853 replies to this topic

[Mini 360]

Just read from start to finish. Great job. Hopefully see u at a thistle run in the not too distant future

Good effort reading all that! 

 

Thanks, hopefully it sees TR 2017 but who knows

[blueovalcraig]

I hope I manage to do mine this year and be ready for next season. I've never even driven mine yet

[Archived4]

You getting a central oil pickup for the sake of £3x quid? Well worth it!

[Mini 360]

I hope I manage to do mine this year and be ready for next season. I've never even driven mine yet

It will be worth all the effort when you get it back on the road.  Trust me on that one!

 

You getting a central oil pickup for the sake of £3x quid? Well worth it!

See my whiteboard shopping list! :)

[Mini 360]

Well there has been no update since the last post other than disconnecting everything from the engine bay and removing the ancillaries.  Delay was due to waiting for birthday monies which meant I could buy myself a powdercoating kit.  It arrived the other day and had a quick bash at it.  Quick lessons learned are I need to use more powder to even out the finish and get the oven installed so it gets cured more evenly and for longer (used a heat gun on this as a test as I I'm impatient and couldn't wait to use the kit )

 

Test part is this carburetor heat shield with integrated throttle cable bracket.  Sandwiches between the intake manifold and the carb.  

 

 

Super simple to use though and with it going from rusty part, to cooled coated part ready to fit in under an hour, its a massive time saver over paint.  Currently stripping the coating off now so I can redo when the oven is installed.

[DaveJH]

Just caught back up with this. Love the sand blaster and powercoating setup - very jealous! Wish I had a garage to slowly sort all my mini's problems out in. My engine just came out (at the garage $$$) as the gearbox appears to have blown itself to pieces. Wonder what specifically went on mine...

 

I look forward to seeing an immaculate engine bay before long!

Edited by DaveJH, 08 August 2016 - 06:14 PM.

[Mini 360]

Just caught back up with this. Love the sand blaster and powercoating setup - very jealous! Wish I had a garage to slowly sort all my mini's problems out in. My engine just came out (at the garage $$$) as the gearbox appears to have blown itself to pieces. Wonder what specifically went on mine...

 

I look forward to seeing an immaculate engine bay before long!

Thanks!  Its great having the cabinet and now the coating setup as well.  Oven is getting installed on Friday night so I can get our old one to play with in the garage now!  Already got a set of 13" sportspack wheels for a friend needing done

[Mini 360]

Well due to a spur of the moment purchase at a fair price, I now own these....

 

7&8x13 Mad-Ins in Mini fitment. Freshly refurbished by Mike the Polisher with new tyres hardware throughout. Wanted splits for ages but didn't want to go down the usual route of fitting Force Racings like most seem to do. Should arrive next week but will be hidden away for a while.  Not convinced I like the black centre details so I may blast and coat them silver to match the bonnet stripes/roof but we shall see :)

 

 

 

 

Fitted to previous owners car...

 

[Mini 360]

Got stuck into powder coating some stuff for this over the weekend.

 

Started by redoing the carb bracket.  Using the oven makes a huge difference to the final finish.  Much smoother and more uniform.

 

Everything outgassing.

 

 

Carb bracket

 

 

Its only as smooth as the part underneath.  Should really have smoothed this inlet manifold out a bit but still looks smart and you don't see it in its final position.

 

 

 

Engine steady

 

 

 

Blasted the adjustable lower arms/tie bars ages ago so they rusted up again.  

 

 

Blasted clean again

 

 

Outgassed and masked. Heres a shot of the detail on one of the arms.

 

 

and some after shots 

 

 

Really happy with the final finish on everything.  Nice and uniform throughout.  

 

 

As I say, the final finish depends on the metal underneath, hence this smooth faced engine breather came out pretty good!

 

 

Wheels should arrive either tomorrow or tuesday.  Cant wait to see them in the metal 

[Steve220]

Great work with the powdercoating!

[1984mini25]

With the powdercoating, to get the best finish pre-heat the parts first before spraying them, then obviously bake them after to melt the plastic powder. You can also get powdercoat primers witch can be sanded once baked, and clears if you want even more protection and shine.

[Mini 360]

With the powdercoating, to get the best finish pre-heat the parts first before spraying them, then obviously bake them after to melt the plastic powder. You can also get powdercoat primers witch can be sanded once baked, and clears if you want even more protection and shine.

Got some small quantities of clear gloss for parts that will be on show all the time.  Running gear Im keeping to just gloss black.  Im degreasing it whilst still hot from the out gassing so it seems to work pretty well.

Edited by Mini 360, 14 August 2016 - 08:29 PM.

[Mini 360]

Great work with the powdercoating!

Thanks!  Its ace being able to do it at home.

[Mini 360]

Well I have been told by my fiance (as of Saturday! ) that this needs to be on the road for our wedding as one of the wedding cars.  Now that is what I call motivation!

Edited by Mini 360, 15 August 2016 - 08:24 AM.

[Mini 360]

Wheels arrived! Happy with them would be an understatement.  Lower offset than the previous wheels so they tuck in a bit more than before (even with 8's on the back) but they look great!  Note, the suspension hasn't settled in the pics, hence the massive arch gaps

 

Got them fitted since it was a fine night.  Been in contact with a couple of engineering places to sort the 4x100 to 4x101.6 PCD issue and even KAD to make up billet alloy hubs in both PCDs so I can pick and choose in future.

 

 

Old vs new

 

 

Bit of stretch on the 8's

 

 

 

 

Paint looks remarkably good on the car even after years in storage

 

 

 

Front tuck

 

 

Rear tuck

 

 

Tucked away inside again.