297 replies to this topic

[The Otter]

Awesome....What you getting?!!

I shall not reveal much, but the thing going on the roof is a bit underwhelming and I shall be selling it when I get the chance, but the other thing going in the car is more suitable for discussion...

Take from that what you will

[rob963]

Awesome....What you getting?!!

I shall not reveal much, but the thing going on the roof is a bit underwhelming and I shall be selling it when I get the chance, but the other thing going in the car is more suitable for discussion...

Take from that what you will

Haha Saturday is going to be...



interesting is the word.. I think...

[jb93]

Ahhhhhhh the suspense is killing me, and it's not even friday yet!

Edited by jb93, 24 January 2013 - 08:17 AM.

[The Otter]

Well that weekend went by quickly! Saturday was a nice little adventure to pick up those 'big' ebay items, firstly driving through some gorgeous narrow track lanes through the hills in south Wales to get to the sellers house and then the rather cautious drive home! As you could probably guess, I'd bought myself an engine! If that wasn't awkward enough to get home in a Mini, then the auction also included a radius arm, a random box of bits, and more crucially, a partially built up front subframe - hence the need for the roof bars! Rob (rob963), and another mate came with me to give me a hand loading the engine/subframe and to make sure I had someone else on hand if anything went wrong on the way home. I'll tell you more about the haul in a sec, but first, have a few pictures

An excitable Rob, and a front sub frame ratchet strapped to the roof bars (a fiver well spent on those bars I think!):







Then, a headless 1275 strapped in where the passenger seat should be, which incidentally is on the back seat:



So then, about the purchase - suspension wise the subframe had all standard tie-rods, upper arms, and one lower arm, along with trumpets and slightly tired cones. There was also the front brake line (knackered) and a couple of subframe mounts (knackered). Me and Rob spent Saturday stripping it down to a bare subframe and threw away all the knackered bits, with only one bit of angle grinding required to remove the passenger side brake hose union! I'm not going to be keeping the subframe or any of the suspension bits I don't think, so I'll put it all up for sale in the summer probably (first dibs to Rob though, if he's still interested in some bits then ).



I didn't have much time to check out the radius arm, but the pin looked a tad rusty in places...



The box of bits didn't really contain anything noteworthy, clutch/brake return spring, some wheel nuts, some broken bulbs, but mostly brackets and nuts and bolts and washers! The best thing in there was this water temp gauge, but it's not much use to me at the moment and I don't know if it works yet either!



Then of course, we come to the engine



From the initial pictures on ebay, I'd automatically assumed it was pre A+ because the first thing I spied in the photo was a pre-verto clutch arm, but once we got it home and put the engine number in to Guessworks, it turned out that it's actually from an '88 Metro, so is in fact an A+ engine, which I think is also confirmed with the extra ribbing on the block? It must have just been converted to a verto clutch/flywheel at some point in the past. There's been some welding to the diff (?) casing on the back of the engine as well, as you can sort of see on the picture of it in the car. It'll be getting a complete strip-down and light re-build before it goes in the car anyway so I'll have a chance to give everything a once over.

The bores look good, with no lip at the top at all, but they will need a hone at least from what I can see, with some light scoring marks running up and down the bores, and it also turns over nice and freely. I must stress here that I'm not an engine expert (yet!) so I'm just going on what I've read on here basically... As I mentioned the bores, this leads on to something rather intriguing - it appears to have metro turbo pistons fitted! I thought I'd put the piston numbers in to google and see what comes up, and the only links were to a couple of people on the turbominis forum asking about them. I don't know for sure yet, but from preliminary research it seems that if I want a sensible compression ratio then I may need to swap them out for a set of more standard pistons with a bit less dish!

I'll hopefully be stripping it down completely at Easter, so there might be a few more posts about it then!

So, on to Sunday and off to Bingley, with an empty wallet and a sudden desire to buy lots of engine bits for the 1275!

First thing's first, a swap with Tamworthbay (who's kindly been dealing with Protech on my behalf) - new leaky shocks for new unleaky shocks:



Then we began our treacherous journey around the wallet emptying autojumble section...

I ended up getting these two items first, I paid £5 for the rocker cover - the pressed rockers I picked up for free off Steely, they are technically 998 rockers, so I'll have to change the spacing on them to line up properly on the 1275.



Then I decided I wanted to switch to the old style front indicator units, so I picked up this lot for £3 (with glass lenses):



Then I kind of went and spent money I shouldn't be spending, on this:







A big valve 12G940, for £70... I'm hoping it was a good enough deal, but we'll see for sure when I strip it apart in Easter!

That was a lot of action crammed in to 24 hours, and I am now in desperate need of sleep!

I shall update again when I put the shocks and indicators on!

Thanks for reading, you did well if you stayed long enough to go through that waffle

Cheers

The Otter

Edited by The Otter, 29 January 2013 - 10:40 PM.

