I am just in Alfreton.. more than likely seen you around the area before!
Good to see a few more local people on the forum!
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My 15 Year-long Mini Rebuild Project (LOTS of pictures, go and get a cuppa!)
I am just in Alfreton.. more than likely seen you around the area before!
Good to see a few more local people on the forum!
I can see the need for A Cliosport Mini meet next year at one of the anniversary bashes.
browno
ClioSport Club Member
Well, I've been doing a bit more work on the mini today - started off taking out my newly refurbished heater, as the hoses to it were leaky...
Then I connected up my new shiny silicone hoses, and fitted it up
Connected the hoses up at the other end
and ran the engine up to temperature - thankfully with no leaks anywhere!
After that, I started doing a bit more work on the interior - and fitted my rear door cards
Then started getting ready to do the fronts, but the light was failing me (very poor lighting in my garage) - so I gave up for today!
At least it's another small step closer to being ready!
Then I connected up my new shiny silicone hoses, and fitted it up
Connected the hoses up at the other end
and ran the engine up to temperature - thankfully with no leaks anywhere!
After that, I started doing a bit more work on the interior - and fitted my rear door cards
Then started getting ready to do the fronts, but the light was failing me (very poor lighting in my garage
) - so I gave up for today!At least it's another small step closer to being ready!
browno
ClioSport Club Member
Well - it's been quite some time with no update - but things have been happening (pictures to come soon!). And as for Kipper's comment about the shorts (if anyone didn't realise, he;s my brother, who's also in some of the pics!) - we can try to recreate the picture, but the shorts might be a bit snug on me!
So onto my progress: Having refitted the heater with new pipes, a few days later there was once again water in the footwell, so it had to come out once again! This time I looked more closely at the new matrix - the pipes go onto a small plastic plate, which is then butted against the body of the matrix, with a couple of o-rings to seal and four self tappers to hold it on... evidently when the pipes are attached, they were causing this to flex slightly and giving a leak... So I decided to try to improve on the design by adding a small gasket to the face, and using a little gasket compound to aid sealing - with this fitted up, things improved... Although, having now been on for about 3 weeks, I did spot a little water in the footwells again last night!!! This heater is fast becoming my Nemesis!
In the meantime though, I've fitted the front door cards and alloy door furniture, which look great! I've also changed the oil (allowing me to sort out a slightly leaky sump washer), and refitted the exhaust as that was blowing slightly from the LCB y-piece. I've also started tidying the engine bay wiring, as it was in a bit of a mess - so that's now looking much neater.
The jobs I'm doing at the moment are to try to work out what's happening with my electrics at the minute - I think there's an Earth loop somewhere in the dash wiring that's causing the lights to work randomly, and the dash lights to look particularly odd (turning the sidelights on results in the Heated rear window, foglight and both indicator warning lights lighting up along with dim sidelights and one rear indicator!!!) - This is the sort of annoying job that has made me put off so much on this project, but this time I'm determined not to be beaten!
On a more positive note, I'm going to be heading to the mini show at Bingley hall this weekend to pick up some inspiration and missing bits - but am at a crossroads on a major area of looks - what wheels to go for?
My first instinct is to go for some 12" minilites (in either silver or all-white, like the Italian Job special edition), but I also fancy 12" revolution 4-spokes in white. Then I look at the older Minis and can't help but fancy converting down and fitting a set of 10's (minilites) to go for the classic look, and to fit in with the cage, etc (but then that's more £££'s to convert... I think it'll be down to a decision on what's the best deal on Sunday...
That's about all for now - but I'll add some new pics as soon as I get the chance... and keep the positive comments coming!
So onto my progress: Having refitted the heater with new pipes, a few days later there was once again water in the footwell, so it had to come out once again! This time I looked more closely at the new matrix - the pipes go onto a small plastic plate, which is then butted against the body of the matrix, with a couple of o-rings to seal and four self tappers to hold it on... evidently when the pipes are attached, they were causing this to flex slightly and giving a leak... So I decided to try to improve on the design by adding a small gasket to the face, and using a little gasket compound to aid sealing - with this fitted up, things improved... Although, having now been on for about 3 weeks, I did spot a little water in the footwells again last night!!! This heater is fast becoming my Nemesis!
In the meantime though, I've fitted the front door cards and alloy door furniture, which look great! I've also changed the oil (allowing me to sort out a slightly leaky sump washer), and refitted the exhaust as that was blowing slightly from the LCB y-piece. I've also started tidying the engine bay wiring, as it was in a bit of a mess - so that's now looking much neater.
