195 replies to this topic

[BusheyTrader]

There's some progress on the new garage but it will be some months before the bodyshell will be back.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 01 June 2015 - 08:31 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

On to the front upper arms. This bad boy had to have one of the swivel pins cut off with an angle grinder. The taper had rusted solid despite several extreme attempts to dislodge it. I also had to cut through the support shaft at both ends otherwise the upper arm wouldn't have come off the subframe. As you can see the shaft, bearings and arm had fused together in to one rusty mess with the shaft well off centre. It wasn't shifting for anything.



So it's off to Minispares to buy a new upper arm and fittings.

The other upper arm's support shaft had come out relatively easily and next step was to renew the roller bearings. After advice from the forum, I welded a M10 bolt to the inside of the bearings, placed an oversize socket over the bolt and with a M10 nut tightened up removed the bearing. It was almost as good a feeling as removing the subframe studs with welded on wing nuts.

Socket over the bolt awaiting tightening.



Bearing partially removed.



Bearing totally removed



I'll clean up the upper arm, fit new bearings and hopefully the new hubs will be on the subframe soon.

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 01 June 2015 - 09:27 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

I cleaned up the recycled upper arm inside and out using a degreaser. The old grease inside was dark brown but at least it kept the rust at bay, unlike the other arm. Just for fun the old grease nipple snapped off when I'd tried to remove it. The old grease was keeping it together I drilled through the remainder to accept a screw extractor, then pressed in the new bearings.



Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 04 June 2015 - 09:00 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

As per Storm's advice at the Arches several months ago, it's not worth trying to refurbish the rear radius arms when MiniSpares offer their exchange items.

To be fit for exchange, the radius arm and clevis pins must be out but the stub axle stays in.

The radius arm pins came out easy enough although the grease was almost solid. The clevis pins had rusted firm into the arms so after soaking both ends in WD40 I ground one end of the pin flush with the radius arm. Then with a drift I pounded the pin through the arm. If I hadn't have ground it flush the top of the pin would have spread out making the job harder. (It took a lot of pounding)

Radius arm and clevis pin almost out


Rusty clevis pin and quadrant finally out.


Boxed exchange item from MiniSpares. I'm collecting far too many of their carrier bags.........


Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 16 June 2015 - 01:40 PM.

[BusheyTrader]

Well I've got the upper arms fully assembled on to the front subframe. I was worried that there was too much clearance between the arm and the thrust collars. However, I'm yet to fully torque up the nuts on the shaft so hopefully this will disappear when tightened down. Advice from the forum supports this. Grease gets everywhere when the items come together in the subframe, a messy job. Photo to follow.

The rear drums were coated in a molten brake fluid / brake lining mess. They're now clean after a degreaser bath and show almost no signs of wear. Spike had over 80,000 miles on the clock so were probably changed late in his life. The rear cylinders are in the bin. The rusty rear back plates might be salvageable and are in a bucket of Deox-C after wire brushing with an angle grinder.

Adam

[BusheyTrader]

Front subframe with upper and lower arms and hubs fitted. They will be fully torqued up when the full weight of the car is on the ground, whenever that is. It feels like some sort of progress whilst the bodyshell is away.

[Zeemax Adventure]

Nice progress :) have you just coated the subframes in normal 2 pack paint?  Im undecided how to do mine but want an almost factory finish.

[BusheyTrader]

Hi, I used this flag paint from the local toolstation. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p41039

As I'm working in a cramped and full to the brim shed, the subframe has been moved around a few times and picked up a few chips. It's pretty heavy with the hubs and calipers fitted. If it had been fitted straight to the car it probably wouldn't have. IMHO I think the paint's a bit brittle on the edges. I'll have to touch up the subframe before fitting.

This paint dried to a high gloss. The old original paint hidden under trunnions etc was closer to matt.

Hope this helps,

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 27 June 2015 - 11:56 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

I cleaned up and de rusted the rear back plates. The adjusters wouldn't budge and resisted heat, WD40 and Plugas.



New backplates were fitted on to the recon radius arms. Proper Timken bearings are now in the hubs, also on the radius arms.

[BusheyTrader]

Timkens fully greased up and fitted in hubs and on the radius arms.



Hopefully fitted on to rear subframe in the next few days.

[BusheyTrader]

Front and rear subframes are now built up with suspension, brakes and brake lines and are away in the shed awaiting return of the bodyshell.

The brake master cylinder has wear marks and slight scoring inside it so a new one will have to be bought.

The brake servo has surface corrosion on the outside. Rebuild kits are widely available but I haven't found any article on how to strip it for inspection. I don't fancy spending over £50 on a kit if it can't be rebuilt. The Haynes manual doesn't cover it.

Scored master cylinder shaft



Servo that maybe can be saved.

[jagman.2003]

Just started a 92 mini myself so this thread has been very useful for reference as the models are very similar.

Keep up the good work!

[BusheyTrader]

Thanks Jagman. If I can reach half the standard of your rebuild I'll be happy.

The servo bracket's lower parts were fairly rusty




A clean up with the wire brush in an angle grinder followed by a soaking in Deox C cleared it back to clean metal. Its fairly pitted in places that won't be seen. A zinc primer followed by a coats of black and it's looking decent again.



Where the outside of the servo casing seals against the master cylinder its looking really pitted. An O ring is supposed to keep the seal between them. The brakes are looking at some serious future use. I'm thinking I may have to replace rather than rebuild the servo. If so I'll have replaced almost every part of the braking system bar the pedal by the time I've finished......

Adam

Edited by BusheyTrader, 01 August 2015 - 11:55 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

It's been several months but the extension is finished and Spike is back.



its been stored in my parents' damp and leaky garage and I was expecting some surface rust but all looks good so far. Hopefully I can crack on with some work this summer. Building work, decorating, work and life in general have all got in the way since I started.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 22 February 2016 - 10:47 AM.

[BusheyTrader]

There are 2 sheared bolts in the shock absorber mounting stiffeners (I think that's what their called). There's one on each side in the top stiffener. The stiffeners look like a piece of drilled and tapped 6mm bar spot welded to the inner wing to take the shock absorber bracket. They're not budging so I'm going to drill them out and weld a nut behind them to take longer bolts.

Edited by BusheyTrader, 22 February 2016 - 10:57 AM.