26 replies to this topic

[M_Brown_Mini]

Been ages since ive posted on the project.
Been really busy lately at work so i dont have as much time as id like to work on the car, but need the money to pay for the car so i cant complain.

Anyway, not had much progress recently, main jobs done were the repaint of the grill and some tempory repairs to the doors. with winter coming i thought it would be a good idea to fill the holes in the door, at least until i can get my replacement doors painted and fitted.




BEFORE

Both doors were rusted out but the passenger side was by far the worse.



AFTER






Few other bits ive made at work on the CNC mill.
Some new interior door handles and bosses.
Pictures dont show full detail and theyre not quite finished in the photos but you get the idea.



Ive had a few problems with the car in the last month or so.
About a month ago my steering arm bolts on the drivers side sheared while driving, made the car very awkward to handle, and a couple of weeks ago my diff blew while driving.
I was coming up to a roundabout when my steering locked up, managed to stop just short of the centre of the roundabout. Got the steering freed up and pulled into a car park just off the roundabout, as i pulled in i lost all drive.
Gearbox off a couple of days later to find the pinion gears shattered, not happy after that.
Oh well, all is now fixed and the car is back to working order.

Got some big plans for the car when i get the money and the insurance goes down a bit.
Watch this space, theyre will hopefully be big progress soon.

[M_Brown_Mini]

So the cars still running after having the diff replaced, engine is getting a bit tired but luckily i now have a spare.





Bought off ebay a couple of weeks ago.
Its a 998 with +0.020 flat top pistons, mg metro cam, and 3.65:1 FD. Wasnt mentioned in the listing but i have discovered that it also has a 12G202 head on it.
Not too bad really, didnt cost much either.
The engine was rebuilt about 10-15 years ago but was never used, so is basically brand new.
Plan is to get it running in the car for a little bit and then add a turbo a bit further down the line.

Hopefully this will go in the car soon, along with a new front subframe and new disks to replace the drum brakes it currently has, this will also mean going to 13's.

Some other bits ive made at work recently...

Finished off the internal door handles and bead blasted them off...


...made a new grill badge to bolt onto the clubman grille, just need to make an insert piece for the centre now...


...and made some new rear light clusters. I really like the bullet shaped lights used as front indicators on round nose minis and wanted to swap the rear lights on my estate with some of these. Bought the lights at L2B earlier this year but havent got round to making the back plates until now.
I'm thinking of pollishing the back plates to make them really shine and stand out from the body.



These bolt into the original bolt holes on the body, no need to drill any holes so i can swap back if i feel like it.

Thats all for now.

Edited by M_Brown_Mini, 11 November 2012 - 05:52 PM.

[leaky]

Great project! I do love an estate. I think finding some clubby side light/indicator units for the front would improve it big time. The metro ones in their no just look so big IMO.

[M_Brown_Mini]

Great project! I do love an estate. I think finding some clubby side light/indicator units for the front would improve it big time. The metro ones in their no just look so big IMO.

Yeah I agree, i'm not keen on the metro ones either, too big and square.
What i really want is to get rid of the front side light/ indicators, having the side lights in the headlamps and then just some small indicators mounted flush with the body.

[leaky]

I have some small indercators that would fit flush in the body. I'll sort out a pic and you can have them if you think their be any use to use.

[M_Brown_Mini]

I have some small indercators that would fit flush in the body. I'll sort out a pic and you can have them if you think their be any use to use.

Thanks, sounds good.
I'll let you know.

[rally515]

Brilliant clubby m brown also i wish i had access to a cnc .
Think your clubby would look better staying on 10s in my opinion 10s are cooooool....
Whats gonna be the badge logo thingy on the plate ?
Also might look nice if ya get some nice bright L.E.D conversion lights unsure on price or were to get them though
plus its a bit safer.

[M_Brown_Mini]

Brilliant clubby m brown also i wish i had access to a cnc .
Think your clubby would look better staying on 10s in my opinion 10s are cooooool....
Whats gonna be the badge logo thingy on the plate ?
Also might look nice if ya get some nice bright L.E.D conversion lights unsure on price or were to get them though
plus its a bit safer.

Thanks.
Would like to stay on 10's but want to upgrade to disks and i dont want to have to use the 7.5" disks.
Havent decided what im gunna put on the badge yet.
LED lights would look good, but i really like the look of the bullet shaped lights, might have to see if i can get some LED bulbs to go in them.

[rally515]

fair does on the brakes

Bur im sure i remember the led lights were a sort of insert plate thing which had the leds inside & they were for indicator type assemblys (bullet type)so would work without changing the looks.

Edited by rally515, 16 November 2012 - 08:55 PM.

[rally515]

Just found the type of the i mean on ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item58923e37ec

But the ones i saw were on a speacialist site.

Clifford

[M_Brown_Mini]

Just found the type of the i mean on ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item58923e37ec

But the ones i saw were on a speacialist site.

Clifford

Would be awesome but unfortunately i dont think they will work, the brake lights have two different brightness levels, for brake lights and when the headlights are on as well, however these will only have one brighness level for indicators. Shame as they would look great.

[M_Brown_Mini]

Cant believe i havent posted in nearly two months now, i really need to start making more progress on the car.
Anyway, the new engine is in...
The tired old 1098 gave up a week before christmas, so the car now has the rebuilt 998 pictured above.
Now that the engine is run in its amazing how much nicer it is to drive, so much smoother and feels so much more powerful, hoping to have it rolling roaded soon to get the set up just right.

Not much other progress really, hopefully the car will be coming off the road sometime soon for a rebuild, but i need to get my other mini on the road before this can happen, so i suspect im going to be very busy in the next couple of months.

Have aquired some new parts however, just after the new engine was fitted, i managed to find a decent condition GT17 turbo, hoping to make a set of manifolds similar to the Mirage set up so that i dont have to cut the bulkhead.

More posts soon.