[rob963]

A weekend certainly well spent I think!
It was a very interesting drive.. very nice too

[Hegnirst]

A weekend certainly well spent I think!
It was a very interesting drive.. very nice too

cant believe i had to work today grrrr cant wait for my car to be back on the road :)

[steven]

been busy

[Steely]

I saw plenty of nice reverse rims at Bingley for cheap but I didn't see you come out with any! I think you definately need some for that mini of yours.

[JollyMole]

Hey Otter,

First off, your car is awesome. Seriously, very very nice. The can-job doesn't even look too bad! haha. I've read the full thread and it's kept me entertained (15 or so tyres & wheels in the mini) and given me some handy hints and tips for my work coming up!

I'm currently restoring my '92 Mayfair to be a MK I faker, without going into the ridiculous notions of curving door bottoms etc. I agree with you that you make the car you want to make and drive and not really care about all the "purist" folk that are inevitably going to disagree with what we do to our cars.

I've forked out a fortune on mine and I haven't even modified the engine, I'm going to try and do a fast 998 - 12g295 head, twins HS2's and a kent 276 cam etc as I love the way a 998 is happier and more reliable whilst having itself revved to death. The welding and paintwork is being done by a couple of great lads up in cramlington, one of which used to be a mini production line manager with rover. A LOT of new panels, the only old panels left are: roof, front and rear bulkheads, floor tunnel, rear seat, top of rear quarters. Everything else is being replaced, '92 was a bad year for metal, so it seems.

Unlike you, I'm not going for an IJ look, going to keep the original paint colour of the car - Pearl BRG - and gloss black the roof and Grp2 arches. Finally got my 12x5 Revo's at Bingley yesterday too. :) I am however still thinking that the leather straps may go rather well with my car... We'll see.

I'll be doing a mini mini resto thread on here when she's roadworthy again, I'll be sure to send you a link.

Nice work on doing your own welding too by the way, I bit the bullet and just bankrupt'd myself instead. haha.

All the best,

Craig.

[998kid]

Hi mate

Accidentally stayed up far too late last night because I wanted to read the whole thread. Oops lol

The mini is looking spot on mate. I have a mini30 and I am low on funds however it does need some work being done to it and am scared of 'purists' haha

I'm soon to upgrade my engine and am looking at an over bore with a head upgrade and twins with cone filters. Will keep reading for engine upgrade ideas and progress :)

I also have that IJ bar, I bought it yesterday, fitting it later on today when I get the bolts for it. Love the rattle job. And it looks good! Tempted to do mine in cans now. Wish I had the equipment and balls to do some welding myself on mine but ive never done any and would be too nervous about messing up haha

Anyway. Brilliant job mate, are you going to London to Brighton this year? Very very impressed

Josh

[The Otter]

Wow, some detailed replies there guys!

Steely, I would love some reverse rims some day, but at the moment I really don't want to spend another few hundred on a fourth set of wheels! I've got these steelies, the Wellers and the Mambas to choose from, but I do definitely want some reverse rims some day. In fact, I had some thoughts about making my own Weller reverse rims from a set of Wellers and some normal steel wheels, but that little project is still expensive and probably too time consuming to be done in the near future!

Craig, glad you like the car and that the thread's kept you entertained, I appreciate the kind words! Sounds like you've got some pretty big plans for your car, I look forward to having a read of your project thread one day Sounds like a lovely colour combo too, and Revos are always a good choice.

Josh, again I'm glad that the thread was entertaining enough to read the whole way through haha! As for engine stuff, there should be a lot about engines over this coming easter/summer, as I'm planning on getting the 1275 in a useable state first, and dropping that in whilst I rebuild the 998 over the summer (depending on funds of course...) and then I'm planning to take the 1275 back out at the end of the summer so I can use the 998 for the winter months whilst I'm at uni. We'll see though, I might get too used to the 1275 power and not want to go back, or I might run out of money and not be able to finish the 998

Pretty much the first welding I ever did was for my car, I taught myself everything basically just from trial and error and reading the internet for tips, and spent about an hour practising on bits of scrap before I welded in the Mk1 rear light plates. The savings are unbelievable if you learn to weld yourself, and it's really not that hard if you're fairly technically minded and have good mechanical sympathy - just get the settings right on the welder and move the torch with a steady hand - simples

Yep I am doing the L2B again this year, it's what I look forward to most in the show calendar! I'm planning on giving the car a little bit of a face-lift before the L2B this year, as I'm planning to have my fully adjustable suspension all set up then (mmm, camber...), and I'm going to re-spray the Wellers in a different colour and get them back on when the winter months have passed! I also want to change the grille some time as well, so I might be putting a swaps ad up soon to see if anyone fancies swapping my Morris Cooper grille for an Austin Cooper one!