The jobs I'm doing at the moment are to try to work out what's happening with my electrics at the minute - I think there's an Earth loop somewhere in the dash wiring that's causing the lights to work randomly, and the dash lights to look particularly odd (turning the sidelights on results in the Heated rear window, foglight and both indicator warning lights lighting up along with dim sidelights and one rear indicator!!!) - This is the sort of annoying job that has made me put off so much on this project, but this time I'm determined not to be beaten!
On a more positive note, I'm going to be heading to the mini show at Bingley hall this weekend to pick up some inspiration and missing bits - but am at a crossroads on a major area of looks - what wheels to go for?
My first instinct is to go for some 12" minilites (in either silver or all-white, like the Italian Job special edition), but I also fancy 12" revolution 4-spokes in white. Then I look at the older Minis and can't help but fancy converting down and fitting a set of 10's (minilites) to go for the classic look, and to fit in with the cage, etc (but then that's more £££'s to convert... I think it'll be down to a decision on what's the best deal on Sunday...
That's about all for now - but I'll add some new pics as soon as I get the chance... and keep the positive comments coming!
browno
ClioSport Club Member
Hello all, and here goes with the first of a pair of updates on the project, since I've been cracking on with getting stuff done!
I promised some pictures, so here goes - unfortunately, I keep taking the camera into the garage, but don't take any snaps as soon as I've started to get going, so haven't got anything really exciting - I'll try harder to do more next time!
I've got the front door cards fitted and the interior looking pretty good (just need to finish the dash off when I've sorted my electrical gremlins - Earth check is definitely my next job there!)
I had a productive weekend last weekend too - firstly, I solved my wheel dilemma, by buying a set of 4-month old minilites from the mini forum...
They are in good nick, but were really grubby on the inside faces (looked like remains from burst CV boots on 2 of the wheels)
So I got busy cleaning them up, and adding a couple of coats of wheel wax - which had them looking pretty good:
Once that was complete, I set to work on compiling my shopping list for Bingley hall mini fair ready for more shopping, and worked out how much it was going to set me back!
I went off down to the show, and spent a small fortune on getting a load of bits that I need to finish up (and a couple of treats!)
The list for today was:
Full set of Hi-Lo's
Full set of Gaz Adjustables
Braided oil pressure gauge pipe
Grille surround set
Carpet underlay set
Gearknob
Wiper Mechanism (one of my guide tubes is bent, meaning the wipers are very sluggish)
Bonnet Badge
and various other odds & ends...
I promised some pictures, so here goes - unfortunately, I keep taking the camera into the garage, but don't take any snaps as soon as I've started to get going, so haven't got anything really exciting - I'll try harder to do more next time!
I've got the front door cards fitted and the interior looking pretty good (just need to finish the dash off when I've sorted my electrical gremlins - Earth check is definitely my next job there!)
I had a productive weekend last weekend too - firstly, I solved my wheel dilemma, by buying a set of 4-month old minilites from the mini forum...
They are in good nick, but were really grubby on the inside faces (looked like remains from burst CV boots on 2 of the wheels)
So I got busy cleaning them up, and adding a couple of coats of wheel wax - which had them looking pretty good:
Once that was complete, I set to work on compiling my shopping list for Bingley hall mini fair ready for more shopping, and worked out how much it was going to set me back!
I went off down to the show, and spent a small fortune on getting a load of bits that I need to finish up (and a couple of treats!)
The list for today was:
Full set of Hi-Lo's
Full set of Gaz Adjustables
Braided oil pressure gauge pipe
Grille surround set
Carpet underlay set
Gearknob
Wiper Mechanism (one of my guide tubes is bent, meaning the wipers are very sluggish)
Bonnet Badge
and various other odds & ends...
browno
ClioSport Club Member
So - some more news today - I now knuckled down and made a start at fitting all my new shiny bits and pieces...
Firstly, I stripped the o/s rear suspension to start adding my new bits:
...and after lots of swearing and some serious work with the pliers and an old screwdriver to get out the nylon cup in the radius arm, I could compare the old and new parts...:
So I built up the rear end and dropped it onto the first of it's new wheels...
It's now seriously low - before you could fit 4 fingers between wheel and arch - now one is a squeeze! Maybe it's set a bit too low for now - but we'll wait and see when all 4 corners are done!
I did the same things on the front o/s - to give this look - which I'm very happy with!!!
That's all for today (well, I rebuilt the wiper mech again - but it wasn't too exciting, so I didn't take pics!)
