39 replies to this topic

[JamesC]

Minis have been in my family for years. My parents have owned a van (parents honeymoon car with turns sleeping in the back), a 970S (owned by my father at 19), Coopers and a 1000cc with a brown vinyl roof.
 
Our old Cooper was heavily modified, she had a straight cut gear box, twin carbs with pancake filters, lightened and balanced flywheel, gas flow head with enlarged valves/exhaust exit including a high lift cam with an oil cooler (a total pig in traffic!)
 
Unfortunately we no longer own the Cooper but I know she is still on the road (Yay!). I would love to see its again or buy it back!!
 
So, that explains the interest, now here are some pictures of my car.

 

 

Edited by JamesC, 08 August 2016 - 05:24 PM.

[JamesC]

2 months into owning the car the problems began.

 

The car had a sudden loss of power whilst driving on a duel carriageway. After inspection I found that the carburetor was leaking from the base seal.

 

I ordered an SU seal and refurbishment kit and decided to strip the whole thing down for a good clean and to gain some knowledge. I made sure I followed the included instructions and took lots of photos for when the time to rebuild it came.

 

I had great fun obtaining my first bits of experience and I felt great accomplishment once I had pieced it all back together.

[CityEPete]

Looks tasty!

[JamesC]

Once the carburetor was installed back onto the inlet manifold I knew it would need to be tuned and would need the idle speed reset.

 

My step dad and I planned a trip out on a weekend to have a go. We started the car and I took it to the top of our driveway only to find that the brakes had given up!

 

I shot out from the driveway and quickly pulled the handbrake. I quickly reversed back on and shouted down the driveway to open the garage back up. Once again the car was going back in the garage.

[JamesC]

Looks tasty!

Thanks!

[JamesC]

Throughout the next week I investigated and searched over the forum/internet for advice/fixes/upgrades.

 

I found that the most likely cause of the problem was the brake master cylinder. A new genuine part was ordered - after reading stories of how infuriating the removal of the clevis pin was I not looking forward to the battle. I drafted in my brother and a friend as backup. We spent a good while attacking the pin only to do the right thing and walk away.

 

The next morning I went straight out to the garage and was able to remove it after about 5 mins!

 

I fitted the new master cylinder and was ready to bleed the brakes but I didn't have a 7mm spanner for the rear drums.

[JamesC]

I bet you can guess where this is going...

 

With help from my step dad we quickly checked the correct order to bleed the brakes. I loosened the bleed valve and he was pumping the pedal.

 

We quickly found that the front drivers side caliper valve was leaking after the 'rust seal' was broken.

 

Yet another set back! 

[JamesC]

After finding out that the front caliper bleed valve had become too rusty we had the option to try a replacement valve, or to buy new calipers.

 

We first tried a new valve but the thread within the caliper was too rusty.

 

Our next option was to replace the calipers and refresh the pads and discs. After finding out that the calipers were the 7'' Cooper setup I ordered a Cooper S conversion kit.

 

Due to a lack of time, tools and knowledge I sent the car off to a local mini specialist for the work to be carried out.

 

 

While the car was away I also ordered a set of cones and HiLos for the conversion from hydro-elastic to dry. This work was also completed by the mini garage.

 

[CityEPete]

Well that looks neat don't it! Whenever I have had a new (old) car it has took a few months to sort all the bits out, after that they have given good service with regular checks and up keep. 

[GraemeC]

Lovely looking car - very nice
I hope they fitted you some bump stops too?

Edited by GraemeC, 08 August 2016 - 09:11 PM.

[JamesC]

Lovely looking car - very nice
I hope they fitted you some bump stops too?

Haha, I didn't even notice that they were missing! I will look in to it.

[Vinay-RS]

Glad you got a build thread/diary going James Lovely to see pictures of the progress you are making on your lovely mk1. 

[JamesC]

Glad you got a build thread/diary going James Lovely to see pictures of the progress you are making on your lovely mk1. 

Thank you, I have a few more posts to make. Plus I'm working on a few things now...

[JamesC]

Right, new laptop that no longer takes 20 mins to boot!   No excuses!

 

The car used to have an Astrali 3 spoke steering wheel but it now has a 14'' MotoLita 3 spoke semi dish wheel. The steering feeling has had such an improvement by only moving up 1 inch in diameter.

 

It was a great find from eBay, there are a few scuffs on the back but i got it for a great BIN price as it was only used for a photo shoot and rested on its back.

 

The horn push is from the MotoLita website and I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived with the Morris logo in it centre!

 

[JamesC]

The passenger seat diaphragm failed a while ago, so with some assistance I made some webbing straps using the original metal bars that were moulded into the rubber diaphragm, I was able to slip them out and stitch them into the end of the looped straps, a small V shape was cut into the end of the loop for the hook on the seat frame to fit through and latch onto the metal bar. The V shape was burnt using a lighter to stop the webbing from splitting.

 

The total price for the 2 front seats came to just £5.50 for the webbing as we found some black thread in the house! They were made in mid July and show no signs of wear!