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Old New Member 1968 Riley Elf


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#1 3VILC

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 07:38 AM

New to the forum, not so new but out of the game for some time in the Mini world. Having had an '80 Leyland LE when I was younger, and an '02 BMW One more recently, I've always had the Mini bug. Recently decided I needed another project to potter around with, and when this collection of rusty bits that was once a Mk3 Riley Elf came up for sale I knew I had to have it. Hopefully I can chew how much of a project I've bitten off 🤣
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#2 humph

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 09:00 AM

Nice, looks like a great project, best of luck with it.  Tackle it in bite sized chunks, don't tackle too many things at once and get overwhelmed and disillusioned.

 

This is my Elf last week, seven years after it came off the road. Don't be put off by the timescale of mine though, I spent three years only getting 3 hours a week on him, then lost the workshop and he stood for 2 yrs in storage. Went into a bodyshop in Jan 19, completed Jan 20, then got stuck in paint shop due to covid and lockdowns.  Back on his wheels now.

 

50666586206_4cb07109e7_h.jpg


Edited by humph, 02 December 2020 - 12:59 PM.


#3 surfblue

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 09:19 AM

Nice colour!

#4 3VILC

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 12:29 AM

Nice, hopefully mine body will look that good once all the rusty bits are cutout (have access to a slightly later Mini with a mint floorpan area which is a bonus).

Yup will be just plodding along with it as time and funds allow. Bonus is all the chrome seems to be all present and correct, and I'm quietly confident that once I can work out why the coil and fuel pump arent getting power it will fire up..fingers crossed.

 

Nice, looks like a great project, best of luck with it.  Tackle it in bite sized chunks, don't tackle too many things at once and get overwhelmed and disillusioned.

 

This is my Elf last week, seven years after it came off the road. Don't be put off by the timescale of mine though, I spent three years only getting 3 hours a week on him, then lost the workshop and he stood for 2 yrs in storage. Went into a bodyshop in Jan 19, completed Jan 20, then got stuck in paint shop due to covid and lockdowns.  Back on his wheels now.

 

50666586206_4cb07109e7_h.jpg

 



#5 humph

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 09:30 AM

Good luck. Just out of interest is yours positive or negative earth?  I seem to come across differing opinions of what mine should be.



#6 MiniMadRacer

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 09:44 AM

I had a 68 Riley on an English H plate, and that was + earth fitted with a dynamo... as a rule of thumb if it has a dynamo its probably + earth if it has an alternator prob - earth, but do check ... its a costly mistakke to wire it wrong, and if you weant to fit a radio, its a mare with + earth, so I never bothered with oine other than a period portable one I threw on the back seat to keep me company, and ye sI left mine on + earth and hydro lastic suspenders, as I wanted it fully original, great cars to drive and the MK 3 had pretty much a cooper 998 engine without the twin carbs to carry all that extra weight, so they go very well, I wish I kept mine now, but at as how I was offerd silly money for it back then so took it to fund my other hopeless projects



#7 3VILC

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 10:38 AM

This one seems to be positive earth from the best I can tell. After plugging and unplugging lots of connectors I now have a working starter solenoid and power at the coil, but still no fuel. However I do finally see there are some wires hanging under the subframe where I expect the fuel pump should be, but with a flat tyre and no pressure in he hydro system I can't yet see whats going on under there haha until I get a bit more spare time to jack it up.
On another note, still undecided whether to waste a heap of money on fluid etc to see if the hydro system will hold pressure, or just swap to dry suspension and be done with it

#8 MiniMadRacer

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 11:22 AM

I made my own hydo fluid its only Water , anti freeze and meths...but to start with just put water in it.. if it holds pressure then put the proper mix in. I would try to keep the hydo personally. On mine the connector /hose  chaffed through under the bonnet, a company called purfleet can make the hoses for not silly money. They make hoses for hydraulics on lorries, and they start at 5,000 PSI, so are never going to blow on a Riley where I think the PSI is 225. The spheres are avaiable 2nd hand, only tip I can give you is never ever pump one up with the wheel in the air... I did and it blew the sphere to pieces, the wheel needs to be on the ground under weight when you pump the suspension up.



#9 humph

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 12:39 PM

This one seems to be positive earth from the best I can tell. After plugging and unplugging lots of connectors I now have a working starter solenoid and power at the coil, but still no fuel. However I do finally see there are some wires hanging under the subframe where I expect the fuel pump should be, but with a flat tyre and no pressure in he hydro system I can't yet see whats going on under there haha until I get a bit more spare time to jack it up.
On another note, still undecided whether to waste a heap of money on fluid etc to see if the hydro system will hold pressure, or just swap to dry suspension and be done with it

 

Unless someone has changed to a mechanical fuel pump at the back of the engine the pump should be mounted to the left hand side of the rear subframe. This is mine before I stripped the frame, this is an original SU pump mounted on a homemade bracket.

 

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My car was converted to dry suspension before I brought it. Decided to stick with it for ease and reliability.



#10 MiniMadRacer

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 03:11 PM

I do agree once a car is converted to Dry, I would leave it.... the cost of going back to wet is way too prohibitive, and a wet to dry conversion does not diminish a cars value, its just wet is so rare now I would preserve one if at all possible now. Back in the day the conversion was cheap, not so cheap now though, you can no longer pick up a mini for £50 as a readily available parts store



#11 3VILC

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 09:37 PM

Yup that looks around about where I have to wires hanging down just the car is so low I can't quite see where they come from or where they are meant to go. There was some very retro box speakers in the boot which may have something to do with it, but no other evidence of ever being fitted with a radio so more likely just junk, there were lots of goodies that don't even belong with the car.

Ok so if I can rig up some sort of pump to get some water into the hydro system and see if its holds pressure I would definitely keep it if its servicable, just didnt want to spend a heap on fluid etc to find it all just leaks on the ground again :)  Not sure how often in general the system would normally require having pressure added but the car has been off the road since '98 so quite possibly just normal pressure loss not an actual leak? The hoses and everything I can see look to be in good condition at the front at least.






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