236 replies to this topic

[sherly]

Finally........after 3 weeks of waiting my fuel pressure regulator has turned up. After chasing the company I bought it from 3 times personally I think I had been forgotten about (the last conversation with them was......"it'll be with you tomorrow" - in other words "I've forgotten about this and I've just posted it with next day delivery")

 

Anyways......it means I can get the car running properly now.....just need to adjust the tracking, fit the passenger seat, stick in some interior carpet and she's ready for the dreaded, long overdue MOT.  

 

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•  malpassi.jpg   39.35K   8 downloads

[sherly]

Bit of a change of direction on the Mini recently - when trying to fit my oil-cooler.  I've decided to junk the front mounted rad and go for the standard side-mount setup, with the addition of an aux cooling fan. Just no space to work, no space to change the oil filter, no space to fit the oil cooler or an intercooler if I go that route with a front mount rad.

 

Unfortunately all the side-mount rad bits were in storage up in my workshop in Norfolk - hence an afternoon off work for a 200 mile round trip up to Norfolk to collect the bits.

 

Bit of a tough decision (felt like it was 2 steps backwards) but after a marathon spannering session on Saturday the rad is in and the oil cooler is now mounted in the lower grille position.

 

Had the car up on the ramps last night to have a good look over it prior to booking the MOT - surprised to see the "new" exhaust mounting rubbers (that I mounted 5 years ago) have perished through, with zero miles of use!  Just goes to show cars don't like to be standing idle. Anyways - 99% there - just need to fabricate a few brackets for bits under the bonnet (air filter, ignition module etc) and she'll be ready.

 

 

Attached Files

•  1275 underside fisheye copy.jpg   455.79K   92 downloads
•  1275 underside engine.jpg   427.29K   80 downloads
•  1275 interior fisheye.jpg   40.2K   59 downloads

[domdee]

lovely build buddy!

[sherly]

lovely build buddy!

 

Cheers matey - there are quite a few things I would do differently if I tackled another rebuild and there are plenty of things that I feel unhappy with quality-wise but priority now is to get a ticket on it and then gradually "pretty it up" and make it exactly how I want it.  

 

But most importantly I'm looking forward to driving it again!

[domdee]

its all a learning curve! and as they say, rome wasnt built in a day!

[jamesmpi]

Lucky bugger having a 2 post lifter. Could do with one of them!

[domdee]

whats the plan with the roof then? new webaso?

(sorry if its already been mentioned, im more of a picture man)

[sherly]

Lucky bugger having a 2 post lifter. Could do with one of them!

 

I've been really fortunate with the mini - I started the resto when I lived in Norfolk.  I then moved to Essex but kept the car in the workshop in Norfolk - which didn't help progress. My mate Bern took pity on me and offered a workshop space close to my house for a few months to get it finished - in which he has a 2-post ramp! Which is just the best thing to work on......

 

whats the plan with the roof then? new webaso?

(sorry if its already been mentioned, im more of a picture man)

 

I'm boxing up the old knackered Webasto and sending it to RS Coachbuilts in Blackheath who are hopefully going to renovate it for me.  It's really goosed though - even the internal metal plates have corroded really badly.  It's not going to be particularly cheap but I don't have a lot of options.......

Edited by sherly, 11 July 2013 - 01:08 PM.

[JacckKirk]

Looks great cant wait for my 1275gt to be on the road

[skoughi]

Interested to read that you've ditched the metro rad. I've fitted one to my clubman and have altered the front panel so that it fits tight behind the grill. I haven't refitted the engine back in yet to see what the available space is like and how to rig up the pipework, I wasn't going to fit an oil cooler so that may help things and haven't decided on what fan to use either. Is it so tight that it makes service work impossible?

[998kid]

Lovely thread mate

Hopefully see you on the road soon considering you're only round the corner to me!

[sherly]

Interested to read that you've ditched the metro rad. I've fitted one to my clubman and have altered the front panel so that it fits tight behind the grill. I haven't refitted the engine back in yet to see what the available space is like and how to rig up the pipework, I wasn't going to fit an oil cooler so that may help things and haven't decided on what fan to use either. Is it so tight that it makes service work impossible?

