Restoration-Mini

My next customer showed up today in his 73? 74? 77? 94? Mini......not sure what year it is - the VIN is made up and I could not find a vin on the scuttle. The rear latch shows a 4173 stamping, but who knows if it's original to the car? The engine tag says it's an 850 but the engine is clearly a pre-A 1275 with either the 11 stud conversion or a true Cooper S head.

Anyways, he just bought the car out of the Pacific Northwest and on cursory inspection it looks pretty good. He did bring a laundry list so I will have quite a bit to do on this one, all of it simple maintenance or repairs.

The list includes:

Adjust ride height and align - car has coilovers like mine.

Check all the wheel bearing (thinks the left rear is noisy)

Flush brake and clutch fluids

Change oil and filter and replace shift rod oil seal

Pull intake and exhaust and wrap header (maniflow like I had on Buzz)

Add header bracket to diff

Tighten fan belt

Install aluminum radiator and new hoses, flush cooling system

New choke cable

Adjust carb to idle properly

Adjust rear brakes and handbrake

Add bumpers for bonnet to slam panel

Adjust headlights

Rotate the tach to read "normally"

Find and fix various rattles and clunks

See if the exhaust can be raised/repositioned higher to not drag

Quite a bit of work, and I'll run the car up to school tomorrow to do all the underneath stuff and alignment while he orders parts.

The car is parked outside for tonight under a cover so I'll get pics tomorrow. I'm trying to talk him into coming to Texas for our Hill Country Run, but I know he won't drive that far.....so unless I can rig him a tow bar setup he probably won't come. He also owns a pristine, museum quality 71 Cooper S and a 2009 Cooper S. 

Wow, there's a lot of small yet time consuming jobs on the list!  That said, the car should be pretty well sorted when you're finished.  Have fun - in a way, I sort of envy you; you get to drive all sorts of different cars and can use the information gained to build your own.  Neat.

Quote from: MiniDave on November 03, 2016, 04:19:39 PM
My next customer showed up today in his 73? 74? 77? 94? Mini......not sure what year it is - the VIN is made up and I could not find a vin on the scuttle. The rear latch shows a 4173 stamping, but who knows if it's original to the car? The engine tag says it's an 850 but the engine is clearly a pre-A 1275 with either the 11 stud conversion or a true Cooper S head.

I will be away from a computer for a few days, but it would be a fun game to show some features of the car and have us try to determine what year it might be. 

Quote from: MiniDave on November 03, 2016, 04:19:39 PM
He also owns a pristine, museum quality 71 Cooper S and a 2009 Cooper S.

I am always a bit skeptical of any car said to be a Mk. III Cooper S.    If I remember correctly, total Mk. III Cooper S production was like only 1,800 cars.  And 45 years later, only about 6,000 remain, if you get my drift.    Since they differed so little in trim from regular Minis, they are said the most counterfeited. 

I will post up some pics over the next couple of days, for sure.

I know what you mean about the Cooper S, but he did a year's worth of research before he bought his car, and he's very meticulous so I think he may have the genuine article. I've seen the car only briefly and it looks fantastic.

He bought this 73 so he would have something to drive as he's maintaining the 71 in it's museum like condition, it only gets driven on nice days and in clear daylight weather!   ::) ;D

Posted without comments then.....

I am sure they will enjoy it, whatever it may be.
I just got James Taylor's Factory-Original Mini Mk I & Mk II, but that won't help with a MK III...
Was anything besides an S badged as a Cooper after 70?

No idea, Bruce is better versed in Mini nomenclature than me by far.......

So, I took the car up today and fixed a bunch of little BS things, changed oil and filter, fixed a couple of rattles (although there seem to be plenty left!  ;D ) installed a missing exhaust bracket, adjusted the handbrake so it will hold and so on.

However, I found one thing that bothers me......the left inner pot joint wasn't seated, I managed to push it back in all the way, but it didn't feel like it locked - like the ring might not be there. I drove home carefully and I'll check it out later to see if it worked out again.

The car drives really nicely, has good power and pulls easily - it's fun to drive. Still a pretty good list of things to do yet, I'll get it up on the alignment rack tomorrow. I may have an issue trying to adjust the ride height, the wrench I have might not fit the lock ring adjusters on his coilovers like it does mine. We'll see.

Also, driving home today from school on surface streets it got hot - I parked and called the owner to find out where the super secret switch was for the electric fan and once it was on it came down to about 3/4 on the gauge - he has a chinesium radiator like mine on the way to fix that problem, but it was not that hot today....I'm surprised it went up that high but I was stuck at traffic lights for a long time.

Unusual to see a pot joint work out like that.

They don't take much to seat fully.  I have been able to use a large "pickle fork" style ball joint separator to pry them out without resorting to harsh hammering, but I can usually feel the slight release of the spring clip when doing so.  I have always been able to just shove them back on just fine when replacing them.

Well, it had worked it's way out about 1/2" when I got up to school today, so I popped it in a little harder this time and I thought I felt the click as it went over the retaining ring. I hope that's it, otherwise I'll be pulling it out and replacing the ring.

Today I did the alignment, I raised the rear end about 1/2" to give it the rake and reset the front end, it wasn't far out, and since there are no adjusters on the rear I couldn't change that end, but I don't think its out far enough to cause tire wear and it drives fine.

Still perplexed as to why it runs this hot, in town traffic it will go straight to "H" even on a 68* day, but turning on the electric fan will drop it back to 3/4 of the gauge and it will stay there. On the highway it drops back down to "N" and stays there. I'm hoping the aluminum rad will fix this, but just in case I ordered a new thermostat and a new fan belt.

I think it sounds pretty weird that the pot joint keeps popping out, and I don't know if it's possible to assemble incorrectly, but are you sure the car has proper left and right side driveshafts and not two short ones?

I think there is too much difference in the drive shafts to have two short sides.

The outer shell not being fully set will allow the normal drive shaft drift to pull it out like Dave observed.

There is actually enough room in the pot joint boot for the inner to drift clear out (I know from experience).  If the drive shaft has been inserted reversed and is missing the stop ring for the outer CV, the drive shaft has enough spline length to drift all the way out.  If the outer shell were firmly in place, the inner will drift out and start skipping with a serious "clunking" and you will lose drive power from the differential.  I had it happen to me on a 1961 "Franken-Mini" a few years ago.  Installed a second transmission before finding the original problem.

I found a good picture of a set of pot joint shafts on 7Ent and annotated it.  The retaining circlips are visible at the far outer ends of the shafts as well.

Interesting, for sure.  A picture is worth a thousand words, thanks.  It's been many years since I've had my driveshafts completely out and disassembled, so this serves as a really good memory jog.

After getting the suspension raised up a little I can now get the car up on my lift, before it drug the exhaust trying to get it on, my driveway is sloped as is my garage floor and the combo requires a certain amount of height to get over the end.

Fixed a few more things today, I found the reason his headlight was askew was a broken retainer, right where the adjuster attaches, so I'll go up to Victoria British tomorrow and pick one up.

The header wrap came today (good old amazon sunday delivery) so I my go ahead and pull the intake and exhaust and wrap the header pipe. I can pick up an intake gasket at the same time. Speaking of intakes, does anyone run their carb without the phenolic spacer between the carb and manifold? I would think it would develop vapor lock problems in the summer without it......

I also got the gas pedal lowered, it was very awkward to drive with it up so high, and very easy to hit it along with the brake pedal - I did it more than once.

Making progress.

There is a terrible rattle in the suspension all around the car, after checking everything over carefully and not finding any issues, I'm wondering if it's not the shocks themselves.....I have no idea how old they are or how long they've been on the car.

OK, I think I may have solved the terrible suspension noise issue....

I removed one of the front shocks to find the upper shock bushing pushed almost halfway out of the eye....this allowed the spring to shift over and hit the upper shock bracket.

I took the shock apart and pressed the bushing back in, then reassembled everything and now the spring is centered in the bracket and not hitting anymore.

