172 replies to this topic

[MiniCarJack]

After a bit of thinking, I've gone ahead and ordered a new thermostat housing from DSN which will come supplied with a 1/8 NPT threaded adapter on the front rather than the top to avoid bonnet clearance issues, and this housing won't have the lugs for the additional steady as I simply don't have enough room to run it with the twin carbs in the way (along with the heater hoses & fuel line in the same space). I've also decided to run a conventional mechanical plastic fan and will see how I go with that to begin with, but with the thermostatic switch still in place and all the wiring ready to go for the electric fan, I can very easily retrofit it as an auxiliary fan on the other side of the rad if I feel like it's required.

 

On the topic of ordering things, as I've now sold my '91 Mini Neon I decided to splash out a bit, and have just ordered a new exhaust system + stage 2 LCB from Maniflow 

 

I've also acquired a set of pot joint driveshafts for converting to the later gearbox, and should soon have a rod change shifter assembly which I'll be able to fit using the rod change round tunnel conversion bracket from Minispares. With all these bits acquired + on the way, I should now hopefully have all the ingredients I need to get the car back on the road in time for the Goodwood Revival (hopefully!).

[Sprinkler23]

Nice job!

[MiniCarJack]

Getting close now!

 

Last Saturday was spent tidying up the engine bay, and fitting some new parts to the engine to make it work in the Mk1. Included amongst those parts was a nice new mechanical fan...

 

 

And a new DSN thermostat housing and stainless rad bracket...

 

 

With the new thermostat housing, I no longer have the lugs sticking out for the redundant engine steady - DSN also modified the front face with a threaded hole and an adapter specifically for my 1/8 NPT thermostatic switch.

 

 

This makes for a much tidier installation and I won't have to worry about bonnet clearance. After these photos were taken I repainted the original two-piece radiator cowling and bolted it all to the engine with an alloy rad and new hoses, with plenty of care and time taken to ensure nothing was fouling so as to avoid nasty noises etc when I fire up the engine for the first time!

 

Rather naively, I realised after buying & fitting a new push button solenoid that the fancy high-torque starter that came with the engine already has a built in solenoid, so I've now ditched the push button solenoid & bracket and put the coil back in its previous position, which is much neater to be fair.

 

I also paid a bit of attention to the engine bay which has suffered some scrapes and damage from the multitude of engine swaps I've done over the years...

 

 

A bit of time was spent with a sanding block to key the surface followed by some zinc primer...

 

 

The drivers' side inner wing also needed a bit of sorting...

 

 

After a couple of primer coats, some leftover Almond Green cellulose paint from my previous body touchups was sprayed on.

 

 

It was freshly sprayed in this photo so appears very light compared to the existing paint, but it has now darkened slightly to match a bit better. Not perfect by any means, but much better than before.

 

After this I attempted to clean up and respray the master cylinders, without removing them it was far from an ideal job but certainly helps to lift the overall appearance of the engine bay ready for the nice shiny new engine.

 

 

Finally I fitted a new fuel filter/regulator using existing holes which were originally for the washer bottle bracket. This way I haven't had to drill into the bulkhead and it offers the perfect location for routing the fuel hoses tidily, as it's positioned conveniently to pick up from the hard line.

 

 

I forgot to take a proper photo but you might also notice a new braided line for the oil pressure gauge, I really fancied fitting one of these to replace the translucent plastic one which had started to discolour and looked a bit naff.

 

After all this, the best part of today was spent on the bigger jobs including removing the hub assemblies to convert the driveshafts for compatibility with the rod change box - I was very fortunate to have a helping hand courtesy of a friend from our local Mini group...

 

 

The drivers' side proved very challenging to remove from the car, as the top ball joint was incredibly stubborn and refused to separate without putting up a big fight! We had to employ liberal usage of a blow torch, ball joint splitter and large hammer to finally set it free...

 

 

After all this abuse I'll be replacing the ball joint tomorrow for peace of mind before putting the car back on the road.

 

Finally the time came this afternoon to drop the engine into its new home!

 

 

I was amazed at how much easier it was to drop this engine in compared to the previous couple of engines I've fitted to this mini. The rod change box doesn't stick out as much as the earlier remote types, so clearance to the bulkhead was ample and we had no trouble getting the engine positioned and lined up to bolt the engine mounts to the subframe. As a result this was probably one of the easiest jobs of the day!