Hopefully should get the remaining two corners done tomorrow - and then onto the next set of jobs...
Firstly, I stripped the o/s rear suspension to start adding my new bits:
...and after lots of swearing and some serious work with the pliers and an old screwdriver to get out the nylon cup in the radius arm, I could compare the old and new parts...:
So I built up the rear end and dropped it onto the first of it's new wheels...
It's now seriously low - before you could fit 4 fingers between wheel and arch - now one is a squeeze! Maybe it's set a bit too low for now - but we'll wait and see when all 4 corners are done!
I did the same things on the front o/s - to give this look - which I'm very happy with!!!
That's all for today (well, I rebuilt the wiper mech again - but it wasn't too exciting, so I didn't take pics!)
Hopefully should get the remaining two corners done tomorrow - and then onto the next set of jobs...
A well built VW
nice work , would love a wee project like this
iimushroomzii
Toilet roll king
Transit Connect.
Great project mate! Doesn't look like too long until it'll be finished!
it's a great read, this thread - almost looks like fun
i've fond(ish) memories of having to fit new radius arm bushes annually, along with front balljoints and plenty of other stuff
are your wheels 6x12s or 5x12s? i had a set of 6x12s on mine and had to lower it so much (to get the front suspension geometry 'right') that i ended up having to cut about 2" out of the front wings (easily hidden under the spats though)
i've fond(ish) memories of having to fit new radius arm bushes annually, along with front balljoints and plenty of other stuff
are your wheels 6x12s or 5x12s? i had a set of 6x12s on mine and had to lower it so much (to get the front suspension geometry 'right') that i ended up having to cut about 2" out of the front wings (easily hidden under the spats though)
great thread. i soooooooo want another mini lol
have some 10" revolites knockin about somewhere (4 spoke revolution looky likeys) if u intrested. think they need the extended wheelnuts tho.
Astra coupe
Awesome.
1998 BMW e46 323i
Excellent thread, and all credit for knuckling down repeatedly. I had a mini at Uni, and although awesome to drive ( four wheel drifts FTW) it proved ENTIRELY unreliable. A mate came to stay and we did loads of jobs together,.. But it just kept breaking and I soon fell out of love.
browno
ClioSport Club Member
I think this needs a long overdue update - especially since the thread title will need an update, as it will be 30 years in August since I bought this thing! I'll bring in some highlights from another forum that fill in the gap, and then bring things up to date!
Back to 2013ish - The progress on my mini stopped shortly after the last update, as I had the combination of a house move and first child to contend with! Well, now that is all done, (Present day note - my son is now 13 and has an 11 year old brother!), so I figured it's time to get a bit more done!
I started by buying another new heater matrix (this time with solid pipe attachments) and fitting that. I then bought (another) new battery, and thought I'd try and get it fired up. So after first carefully making sure there was some oil around the top end, and then building oil pressure on the starter, I gave it a go and... Nothing! So, having checked for fuel, I double checked the static timing, then looked for a spark - which I didn't have. Then I remembered the 12v feed for the Aldon ingitor (I have ballasted ignition) - which was disconnected!
As soon as that was sorted, I tried again, and it sprung into life, and is sounding pretty healthy. So, having got it running again, I'm going to once again have a push to get it sorted - who knows, it might even get back on the road before the 20th anniversary of me starting, which is in August!
Then we jump to 2017...
After the last update I did manage to sustain some focus for a while on making progress and got new brake and clutch master cylinders installed and a selection more work done, but then the mini had to go off into storage at a friend's house for a while, as the old garage was demolished and we had the house extended to include a new garage, which took around a year. The car then returned and I have had a few other jobs on since then - more mods to my MX5, repairing my wife's Clio 182 when it was rear-ended and declared cat d (for a rear bumper swap!) and more recently playing with a second Mazda (this time a late mk1) that I have bought to turn into an Exocet kit car (which I finished in 2018!).
So, going back to the mini (my decision is that I can't start stripping to build the kit until the mini is MOT'd), I have been firstly sorting some wiring issues which means I now have a full complement of electrics, and also getting the bonnet and grille fitted...
Having bought the mini to tidy up before beginning driving at 17, I felt just how long it has taken last week - as it was a big birthday for me - and as we had a little birthday bash, my mum had commissioned a cake for me - featuring the mini, which was very impressive - apparently she had been very worried about it and it had been made to match a series of photos of the car! As you can imagine, I was very touched by the whole thing - and I might even be able to finally legally drive the car this week - just a mere 23 years late!
Of course, I just had to compare it to the real thing! A very impressive present - and very tasty it was too!
