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[1984mini25]

Checked it earlier today now it's cooled down and sat overnight, no leaks from the water pump, radiator and hoses the bottom radiator hose being the usual pita in the past, and the coolant level hasn't dropped.

That was until I looked inside. The heater valve and hoses on the heater (top one) are still proving to be a pain.

I've gone through several new jubilee clips, but I'm still having issues with the top one on the heater (the bottom one maybe?). I've moved the clamp on the hose slightly and retightened it. If it's the hoses it's not getting done anytime soon and to replace that short section the heater needs dropping out. Annoying as all the hose connections with the blue connectors pretty much seal without really needing the clips, the heater valve and the new matrix however.

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What's that heater valve? And where is it exactly? It looks like it's on the side of the heater maybe? Daz.

It's a car builders solutions universal 5/8" inline heater valve, fitted to the right of the steering column inline in the heater hose. As I haven't been able to find if the current batch of head mounted mini heater valves don't explode, which has been an ongoing issue for the last 10 years with the replacements.

Interesting, do you operate that manually at the valve then? Or is there a cable I can't see?

I operate it manually. It's 90 degrees for on and off, so I tend to just leave it somewhere in the middle and if it gets too hot I open a window. I did also change the knob to one meant for a guitar/amplifier as I found it fitted and I thought it looked nicer/easier to use up under the dash.

I have still kept the original heater cable (also because it holds the switch panel) and just cable tied it to the heater hose in the engine bay, so if at any point I do find a head mounted heater valve I can swap back to the original setup.

[1984mini25]

I had a few hours in the garage this morning. Managed to drag the other engine out from under the shelving where it's been sat since 2017, drain the oil (that didn't look all that bad considering it's probably 16 years old and was used for running in) removed engine from gearbox and given it a quick clean and flush all the crap that's collected at the bottom.

The rest of that engine is up for grabs if someone makes me an offer for it. It's a rebuilt standard 998, all new bearings and rings, pocketed block and fitted with a 1275 mg metro cam and head (the head might need work) and the reason/s why I'm not fitted and using it are, I already mentioned it could do with a head recon, to swap it over would also mean having to swap the whole exhaust system, carb, ignition, flywheel/starter and cooling system changes. Plus I've had enough fun and games renewing the insurance with the standard engine, I don't need further headaches etc.

So the only bit I'm interested in keeping and using is the gearbox that was fully rebuilt and has had very limited use.

I've had a dig in with the inspection camera and found 19/59 on the diff which according to Guessworks makes it a 3.105.

And, from using Guesswork again looking up the 25's engine number (believe to be original) which is 99HA53P it's supposed to have a standard ratio box with 3.105 diff.
So either Guesswork's info is wrong, or the information stating that the mini25 should have a 2.9 diff is wrong. Either way I'm more confident that going from Guessworks info that it's probably correct and I can use this gearbox without having to pull it all apart and swap the final drives over.

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Edited by 1984mini25, 09 May 2026 - 03:56 PM.

[1984mini25]

Another couple of hours stripping down the gearbox (as far as I'm going to go) in order to remove the central oil pick up and continuing to flush out the crap collected on the bottom. Just as well, as this is what was stuck to the bottom of the pick up. Now I've also never really had a issue with the standard oil pick up setup, so this is now up for sale along with the other engine and I'll swap over once the other box is out. 

 

Also the dif defiantly has 19/59 stamped, so assuming the engine number code is correct, I'll also assume (i'll check) that the speedo drive with also be the same ones. 

 

 

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