Hi all,
i recently got my first mini !!!! a rusty, sketchy and very smelly 1991 studio 2, i have no experience working on cars or engines but equipped with my trusty Hains manual i am ready to learn . Who needs A-levels anyway eh?
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After 2 weeks of driving i decided it was time to stop having fun and give the car a new lease of life. (wasn't so much as decided to stop having fun, as couldn't afford the insurance after wrapping my brothers car round a telephone pole at 5am, a week after buying the mini) .
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After a few days of planning and google imaging various areas of the car i began to get a better idea of the styling i wanted to go for (like all noobs i was researching the pretty bits before the useful bits ) i decided to get all new seats, headliner, door cards and possibly dash and carpet (if any money is left at the end) mainly to get rid of the smell but also because its prettyyyy .
once i inspected the suspension drive train and brakes i realised that i was one or two rusty bolts away from being thrown off the road so i needed a all new undercarriage all for safety reasons only!! (is what i told mum)
i had i quick cry about all the rust.
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and figured the engine would be fine and needed no work doing at all, it would just need dismantling cleaning and reassembling. (ominous foreshadowing)
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and now onto the build (by the way i have no idea what imdoing so any help/pointers are much appreciated)
STAGE 1
take up half of the room in your dads garage, jack the car up and take the wheels off
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STAGE 2
spend hours and hours on one or two rusty bolts that slow up the whole job, swear many times, fill the interior with coolant when you remove the heater, break a cv joint out of impatience, until eventually you have the interior 70% out and the engine precariously strung up by a old rusty hoist borrowed from a friends back garden.
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STAGE 3
Discover online parts shopping and drain your savings account on 6x10" JBW wheels and yokohama tires, gaz lowered suspension, hilos, adjustable lower arms, mini sport 4 pot callipers, red spot cones, fletcher radiator and hoses and a wide variety of other assorted things that are way too nice for what i am going to be using the car for.
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STAGE 4 (the most recent)
Split the engine and realise you have no idea what your doing and are rapidly running out of money so start a forum asking for advice
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I have a few questions that have built up over the weeks working on the car, if you are kind enough to answer please be really specific because i really am a noob (its taken me 5 months to get this far).
1. what carb have i got, i can't see any part number or serial numbers?
2. what should i be replacing as preventative maintenance while iv got the car in a million pieces (especially in the engine(it ran pretty well before))
3. whats the best way to clean all the rust and grime in the head and block?
4. is it worth overhauling the diff and gearbox too? (it worked fine before only second was a bit sketchy)
5.how much is overhauling the block going to cost me roughly and what do i defo need to replace.
6.do i need to get the block and head resurfaced.
7.whats the best action to take with regards to the wiring loom (its pretty mashed up)
8.as you can see from the photos a few of my lifters have small chips in them (is that a problem, if so whats the fix)
9.what arches should i go for?
10.any cheap performance upgrades i can get ?
many thanks to anyone reading this, any advice is greatly appreciated.
Cheers.