 

It just felt like too much of a compromise - especially when fitting the oil cooler.  Don't get me wrong - I think it works (and a lot of people have done it) but the cooler kit I had meant that, with the pipes supplied, I had to fit it low down in the front valence and the pipes would've fouled the rad.  It does make access to the dizzy/oil filter tricky too.....

 

At the end of the day I just want it on the road and to get this set-up to fit/work correctly would've meant a lot more work. As it turns out I had a marathon spannering session last Saturday to fit the std rad setup and have progressed the car to the point where I'm MOTing next week.  If I'd stuck with the Metro rad I'd be messing around with that for a few more weeks I reckon.

 

Any ideas what pipework you're going to use?  As for a fan I initially fitted one from a Yamaha R1 bike - it was quite small but it really shifted some air. Not that I actually tested it on the roads and in traffic.....

 

Lovely thread mate

Hopefully see you on the road soon considering you're only round the corner to me!

 

Looking forward to meeting up with local Mini owners when I get it on the road. Do you go to many shows/meets?

[skoughi]

I'm hoping to get the front sub fitted and trial fit the engine in for a few various jobs so I'll see for myself what its going to be like. As for the pipe work I was thinking about getting a water pump from a metro, I'm presuming that it has a larger outlet that matches the diameter of the rad inlets and outlets then see if I can get a set of metro pipes and rejig them to suit. Or alter the mini pipes with various lengths of stainless or copper straight pipes with reducers to make it fit together. As for a fan I'm not sure, I could look into what you've tried with a bike fan and should be able to pick something up locally. Thinking to wire it in directly through a switch instead of a temp sender to keep things simple.

[sherly]

I'm hoping to get the front sub fitted and trial fit the engine in for a few various jobs so I'll see for myself what its going to be like. As for the pipe work I was thinking about getting a water pump from a metro, I'm presuming that it has a larger outlet that matches the diameter of the rad inlets and outlets then see if I can get a set of metro pipes and rejig them to suit. Or alter the mini pipes with various lengths of stainless or copper straight pipes with reducers to make it fit together. As for a fan I'm not sure, I could look into what you've tried with a bike fan and should be able to pick something up locally. Thinking to wire it in directly through a switch instead of a temp sender to keep things simple.

 

I managed to rob most of the bits off an old metro, all hoses/metal pipes/rad (although I bought a new one once I'd made up the brackets), header tank etc. I used an MPI t'stat housing with the holes drilled oversize and rotated by 120 degrees to get a nice pipe run onto the top rad hose,  I reckon given more time it'd be a nice system - especially if I junk the dizzy in favour of an ECU/megajolt type setup.

 

Best to run a temp switch I reckon - you can always wire in a dash-mounted override switch for peace of mind.  The metro rad has a sensor hole anyway and for the sake of a bit of wiring and a relay you'll know that the rad will always cut in at 92deg (I think - around that figure).  The side mount rad I chose was off a later mini with a sensor hole at the bottom for this very reason (and wiring it in is my job for saturday!)

Edited by sherly, 12 July 2013 - 12:13 PM.

[sherly]

Another long day of spannering on the Mini culminating in a cheeky spin up and down the road as a bit of a shakedown.  She's overheating (need to check I've put the fan on the right way round - seems to be a common mistake!) and the brakes feel crap (although I'm not sure if that's 'because I'm comparing them to my (relatively modern) servo'd brakes on the BMW.

 

Resprayed the grille, new GT badge, sorted out the breather system and sorted out a dodgy door handle that wouldn't function.

 

Anyway another couple of evenings work and I reckon we'll be ready for the dreaded MOT.

 

It felt awesome to be driving her again........it's been waaay too long. :)

Attached Files

•  clubby2.jpg   71.46K   23 downloads
•  clubby1.jpg   67.26K   45 downloads

Edited by sherly, 15 July 2013 - 04:45 PM.