13 replies to this topic

[jpsulisz]

Hello all,

I bought a 68 Austin Mini MK2 this past weekend and absolutely love it but believe I am way over my head on it. The car has been sitting for 3-4 years and was in an accident with a deer. I fear that the rust and problematic repairs are going to be my downfall. The car looks great exterior wise, but the rear subframe gives me a worry and honestly, I have no clue how to work on these cars. I have worked on many air cooled volkswagens and modern cars, but everything scares me. I used some penetrating oil in the cylinders for 24 hours and after verifying that the engine wasn't seized, I was able to crank it over with new oil in the engine. I ran a compression test and found my gauge read 95 PSI across all 4 cylinders - this may be thanks to my cheapie gauge.

Thing has hydrolastic suspension too, have the pump for it but right now getting the engine moving is my biggest concern. The exterior door hinges are in poor shape, may try to repair but I imagine new bushings and pins aren't going to be enough for the left side.

Don't have any spark as the rotor was taken off, the previous owner is looking for it, but I have one queued up in my MiniSpares cart. Going to place a order of parts when the discount is applied. Any advice on coil/distributor would be great, I tried electronic stuff for my volkswagens but always went back to points - what's the shared thought of it here?

Overall, excited to have something that fits in my garage that I can work on and glad one was finally listed near me in Minnesota.

 

 

 

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[sonscar]

Looks like a tidy car.Four cylinder petrol primative engine,my choice would be keep the points.Nothing to fear here.Enjoy your recommission.Steve..

[jpsulisz]

Are there any important spares to keep on during a trip apart from a belt? I love driving my cars down to Chicago to see family, comes out to 350~ miles and have to replace a few bits on my older cars

Also, looks like I have drums all around, in an effort to keep it safer I think I should upgrade the fronts to discs but seems like the conversion is unavailable on minispares

Edited by jpsulisz, 22 January 2023 - 10:29 PM.

[MikeRotherham]

Have you had a look at Minimania which I believe is in the US.?

 

They have some disc brake conversion kits but I'm not sure if they would fit if you have 10" wheels.

 

Perhaps there are other mini suppliers in the US that can help.

[jpsulisz]

Have you had a look at Minimania which I believe is in the US.?

 

They have some disc brake conversion kits but I'm not sure if they would fit if you have 10" wheels.

 

Perhaps there are other mini suppliers in the US that can help.

 

Had called MiniCityLtd, but got no answer at the phone for an order. Mini Mania does have the kit but it is nearly twice as much as it would be importing from MiniSpares, if they had it, and I don't know if I can stomach $1,000 for disc brakes when the car doesn't even move yet. I am not sure if my 10" wheels are 4.5 or 3.5, looks like all 3.5 wheels won't fit any disc brake caliper

Edited by jpsulisz, 23 January 2023 - 04:38 PM.

[MiniCarJack]

 

Have you had a look at Minimania which I believe is in the US.?

 

They have some disc brake conversion kits but I'm not sure if they would fit if you have 10" wheels.

 

Perhaps there are other mini suppliers in the US that can help.

 

Had called MiniCityLtd, but got no answer at the phone for an order. Mini Mania does have the kit but it is nearly twice as much as it would be importing from MiniSpares, if they had it, and I don't know if I can stomach $1,000 for disc brakes when the car doesn't even move yet. I am not sure if my 10" wheels are 4.5 or 3.5, looks like all 3.5 wheels won't fit any disc brake caliper

 

 

It's a little tricky to tell but it looks like you might have the standard old 3.5" steel wheels on your car, purely based on looking at them from the angle in the first photo. Fear not though, I used to run my old 3.5s for quite a while after fitting a 7.5" Cooper S front disc conversion kit, and spaced drums on the rear - so you should be able to retain them if you want to.

