47 replies to this topic

[MiniAlex]

I was lucky... my car already had a cat 1 alarm and central locking fitted when I got it last year. It's the best thing I have on the car! You are right, no more waiting in the rain trying to find the key. And you all know what it's like with a Mini, differenet keys for everything that's what I used to have, just before I got a brand new set of handles. The central locking kit is really really good I found a reciept for mine and I think the owner paid about £75 ... so £30 is a baragin! From the pictures they look exactly the same kind of kit. The only problem I keep having with mine is the central locking on the drivers door keeps packing up, the solenoide keeps packing up. But since I have had a look at it, it has been ok

When I took the solenoide apart I had to take the metal lever to the lock out because it kept falling, I had a little trouble getting it back in because there isn't a lot of space for your hands lol. I recon it's quite an easy job and wouldn't take you more than a day.
Are you fitting it with an alarm sytem?
I like how it locks my doors and sets the alarm going, like someone else said ... it's good to know both doors are locked without faffing around. Even though I still run around to the passenger side to check!

[MiniAlex]

I forgot to say, I have remote central locking. Since I changed the batteries... it works from a long way ... but never need to use it from a distance anyway. I think central locking on a Mini is pretty cool
Also if you want a good one then you will probably have to pay a bit extra for it, but those ones on ebay seem fine. They have exactly the same solenoide as mine. And mine was a lot more ....
Hope i've helped.

[bunch1980]

Hi Lee..

I see lol a great big bunch of wires then! doh! best to drill own holes then!

Yup.. not talking fuse wire here!

hehe Casper is it white or invisible?

Considering the length of time the bodyshop has had the motor (due to insurance underwriters working at less than walking pace).. of the 7 months we've owned it, we've actually had it available for about about 6 weeks.. so although it's white, invisible seems kind of fitting too! Here's a picture taken from the other night:

That would be really good if you can Ian as I have not seen really any pictures of these kits just mounted. Thanks!!

No problem. I'll take the pictures of the mounting positions and holes drilled etc



Regards,

Ian

Thats very nice Ian love the white and black theme very shiny to!!

Thanks look forward to pictures!

[WRLondon]

i reckon a guide needs to be written
and ian
i LOVE your car

looks very pretty!

[Ian.H]

Thanks for the comments lads. Both myself and my Fiancée love the Mini too. Is definitely a fun car to drive around in! Wish I hadn't scrapped the 3 I had previously now (wasn't into the whole Mini thing then).. especially as one was an old K-plate that I paid £40 for although needed some welding, I found out when the accelerator pedal fell out of the bulkhead.. hah.

Here's the pictures as promised Lee. Click on the images for the (rather large) fullsize images (each ~1.5Mb).

Solenoid mounted in the bottom of the door


Bracket and hinge mechanism connecting the solenoid to the locking bar (the bottom has a rod with a hook that connects into a loop on the end of the solenoid)


Hinge from above showing the connection position by the small "S bend" in the locking bar


Wiring connectors between the loom and solenoid (will need a crimping tool to add the spade connectors to the ends of the wires)


What job would be complete without a bit of sparky tape? heh. I used this to try and keep the loom away from the window. It didn't catch when the window was wound down, but I wanted to make sure anyway


Holes drilled to take the loom. IIRC now, these require a 13mm hole




Hope these prove useful



Regards,

Ian

[bunch1980]

Thanks Ian great pictures very useful i see more how it works now, imagine once you get it all on takes a bit of fiddling to get it to lock doors nicely and that.
Also once installed cna you use key still if the central locking plays up or are you locked out sort thing?

Saved images now into my mini info folder cheers!

[Ian.H]

It all bolted up pretty square. I think at most, I just had to bend some of the bars / brackets a little to make sure they weren't rubbing on the inner door skin etc to make them as free as possible for the solenoid to work with as less required force as possible, so to speak.

The kit I bought came with a template. I scanned that in, flipped it using Photoshop and printed it out again for the opposite door. Made life very simple. Just in case whatever you order doesn't come with one, or you just want to have a look anyway, here's the scanned template: http://tk.digiserv.n...ng_template.zip (4.63Mb).

The key works fine with / without the central locking.. it's how mine is working currently. Either the bodyshop that had Casper for 6 months screwed something up, or it sitting doing nothing for that length of time has done something, I don't know, but currently, I'm back to using the key to unlock one door at a time until I can resolve the problem.. so yup, works just fine if you do have problems



Regards,

Ian

Edited by Ian.H, 14 March 2010 - 11:53 PM.

[Darkscamp]

link is not working matey, cheers as i'd lost mine

Edited by Darkscamp, 14 March 2010 - 11:57 PM.

[bunch1980]

It all bolted up pretty square. I think at most, I just had to bend some of the bars / brackets a little to make sure they weren't rubbing on the inner door skin etc to make them as free as possible for the solenoid to work with as less required force as possible, so to speak.

The kit I bought came with a template. I scanned that in, flipped it using Photoshop and printed it out again for the opposite door. Made life very simple. Just in case whatever you order doesn't come with one, or you just want to have a look anyway, here's the scanned template: http://tk.digiserv.n...ng_template.zip (4.63Mb).

