697 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

what go somewhere dark with pie ?

no thanks i remember what almost happened last time

[Pie]

Yeah, you tried to bum rape me!!!! was scary as hell.

Bumgle, i went to folkstone and then over to france and germany and back so nerrrr

[Bungle]

thats still not as far west as me

any further than lands end you fall off the edge of the world

[Jammy]

Measured the chambers in the head today and checked the cam timing.

Finally got hold of some pipettes off Ebay last week, so spent this morning filling one of the chambers to measure how many cc's it was. Came out to about 21cc, so I guess its either 21cc, or 21.4cc which is standard. So since I'm keeping the pistons the same, and not skimming anything off the block deck or the head, my compression ratio should stay as standard for this engine, which is 9.75:1. I would have liked it to have been a touch high, about 10-10.5, but I'm not trying to eek every last bhp and torque out the engine, so I'm not too fussed.

Then I thought I'd double check the cam timing. I don't have adjustable timing gear, so I can't adjust it, but I thought I'd check it for two reasons; because I've never done it before, and also the cam I have it reground, so wanted to make sure full lift was where it should be! I bought a DTI guage off a dude on here last week, so following the instructions gained from Calver's website (www.calverst.com) I used the guage to ensure that I had full lift at 106*, which I did. So thats all groovy!

(Click to enlarge)

[Bungle]

when are you going to paint the block ?

[Jammy]

Paint adds weight!

[Bungle]

you want something rusty on it just to prove its a mini

[paulrockliffe]

Jammy, did you get a good look at those pics of the radiator I put in my thread for you? Is there any chance you can post up a few more pics of your dash board for me? I'm after a new dash and that one is top of the list so far, but need to make sure!

Cheers!

[Jammy]

Yea, I did have a good look, thanks for that. It looks like whoever did your install has used two bottom hoses to overcome that problem. At the moment I don't think they'll help me with my particular cooling system, as with the Z Cars subframe I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a side mounted rad, or whether I'll have to switch to a front mounted. Will get the engine in a see.

Which dash you interested in, the Curley CF one? I may decide to sell mine, its not quite what I was after...

[paulrockliffe]

Yea, I did have a good look, thanks for that. It looks like whoever did your install has used two bottom hoses to overcome that problem. At the moment I don't think they'll help me with my particular cooling system, as with the Z Cars subframe I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a side mounted rad, or whether I'll have to switch to a front mounted. Will get the engine in a see.

Which dash you interested in, the Curley CF one? I may decide to sell mine, its not quite what I was after...

I was thinking the other day it would look awesome if you could get a chromed radiator the same size and shape as the mini grille, so maybe you should find someone clever to do that for you??

Yes was thinking about the Curley CF one, their website is down so haven't done anytihng about getting one yet. Why are you thinking about changing it? Is it the looks or because of the gear change hitting it, or something else? I don't want to get one and then feel the same way about it! I have a lot of switches going on the dash board as I'm a bit of a control freak and I've nearly finished removing my stalks, so the centre column on that dash looks pretty handy - lots of switches where I can reach them!

Let me know what your problems are and if you want rid PM me or something. Oh yeah, I'm assuming it was modified for the Minus?

[Jammy]

Erm, its a bit of a case of laziness (I can't be bothered to work out how to mount it at the moment), and also its not really the look I was after. I prefer those with the big round surface between the two dash rails, like Curley's Evo dashes. The other reasons are that I'm going to be moving the five switches next to my seat, and I'd like to just get one guage (I like the look of one of the Acewell guages that deals with everything), and mount it in front of my steering wheel with carbon fibre brackets. Therefore I wouldn't really need a dash and I could save myself 1-2kg.

I bought this dash from Aliburglar, it has been modified for the Minus. He sold this to someone on Ebay, sent it out but it got a bit damaged by the courier. Ali managed to repair most of it, but there are a couple of bits where the resin dripped and it needs rubbing down. I'd sell it with all guages and for a LOT less than it would cost from Curley. I always though you could cut down (or up) the centre console and I'd see no reason why you then couldn't fit it to a normal mini.

Let me know if your interested and I'll send you a PM with some more pics.

[Jammy]

At last my gearbox is finished!!

I've had to use up holiday this week and next, so I had Tues and Weds afternoons off, and managed to get the gearbox all bolted together on Tuesday 'noon.

(Click for bigger image)

Unfortunately, when I came to bolt it to the block I found I had used the wrong input gear. The case I've used is a pre A+, but I bolted an A+ input gear to the 1st motion shaft. So when you come to put the idler gear into its bearing, if you use an A+ one the idler gear shaft is too big for the bearing, but if you use a pre A+ idler gear, the teeth don't mesh to the A+ input gear.

SO, I need to take off the diff, so I can then rotate the gearselector shaft, so I can put the gearbox in 1st and 4th gear, so I unbolt the 1st motion shaft nut and change the input gear. So this will be the second or third time I've built the gearbox only to have to paritally strip it again!

On the up side, I've ordered a hardened diff pin, so I'll fit that whilst the diff is off.

[*Raz*]

At last my gearbox is finished!!

Tssk! Its about time

[Bungle]

So this will be the second or third time I've built the gearbox only to have to paritally strip it again!

you will be a quick as guess works soon

[Jammy]

Well I'm determined to use this festive time off work to get the engine and subframe back into the car!!

First of all I need to finish the engine, so I ventured back into the garage yesterday. Because I was now using a different transfer case I had to change the nose bearing and the race in the case, as it would no longer be a matched pair using the old one. I used the Guessworks method of heating up the transfer case and smacking it on a piece of wood, and initially forgot to take the circlip out, then wondered why it wasn't coming out at all! Anyway, wasn't long before I had that changed over, which then enabled me to bolt the transfer case to the gearbox to check the end float on the idler gear, which was found to be 0.004". Lucky really as I don't have anymore shims for the idler gear!

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So after I'd done this, I took off the transfer case and cleaned up all the mating surfaces on the gearbox, block and transfer case, making sure I removed all traces of old gasket. Job done, I smeared Hylomar on both sides of each gasket, put the gaskets on the block, then the crank seal, then carefully positioned the block on top of the gearbox.

(Click to enlarge)

With the block and the gearbox back together, the Idler gear went on, followed by the primary gear. I checked the end float on the primary gear, and it was alarmingly at 0.011", with limits being 0.003-0.006". Now, I've read before that the C shaped retaining washer can get worn on one side where the primary gear keeps whacking it, so I took off the C washer and turn it around, measured the clearance again and it back to about 0.006", maybe a slither over. So then all was left was to bolt the transfer case back on...

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