It also had noise in the rear, and I could see that the upper offset bushings were turned, allowing the rear springs to contact the body too. All it took to fix the right side was to loosen the nuts, rotate the offset mount and retighten the nuts. Unfortunately to do the right side I'll have to move the tank out of the way, which means removing the boot lid too. I'll tackle that tomorrow and if it works I (and the owner) will be happy campers!

Pics are of the left shock showing how it's hitting the body and the right shock turned and centered.....

Yeah that would cause some noise alright.

Out of interest, what are the differences in handling characteristics of coilovers vs cones?

So far, coilovers feel like old hard cones to me.....

Is their not an adjustment to soften them up for more comfort?

Yes and no, you have to wind the springs up enough to get the clearance Clarance, which makes them a little stiffer. You can adjust the shocks of course, I'm still playing with those right now....

I think these Spax ones on this 73 ride better than the ones I bought, but I have no idea how many miles are on them.....could be a lot, so they've softened off a bit.

Too early to say....once I get my new tires on this week I'll be driving it a lot more and playing with the settings.....

More work on the 73, I was able to buy just the adjuster ring from Vicky Brits so - $14 rather than $40. While I was there I bought some bits and built a battery hold down too. Then he emailed me and said he already had one! Oh well.....he also needs to replace that ground cable and do something with those loose wires on the hot cable.

I pulled the gas tank just far enough to get my arm behind it and turn the upper shock mount, so the next thing to do I guess is take it down off the rack and see if I fixed that terrible noise once and for all.

I also got the tachometer re-oriented per his wishes.

Left to do: Flush brakes and clutch, swap the radiator, remove intake and header and wrap the exhaust, then put it all back together again.

Damn, no joy in mudville......I just drove it around the block and those rattles are still there, exactly as before. About the only other thing I can think is that it's in the shocks themselves.

Maybe I'll get the dashcam in there and see if I can get a recording of the noise.

I had a shock go bad on my blue mini.  Made all sorts of clunking noises.  I used one of Stans old shocks to make a temporary fix.

What about giving the entire suspension a thorough pass with the grease gun to make sure everything is tight?

It's been done John, while I had the shocks out I could freely move the suspension around, nothing was loose or sticky, and everything was well greased.

The owner is considering ordering a new set of coilovers, thinking that if that's not it he could sell them on again.

Considering he's not an aggressive driver, I'm trying to talk him into putting Smooth a Rides and hi-los in instead for almost the same money. But the same situation is there...what if that isn't it?

Dan I have also seen shocks fail and get clunky, but usually when I take them off the car I can make them make the noise or I can feel the looseness....these feel fine.

Is there by chance looseness in the bushing where the shocks mount to the rear swing arm and front upper arms?

(See the annotated area in the photo - borrowed your own photo to show where.)

No, it was OK, and it fit nicely on the thru bolt. Good idea tho......

The other problem is the rears aren't made that way, and that's where the worst noise is....

I put the suspension noise aside for now to concentrate on other work, the choke cable was frayed so I ordered a new one - but I somehow ordered the wrong one so I sent him a link to the right one on MM, it was only $15.

I pulled the intake and carb off and discovered it has an HS4, I thought it felt like it was running out of breath above 5K, now I know why. It really needs an HS6 or Hif44 1 3/4" carb.......if anyone has one they'd like to sell I'll pass it along to him. HS6 that is, to use an Hif44 he'll need a different intake manifold.

I also finally got the header off and out so I can wrap it.....took my neighbor working on the bottom and me on the top to get one of the header pipes out of the Y pipe, but it finally came. Going back in is easier as I can bump the pipe with my rubber or dead blow hammers.....

I think I may have solved the hot running, the fan belt was fairly loose and when I tried to tighten it I found I was at the end of the travel, so down to Autozone for a slightly smaller belt, and now it's nice and tight. No matter, we're still installing the chinesium aluminum radiator.

I did pull the left rear drum as someone on TMF suggested my suspension noise could be in the brakes - but everything was new and exactly as it was supposed to be....it looked like they'd bought the complete backing plates loaded with wheel cylinders, shoes and all. No joy there for the rattle......there's really not much else it can be.

I got my new tires and rear spacers for the Racing Green car but I probably won't get to install them till Friday, when I can get into school between shop classes and use the tire machines. Surprisingly, Mini Spares was about £20 a tire cheaper, shipped, than JBW.

More as it happens.....

Got the header wrapped and reinstalled - it was a whole lot easier going back in than coming out! To get it out I had to remove all the studs so I could swing it left and right to get it out of the Y pipe. 2 of the thermostat housing studs came also out when I took the nuts off so I pulled the last one too, cleaned them all up and lock-tited them in again - having the studs out meant it was easier to clean off the old gasket too. The thermostat was the correct one temp wise and looked new, but it didn't have the air bypass hole in it, so I drilled a 1/8" hole in the plate.

Getting the old radiator out was a chore, I think they must have installed the engine with it on as there was no friggen way  they did it in place. I originally was going to just change the fan belt, but it wouldn't come out with the radiator in place (more on that in a sec) in order to get the radiator itself out I had to remove the electric fan mounted on the outside of the radiator, it was held in place with some plastic straps that went thru the matrix and were held with a clip on the inside. To get to THEM I had to remove the four screws that held the radiator support in place so I could swing it forward to get to the clips, especially the ones at the bottom. It was a PITA to say the least. The new aluminum radiator went in easily because I'm not putting the electric fan back in.

Turns out the reason the fan belt wouldn't come out is the rubber bushings and spacer in the bottom of the radiator support were not there, so it had moved out of place - I think this was done on purpose to allow room for the electric fan as it was right up against the inner fender...so now those parts are on the way too.

I'm on a first name basis with the local DHL delivery driver, I see him several times a week now!   ;D

The car's owner and I have been discussing carburetors, this one has a 1 1/2" rather than the 1 3/4" I usually see on a 1275, and it shows when you get it up above 5K it just runs out of breath. I thought he would have to get a different manifold to accommodate the 4 bolt larger carbs ( the one on the car is a 2 bolt) but it turns out this Oselli manifold will work with either...

He only just got the car so I think I'll let him drive it for a while before he spends the money, he's not a hard driver and the car runs really well right now - it may suit him fine the way it is.

I still have to replace a stripped wheel stud on the left front, and flush the brake and clutch with new fluid, then I'm pretty much done except for that damn rattle.

Oh, I still need to install the new choke cable when it comes and a few other bits and bobs. He's also asked me to engineer something so his turn signals will self cancel. THEN I'm done.....unless he wants to change the carb......it's always sumthin with these little cars, isn't it?  ;D

Got the choke cable in and reattached the heater into place, everything was cooking along fine till......

Houston, we have a problem.......

I was pulling the steering wheel to find a way to get the turn signals to cancel, and when I removed the horn button I went uh-oh......there was a substantial smear of epoxy over the top of the nut. Then when I removed the nut I saw why.....no threads left in the nut or on the end of the shaft.

so, anyone have an early model steering shaft, nut and washer they don't need and would like to sell? I can get all the parts from 7Ent or Minispares, but they only sell the later shaft and I might need to modify it to work on this early car - which I can do of course. This is a right drive MkIII (73?) with the steering column lock.

Ironically my steering column was bodged in similar fashion.  I recently put a new wheel on to discover that the threads were cut clear off, the center drilled out and tapped for a bolt.  Drastically reduces strength of the column depending how much metal is not compromised. 

Yeah, a new steering shaft is only about $100, not worth bodging it for no more than that. The problem is these aftermarket steering wheels don't fit down on the shaft as far as the originals, so the nut only engages the last 5 or so threads. I may cut the boss down a bit under the nut or open up the taper on the back so the wheel fits further down on the shaft, that will give the nut full purchase on the shaft.

Can't believe someone would epoxy on a steering wheel nut, especially with no threads.......jeez louise.  ::)

What a total boob did that!


Epoxy on the steering column? 


I woulda used chewing gum. 




Seriously, I really wonder some times how stupid people can be .

