403 replies to this topic

[Asphalt]

Got me some new seats... They need a little bit work, but 100% porno net headrest 80's seats for 35€ - I wont complain. They are from a Ford Capri. The widest bit is 53cm, so they are only ~2.5cm wider than the std. seats. I will need to make some consoles for them, though... And they need new covers, the checkered fabric doesn't fit in my car...



Apart from that... Nothing to report. The Mini just works without any flaws

Cheers,
Jan

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

I want those seats! Looking good.

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 13 September 2010 - 03:50 PM.

[Asphalt]

Lol - just got told they are actually Recaros from a Opel/Vauxhall Even better... Lot's of consoles for good money available

[Asphalt]

Gave her a wash and polish and general clean up today:




Unfortunately the scratches from the accident didn't polish out, the paint is rubbed right down to the primer



Cheers,
Jan

[buddylove]

Looks great! If you can get your hands on a paint touch up pen in your color black. Apply it to the scratch and let it dry then you could wet sand it back. It won't be perfect, but it will help out a ton! Keep up the good work.

[Asphalt]

Got an invitation a month ago to join a newly initiated Oldtimer meet which went together with the yearly Wine Festival (we have lots of them here this toime of the year ). Quite a nice scenery for old cars: the old city of Gegenbach (which was very shortly featured in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'):








And since it was the first meet on this place, everybody who brought theyr car there got food & drinking coupons worth 10€ and a bottle of wine as a thank you present

And with 7 Minis we were the largest group of cars Shortly followed by 5 Mercedes and 4 Trabants...

Well and today I got me another spare engine; this time a 1275 Allegro engine. Probably one of the very first A+ engines of a Allegro 3. I've not seen a 1275 WFM1024 block with the Leyland logo cast on the back...



Space is slowly getting sparce...



And that's not all...

Cheers,
Jan

[Asphalt]

Looks like I got a very, very early A+ resp. cross-over engine.

A internals:



Leyland logo on back - and a drain plug! But clearly A+ block and primary gear:



by the way: can you spot the error??

Grooved mains:



And that's the error:



Someone ground away the oil relieve valve cap thread...... It's fixable but it'll involve some unneccesary work and will look rather ugly.

On the positive side, the head which came with the engine turned out to be a MG head with large valves:

[liirge]

Thats a bit of a mix of stuff isn't it!
Whats with all the holes around Relief valve.....Someone running an external oil pump? or some kind of dry sump set up?

[Asphalt]

More of a bl00dy bodge I guess the original cap broke off, left the thread damaged and someone ground it away and installed something else.

[Asphalt]

So, time has come to think about what to drive in winter. Not the Mini again, that's for sure. They put too much salt on the roads.

So - two of my mates drive a W124 estate. Which realy got me thinking. Thes are just bomb-proof, realy comfy and easy to work on, all parts are still available and relatively cheap. So - without much thinking I bought one too. Bought it blind on eBay withoput looking. I got it for 500€.

It's a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder diesel with 90BHP. At a weight of a full 1.5 tonnes!





It does 47 MPG and can run without any mods on vegetable oil which is pretty cheap

Has a few rust holes to fill, the injection pump needs new seals, brakes are shot and a wheel bearing needs urgent sorting. But apart from that - nothing major, if you look past the battle scars it got in 22 years of use and abuse (it's a Mk1 from 1988).

[tedmcedd]

the seats look great! love the vinyl backs with cloth fronts! and the mesh headrests! the mini looks good at the show! and i like the merc alot!

Ed

[Asphalt]

Woooooohoooooooooooo!!! Reinsured it on fry-day, but the office had allready closed... So I'll have to wait untill tomorrow morning for registering the Mini... But then it'll be back on the road for spring & summer. Can't wait!!

Had a minor parking misshap so did a quick sunday-evening-emergancy-drift-style-arch-repair



As you cen see, the wing is waiting for some repairs as well... It's a badly repaired crash damage from 2008... :

And now she's sitting on the drive way, waiting for her first *COUGHT*leg*cought*al*cought* drive this year 8-) I'm taking her straight to work in the lovely Elsass (Alsace)...

Checked everything today, nothing to report. Apart from a few loose bolts on the subframe mounts *what the hell!?*...

Oh and by the way. she fired into live as happy as a little child - she's not done that the whole winter. I'm taking this as a good sign.

Cheers,
Jan

[Asphalt]

Little update: nothing to report...

[liirge]

Glad to see you back on the forum!

[Asphalt]

Thank you. Unortunately - no, not realy - fortunately, there's nothing to report. Dragged the Mini out in march - it started and ran ever since. Apart from the usual maintainance operations - not a single fault.

Looks like the work payed out

That's good, as I have another patient that needs intense care... And if that one's finished, the Mini get's it's bodywork restoration.

Cheers,
Jan