697 replies to this topic

[Jammy]

IT RUNS!!! Just a quick 5 minute update, because I'm still working outside. But where I thought the distributor drive cog was out yesterday... Well I was working out TDC from watching the exhaust valve open, not the inlet valve! So I actually change the dizzy drive cog to be 180* out yesterday! Realised my error today, changed it back, altered the mixture a bit and it fired up! It dies when I go to let it idle, but I've still only really roughly set up the carb.

But this really gives me the urge to get it done for L2B now!

[Pie]

lol go on jammy. Im rooting for ya.


Even if nobody else is.

[*Raz*]

Well done Mr Gorgeous! Proud of you!

Razzy and Monty xx

[commander]

nice one
not much left on that list either

[Jammy]

Nope, but now I've got to start thinking about the cooling system...

And then get on with the wiring! Its quite a mess to be honest. Think I'll rewire it after L2B, ready for Germini.

[Bungle]

buy a roof rack and stick the rad up there

[miniboo]

short term just have the rad the way that Dan Webster had it on his car. sticking out the front of the grill

[nurseholliday]

Man last night I sat and read all 70+ pages of "the claw" thread, and tonight I've read all this.

Jammy, if Monsieur Hoskins is present at L2B I shall buy you a pint

[Boab]

Nope, but now I've got to start thinking about the cooling system...

And then get on with the wiring! Its quite a mess to be honest. Think I'll rewire it after L2B, ready for Germini.

It took me 2 whole days of seperating, tracing, cutting and re-connecting it all up, so good luck. Here's a good link though for what wire does what LINK

[minivanman]

Man last night I sat and read all 70+ pages of "the claw" thread, and tonight I've read all this.

Jammy, if Monsieur Hoskins is present at L2B I shall buy you a pint

Thats money in the bank...

[Jammy]

I'll do a better update later tonight:

Smoothie boot turned up, with a tube of adhesive so I can now sort out the door panels too. 500g Carbon boot turned up, complete with cracks (dam couriers).

• Wire up engine
• Fit carb after buying a fitting correct needle
• Fit thermostat and housing
• Fit oil filter housing properly
• Fit heater tap
• Fit dizzy cap, HT leads and coil
• Mount washer bottle
• Fit front brake pipes
• Change front brake calipers
• Get shorter fan pulley bolts
• Fit exhaust (basically just the link pipe into the Y piece)
• Fit gear linkage
• Setup suspension angles
• Fit engine steadies (might need to buy the one that bolts to the water pump)
• Fit rear roll cage (needs modifying)
• Fit harnesses
• Modify drivers seat subframe
• Fit DD2 lite - in progress
• Sort out doors (big job)
• Work out where radiator is going and plumb in
• Fit arches
• Change headlights
• [s]Fit battery
• [s]Mount solenoid

[Jammy]

I took last Thursday/Friday off work. In part because it was my birthday on the Thursday, but also so I could have 5 days off work (sorely needed) and get some real progress on Rusty!

Started off by going down the scrappy and getting a radiator from a Cinquicento Mk1. Nice and small, perfect for mounting in the boot! Got it home and started wondering, with the dizzy and alternator out the way I could probably get it behind the grill, which would really suit me because I didn't want to cut out the bootfloor!

Wired up the ETB dash to +12V and an earth, it fired up with its flashy LEDs and stuff! Started connecting other things, indicator lights, full beam warning light, fog light warning light, all worked! So far I've got indicators, oil pressure, main beam, fog light, tacho, voltage, fuel, low battery voltage all connected up. Have since up a few brackets and attached it to the dash rails. Its a very basic method of fixing, and looks pretty crude, but its only temporary and I've used wingnuts so I can take it with me if I'm ever parking in da' hood!

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Was then messing about with the carb, not sure why to be honest (can't remember), but ending up snapping the bolt that goes into the block on the engine steady. I thought something was going to give, that engine steady was always going to be stressed because the stupid Z Cars subframe pushes the engine back! Got a repair bracket through today from Minispares. Perfect solution!

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Looked at the radiator solution again. Found a Nippon Denso alternator in the garage, grinded a bit off one of the mounting lugs, made it fit. Its a bit smaller than regular Mini item, and gives me a touch more space at the front. My Cinqy rad stil won't fit though, and I'd definitely need to get rid of the dizzy to get a fan behind it. I pick out one of my F3 rads and realise I've got just enough room in front of the cylinder head, above the alternator, to fit it, and then have two computer fans above the distributor. Cut a few big holes in the front of the bonnet and it might just work....