It's especially discouraging since I've been complementing this car on how well it's been done, then I find things like this....and stripped wheel studs. Makes you wonder what else is hiding in there somewhere that could kill somebody?

I used one of the refurbished ones from 7 Ent and it seemed to be Ok with no modifications required for our 64 and 65 cars.

Refurbished? Wonder what they do to it?

He's ordering a new one along with the bushings and nut and washer from Mini Spares, I get really terrific service from them...if I order over the weekend the parts are in my hands by Wed - takes longer than that from 7Ent, as they don't ship on Mondays, and it's 4 days via ground from Ca.

Plus too and also, the $120 part from 7Ent is £35 from Mini Spares.....even with shipping it will be half price.

I looked at this one online and compared it to the one out of the car and you're right, the one they sell will work with no modifications.

Well, he wound up buying the steering parts from 7Ent and they came today - pretty quick. However, this replacement shaft matches perfectly to the old one save for one thing, on the older shafts they use a felt bushing, the newer one uses a plastic bushing which I did not order..... so we're down till Monday when Jack can get me the right inner lower bush.

Interesting - I replaced the felt on mine around 3 years ago and have thought about having an extra shaft on hand, as I don't really like the broached wheel boss area on my column - it doesn't appreciate the steering wheel boss being removed and re-installed.  It's almost like it tries to cut new teeth in the boss, doesn't readily re-align.  Another component for 'one day'...

Interesting....this steering wheel is just an inexpensive Mountney but it fits the splines perfectly. I think I'll machine about 1/4" off the outer boss to allow the nut to get more threads, as it is the nut is just flat with the end of the shaft. Of course, if you didn't apply gorilla strength to tightening the nut, that would probably save the threads too.....

My threads are OK, it's the splines - not always receptive to revisiting their previous locations.

Well, as it turns out the owner has access to a lathe and had the hub machined this morning and will drop it off this evening along with the new tires mounted and balanced on his wheels. All I need now is the lower bushing on it's way from 7Ent....

He brought up an interesting point tho......he took the tires to be installed, and after they balanced them he challenged them to check one of them again....this time it came up needing more weight even tho it checked fine when h balanced it. The guy said it was fine and just to put them on the car and see how they drove. But that got me to thinking, shouldn't the results be repeatable?

He did come up with some more little things he wanted done on the car, he's really tall and these seats don't recline so his head rubs the headliner, I've never seen this style of seat before but the back leg is a single pipe on each side, so I'm going to lop off an inch and see if it helps, if it's not acceptable he'll have his guys make up some legs to bring it back up again - his concern is that since the backrests aren't adjustable he'll be leaning back too far when I shorten the legs.

There are some loose wires going who knows where directly attached to the battery and he wants me to sort them out too.

I'll put up some pics in a minute....

I've seen those kind of seats in a Mini before.  I know that doesn't makes sense for a supposed 1973 Mini, but that's what the original seat legs looked like on early Mini 850s.  Typically they have little rubber caps on the end of the feet.

look here:  http://1959miniregister.com/variations-seats/

I was going to add what Bruce did already, very early seats. Some people in the UK pay crazy money for those kinds of things, if all the pieces are there and it looks like they are.

I know Dan has some newer seats he'd like to get rid of, wonder if he'd prefer them?

I already cut an inch off the ends of the legs, I think that did help his headroom as long as he doesn't feel like he's leaning back too far he'll probably be OK with them as they are.

Working on this wiring, what a mess! They ran wires thru multiple holes in the sheet metal with no grommets, there were two switches mounted to the vertical support leg in the middle of the back seat, one for the radiator fan and the other I'm guessing is for the radio amplifier mounted up under the dash. No fuses either.....jeez louise......I'm also going to have to reroute the wire for the electric fuel pump and the radio speakers on the rear deck.

Wow, no protective sleeving either.  Makes one wonder...   :-\

Is that careless wiring, or scary wiring?



Both.    I don't understand how people can be so sloppy and just think it is okay.

I have newer seats?  I think the one's you're thinking of go to your car.

I thought at one time you said you had a bunch of seats you wanted to rid of, like 20 or so? I must have misunderstood......

At this point I'm into a major re-wiring job, the basic car wiring is fine, it's the add-ons that are a mess, like the stereo amp, fog/driving lights and fuel pump.

I've never seen so many wire color changes, scotch locks, wire nuts and multiple add-ins in one car before....none of it fused.

They did use relays for the lights at least......one relay hanging from the firewall on the left side of the car and one nicely mounted on the right, switches on the opposite side from the driver......cheese louise what a mess.

And the radio wiring? Nothing but hodge podge and wire nuts.....I hope he can find a wiring diagram for it.

At least it'll be well-sorted and safe when you give it back, and I'm sure the owner will appreciate it; though it'll take a bit o'time, not to mention proper wiring supplies to get it done right.

I do have a plethora of seats but I'm probably going to keep them, cause you just never know!

OK Dan, I think he'll keep these anyway if my trick on the seat gives him the extra headroom he needs.

John, I appreciate your confidence in me!

My 60 has those seats as said by others they are very early seats and worth money if he ends up not using them I wanted to replace one of mine but ended up just repairing it as a correct early seat frame was $500.00 on e bay at the time.

Quote from: MiniDave on November 18, 2016, 04:44:16 PM
I've never seen so many wire color changes, scotch locks, wire nuts and multiple add-ins in one car before....none of it fused.

Wire nuts??!!  On car?   Holy crap.  That's a new low.

Quote from: MiniDave on November 18, 2016, 04:44:16 PM
And the radio wiring? Nothing but hodge podge and wire nuts.....I hope he can find a wiring diagram for it.

Radio on Mini?   Why?

I think the guys that did the restoration did NOT do the radio and fog light install....and yes, we both laughed about the absurdity of a radio in a Mini, but he wants it wired so it will come on with the key off - so I guess you can hear it then  ;D

Ran into another issue with the steering column. The older shafts used a felt bushing at the bottom, the newer ones use a plastic bushing but - the outer column has a ridge inside (I think to keep the felt from riding up the column) and the new plastic bush will not go past this internal ridge. My guess is I either need to take a die grinder and remove it or send the new shaft out and have the lower part machined to match the old one and use a new felt bush. Since the owner has a lathe in his company I'm thinking we'll do that.

I listen to music in my mini everywhere I go.  I don't see what the big deal is.

When I was building my 1970 Dino Ferrari, I went to great expense and trouble to put the latest and greatest Blaupunkt stereo and really good speakers in it - the only time I could hear it was when the engine was off!  ;D

But, I never listen to the radio in my MINI either, and I can hear it just fine.

I like to listen to the sound of the motor and all the mechanical mayhem going on.

These cars don't have an accessory "on" position in the ignition switch do they? Seems like it's locked, unlocked, on and crank.

They have an on afaik, unless I'm crazy.  My fuel pump and "stereo" power up with one turn over to what I assume is on.

Will the outer tube even go over the lower end of the new shaft?  It look like the welded on end with the pinch-bolt slot is too large diameter for the lower part of the outer tube to go over.

The old shaft appears milled down to let the tub cover where the felt bushing rides just above the pinch-bolt slot.

Perhaps the later outer tubes were shorter so the plastic bushing rides in the higher position and the un-milled portion stuck out below the end of the tube?

Could be......the lower part of the new shaft does go into the end of the outer column ok, it's just that the bushing has to ride on that narrow part, and that part is past the ridge....so either the ridge has to go or machine down the end of the shaft to match the older one. Since we have a lathe and competent operator available, I think that's the way we should go.

We'll see what the owner wants to do... but when I got the bushing into the outer tube it was really stiff to turn the shaft. I mean like requiring pliers to move it stiff......

How does the outer tube look when compared to your green Mini?  Same length, same ridge?

I'll go look....but I think you're onto something - maybe I could just cut the outer tube off at that ridge as the bushing is so much further in......

Edit: nope, 89 looks exactly the same as this one.....

