are getting married - news to me as of today! - So double garage with the bigger house? All tools and cars in one nicer place hopefully! = No working on the car in a lightless/powerless garage in a block when MOT time comes too, and the workshop isn't available! Garage to work in all year around, that isn't miles away, and DRY STORAGE outside the house rather than a walk away!? Lazy of me I gotta admit, but great - fingers crossed double garage!

Matt

Edited by LuckyThe1275, 26 December 2009 - 12:16 AM.

[mini-man-dan]

That shell wouldn't have been a 998 from factory. The shells with electric over ride fans were all 1275's I'm 99% sure they were all SPi's or MPi's which would make it a late 90's shell, with an 80's reg. No idea why though...
The leccy fan can bee seen in this picture:


It would also match up with the colour too if the shell was late 90's, and the fact it's rusting just under the windscreen. A favourite for the Rover shells.

Dan

Edited by mini-man-dan, 26 December 2009 - 10:36 PM.