1006 replies to this topic

[grahama]

Hi all,

Another couple of days have gone by and the weather has been kind, needs lots more too as doing the whole thing on the front. Had my first Woah from a neighbour down the road today and we chatted about his minis from the past, everyone likes a mini I am finding. Got a few parts from a breaking too, new windscreen and the car's first bit of bling.



Matt was really impressed and he now has some more polishing to do, straight after he finishes cleaning up the windscreen. Matt has exams at the moment so I am cracking on with some stripping while he works, it's a bit tight in there for two 6 footers with small nuts on the dash I mean. I took my time labelling the wires as they came off





The heating matrix was a bit of a pig to get off as the water hoses had seized on and I eventually resorted to cutting them off, can always get new ones I hope.



I took the clocks off and found two extra wires that I am sure I had't knocked from a terminal and am wondering what they are for, always bits left over isn't there !!







The wiring pretty much stripped and labelled, all dash out and I can tell that I am going to have to strip the loom down so I can work out where everything is going. An example of this is the 4 way fuse box with about 20 wires going in !! Whats that all about ?? I think I will be wiring in a modern fuse box from another car to replace this but it must work as no sign of fire in the loom, there was even a spare fuse in there!!










The bulkhead look mint which seems to fit with the rest of the car, (except front wings), as do the air vents on NS and OS. The screws holding these plastic mounts in though were stuck fast and I will have to drill them out tommorrow, maybe rusty behind







Jus a few pictures of the scutle from the outside and it really does look like the car is in pretty good nick given it's 27 years. I am looking into the 4 previous owners through a service from DVLA to see if I can contact them regarding mileage as the condition of the car is starting to make me think it maybe genuine.



Just a bit of gaffa tape to finnish off today as I took the window out to strip the dash and cut the seal rubber so I could et it back in. Hopefully the gaffa tape will keep the rain out till I get a cover !!

[lawrence]

this looks like a great rebuild something makes me think that the car has been restored at one time however they neglected the rust proofing on the front?

[grahama]

Hi,

I am thinking given my limited knowledge that it may be original as there are too many original things there. Original test label on wiring loom, no welding apart from sills, from what I can see), bumper rust, the drum brakes, origonal stereo and wheels. What makes you think otherwise?

Graham

Edited by grahama, 25 May 2010 - 08:42 PM.

[xBR4DLEY]

Hi,

I am thinking given my limited knowledge that it may be original as there are too many original things there. Original test label on wiring loom, no welding apart from sills, from what I can see), bumper rust, the drum brakes, origonal stereo and wheels. What makes you think otherwise?

Graham

I think he means that because it is in excellent condition , except from the front end per why he said no rust protection on front end

[xBR4DLEY]

By the way does yours have a centre clock speedo or a 2 or 3 clock one
Mine has a centre clock

[grahama]

Hi,

Lawrence, only interested in your opinions on the history , it doesn't bother me one way or another if it has ned restored before but if the mileage is corect then it would acount for the condition. DVLA checke coming ang hopefully some clarification.

Bradley it's a two clock one but I have found out I have the wiring for a rev counter so will be changing for a three clock one.

Either way I will enjoy the project with my lad and hopefully we will have a running car at the end of it all

Graham

[stevede]

The bulkhead look mint which seems to fit with the rest of the car, (except front wings), as do the air vents on NS and OS. The screws holding these plastic mounts in though were stuck fast and I will have to drill them out tommorrow, maybe rusty behind


Hi Graham

When drilling out the screws on the air vent plastics take your time. I was a bit quick with mine and ended up meting some of the plastic as the screws got hot from the drilling.

Cheers

Steve

[rick.spi]

HI im liking the project. looks like a pretty good base as far as they go.

i think its good that you and your son have something to both work on, i have fond memories of helping my dad on his pickup when we had that.

best of luck.

[1984mini25]

The 2 extra wires behind the clocks are for the more upmarket (mini 25) and later models that were fitted with a 3 clock dials with added rev counter.

And the fuse box is also completely normal, they work fine providing all the wiring is in good condition (like yours) and you don’t go overloading them with extra feeds.

And the screws for the plastic air vent mounts always seize up, as the screws go through into the inner wheel arches, so all the crap just gets thrown up at them.

[grahama]

Hi all,

A little progress over the last couple of days, slow going as my good ladt wife keeps finding jobs for me to do on my days off !! Anyway I thought I'd strip as much out as I can before my new ignition arrives. Once I try it out I can strip the enging fully. Ok, water bottle out, wipers out, loom getting there making the engine bay a little more spacious.!! I also couldn't resist a little look under the rocker cover at the state of the engin top.





I gave the heater matrix, wiper motor and water bottle a test and good clean up prior to putting away and the wipers threw up a problem. The wiper box for OS had siezed up and I spent a while trying to free it up. It is turning now but notchy and may still need changing.





I want to get the wiring loom out as my next big job really so I can learn how it all fits together as I intend to rewire the car with a modern fuse box. The petrol tank was the first hurdle in the way of the lom so it was moved and then the loom threaded upto the roof. I had to cut off the rear light plugs as the space was too narrow. Pictures and labels everywhere!!









Even had another helper today, pretty useless with a spanner though !!

Matt on a revision break came out to help for an hour and took off the headlights. The bowls were rivited in so I drilled them out and found that one was metal and one plastic so at some stage there has been a bit of work done but the inside of the wing does look ok really with a little surface rust. It may have had a new wing but still not sure !!









All in all the little mayfair is looking a bit sorry for itself now with lots of things missing, but progress wont be lightning fast as I need to try and document with pictures how it all goes back together, well thats the plan anyway. I have a cover on the way aswell as the ignition so test that and can remove all the glass etc without any fear or rain getting in.