I'm having a hard time remembering back to the last late model Mini I had where I paid any attention to the lower part of the steering column (was about 9 years ago).

That Mini was a 1991 Japanese spec Mini that had spline issues at the lower end.  I am wanting to say it had a shorter outer tube and the inner shaft was like your replacement which would have the plastic bushing riding higher than the older style felt bushing.

My orange shop manual describes the lower bushing as only the felt style.  I will check my Haynes manual (covers the later years) to see if it indicates when the lower was changed to the plastic bushing.  The shop manual does mention that a plastic bushing can replace the upper bushing.

Edit:
Checked my Blue Haynes manual (1969 -2001) and it also refers to the lower column bush as only being the felt bush.  It references the upper as being a plastic bushing to be lubricated with graphite grease.

The owner decided to take the shaft with him and have it machined to match the old one......

He also found a few more jobs for me - relocate the speakers from the back shelf to under the front edge of the back seat.

The left window is out of the track on the lift, so I get to disassemble the left door and fix that..

He wants me to add a 12V power socket with a USB port.

He's going to make a small bracket and put some switches in for the fog lights, then I'll wire it up.

He had the hub machined and it's much better, but he's waiting for the roll pins to make the turn signals cancel.

I'm sure he'll come up with more before the car leaves...he did bring back the new tires all mounted and balanced.

He gave me the steel spare wheel and tire if anyone needs one.

Oh, and the dome light doesn't work, so I get to fix that too.

I installed a pair of 6 x 9" triaxial Clarions under the rear seat using this attached template - if you didn't have one already.  I cut the MDF, used some spray adhesive to cover it with some felt from the car stereo shop, then fitted some 3-sided square aluminum profile strips to the top and bottom edges to finish it off. 

To fasten it to the floor, I used a couple o'right-angle bent strips screwed to the board's backside, cut a couple o'slots in the carpet for the anchors to pass through and screwed it through the floor under the carpet.  Up front, I've a pair of 3½" Polk Audio coaxials in small cheapo Phillips enclosures that I carved out to accommodate the Polks (the crappy rear-parcel shelf surface-mount boxes that came with the car's original push-button radio) and mounted them under the corners of the dash.

I can't really listen to the stereo when driving along, the engine and exhaust is quite enough, but the Alpine does have bluetooth, so if I get a phone  call, I can answer it without breaking the law.

These are Bose speakers, self enclosed, so I'm just going to find a way to mount them and run the wires under the carpet to the amp mounted under the radio. Right now they are held down with double sided tape!

I spent most of yesterday dealing with knee deep oak leaves in my front yard, today my allergies are killing me! Ahhhh, life in suburbia!

Do the speakers have provisions for mounts? 

If not going to make a surrounding face, you could mount them hanging to the underside of the rear seat pan?

I thought you might be interested in my enclosures for front speakers.
Regards
towjoe 77.gif

Thanks Joe, no front speakers in this car......

Mike, I made some simple brackets and will hang them under the back seats...pics to follow. Originally these speakers were "attached" to the fabric on the parcel shelf with Velcro...wires strung everywhere.

Those look very similar to some surround speakers in my parents' home rather than auto shelf speakers.

:-\

Yes, they looked that way to me too, but my job is to mount them and wire them, whatever they sound like is not my department!  ;D

Lol.

22.gif

Quote from: MiniDave on November 19, 2016, 11:16:16 AM
I think the guys that did the restoration did NOT do the radio and fog light install....and yes, we both laughed about the absurdity of a radio in a Mini, but he wants it wired so it will come on with the key off - so I guess you can hear it then  ;D

Ran into another issue with the steering column. The older shafts used a felt bushing at the bottom, the newer ones use a plastic bushing but - the outer column has a ridge inside (I think to keep the felt from riding up the column) and the new plastic bush will not go past this internal ridge. My guess is I either need to take a die grinder and remove it or send the new shaft out and have the lower part machined to match the old one and use a new felt bush. Since the owner has a lathe in his company I'm thinking we'll do that.

I have the same issue with the felt/plastic. Can you give me some dimensions on the new shaft diameter to get it to work?

Yes, he took both shafts to work and his machinist turned them down to match, when he comes over tonight I'll measure them and post it up. I don't think since it's a felt bushing that the size is critical to the thousandth.....

OK Merlin....the shaft size is just a smidge under 3/4"......  .735 to be exact.

Is that dim from the original shaft or is that what it got cut down to? Like you said I don't think it will matter too much as it its plastic, but just curious of that was taken from Rover or if that's what was done to make it fit.

We machined the new shaft to match the original.....

I've got most of the wiring repairs done now, I made a new harness for the tach - they ran the wires all the way across the dash inside the car, then all the way back across the firewall. I soldered the connections (they had used red butt connectors that were barely holding and looked awful sticking out of the back of the tach) and I sheathed the wires so they won't show as much.

I also got the steering column re- assembled. The new felt bushing a the bottom was really fighting me so I made a tool, a very thin piece of sheet metal wrapped around it with a screw clamp to compress it enough to fit into the end of the outer column. Once in it turns nice and smooth, I also put the steering wheel on and the pins we put in the back to engage the self canceling ring worked perfectly - so now the signals self cancel. I also had him machine a 1/4" or so bit of the boss under the nut that holds the wheel on, that way the nut goes on a bit further, so it gets full purchase on the threads, unless someone goes gorilla on tightening the nut it should never strip again, or come loose.

Next I'm building a metal panel for the dash so I'll have something other than cardboard to mount the radio and amp to, the owner has ordered a box and some switches for the fog lights and he'll bring those over Tuesday. I'm still waiting on the aux power socket to arrive, but I'll have all the wiring ready for it when it gets here.

He also requested a disconnect for the battery for when the car is in storage over the winter, so I made up one of the quick disconnects like I had on Buzz, super easy to use and look neat when on.

Got a little more done on the 73, I built a support plate for the radio and amplifier and was able to move the radio over a little more towards the center of the car, per the owner's request. He bought a slick little aluminum powder coated box and some switches for the fog lights, so now I can finish wiring everything up.

Sounds like 10 minutes work but I've been engineering on this all day (plenty of cad work - Cardboard aided design!) but I think it turned out well.

That looks good, nice job.  Funny how things never happen quickly!

Threw a coat of paint on the sheet metal bracket I made to hold the amp and radio and while that was drying I worked on making up the harness for the lights and got them working. the right outside light is missing it's bulb, and he plans to replace two of the Wipac lights with yellow lensed ones, but he can't seem to find any.

I also started sorting out the wiring harness for the radio and amp - what a mess. Wire nuts used to tie things together, scotch locks to pick up the power and on and on......I'm just about done with it so I should have it powered up tonight too.

Once all that's done I can start putting the interior back in. I sent the seats up to my local upholstery guy to fix a few things then it should be ready to  drive home. I'll be glad to get my lift back, I have work I need to do to both my green and my blue Mini/MINIs.

Edit: Got the radio and amp all installed and promptly blew a fuse when I powered it up! I think I know what's causing the problem and it's a simple fix - that's why we use fuses!

You're tackling a lot of stuff there.


I just realized what you have there is the rare, NHD Mini.  (No Hand Drive)  :)
 

Got the radio installed and wired up and as soon as I connected the battery I saw a spark and heard a "pop".....tracing back I had hooked up the wire from the radio marked "remote" to the amp at the place on it marked "remote", however it seems the two are not compatible in that way - I think the output from the radio is a 12V + and the input on the amp is a ground.

And that children is what we have fuses! The pop I heard was the fuse on the amp.....I replaced it and now the radio lights up again but I don't have sound out of the amp......still doing a little detective work there.

In the meantime I've been dealing with a sick dog and a toilet that won't stop running - looks like I'll have to shut off the water and replace the standpipe for a more recent design. I should just replace the damn toilet but screw that!

That reminds me when I wired up Flur I accidentally touched a wire to a ground and pop!  Except it actually blew the stereo.