Birthday aside, I have made a little more progress this week - having spent a few evenings in the garage - the first set of jobs was to check over the whole car looking for any obvious defects that might cause an MOT fail - and all looked good (famous last words - although I do know that we will need to tweak timing and mixture and set headlight aim)...
After some more work, it was finally ready for its first MOT since 1993 - and my first drive! So, I set off from home and drove down to get some fuel first of all, with my brother following me just in case! So, first impressions are that, it didn't have a lot of desire to really start or stop very much - the former I think being down to setup, the latter possibly being me driving modern servoed cars most of the time... anyway, we got to the petrol station in one piece and fuelled up!
So then it was on to my mate's garage where I could drive straight onto the ramp for MOT. Things started well, with everything underneath being ok, and even the headlights were perfectly aimed, which was a surprise! Then things went a little downhill!
After a first fail on emissions and brakes, there was some rectification to do - but eventually got a pass! It was still driving pretty poorly - so I got it set up on the rolling road (a whole rip-snorting 51bhp!) - but 2017-18 managed to do a whole 124 miles (Fun car miles seemed to end up with me using the exocet, which was easier to access in the garage - and a lot faster! The next post should then bring us up to date!
Back to 2013ish - The progress on my mini stopped shortly after the last update, as I had the combination of a house move and first child to contend with! Well, now that is all done, (Present day note - my son is now 13 and has an 11 year old brother!), so I figured it's time to get a bit more done!
I started by buying another new heater matrix (this time with solid pipe attachments) and fitting that. I then bought (another) new battery, and thought I'd try and get it fired up. So after first carefully making sure there was some oil around the top end, and then building oil pressure on the starter, I gave it a go and... Nothing! So, having checked for fuel, I double checked the static timing, then looked for a spark - which I didn't have. Then I remembered the 12v feed for the Aldon ingitor (I have ballasted ignition) - which was disconnected!
As soon as that was sorted, I tried again, and it sprung into life, and is sounding pretty healthy. So, having got it running again, I'm going to once again have a push to get it sorted - who knows, it might even get back on the road before the 20th anniversary of me starting, which is in August!
Then we jump to 2017...
After the last update I did manage to sustain some focus for a while on making progress and got new brake and clutch master cylinders installed and a selection more work done, but then the mini had to go off into storage at a friend's house for a while, as the old garage was demolished and we had the house extended to include a new garage, which took around a year. The car then returned and I have had a few other jobs on since then - more mods to my MX5, repairing my wife's Clio 182 when it was rear-ended and declared cat d (for a rear bumper swap!) and more recently playing with a second Mazda (this time a late mk1) that I have bought to turn into an Exocet kit car (which I finished in 2018!).
So, going back to the mini (my decision is that I can't start stripping to build the kit until the mini is MOT'd), I have been firstly sorting some wiring issues which means I now have a full complement of electrics, and also getting the bonnet and grille fitted...
Having bought the mini to tidy up before beginning driving at 17, I felt just how long it has taken last week - as it was a big birthday for me - and as we had a little birthday bash, my mum had commissioned a cake for me - featuring the mini, which was very impressive - apparently she had been very worried about it and it had been made to match a series of photos of the car! As you can imagine, I was very touched by the whole thing - and I might even be able to finally legally drive the car this week - just a mere 23 years late!
Of course, I just had to compare it to the real thing! A very impressive present - and very tasty it was too!
Birthday aside, I have made a little more progress this week - having spent a few evenings in the garage - the first set of jobs was to check over the whole car looking for any obvious defects that might cause an MOT fail - and all looked good (famous last words - although I do know that we will need to tweak timing and mixture and set headlight aim)...
After some more work, it was finally ready for its first MOT since 1993 - and my first drive! So, I set off from home and drove down to get some fuel first of all, with my brother following me just in case! So, first impressions are that, it didn't have a lot of desire to really start or stop very much - the former I think being down to setup, the latter possibly being me driving modern servoed cars most of the time... anyway, we got to the petrol station in one piece and fuelled up!
So then it was on to my mate's garage where I could drive straight onto the ramp for MOT. Things started well, with everything underneath being ok, and even the headlights were perfectly aimed, which was a surprise! Then things went a little downhill!
