49 replies to this topic

[Sisco]

Thanks for the comments.. Although you have me thinking about the head gasket now.

I did all the engine stuff in a weekend so i placed the head gasket on, took a photo and popped inside to get the head.. Didnt really think anymore. The gasket didnt seem to go over the cylinder.. I would have thght it would be obviously undersized (or maybe it was)

Guess I best reserve another weekend to get it swapped over. will it do it any harm running the engine with the 998 gasket?

Edited by Sisco, 26 August 2012 - 08:43 PM.

[ThePastRecedes]

Hey, your mike arn't you?

This your car I just put it up so I could easily send family and friends a link when the ask about my(your) mini.

I'm glad you're doing all this work to this mini, it's good it's in good hands!

about the subs you you were wanting to putting them; I was planning to put something along these lines. They fit under the front seats so they don't take up any other room in the car. Just measure to make sure they would fit, I think these were the ones. http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B002U0RSZ8

I was planning to do lots of things to this car but I hope you have just as much enjoyment out of it.

Mini's in Canada seem to go for $15000+ and you can't really get cheap runners because they stopped importing them in 1978 and the salt on the roads rust them.

I've seen this locally and I'm tempted to buy it but it's $450 - £ 290

[Sisco]

Hey yeah I am.

Its been nice to have saved work on the shell and painting. Its a pretty tidy mini and many of the things that annoyed my on my previous ones i've owned have been sorted. Doors are solid which makes a nice change too!

Thanks for uploading it and its nice that i can add my bits to have the complete story in once place and you can also follow it. Good luck with the mini you've found. At least my one was a good learning/testing ground for you. It looks like it needs more work but i'm sure you can do it. I found out the engine in mine is a 1989 metro engine, maybe a metro is easier to source if your new one don't come with an engine.

P.s. don't forget to fit the original narrow sills to your new one as i am worried that the wide ones (oversills) are destroying your lovely work on the floor and inner sills.

Edited by Sisco, 20 August 2012 - 08:40 PM.

[Sisco]

Job one complete



Guide here http://www.theminifo...al-with-photos/

and parts for the 2nd head refurbishment. Got a couple of extra bits too whilst I was ordering

[Sisco]

I have redone the engine, this time with the right gasket.

As this is the second time i've done this I did the following:

Re-lapped valves
Fitted MPI valve seals (the good quality versions)
Removed and replaced all manifold studs
Fitted new gold manifold studs
Fitted new head gasket
New exhaust gasket
New rocker gasket
New rocker cover t-bar grommets
Tightened spring on carb
Topped up dash pot
Adjusted accelerator cable
Fitted oil pressure pipe (but not connected to engine)

I did fit a cable for the oil gauge but the T-peice adaptor just stripped when trying to put it in.. not sure if the hole need re-tapping so I put the old oil sensor back in.

Here are some photos.. gasket looks obvious now.

Now the engine is running better than ever and no smoke on start-up! :)

Edited by Sisco, 20 August 2012 - 08:47 PM.

[Roach]

It looks like you've done a good job, and when it runs better then before you feel pretty good about it!

[Sisco]

Thanks.. Yeah it was really satisfying when i took it for a drive. I can't believe how it was running before now, the biggest difference was tightening the spring on the carb.

Before it never idled consistantly but now the mechanism always goes back up to the same position where it presses against the body of the carb like it should.

Nice to have it running well before stanford hall and minifest :)

Edited by Sisco, 05 September 2012 - 09:16 PM.

[Sisco]

This weekend I added sound insulation in the form of flashtape, rear carpet underlay (turned out to be good quality) and to top it off nice new set of velour mats. It's much quieter, comfier and better looking although will get some Silent Coat or Dynamat for the bulkhead and bonnet as I think this is the loudest part.

I also:

plugged in the oil gauge, wired volt gauge and temp gauge

Tightened alternator as washer on it was too small and was slipping (noticed after I fitted volt gauge)

Adjusted the bent part on the underside of the radiator cap as the cap was very loose. nice tight fit again now.

Bought an up-rated bottom engine mount and gearbox bracket but didn't get round to it as I headed to a car show instead..

Overall not a bad weekend. Here are some photos of the insulation and car show:



Plenty of layers on top of the flash tape to reduce the noise..



Back Seat..



And then.. onto the show!

Edited by Sisco, 26 August 2012 - 08:42 PM.

[ThePastRecedes]

Looking good!

[Sisco]

Thanks!

Last weekend I was at Uttoxeter's Mini Fest.

Bought a Boot Liner to tidy up the boot (although still full of emergency supplies)



And then a Centre Console..





My plan is to move the cd player (or a new one) to the centre console with the 3 clocks above it (all working now - Temp Gauge, Oil Pressure Gauge and Voltmeter.) I also plan to put some speakers in pods up front with tweeters in the dash liner. Here is a photoshop of my plan.

Think it will look tidier and speakers should be better up front, I will take the parcel shelf ones out and replace with a solid parcel shelf to reduce noise from the exhaust a little.



Also spend the whole of Minifest looking for a rear seat to match.. found some with the pattern but brown and green only. Was fed up.. then went on ebay to find a full set going for £30 only listed a few hours ago so BUY IT NOW, BUY IT NOW, BUY IT NOW (I've been searching for a matching back seat for 2 months solid). Went to pick them up last night.. a 3 hour roadtrip after work.

Here is a pic of them.. the front seats are better condition than my already nearly perfect ones. They looks like they are out of the factory. Leather is immaculate and foams are like new, don't even feel like they've been sat on. Photos don't really do them justice but will get some better photos up of them in the car at the weekend.





I am a happy man and slept well last night.. knowing my search is over!

Edited by Sisco, 05 September 2012 - 09:14 PM.

[Sisco]

And here's one from the show.. (forgot to mention the new front badge)



Next stop Stanford Hall Mini Show!!

[sonikk4]

Ok what happened to the rear bulkhead. That was and still is severely deformed so that really needs looking at. Sorry not trying to diss your car but something has given that a serious clout.

[Sisco]

No problem. If you look on page 1 it was bought from a scrap yard and had rear damage. All of the rear has been replaced including rear valance, boot floor etc as per photos and it has been inspected to be put back on the road.

The only panel that still has some damage is the rear bulkhead. This doesn't bother me too much as it is covered by the seat and rear boot kit. Depending on how long I have the car I may replace it but as its not concours it doesn't seem worthing bothering about and it will stay like it is for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for pointing it out, if I didn't know about it then it would be good to be made aware.

Edited by Sisco, 05 September 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[Jasonc]

Looking really good, nice to see a mini continue on from one owner to the next.

[sonikk4]

No problem. If you look on page 1 it was bought from a scrap yard and had rear damage. All of the rear has been replaced including rear valance, boot floor etc as per photos and it has been inspected to be put back on the road.

The only panel that still has some damage is the rear bulkhead. This doesn't bother me too much as it is covered by the seat and rear boot kit. Depending on how long I have the car I may replace it but as its not concours it doesn't seem worthing bothering about and it will stay like it is for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for pointing it out, if I didn't know about it then it would be good to be made aware.

The one thing you do need to check on the bulkhead is the seat belt attachment points. If any of the spot welds that attach the the bulkhead to the seat pan have torn then god forbid in the event of a crash the bulkhead will detach along with any passengers. It does look like there was something in the boot that hit the bulkhead in the crash maybe a loose spare wheel or something.

Again i'm not having a pop at your car just concerned about the damage to important fixings that could create problems later.