Back when I was about 18 years old, the unfused headlight wiring to the foot-operated dimmer switch of my '62 Mini somehow shorted itself (I'm sure it something I did, just can't remember the details that long ago).   As you know, with the early Minis, BMC decided that an unfused headlight circuit was a perfectly acceptable way to build a car. 

Here's what I do remember:  One of the wires leading to the dimmer switch started crackling and smoking - it was quite spectacular.  Fearing a imminent vehicle fire, I quickly reached to grab the wire with my bare hands to try to yank it free.  It was then I learned that it had gotten so hot that it began melting the insulation right off the copper.  I got burned pretty badly by molten plastic which stuck to my skin - I had burn marks on my hand for most of that summer.

Turns out the amp is toast, but I hooked the radio up directly to the speakers and it sounds fantastic. Result!

I also got the dash back in and the dome light fixed, turns out there was a broken wire at the door switch, good thing I keep some of those Lucas bullet connectors on hand.

In the home stretch now, I'll get the steering column in tonight and the tach wired up, then all I'll have left to do is pull the left door card and fix the window (it's crooked at the top)......

I think that's it, unless he comes up with something else.....I got the seats back from the upholsterer's where he fixed a torn seam and tidied up some loose flaps of vinyl. He also said he can do the headliner like the owner wants, using some different material. I'm not sure the owner will like that stuff but if it gets him the head room he needs.......well, we'll see. All things done I'll meet him at the upholsterer's on Monday and let them decide.

Got the 73 almost completely buttoned up, I still have to do a repair to the left window and do a final aim of the headlights, now that it's back down on it's wheels.

Started it up for the first time in almost a month and it popped off first turn of the key! I'm surprised because my green car doesn't do that, and neither did Buzz. On those two you crank it once, then it starts on the second crank.....I didn't run it long, just enough to get the header wrap to smoke!  ;D

Tomorrow I should be able to button it up once and for all and send it home...he has an appointment Mon to see the upholstery shop about the headliner, so he probably will have to drive one of his cars home then come back for the other.

I've got work starting to stack up on me so I need to clear the shop.

I need to change both outer axle boots on the Audi, then I need to change rear pads and rotors on the Blue MINI, and do an oil change and a few other deferred maintenance projecs - I bought a new battery for it but haven't gotten it installed yet as you have to remove the plenum cover panel - which entails removing the wiper arms and who knows what else...I'm also going to flush the brake fluid on the Audi and the MINI, plus I need to do some work on the green Mini......

Not to mention Dan's engine and a couple more. Gonna be a busy winter, my Auto class at the college starts Jan 10th and I'll need to get ready for that too.

And mine.
Do you need it to be put off for a little?

Nope, send it when you're ready.......but just FYI, I'll be out of town from Dec 27th to Jan 2nd......

Been a long weekend.....I changed all the axle boots on the front of the Audi, the rears looked just fine. 
As on any job you do for the first time, the first one took 3 hours and the second one about an hour.....and you can't help but get that moly grease all over you no matter how careful you are.....

Sat I took the Audi back up to align it, it wasn't wearing the tires but since I just put four new Conti's on I thought I should and sure enough, the back end was out a bit both in camber and toe, especially the left. Rose drove us to dinner last night to meet with a friend from New York who's in town for a bit and she said the car felt better - more planted on the road.....so I'm happy with it now - we're leaving for North Carolina the day after Xmas so I wanted everything straight before we hit the road. Fresh oil, fresh wiper blades, the brakes are like new, new tires and alignment - I think we're good to go.....

So, back on the 73......the axle has moved out again, so I'm going to drain the oil and pull it and see what's up with the inner snap ring, I hope I have a new one stashed away somewhere. All I have left is to install the aux power port and fix the left window and this car can go home at last. It still has that terrible rattle and I'm convinced it's in the shocks. Pity too as these actually ride pretty well. If it wasn't such a chore to remove the fuel tank I'd swap the ones off the green Mini just to see for sure if that's it, but there really isn't anything else it can be.

Back on the 73 today......the owner complained about the left window sitting crooked - high at the back so I took it apart to see what was up, it was one bitch kitty to get the regulator out and once out I found out why - one of the arms was twisted and bent at the fold. I managed to get the spring off then divised a way to straighten the arm and rebend it at the fold. After removing the spring I put the regulator in my press and used a big socket to hold the arm then slipped a piece of pipe over the arm so I could in essence reverse the force that bent it - worked a treat!

Once I had the regulator reassembled I took a good hard look at the window and found the channel folded over along the rear, so I managed to straighten the rubber and get it back into the channel proper. Next it was get the regulator installed which is very fiddly - you have to wedge the window about halfway and lower the arms then slide one of the rollers in the forward channel on the window then slide the back one in, then wind the regulator to move it into the right place - however, now I can't get the holes to mount it to line up!

PITA!

I can move the regulator around and get one screw in place, but then none of the other 4 line up - even tho the window rolls up and down smoothly......no idea why it all won't line up now except now that arm is straight and so is the window - hmm......gonna take a break from it and let it "soak"

Hi Dave,
As I remember I had to crank the regulator to raise the window about 1/2 way. Then realign the regulator so the four screws go in. A bit fiddly for sure.
Regards
towjoe 77.gif

Believe me Joe I have wound it up down and sideways, jiggle and joggled, cursed and scratched my head numerous times to no avail!

I've decided to just let it sit for a bit and think about what a PITA it's being and maybe it will straighten itself out and fly right. Then maybe I'll try again tomorrow.....  ;D

On the plus side, with that cool patina, seeing the patterns of the spring coils and gear teeth makes your photo fun to look at. 

I have a spare one that can be purchased for a fee  ;D

Good to know, thanks......I'll get this one in if I have to redrill the damn holes!  ;D

Nah, I'll figure it out....it's nice that the window rolls up and down smoothly now anyway......

I think that when I straightened out the kinks in that arm I made it slightly longer, so the arm holds the regulator in the wrong position so the screw holes don't line up. Dan is sending me one to replace this one, when I get it I can measure the arms to see if I'm right.

Need to get this car out of my shop so I can put mine in while we're gone over the holidays, I doubt the owner is real anxious to drive it now with salt on the roads and colder'n hell.....we may hit 6* Sunday.........

Pity I just threw away a LH regulator around 2 months ago.  It worked, but the 'hex' where the window wind-up handle screws onto was a bit loose.  I haven't a press or any means of fixing it, but you could have possibly pirated the arms or other parts.

Pot joint clips came in today from 7 Ent, now I ask you - does that look like $24 worth ...........of anything? (Coulda been worse I guess......MM wanted $9 ea for them)

Jeez louise, no wonder we buy our parts from England whenever we can.....

20* and snowing out right now and it's headed to zero this afternoon, plus we got a nice layer of ice underneath the snow....I'm glad I got the MINI finished yesterday cause I'm not going anywhere today if I can possible help it, but it may be just too cold to work in the shop till Monday or Tuesday when its supposed to warm up to the low 30's again..

Heater!  My little bag of 20 dollar seals looked just like that.  Always kinda sad lol. 

When it's this cold and windy it's too expensive to run unless it's an emergency repair, my garage doors don't seal well and the wind comes right in on days like today. I would prefer to be down in the shop right now, but it can wait.....one of the nice things about working on these cars, you're rarely on a deadline.

I know too well about deadlines and minis lol. 

If you have a dedicated 10ft area you work in, a radiant heater will keep you toasty.  I discovered it's great for the body filler work area when prepping doors, bonnets, boot lids  cause it speeds up the drying process.  Clicks on and instant heat.  We debated putting it on the patio to enjoy winter lunch breaks out there!

I really pity you folks with heaters...

My garage door (wooden, very heavy non-folding) doesn't have any seals, was constructed with a fresh-air vent - essentially a missing brick with a metal grate.  Because the garage is situated behind an apartment building several miles from my own apartment, there's no possibility for adding a heater.

I'm lucky to have electricity for basic lighting.