After a first fail on emissions and brakes, there was some rectification to do - but eventually got a pass! It was still driving pretty poorly - so I got it set up on the rolling road (a whole rip-snorting 51bhp!) - but 2017-18 managed to do a whole 124 miles (Fun car miles seemed to end up with me using the exocet, which was easier to access in the garage - and a lot faster! The next post should then bring us up to date!
browno
ClioSport Club Member
So, we get into covid times, and I needed more projects! So 2020's project was adding a turbo to the Exocet, and '21 was mostly messing with my sailing dinghies - although I did find the time to uncover the mini in the back of the garage and did some work to upgrade/improve - so I drained and replaced the cooling system with a new ally radiator, new hoses and water pump etc, and had continued to run it up periodically to get some oil round the engine.
Getting to the start of this year, and I have decided I need to use both toys more - so needed to get the mini sorted and up the mileage! As a motivator, I spotted that this year might be the last running of the annual London to Brighton mini run, due to the ULEZ expansion - so thought that might give me a target! The first job was to get all the toys out and rearrange the garage!
Then I decided to do things properly (and re-do many of the things that I had previously done! So I started with replacing callipers, wheel cylinders and flexi-hoses all round...
I then replaced all the fuel lines, fuel pump and a host of other bits and pieces - which meant I was ready to go for another MOT... Which didn't start off well - I ran out of fuel en-route to fill up before the MOT and had to push it to the pumps!
All was looking good for the test - until it came to emissions... and it started off super-rich, was adjusted to something reasonable, but try as we might, we couldn't get the HC below 2000ppm, so something was clearly amiss.
Once I got it home, I started checking things over (valve clearances, etc) and pulled the plugs to check gaps - and then discovered an issue. I had three nice straw-coloured plugs, which looked normal, but no. 2 was black, wet and oily - this must be the source of my issue then. So it was time for a compression test...
and sure enough, cyl 2 is down - my thinking was then possibly a sticking valve, or (hopefully not, stuck rings). So last night I whipped off the head (and thought I'd try a time-lapse!):
Having taken a look, sure enough, the exhaust valve on cyl 2 has picked up on the guide and was sticking. The head was dropped off with my mate earlier, and has had a new valve and guide dropped in all ready for the rebuild to begin... Fingers crossed, we will be built up and on the road before the weekend!
Getting to the start of this year, and I have decided I need to use both toys more - so needed to get the mini sorted and up the mileage! As a motivator, I spotted that this year might be the last running of the annual London to Brighton mini run, due to the ULEZ expansion - so thought that might give me a target! The first job was to get all the toys out and rearrange the garage!
Then I decided to do things properly (and re-do many of the things that I had previously done! So I started with replacing callipers, wheel cylinders and flexi-hoses all round...
I then replaced all the fuel lines, fuel pump and a host of other bits and pieces - which meant I was ready to go for another MOT... Which didn't start off well - I ran out of fuel en-route to fill up before the MOT and had to push it to the pumps!
All was looking good for the test - until it came to emissions... and it started off super-rich, was adjusted to something reasonable, but try as we might, we couldn't get the HC below 2000ppm, so something was clearly amiss.
Once I got it home, I started checking things over (valve clearances, etc) and pulled the plugs to check gaps - and then discovered an issue. I had three nice straw-coloured plugs, which looked normal, but no. 2 was black, wet and oily - this must be the source of my issue then. So it was time for a compression test...
and sure enough, cyl 2 is down - my thinking was then possibly a sticking valve, or (hopefully not, stuck rings). So last night I whipped off the head (and thought I'd try a time-lapse!):
Having taken a look, sure enough, the exhaust valve on cyl 2 has picked up on the guide and was sticking. The head was dropped off with my mate earlier, and has had a new valve and guide dropped in all ready for the rebuild to begin... Fingers crossed, we will be built up and on the road before the weekend!
Crayola
ClioSport Club Member
I thought the same, I was born in 96 😂
Darren S
ClioSport Club Member
Lol - I finished uni that year!
browno
ClioSport Club Member
Nice to see some more minis on here - Is that a round nose or clubman, @S33bio (The colour looks brilliantly BL-clubman era!)
Lovely cooper too - I do love an original, earlier car (the temptation to put mine on 10's is strong!)
My colleague that is planning on joining me for the L2B has a lovely late (MPi) car, which has been backdated, and is running a serious (190hp!) 1293 turbo engine, that was a Mini Mag cover car - will get some pics of that up too!
Lovely cooper too - I do love an original, earlier car (the temptation to put mine on 10's is strong!)
My colleague that is planning on joining me for the L2B has a lovely late (MPi) car, which has been backdated, and is running a serious (190hp!) 1293 turbo engine, that was a Mini Mag cover car - will get some pics of that up too!
It is indeed Wood Lane - I have known Dave even longer than I have had the Mini!
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