Thanks for the replies again fellas

I fitted the shocks earlier and lowered the front again seeing as the snow threat is gone for now. It handles so much better now, no more body roll in the bends!



Cheers

The Otter

[998kid]

Hi mate,
Glad your going as I can't wait to see it in person! See the rattle can up close and personal haha ;)
Drop me a pm if you do decide to sell your nodded 998 engine ! Would deffinately buy it!
Did you use standard or lowered shocks on it? Have you got hilos on aswell?
I have hilos and am debating whether to go for standard size shocks or the lowered ones haha
I've got so much planned for my little 30 before Brighton!
I did it last year as the first ever car show after passing my test and it was amazing!
This year though I want my car to stand out and not just be that grubby mini that needs panel work haha

I'm thinking of doing the welding myself, what set up would you recommend? It'll only ever be used on the mini as and when I find rust and need to repair it. I just have no idea what to get and what to look out for :doh:
Cheers mate
Will keep tuned in
Josh

Edited by 998kid, 29 January 2013 - 03:17 AM.

[JackF]

I take much inspiration from this thread. Nice motor
I love the approach to the whole thing, It's a car, it should be used and modified to make it what you want.

[JollyMole]

Otter,

Sounds like a lot of work to be swapping engines every winter! haha. Easier option is have two minis like me, I've got a cooper RSP for the longer journeys and the 998 mayfair is normally for the shorter door-to-door and winter drives. . . Admittedly it's a rather expensive option. haha.

I'd of loved to of done the welding myself but with my hand tremors I don't think I'd get the best straight lines welded together! I also like the feeling of getting it top quality this one time and then keeping it that way as best I ca nin the future.

I wish I was doing L2B but it's a very long journey from up where I am, would be great to see all those mini's together. My club's show gets around 120 mini's at our event. :)

If you want to avoid body roll, have you thought of an IJ style rollcage? Or like me are you constantly ferrying people to the pub? haha.

Craig.

Edited by JollyMole, 29 January 2013 - 08:33 PM.

[The Otter]

Josh, you really don't want to see the rattle can job up close, it's terrible! The whole idea was for it to look good from the other side of the car park

Thanks for the offer on the engine haha, but realistically I've invested too much money in it already to sell it and it's still in desperate need of a rebuild! The gearbox is well worn and the oil pressure when properly warm (after a motorway journey) is now only about 15psi at best - not good!

I'm using lowered shocks, and yes I do have Hi-Los front and rear. There's a few topics on here somewhere about choosing between standard height or lowered shocks, but basically if you want to get the car low and do it safely, then you need lowered shocks, basically just to stop the Hi-Los and cones from becoming loose and potentially dislodging/falling out when the suspension is unloaded.

Always a nice feeling when you can look at your car at a show/run like the L2B and think that it looks at least a little bit different to everyone elses there! If you see my car at the L2B then come over and say hi, chances are I'll be somewhere near by! Do you camp at Crystal Palace or just join the run in the morning?

As for a welder, I use a Clarke 135TE, which many on here will recommend as an ideal welder for doing any welding work on Minis. I also use a Sealey S0825 auto-dimming welding mask/helmet, which makes it a lot easier to get the torch lined up and let's you actually see what you're doing! Other than that, I'd recommend hoarding as many mole grips/welding clamps as you can and you also need a pair of welding gauntlets (only a few quid from machinemart). I will admit it's a rather large initial outlay (£350-£400 or so at least) but it's so worth it in the long run. There's an excellent topic on here that's pinned in the bodywork section, about the tools you need/might find handy when welding - http://www.theminifo...se-for-welding/

JackF, cheers mate, I'm glad that some people appreciate my way of thinking! I'd rather have more fun driving it than looking at it Obviously I do still make a bit of an effort with the bodywork/exterior, but not as much as most people!

Craig, I would love to have a second mini to drive around in for different journeys, but there's no way I can afford that yet! I just keep spending all my money on this one instead I really want a clubby estate some day, but I just keep upgrading this one so I can never save anything up towards an estate! One day though... one day! I won't be swapping engines every winter, it was just a plan for this summer to have the 1275 to use to be able to drive around whilst I re-build the 998. Ultimately, I'd like to keep the 1275 back for another Mini some day, maybe for that elusive Clubby estate I so desire That plan is a good few years away yet though!

Fair enough with the welding mate, unfortunately it's not a skill everyone can have for whatever reasons - and I agree, it would be nice to know that a professional has welded my car together rather than me!

I do quite often have passengers in the back yeah, so I've never really considered an IJ cage, or a real cage for that matter. A rollcage wouldn't really do much for body roll anyhow - if I was being that serious I would get anti-roll bars and set the shocks to max stiffness! But unfortunately we live in a country with terrible road surfaces, so it has to have a degree of softness to it for a daily driver!

The Otter