My garage doors are also about 1 1/2" thick planks, extremely heavy but while I don't have a vent exactly, I do have daylight coming in around about an 1 1/2 gap on one side of the left door due to the failing concrete that makes the door tip crooked once it hits the bottom - plus the floor has dropped in the middle, so there's a nice gap there too.

It's not too bad most of the time, but when the wind gets up there's no point in trying to heat that space......

Tonight we tried to go out and meet a friend for dinner, but while the Audi will go, turn and stop just fine the snow was coming down so hard the windshield would freeze over and I just couldn't see to drive, even with the  defrost on full blast, so we came back home.

Tis a nite fit for neither man nor beast!

Tiss a night for pilots though...  off to the airport!  Windshield heat on high, wings and cowl heat on, type 1 fluid full body, type 4 wings and tail.  My first officer is new and unsure about this.

Brrrr - makes me want to put on a sweater just thinking about it.

I once drove through Kansas and Missouri during the winter in a U-haul box truck from Tucson to Chicago and wow, it was cold.  The ice on the antenna was as thick as my pinky finger.  With so many accidents on the highway and generally deplorable snow and icy conditions, the drive took 4 days.

Thankfully I can stand on a few layers of cardboard when I'm in the garage, and always have an extra sweater and lab coat up there should my layered attire require enhancing.

Dan, just be glad you're not the guy out there spraying the deicer.....my brother did that for years.....

Oh I've been there done that too.  I still have calluses from picking ice off the Tulsa ramp to park planes during ice storms.

Seeing a picture like Dan's parking lot makes me glad that I live over here.  The grass is still green and although it gets relatively cold, we haven't really had any snow in years - usually just an inch or two and then it turns to slush in a couple of days. 

I think the last 'real' snow we had was around 4 or 5 years ago.  Hyacinth and I drove up to the estate and couldn't drive down 'our' road - had to hoof it through around 10" or so.  It was pretty though, deer and hare tracks all over the place, so we sat on tree stumps and lit a fire in the chiminea and enjoyed the quiet.

Away we go

Whew! -5° F here this morning, no work in the shop for me today.....(that's -20C for those who go that way)

John, I'm surprised to hear you say it doesn't snow much in Copenhagen, somehow we picture any country so far north as being blanketed all winter - maybe it's your proximity to the sea?

BTW, one of my favorite singers is from there - Mette Lindberg!

Hey Dave -5 feels warm compared to the -11 I had coming to work this morning.

-21 according to nearby weather station truck was showing -19 when I got up yesterday morning.
I should start plugging the truck in, poor engine makes some noise when started below -10 or so.

Today we're all the way up to 20* and it's sunny and calm, so back to the workshop I go - I got the stub axle clip so I'll do that first.....

Seems like the new clip really made a difference, the hub fit on well enough, but there was a notable difference in the amount of force it took to overcome the resistance or friction of the clip while pushing it on the stub axle, and once home it sort of "clicked" into place. I think it will stay in from here on.....reassembling the rest now, tho I found the bracket that attaches the brake backing plate was installed wrong - it was under the arm rather than on top, and the tapered shaft of the tie rod end acted like a swedge for the hole and deformed it. I'll straighten it out and install it correctly. Wonder what else like this I'll find?

I still don't know what was making the horrible noise he reported, it's never done anything like that for me. I've read of some lowered cars pulling the inner joint out of the pot, but the boot was intact on this one, seems like it would have to pull it off or damage it for that to happen, but I could be wrong. I suppose it could come out and bang around and somehow find it's way back in place again, but that makes even less sense considering that the pot joint was slid out of the transmission.

I have to say I'm feeling more than a little chuffed - I fixed the window regulator!

Turns out the gears were off one tooth. I removed the little stop bracket and the two springs, that allowed me to get one of the gears out, moved it one tooth and immediately it looked better. I riveted the little stop bracket back in and viola! Works perfectly and lines up correctly, just as it should.

Now that the axle's back in, I have to remember to put the engine oil back in!

Well, I spoke too soon......first time I wound the window down one of the arms came off the track and when I tried to wind it up again (not knowing it had jumped out) the gears jumped a tooth or two also! Bugger!

The good news is that I am now the world's leading expert on Mini window winders......as I took it out yet again and apart yet again to see why it had done that. I found that when I'd worked on it last I hadn't bent the stop back up, but forgot. I also took it to the solvent tank and cleaned it thoroughly and in doing so found some "timing marks" on the gears. Lining those up, putting everything back right, making sure everything was snugged down as tightly as possible and it went right in- lined up - worked perfectly.



So, I now have the door completely re-assembled, the oil back in the engine and I'm ready to start it again. The roads are way too messy right now to take it out for a drive, that will have to wait till tomorrow when it's supposed to be in the 60's again!

Next time I take it out for a drive - since I now have the power socket in and working - I'll put the camera in and maybe you all can hear the suspension noise I've been trying to cure - I've decided it's just those damn shocks so he's considering going to cones and he'll sell these to someone for their track car or something.

Both of my windows are hard to crank up so I see taking it all out in my future. Done it before so not too bad.
Will clean the winders and look for the timing marks just for grins. 77.gif

Try some silicone paste in the window tracks first...I use a long thin screwdriver to get it into the lower channels....the marks line up when the arms are straight out to the sides.

When the window winder arms are in the right places it's not too hard to take the regulator out....but it's easy to break the little plastic dobbins that hold the door panel on.....using one of these helps!

Harbor Freight has them pretty cheap......

(http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_8055.jpg)

The owner is planning to come get the 73 tomorrow, I'll be happy to get my garage back, poor racing green has been out in the weather for a month now (I have a good car cover on it)

Took the 73 out for a drive this morning and it ran sweet - the new tires were as smooth as can be, steering felt smooth if a tiny bit stiff (new bushings were a little tight) I think the car rides better than mine but he's decided to go ahead and change over to Smootharides and get rid of these gas shock/coil overs.

The temp gauge ran exactly halfway between the N and H, but when I brought it home and checked it with my digital temp gauge it was right on the money - so I think the car has the wrong sending unit for the temp gauge. It went exactly to that spot and stayed there, whether running on the highway or stopped at a long red light.

He needs  new battery. Even tho it started Ok for me this am, it was dead at the top shop and it almost didn't start when he came to get it today.

He is mostly one happy camper - and the real bonus - the headliner change gives him at least an inch of headroom now, where before his head was always rubbing the top. We have a few little things yet to do, change out those noisy shocks, he's thinking of getting a Broadspeed dash, fix that temp gauge but it's mostly a very nice running car now. Not near as noisy as mine, and it rides better too......sorry about the pic, the light coming in from that window gave a poor shot.

Oh, and the axle stayed put - right where it's supposed to......can't believe a $6 circlip was all that was causing that problem.

The owner picked up the 73 and drove it about 30 miles across town to his office and texted me that the car drove great and he's so happy to be able to have it again - he said it was the best Christmas present he'd gotten!

He's already making a list of the next round of things he wants to do, including the Broadspeed dash, new suspension bits and so on.

Awesome 4.gif

What Dan said!   77.gif

Well, as I told him....it was a LOT of work but we're moving the car in a direction that he wants...it's now easy for him to drive and runs great. Once we get the suspension sorted he'll pretty much be where he wants it.

He's coming back to pick up his 10 MINI that he left when he drove the Red 73 home, and I already emailed him the bill...all that's left is a check.....till the next round.

I drove it this morning and it's a really good driving car - and it's solid as a rock, no rust at all anywhere so he should have plenty of fun with it. He's considering coming on our March Texas run too.

Congrats on completing all that work!     

Yeah, awesome!   77.gif

I'll be starting round 2 on this car when I get back from our Texas trip.....that will include a complete suspension rebuild front and rear, installing Smooth A Rides, shocks and Hi-Los.

Then I'll be changing his dash to the one with the tach off to the side of the center binnacle which I'm sure will involve some custom work and some wiring.

I still have some work to do on his turn signals, they cancel sometimes and not others, need to see if that's just fine tuning or something else.