I finish up by giving the inside a good clean out and hover. It was quite a trickle of water down the road when I unbolted the seat and let the water drain out! About an inch deep of months old, rusty water! Didn't look too shabby after it was all cleaned and certainly gave me a bit of a boost!

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[Jammy]

Then set about modifying the seat subframes I'd made, so that the seat wasn't several feet up in the air! Took me a while to grind the welds back and take them apart, mainly because the tool to change the grinding wheels had fallen off my workbench and I couldn't find it for several hours! Finally got them done (a few hours later), and sat the seat back into the Minus. Much better, but I could do with being a bit further forward. So now I've decided to only use the rear subframe and the front is going to be bolted through the crossmember. Just need to get a couple of long enough bolts...

Been wondering how to attach the front brake line to the subframe for weeks now. I was thinking along the lines of a metal tab with a slit in it. The brake lines would bolt through the tab, then I'd put a jubliee clip through the slit and wrap that around the subframe. Well a new front brake line turned up today from Minispares (old one got crushed under the engine crane), and I just so happened to have an idea! I thought to myself that the brake line doesn't necessarily have to be bolted to anything with the usual fixings, as long as its secure. So I've put a small length of rubber piping around the brake line to stop it getting crushed and then put that inside the jubilee clip. Going to see my MOT tester to check that he's happy with it.

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Had more doubts about using the F3 radiator. Its smaller in volume than a standard Mini radiator, plus I'm not sure it'll get enough airflow, especially using those computer fans, and if its a hot day sat in traffic... Plus, mounting it so high up then leaves me with practically no where to put an expansion bottle, except inside the car. So I think I'll go back to putting the Cinqy rad in the boot...

Taken the drivers door off now. Going to get that and the passenger side door repaired properly now. Also recieved a nice Smoothy carbon (not showing weave) bootlid from ABS Motorsport. The fit is pretty decent, just needs a bit of sanding around the corners. Should be good for cutting holes in to get airflow in and out of the Cinqy radiator. However, I'm wondering, at high speed, with the negative air pressure directly behind the boot, will there be any airflow through the bootlid. Maybe if I chop out the boot floor, but really don't want to do that...

Couple of things I forgot to mention earlier. Found out the fuel sender in the tank I got was rubbish, the contacts in the top half of the sender had gone, so swapped it out with a sender in an MPi tank I had in the garage. Works brilliantly with the ETB. Also got the prepreg carbon bonnet from SteveW. VERY VERY light. Lighter than the seats, or the KAD brakes. Got Rach to hold the standard FG bonnet (which she didn't seem too impressed with), and then was amazed at the weight of this bonnet! It is incredibly flimsy though, and the monkeys who work for the couriers mashed it up a touch, so some repairs will be needed before I can use it.

Ordered an MPi rad and fan from Minispares today, ordering Megajolt stuff tomorrow.

[Pie]

Nice one Jammy. Coming along nicely now. Maybe this could make Germini for bh2nRetro????

If you put the Cinq rad in the front have you only got room for the 2 computer fans? What about a kenlowe or metro fan on the pasenger side inner wing on a switch. That way if/when you do get stuck in traffic you can just turn that on and cool the engine a bit more.

[Jammy]

Nah, these were my options:

• Cinq rad in the front, remove the distributor to get a normal fan behind it. But the Cinq rad won't fit in the front unless I totally relocated the alternator.
• Cinq or F3 rads in the boot, cut boot floor out with big fans on pushing air through.
• F3 rad in front of the cylinder head, above the alternator. Cut holes in bonnet, two computer fans above the distributor. Normal distributor and alternator used, but no where for expansion tank to go.
• MPi rad in front of the starter motor. Distributor removed in favour of Megajolt. Normal alternator or Nippon Denso used.

I've gone with the Mpi rad. Just order the Megajolt kit from Trigger Wheels, luckily it was one of two left, and he doesn't expect anymore for another 4-6 weeks!! Also ordered the crank sensor kit from KAD. Its more expensive than the SC kit, but I couldn't get through to SC this morning, plus the KAD kit is supplied with the sensor, and I've heard the SC kit has some clearance problems (I also used my TMF+ KAD discount ).