The key works fine with / without the central locking.. it's how mine is working currently. Either the bodyshop that had Casper for 6 months screwed something up, or it sitting doing nothing for that length of time has done something, I don't know, but currently, I'm back to using the key to unlock one door at a time until I can resolve the problem.. so yup, works just fine if you do have problems

Regards,

Ian

Thanks again Ian think i might order one autoeurop soon and have a go on sunday coming maybe! yea would think some fiddling needed! I think autoeurope one says it comes with template but if not thanks for this one is it printed 1:1 on A4?

Ohh thats good news atleast if it does play up not stuck in or outside mini lol!

Ahh maybe misplaced something behind doors! tricky!

Do you remember size of holes you drilled in door and body for cables to go through? and did u use a drill bit or some thing different?

[Ian.H]

Hi Lee..

Thanks again Ian think i might order one autoeurop soon and have a go on sunday coming maybe! yea would think some fiddling needed! I think autoeurope one says it comes with template but if not thanks for this one is it printed 1:1 on A4?

No problem.. and yup, 1:1. Print it out using "fit to page" setting and all should be sweet.

Ohh thats good news atleast if it does play up not stuck in or outside mini lol!

Ahh maybe misplaced something behind doors! tricky!

Definitely good news!

Do you remember size of holes you drilled in door and body for cables to go through? and did u use a drill bit or some thing different?

I think the ones in the shell / door edge for the loom were 13mm (although I used a 10mm drill bit and 'wiggled it about™'). The ones through the inner door skin to hold the solenoid and brackets in place were 6mm and I think something like 3 or 4mm for the one through the locking bar.

Standard drill bits used for all holes. I advise drilling small pilot holes first though, especially for the large loom holes.. as you really don't want to be too far out with any of them if you want it to work first time, as such. I also used some electrical tape to stick the template bits once cut out to the inner door skin so it didn't move about.



Regards,

Ian

[bunch1980]

Hi Lee..

Thanks again Ian think i might order one autoeurop soon and have a go on sunday coming maybe! yea would think some fiddling needed! I think autoeurope one says it comes with template but if not thanks for this one is it printed 1:1 on A4?

No problem.. and yup, 1:1. Print it out using "fit to page" setting and all should be sweet.

Ohh thats good news atleast if it does play up not stuck in or outside mini lol!

Ahh maybe misplaced something behind doors! tricky!

Definitely good news!

Do you remember size of holes you drilled in door and body for cables to go through? and did u use a drill bit or some thing different?

I think the ones in the shell / door edge for the loom were 13mm (although I used a 10mm drill bit and 'wiggled it about™'). The ones through the inner door skin to hold the solenoid and brackets in place were 6mm and I think something like 3 or 4mm for the one through the locking bar.

Standard drill bits used for all holes. I advise drilling small pilot holes first though, especially for the large loom holes.. as you really don't want to be too far out with any of them if you want it to work first time, as such. I also used some electrical tape to stick the template bits once cut out to the inner door skin so it didn't move about.



Regards,

Ian

Thanks again Ian! will order at end of month i think gona be a bit skint this month with mini buying!

Ahh good i think i have a 13mm steel drill but to but will start off small like you say and get some grommets to!

I think probably adding wiring will be most tricky for me, im good with mechanical but always struggled with electrics!

[Ian.H]

Hi Lee..

Thanks again Ian! will order at end of month i think gona be a bit skint this month with mini buying!

No problem.. and starting to know that feeling well after being made redundant early last month and still wanting new bits for Casper, along with moving house.. argh!

Ahh good i think i have a 13mm steel drill but to but will start off small like you say and get some grommets to!

The kit I bought came with everything, including the grommets. Yours _should_ do too, I would have thought.

I think probably adding wiring will be most tricky for me, im good with mechanical but always struggled with electrics!

Much the same here, electrics have never been my thing, but with only 5 wires, red being live, black being earth, and everything colour-coded from the solenoid, it really wasn't difficult to do it. The kit I had actually came with fitting instructions too, so maybe your one will as well.



Regards,

Ian

[bunch1980]

Hi Lee..

Thanks again Ian! will order at end of month i think gona be a bit skint this month with mini buying!

No problem.. and starting to know that feeling well after being made redundant early last month and still wanting new bits for Casper, along with moving house.. argh!

Ahh good i think i have a 13mm steel drill but to but will start off small like you say and get some grommets to!

The kit I bought came with everything, including the grommets. Yours _should_ do too, I would have thought.

I think probably adding wiring will be most tricky for me, im good with mechanical but always struggled with electrics!

Much the same here, electrics have never been my thing, but with only 5 wires, red being live, black being earth, and everything colour-coded from the solenoid, it really wasn't difficult to do it. The kit I had actually came with fitting instructions too, so maybe your one will as well.

Regards,

Ian

Ouch not good Ian know feeling my fiancee was made redundant last year not a good time for anyone invlolved at all! and like you say luxeries suffer!
ahhh one would hope it come with grommets yeah!
again hope the autoeurop kits comes with decent instructions to as it is actually marketed for classic mini!
Just bought a rev counter for mine so going to wait until payday to get this now!
your help has been much appreciated for this and hope all goes well with a new job and house move and capser gets some new bits!!

[skaterava]

Sorry to semi-jack this thread, but do i need a central locking system to fit an alarm?

[Darkscamp]

You dont need central locking but its an upgrade i would go for if you can afford it at the time. Can all be wired in at the same time then