Needs a new temp sensor and heater valve...he about froze on his ride home as the valve was stuck and he didn't know he could just grab it and drag it open or use a screwdriver to open it.

Also going to install new headlight trim rings, his were rusted on the insides.

Lots of little details but it's getting there........

The owner of the 73 met me at school yesterday to look over his 71 Cooper S and discuss work on it and the 73. First we put the 71 up on the rack, it has hydro suspension and it was almost completely down on the left side. He bought a pump on Ebay for $50 and we decided to give it a try, we loaded it with antifreeze and attached it to the rear fitting, it took what seemed like 1000 pumps but it brought it right up again.......it was so easy the owner said he thought he could even do it - and he's not mechanically inclined - at all!

We also decided to do the 73 suspension work before we tackled the 71.....it needs some oil leaks fixed, and it will be visiting Dan at some point for some rust bubbles and floor work. It was supposed to have been restored completely in 91, but the rust I found made me question that. He keeps it in dry storage in a cave where his business is located, so since it NEVER sees rain or even humidity, so he's not in a hurry.

More as it happens......

Oh, the leak turned out to be right at the fill valve, but it's the crimped on part of the hose that's leaking so I'll have to remove the displacer to make a new hose. He texted me when he got it home saying how much better it rode with the suspension pumped up again!

Sounds good. The work is piling up for you still.

So this '73 is coming back today for round 2, it's been stored away all winter as the owner does not drive his classics except on sunny days - these cars see no rain, sleet, snow nor the gloom of night!  ;D

Today's list:

1) Install SmoothaRide suspension, including hi-lo's - doing this will entail removing the fuel tank and it may need further suspension work such as replacing the bearings in the upper control arms and rear trailing arms, won't know till I take it apart. While the tank is out the owner is going to decide whether to replace it with the bigger one. I'm anxious to see how this suspension works out, as I think (being an old fart too) I might like to do this on my Racing Green Mini.

2) Install the new Broadspeed dash that holds the tacho - he also wants me to fab a cover for the hole in the bulkhead.

3) Install his new yellow fog lights

4) New trim rings for headlights

5) Replace the heater valve

6) Replace temp sensor

7) Find and fix coolant leak around rad - we put in a new aluminum rad and lower rad hose, don't know what this is going to take.

8- Lots of little check this and check that's.....adjust this, tighten that etc

9) When it's all done - alignment

But before I can start on any of this today the weather is warm and sunny so I'm going to clean and organize the shop - should take most of the day but I'll need the extra room to work on his car. In the meantime I have to completely re-organize my driveway too as the RG will be going under the car cover for the duration, Rose needa her Audi accessible and I need the blue Clubby too. Makes for a bit of driveway shuffle sometimes.....

Bruce has a better driveway arrangement - he can park several cars side by side across the back of his driveway and still get cars in and out of his garage.

I need a bigger shop!

We've been talking about the idea of building an addition straight out the back of my current garage/shop.....since we have a split level home and the current garage/shop is under the bedrooms, I'd want the roof tall enough to put a good 2 post lift in there so that makes the design challenging.

More as it happens, the car arrives tonight and I have the whole weekend free to work on it as I don't go back to work until Tuesday.

Sounds like it it's time to sell the Jag.

Does he already have a larger tank?

Yes, to both .....

It seems bigger than a 5 gallon, but it's not as big as the 9 in my car, did they make a 7 gallon?

I believe most mini tanks are 7 gal. Mine is.

You need an official shop!

I agree!

It's been interesting installing the SmoothaRide cones, I did the right rear first and it was easy-peasy so I moved up to the right front and things got "interesting" - I knew I would have to remove the upper arm once I got the coil over and all it's associated brackets out of the way but even after I managed to get the new cone in the subframe  (even that was difficult as the cone is wider in diameter than the hole it goes into, you have to turn it at an angle and wedge it up in there, once in situ it fits just fine tho) and attached my compressor, I could not get the cone pulled up tight enough to get the upper shaft in place. After fighting it for a while, I took my compressor apart and could see that the EMT I had used was buckling under the stress. I had a piece of black pipe laying around so I cut a chunk of that to replace the EMT. That allowed me to crank the compressor down tighter and everything went back into place.

I had bought a set of shock brackets in case I wanted to redo my Green Mini with cones instead of these coilovers  (but I'm pretty happy with them these days) so I had those in stock but I cannot find the set of shock pins I had, so I can't hook the new shock up just yet.

It's leaking coolant something fierce so I think it's going to need a water pump, so I'll order everything at once.

Next I have to remove the fuel tank so I can change the left rear shock and install the cone, then if I'm going to remove the radiator anyway to do the water pump, that will make it much easier to do the upper control arm on that side.

I should have all the cones in tomorrow, then I'll see what it looks like with the weight on the cones......it may look like it's ready for Baja or the Dakar....we'll see.

Getting the tank out will be a challenge, this car has a Monza style cap and the brass threaded part that attaches to the tank does not come off once on......so I'm thinking maybe I can cut the seal and peel it out, then the ring will go thru the opening....not sure how I will get it back in again - I have a new seal jic, but I'm thinking a lot of silicone spray lube is in it's future......the seal is looking old and stiff so cutting it may difficult too.

Then I get to start on the interior, see if I can  make a cover for the opening in the bulkhead and install the Broadspeed dash.

Lots to do yet on this one.....

It also isn't running right, when hot it won't restart. I don't think it's heatsoak or vaporlock as I wrapped the header and it has an electric fuel pump mounted back by the tank.

He says it pops out of 4th gear too......that one may have to wait till the fall, as it may mean pulling the engine and rebuilding the transmission. There really isn't any sort of linkage adjustment on a rod change transmission, unless something is worn out, and it doesn't feel that way when I drive it......

I realize that brass won't spark when cut, but I assume there is still some concern about cutting with some residual gas in the tank?

Oh, I won't cut the brass, I'll cut the rubber seal.....with a knife.

Well I was able to pull that brass ring off the tank after all, my 3 jaw puller made short and easy work of it, so I could take the tank out the normal way. The seal was all tired and cracked, so I went ahead and put the new one in before I reinstalled the tank.

Rear cones go in very easily once you can get  to the upper shock nuts, I hear some people cut a 4" hole in the backrest so they don't have to pull the tank, I wouldn't do that on anyone's car myself. More work but on a car as clean and straight as this one.....worth the extra effort.

With the tank out of the way the rear was done fairly quickly, so I moved on to the front.

Turns out it's not the water pump leaking, so I didn't pull the radiator, but that made getting the left side upper shaft out a little harder. My new and improved cone compressor worked a treat and the left one went in smoothly. Rather than wait for shock pins to come in from England I went with what the factory did on 74 and newer cars and used a grade 8 bolt and a spacer to install the shocks. It's now ready to drop on it's wheels, I'll do that later tonight as I want to see just how high it will sit with the adjusters all the way down.....I have a feeling it's gonna look really tall!

He complained that the exhaust hit when he pulled into his garage, turns out the rear mount has come unbonded, so we'll need a new one of those too....I don't know if it broke because he hit the lip on the way into the garage or if it was already broken and the fact that it was hanging down lower is why it hit.

Yep, it's pretty high in the front......probably need to raise the back a bit to at least level it out.

Do you have any tips on adjusting the hi los? I think I'm going to have to do some on mine..when it arrives later today

They're super easy, just set them for the height you like......

(http://www.minimania.com/images_temp/800600001c-str644.jpg)

All you do is turn the adjuster then lock the lock nut.....easy peasy. As for height, trial and error, but since they're so easy to change it's no real bother. I like to do mine on a drive-on rack, that way I can adjust them with the wheels on and the weight of the car on the springs. Makes them a little harder to turn, but nothing a good wrench doesn't handle.

You can probably get to them on the ground too, just turn the front wheels all the way one direction or the other, and get the back ones from under the car.

Besides everything Dave said, I'll add that it's good to have a pair of stubby adjustable wrenches with large mouths to make the adjustments- its tight quarters and many wrenches with wide enough jaws have handles that are too long for the space.