 

 

I've booked tomorrow off work so I can hopefully bolt on all the ancillaries, re fit the hub assemblies with new drive shafts, wire everything up, tinker with the twin carb setup and hopefully get the engine started for the first time. Fingers crossed!

 

[MiniCarJack]

Wasn't quite able to get it running yesterday... there are still a few jobs left to complete before the first start up can be attempted. Lots of little tasks are just taking way longer than expected, this little project is putting up a bit of a fight but I'm still determined to have the car ready for Goodwood on Saturday!



I did manage to get the engine bay in a good place with the slave cylinder back in place, oil cooler mounted on the inner wing, good quality earth strap fitted, alternator bolted on and fanbelt tensioned, wiring all complete (had to reroute and remake a lot of wiring to make it tidy & reliable), so basically all that needs doing under the bonnet is to fit the exhaust manifold + carbs, then a new fuel hose can be run from the regulator and the engine steady bolted in.

We also got the rod change shifter attached to the gearbox and bolted up to the tunnel using the Minispares adapter kit, but this was far from ideal. The rubber bobbins they supplied with the kit were of awful quality (I've had similar issues with their exhaust mountings in the past), such that one of them completely came apart as soon as I nipped up the nut to secure it to the floor. As such I've had to solid mount it using a bolt and some nuts to act as a spacer. Also the hole in my floor isn't quite correct since it was never there originally, so one of the bolts doesn't have a correctly placed hole to secure through the floor - I'll need to get this sorted properly in the long run but for now I've managed to get it bolted up securely enough to at least get me to Goodwood and back!

I'm hoping to get that all done along with getting the hubs & driveshafts back onto the car this evening, which should mean I'll be able to drop it down onto the ground and attempt to fire it up for the first time. After many hours spent on this recently, I'm feeling quite knackered so am very keen to have it all done and enjoy the car now - taking it for a drive and hopefully to Goodwood this Saturday should make up for the literal blood sweat and tears!

[MiniCarJack]

The struggle continues! We carried on working on the Mk1 until about 1.30 this morning, trying to get it to a point where the engine would start. I'd spent the earlier parts of the evening bolting on the new LCB manifold and twin HS4 setup, and plumbed in a fuel hose via the new pressure regulator. This took ages because I was keen to keep the carbs completely built up on the manifold so as not to disturb them, and only removed the air filter to get it all in place - this meant fitting the manifold nuts was a very very fiddly job! I shan't be using this method next time



After this the new Maniflow exhaust system was fitted, it's a lovely bit of kit and excellent quality, but to make it fit I had to re-mount the rod shifter and move it further toward the passenger side in the tunnel as room was very tight with my car having the pre-rod change floorpan. This wasn't too much trouble though and the shifter is still nicely positioned and feels good.

The hubs were also bolted back into place, driveshafts popped into the pot joints on the gearbox, and a new top balljoint was fitted and shimmed on the driver's side to replace the one which we butchered slightly during the removal process!

However, the troubles began when I attempted to fire up the engine and get it started. Fortunately all of my wiring was sound and with the battery connected, the starter turned over with ease - with a bit of easy start spray the engine wanted to get going, but absolutely no petrol was getting from the carbs into the engine whatsoever. Upon closer inspection, both of the float valves on the HS4s were blocked or jammed shut, so petrol wasn't able to get into either of the float bowls. Rather more frustratingly, when loosening the three float bowl screws on the drivers' side carb, one of them snapped in the hole as it appears to have been cross threaded by whoever assembled it not wanting to risk petrol leaking onto the exhaust manifold directly below, and with less confidence in the twin setup than I began with, I finally relented and decided on whacking on the old single carb from the previous engine to at least get this one running and drivable enough to make the short trip to Goodwood.



Theoretically all I need to do now is get the fuelling and timing sorted to get the engine running, then I can bolt the wheels on, lower the car onto the ground and it should run. Fingers crossed for no more nasty surprises so I can get that all done today, as I've got work commitments tomorrow making this my last chance to get the car roadworthy for Goodwood on Saturday! Then I can address the twin carbs afterwards and have them properly sorted and fitted with a rolling road session to get the engine running spot on.

[cooperd70]

What a shame on the twin carb front. Not the end of the world tho as you luckily have a single to hand to get her going! Will keep 🤞 that she's good to go for your trip out on Sat!! 🙂

[MiniCarJack]

We're in business - Goodwood is officially a go 

 

 

Even though things didn't quite go to plan and I've had to fall back on my old single carb setup for now, I'm over the moon that the Mk1 is back on the road. It sounds amazing and is very, very quick! Can't wait to take it along to the revival this Saturday.