 

As for coil and distributor, I'd advise measuring the resistance of your current coil (AC Dodd has a great video about this on YouTube) and checking it works/is correct for your ignition system, then try to get it going with the rotor arm fitted and hopefully you'll have spark. I've personally had poor experiences with the points to electronic conversion kits, and went back to points for a short while, before going the "whole hog" and upgrading my distributor unit to a modern programmable electronic one (CSI and 123 Distributors are both popular options for this and have good reviews). In your case I'd probably stick with points for the time being, you can always keep spares in the car for fixing these at the roadside if they develop a fault while you're out driving.

Edited by MiniCarJack, 23 January 2023 - 06:09 PM.

[jpsulisz]

 

 

Have you had a look at Minimania which I believe is in the US.?

 

They have some disc brake conversion kits but I'm not sure if they would fit if you have 10" wheels.

 

Perhaps there are other mini suppliers in the US that can help.

 

Had called MiniCityLtd, but got no answer at the phone for an order. Mini Mania does have the kit but it is nearly twice as much as it would be importing from MiniSpares, if they had it, and I don't know if I can stomach $1,000 for disc brakes when the car doesn't even move yet. I am not sure if my 10" wheels are 4.5 or 3.5, looks like all 3.5 wheels won't fit any disc brake caliper

 

 

It's a little tricky to tell but it looks like you might have the standard old 3.5" steel wheels on your car, purely based on looking at them from the angle in the first photo. Fear not though, I used to run my old 3.5s for quite a while after fitting a 7.5" Cooper S front disc conversion kit, and spaced drums on the rear - so you should be able to retain them if you want to.

 

As for coil and distributor, I'd advise measuring the resistance of your current coil (AC Dodd has a great video about this on YouTube) and checking it works/is correct for your ignition system, then try to get it going with the rotor arm fitted and hopefully you'll have spark. I've personally had poor experiences with the points to electronic conversion kits, and went back to points for a short while, before going the "whole hog" and upgrading my distributor unit to a modern programmable electronic one (CSI and 123 Distributors are both popular options for this and have good reviews). In your case I'd probably stick with points for the time being, you can always keep spares in the car for fixing these at the roadside if they develop a fault while you're out driving.

 

Measured coil on there @ 3 ohms, so it looks like its the 3-3.5 ohms (non ballasted?). Put in an order through MiniSpares for the MSC105

I also ordered a spare 25d, its low stock but I have faith they'll send it. I think the original will work, but as you mention it never hurts to have spares on the road.

[MattMini94]

Thats a nice Mini, I've always had a soft spot for the mk2's as they still had the features of the MK1's like sliding windows & external hinges but with the better grille, rear lights & the wider rear windscreen. Looking at the pics of the engine bay & the interior you can see what appears to be the original green which looks like Almond Green in my view the best colour on the early Mini's.

Edited by MattMini94, 23 January 2023 - 08:40 PM.

[Aly-g]

Welcome to TMF , looks to be a nice car you have , if you've worked on VW s then the mini should not be a problem, just think of it as a big technical lego kit ! I have a 79 mini running drum brakes all round and after replacing all the wheel cylinders, linings, braided flexy hoses and adjusting properly the brakes work as well as my other mini with discs.The only thing you will need is patience and maybe a MIG welder !...any helpful advice needed will be here for you , congrats on being a new mini owner, enjoy .

Allan

Edited by Aly-g, 24 January 2023 - 12:00 PM.

[bpirie1000]

Wishing you miles of mini smiles.

I would also say maitainance now prevents break downs..

Also lets you and the mini get up and close together..
learning how it works is not necessarily a bad point..

[johnR]

Nice looking car. There's nothing to worry about with working on these cars - very simple, suggest getting a Haynes? manual for wiring diagrams if nothing else. Drum brakes worked well for decades before discs were invented - as long as they are properly maintained - if it's an 850/998 you won't be going that fast anyway!

keep posting pictures and enjoy.