Regards,

Graham

Edited by grahama, 27 May 2010 - 07:50 PM.

[82hle]

The condition of your car is very similar to my 82 hle. The lh wing looks genuine, as it has the little strengthener between it and the a-panel. Can't say about the other side.
Mart.

[grahama]

hi,

not sure what you mean about the strengthener??? any help please.

Graham

[njathind]

Hi all,

Another couple of days have gone by and the weather has been kind, needs lots more too as doing the whole thing on the front. Had my first Woah from a neighbour down the road today and we chatted about his minis from the past, everyone likes a mini I am finding. Got a few parts from a breaking too, new windscreen and the car's first bit of bling.

Matt was really impressed and he now has some more polishing to do, straight after he finishes cleaning up the windscreen. Matt has exams at the moment so I am cracking on with some stripping while he works, it's a bit tight in there for two 6 footers with small nuts on the dash I mean. I took my time labelling the wires as they came off

The heating matrix was a bit of a pig to get off as the water hoses had seized on and I eventually resorted to cutting them off, can always get new ones I hope.

I took the clocks off and found two extra wires that I am sure I had't knocked from a terminal and am wondering what they are for, always bits left over isn't there !!

The wiring pretty much stripped and labelled, all dash out and I can tell that I am going to have to strip the loom down so I can work out where everything is going. An example of this is the 4 way fuse box with about 20 wires going in !! Whats that all about ?? I think I will be wiring in a modern fuse box from another car to replace this but it must work as no sign of fire in the loom, there was even a spare fuse in there!!

The bulkhead look mint which seems to fit with the rest of the car, (except front wings), as do the air vents on NS and OS. The screws holding these plastic mounts in though were stuck fast and I will have to drill them out tommorrow, maybe rusty behind

Jus a few pictures of the scutle from the outside and it really does look like the car is in pretty good nick given it's 27 years. I am looking into the 4 previous owners through a service from DVLA to see if I can contact them regarding mileage as the condition of the car is starting to make me think it maybe genuine.

Just a bit of gaffa tape to finnish off today as I took the window out to strip the dash and cut the seal rubber so I could et it back in. Hopefully the gaffa tape will keep the rain out till I get a cover !!

Great project, I'm currently 17 and restoring a 97 cooper, not out of choice just kinda brought it with my heart and didn't really look it over properly, I didn't get ripped off with the price though, he just adopted the attitude of if I didn't see it he wouldn't tell me.

By the way I think those two spare wires from the clocks are for a rev counter, they made only one type of loom for the different models and just left the rev counter wires disconnected.

edit: images removed

Edited by njathind, 06 June 2010 - 03:02 PM.

[grahama]

Hi all,

been a while as I have been wrestling with the wiring loom and figuring how the circuits are wired up. Seem to have got there with plenty of digging round and help from you all. I am definately going to split up the circuits a little as there are live feeds running from item to item and would be very hard to trace once back in again.

So what have I been doing ...

emptied out the brake cylinders and found lots of gunk, will be doing a proper clean inside before refitting and by the look of the cylinders the outsides could do with a lick of paint too. Pedal box out too which gave more room for working.











The wiring loom proved tricky and I have spent the best part of a week just working through the wires, splitting them up and writing circuit diagrams for such things like the hazard and indicators, what are they all about !! Anyway I finished today and stripped the rest out.






There were plenty of corroded terminals and wires so a partial re wire is the only way forward.



Hazard unit is a typical point in case.

The ignition loom is in pretty good condition so will just clean up and re-sleeve with new terminals where required. The lighting, indicators, rear window, foglights, etc etc will all go on new fuses with the appropriate live or ignition switched live feeds. Thats the plan anyway.

I have 4 days left before I go back to work and hope to pretty much strip the engine, fuel lines, and anything not bolted onto the subframes. I also have some disc brakes to pick up tomorrow !!!

Nearly at the exciting stage of bodywork, the next scary item !!

more soon,

Graham

Edited by grahama, 01 June 2010 - 08:32 PM.

[grahama]

Hi all,

done some more both on and off the car over the last few days.

In the car I have been removing the engine ancillary equipment like altenator, coil etc ready for the big engine out



It gave me a good chance to see other problem areas just before the shell repairs start and another hole under the petrol tank appeared
, not too big a problem, but with the purchace of a welder loming I am stating to get a bit worried about it all.



I released the subframe mounts on the rear and that is now free apart from the battery cable and started on the front mounts but struggled to find them all for a start. Then I couldn't get the battery cable released and so left it for another day when Matt is able to give me a hand. Letting him off for now whilst his exams are on.

Took this next picture for your opinion



Too far gone??

As I couldn't get under the car on my own, (note to self, don't do a rebuild with the car burried in gravel !!), I decided to clean up my fleabay purchace, an 8.4" disc set up I got for £50. It came complete with driveshafts caked in grease and dirt.



Calipers came off pretty easily but the castle nuts and swivel hub nuts were stuck on really tight and with the bearings spinning round, as they do, I couldn't get a socket to undo them so out the grinder came...





As you can see there is not much left of the nuts but the threads came off pretty much unscathed and ready for the rebuild. I cleaned them up as I went and ended up with this little lot.



Only the discs and the caliper retaining clips were not worth keeping as too corroded



So will need a few nuts and ball joint kits and some new discs, not bad really for £50. I just need to get the bearings out of the hubs when I come to refit .


Hopefully engine out next but back to work this week so latter end of the week.

Graham

Edited by grahama, 06 June 2010 - 02:38 PM.