Edited by MiniCarJack, 16 September 2021 - 09:15 PM.

[cooperd70]

👍👍

[panky]

Excellent

[MiniCarJack]

Cheers guys - I couldn't be happier   I've taken it for a few spirited drives and it's running beautifully! Have also got the UK plates fitted now so it's 100% road legal. I might cable tie the NZ plate to the front of the roof rack when it's parked up at Goodwood tomorrow for a bit of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

[panky]

Love that car

[MiniCarJack]

Made it to Goodwood and back with no dramas and had a great day out. The car is a delight to drive and was right at home in the pre-66 show! Happy days   

[MiniCarJack]

I haven't done an awful lot with the Mk1 since attending the Revival, but have started to make some headway with the interior and have been buying a few bits.
 

 
After my dumb a** sat on my old plastic Mk1 binnacle and cracked it to pieces, I managed to find a second hand item on eBay in good nick and have re fitted it to the 3-clock cluster. I was quite tempted by a brand new item from Nippycars but this eBay purchase was half the price of a new one, and its small imperfections and "patina" match the rest of the car quite well.
 
I'm going to go for a stripped down look with most of the floor pan exposed as you can see in the photo, with just some fitted mats in the footwells rather than a complete carpet set. I seem to have ordered mats for a LHD car given the heel mat is on the passenger side, but oh well   the floors themselves are solid but a little bit tatty after years of use, so I'm going to try and find a bit of time to prep & repaint them ahead of Brooklands this Sunday (hopefully I can also find some petrol!). I also have a couple of gaping holes to address, with a lack of rubber gaiter for the gear shifter, and the old cutout for the original magic wand box being completely open to the elements - it's quite fun watching the road surface whizz past but it does let through an awful lot of noise! Somerford Mini have come to the rescue with a speedily delivered box of bits which will help me plug those holes and complete the interior...
 

 
You might also notice a new V shaped speedo bezel which I plan to fit in place of the current later-style rounded bezel, along with a new 80mm gauge pod containing a Smiths flight tachometer - the gauge itself was another eBay bargain I managed to nab at the last minute for a fraction of its retail cost, happy days! I doubt I'll get this wired up this week but I can certainly try to get it mounted so at least it'll look the part for photos and whatnot.
 

 
Aside from this I also need to look at the new exhaust and sort out the fixings for attaching the manifold to the Y-piece - it slightly fell off the other day   fortunately I was surrounded by Mini owners with tools aplenty when it came free so was able to get it sorted in the car park, but it wants properly looking at before attempting the couple of hours(ish) worth of back-road driving up to Brooklands on Sunday.

[MiniCarJack]

Been having a bit of fun and games with the Mk1 over the past few weeks, including an impromptu repair being required at Brooklands when the exhaust fell off during a hillclimb attempt! Luckily there were traders stocking brand new exhaust fittings so I was able to get it sorted before driving home, and the fire brigade kindly offered to use their fancy airbags to jack the front of the car up for me (I think they were a bit bored and fancied something to do!). A little overkill perhaps, but it made for a good bit of entertainment for all the onlookers  

 

I definitely need to look at fitting some additional engine steadies to stop this happening again!

 

 

 

Apart from Brooklands I've tackled a couple of small jobs, including fitting the rubber boot for the shifter, and the blanking plate for the magic wand hole. 

 

 

I also mocked up the rev counter to work out how I want it positioned, just to see how it looks. Very happy with this as the Smiths flight dial really looks the part, now I just need to bolt it up for real and wire it in.

 

 

 

The main thing at the moment though is just trying to enjoy driving and getting out while we still have fair weather. I've been along to a couple more Midweek Mini meets local to me here on the south coast, and will hopefully get along to a few more before the weather gets too grim and cold.

 

 

 

 

 

[MiniCarJack]

Not much to update on the Mk1 since last month. The daylight hours have become sparse and, with a recent promotion putting extra work on my plate, I've had little time to enjoy driving the mini let alone get any jobs done! That said, I did make it along to the Port Solent car meet last Sunday after quickly cleaning up the bodywork in the morning. The overcast autumnal weather made for some nice photos, including some of the engine bay which I've neglected to photograph properly since the engine swap!
 
This may well be one of the last events I'll attend for a while, with the inevitable return of salted roads to come very soon. I am hoping to come along to the British Mini Club's event in January though and have submitted an application to exhibit in their '60s display, fingers crossed that comes through.