[jpsulisz]

Followed my Haynes manual to get the original distributor to be statically timed to 0 degrees, adjusted the points, and verified spark. I got her started, but she needs to run on starter fluid (I will take that over it not starting)

Got a few cable seized and things like the clutch are stuck wide open - I will attribute this to the 0 degrees Fahrenheit in my garage
 

Here is the first time I got it started:

 

Edited by jpsulisz, 29 January 2023 - 12:29 AM.

[jpsulisz]

 

 

Have you had a look at Minimania which I believe is in the US.?

 

They have some disc brake conversion kits but I'm not sure if they would fit if you have 10" wheels.

 

Perhaps there are other mini suppliers in the US that can help.

 

Had called MiniCityLtd, but got no answer at the phone for an order. Mini Mania does have the kit but it is nearly twice as much as it would be importing from MiniSpares, if they had it, and I don't know if I can stomach $1,000 for disc brakes when the car doesn't even move yet. I am not sure if my 10" wheels are 4.5 or 3.5, looks like all 3.5 wheels won't fit any disc brake caliper

 

 

It's a little tricky to tell but it looks like you might have the standard old 3.5" steel wheels on your car, purely based on looking at them from the angle in the first photo. Fear not though, I used to run my old 3.5s for quite a while after fitting a 7.5" Cooper S front disc conversion kit, and spaced drums on the rear - so you should be able to retain them if you want to.

 

As for coil and distributor, I'd advise measuring the resistance of your current coil (AC Dodd has a great video about this on YouTube) and checking it works/is correct for your ignition system, then try to get it going with the rotor arm fitted and hopefully you'll have spark. I've personally had poor experiences with the points to electronic conversion kits, and went back to points for a short while, before going the "whole hog" and upgrading my distributor unit to a modern programmable electronic one (CSI and 123 Distributors are both popular options for this and have good reviews). In your case I'd probably stick with points for the time being, you can always keep spares in the car for fixing these at the roadside if they develop a fault while you're out driving.

 

 

I saw on my post you mentioned running 3.5s after your front disc conversion - around the same time I sent a request to MiniSpares and got this response:

 

C-AJJ4028MS should fit fine on a Hydro car but if you have 3.5” drum brake steel wheel you will need to replace these with a disc brake offset wheel due to caliper clearance issues. You can use 21A1282 and 21A1286 steel wheels.

 

Can you provide any insight as to what they may be referring to if you were able to clear it?

[MiniCarJack]

I saw on my post you mentioned running 3.5s after your front disc conversion - around the same time I sent a request to MiniSpares and got this response:

 

C-AJJ4028MS should fit fine on a Hydro car but if you have 3.5” drum brake steel wheel you will need to replace these with a disc brake offset wheel due to caliper clearance issues. You can use 21A1282 and 21A1286 steel wheels.

 

Can you provide any insight as to what they may be referring to if you were able to clear it?

 

 

Can't say I personally experienced any caliper clearance issues with my old steel wheels when I went from drums to discs, which obviously contradicts the advice you've been given there by Minispares.

 

Put it this way... the '60s standard 3.5" steel wheel has an offset of ET29 ('70s ones were ET24), whereas the LP883 'Cooper S' type 3.5" steel wheel has an offset of ET46, ie it sits further inside the wheel arch, which is intentional to prevent wheels poking out from the bodyline on disc-brake cars for MOT compliance etc... by that logic, this means that purely based on the offset, standard steelies are no worse than the S ones, rather they're better for caliper clearance because the rim effectively sits further away from the caliper.

 

I doubt there's a substantial enough difference in the form/shape of the wheels to cause caliper clearance problems either, although this might be why they're worried. However, as far as I know, the only key differences between standard 10x3.5" steelies and the 10x3.5 Cooper S steelies are the offset, and the additional ventilation holes.

 

Case in point, here's a photo of my car with disc brakes on the front, and spaced drums on the rear per a Cooper S, running standard 3.5" factory steel wheels