Something like this: 


https://www.walmart.com/ip/AmPro-T39841-Stubby-Adjustable-Wrench-44-SAE-Metric-Dual-Scale/127588178?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1148&adid=22222222228081854269&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=196241846111&wl4=pla-314103299920&wl5=9026848&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112562587&wl11=online&wl12=127588178&wl13=&veh=sem

I made a couple of shorty wrenches out of 1/4" plate, the nut is 1" - at least the MiniSport adjuster nuts are.

Next up on the 73, lots of little this' and that's, we're waiting for the bulkhead cover to come in, I hope it will work to help quiet the noise from the carb. It needs to go in first, then I'll be installing the Broadspeed dash he bought.

Once all that's done, it's up to the alignment rack again, a few more fiddles like the exhaust and he should be good to go!

It does have one issue I need to sort, when the engine's all the way up to temp it doesn't want to restart, it cranks over and kicks the starter out but doesn't seem to run. Once cooled off again it fires right up. I'm wondering if he needs a new coil, he does have an electronic aftermarket ignition system too - need to check to see if it's getting the full 12V too. Sometimes people hook them right up to the ign wire not realizing it has a ballast.

More as it happens, now that I'm feeling better I can get back to work on it again.

Quote from: MiniDave on June 16, 2017, 03:30:37 PM
More as it happens, now that I'm feeling better I can get back to work on it again.

Sorry to hear you were under the weather.  Glad you're getting back to normal.

Which bulkhead cover did you order?
Wasn't someone going to make some up?
Terry

He found a guy in England that had one off a car, it's not a part that anyone makes or sells as far as I know......

Lots of little jobs done now, I swapped the inside driver's lights for some yellow fogs, I also added the air horn in the engine compartment for the fresh air hose, that entailed moving the electronic ignition box and making a bracket for the coil to mount on and added the fresh air hose - now that it has the regular shock brackets there's room for it. When you run coilovers the shock mount bracket interferes with the hose and you can't run it.

I also built some hold down brackets for the battery.

Where did you get the yellow fog lights from?

I'll have to ask him, he supplied them......

Edit: Found them....

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/upd-c364007 (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/upd-c364007)

Great idea on the battery hold down bracket ends. I have always disliked the J rods.

The owner came up with the idea, I just built them. I like the idea too - you have to remove the battery to install them - but once in they'll not become dislodged like the damn J-rods.

Parts list to recreate?

Sure, all parts #'s from McMaster Carr.....

2 - 3001T501 turnbuckle clevis end with clevis pin and cotter

1- piece 1/4-20 allthread, cut to length

1-pkg 25 - 92239A175 flanged wing nuts (or 2 std wing nut and washer from hardware store)

Thanks.  When I get to tackling various things on the Moke I am going to see what is being used as the battery hold-down and my switch to something like this.  Also makes for good reference for other future Minis.

I had to make an extra slot for the battery cable to fit the cardboard battery cover - this is some heavy cardboard - making this look right was a challenge!

Installed the owner's "Euro" plate for him, whadya think?  ;D

Looks sharp!  I hope Missouri PD don't give him grief for it versus the standard state plates.

More and more I think it comes down to the individual cop.....most of the time it seems they really don't care, but you get the wrong guy on the wrong day and it could cost you a couple hundred.

That said I ran Buzz for 2 years on his British plates, and I've run the Racing Green car on the Kansas "euro" plates for over a year and not had a lick of trouble......so touch wood, fingers crossed etc. and I always have the real Kansas plates and reg in the car just in case.

where did you find the fresh air hose?  I've been looking for one for over a year now.

I think he got it at Somerford, you are talking about the one in the fender well, right?

Only problem is, it's not completely right - the correct one has a ring on the end that fits into the hole on the firewall end, the other end just slips over the end of the tube in the grill. This one is just a straight piece of tubing, I think a piece of metalized dryer hose would work as well and be easier to install.....and cheaper!

The other thing is, the correct hose (the one MiniSpares shows but is out of) has a piece of foam inside - I think for noise abatement, but it could also trap dust and such.

He came up with a few more "oh by the way can you's", he wants me to adjust the doors tighter, see if I can install a radio antenna but not drill a hole in the body, he says the horn works, and then it doesn't, and then it works again and something about the choke cable comes out of place then hangs the choke open.

I think I found the problem with popping out of 4th gear, I've read about this on other forums - they say the seal kit for the shifter has a bellows in it, if you use this it won't compress far enough and doesn't allow the lever to move far enough to fully engage the gears. This car has one so I removed it, I'll see if it works OK on the drive up to school. Since his cars never see rain, snow, sleet, hail or any other type of moisture  (he doesn't even use water to wash the car, but some waterless product) I'm not too worried about dirt getting into the seal.

I've arranged to use the school's shop on Sunday morning, so I can do the alignment, set the ride height and fix the exhaust without having to lie on my back. He's planning to come get it Monday, it will be good to be able to park my classic in the garage again.

We'll do the dash in the next round, as he still hasn't gotten word that the bulkhead cover has even shipped from England yet.

What I have read that a number of folks do with regard to the bellows for the shifter seal kit: they trim 1/2 to 1 rib off the bellows to shorten it enough to retain some of the intended protection, but eliminate the bunching that interferes with proper shifting.

My exact thought too.....but rather than taking it apart and removing the bellows, I just cut it off.

What a beauty, Dave!

Yes, I think he got a really good car to start with, and once done it should be a very fun and drivable car, I'll be working on it again this afternoon, but I'm about done, all I need to do is sort the alignment and refit the exhaust properly so it doesn't drag when he pulls into his garage.....can't do that till Sat or Sun when I can get into the shop at school.

It also seems to have an electrical draw, I'm betting it's in the radio....I have it wired so he car run it without the engine running, and I think that's where the problem is.

Oh, and I found that there are different bellows that come with the seal kits for the shift rods, the one I took off the car was a thicker rubber and the bellows folds were bigger, the other one I have the bellows folds are sharper and the rubber seems more flexible and thinner - you can fold it down about 1/2" tighter than you can the one on the car, Ill post a pic to show the differences.

Just drove the '73 for the first time with the new smooth a ride suspension - man is this thing nice now! Rides like a dream, especially compared to the way it was with the coilovers. That pretty much answers the final questions I had about rubbers vs coils. No rattles either - told him it was the damn shocks.......I don't know if I want to spend more money on my '89 Racing Green, but I almost think it would be worth it to swap it over to these too.

I wasn't able to get on the rack at school, so it still needs to settle, reset the ride height and do an alignment, plus when he broke the exhaust mount he drug the system back till it's hitting the subframe, I need to get it on a rack to fix that too.

It's hot today and I only drove it a few miles but the temp gauge is still a little above normal, but when I refilled the cooling system I might not have gotten it full or there could have been an air bubble so I've got the box fan on it and once it cools off  I'll recheck to see it's full. Other than that - the hot start problem turned out to be the distributor was loose and the timing was way advanced, so I reset it and tightened the clamp and now it starts easily.

The shifter problem was that bellows on the shift linkage, works perfectly now.

He's still waiting for that bulkhead cover he bought in England, so we'll put off doing the Broadspeed dash till it comes in, and he wants me to come up with a way to hide a radio antenna behind the dash.......anyone who has a good way to do that I'm all ears.

Good to know.  I'm suppose to order smootharide for the 66.

Dave,

there seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about the "hidden" antennas.  This one seems to get a bit more of the favorable mentions.  Most seem to be so-so for results.

http://www.ecshylites.com/page/page/761353.htm (http://www.ecshylites.com/page/page/761353.htm)

I've hidden antennas behind the dash and under my seat in the rx7.  Didn't even get a fancy antenna, but works fine.

Michael, thanks.....but the link doesn't work.

Dave,

I get the same error when using the link, but I copied directly from the address bar when I created the link.  I got to the original page via a similarly "broken" link on a hot-rod forum discussing hidden antennas.  If you click the "Car Antennas" button on the left of the "404 Error" page, it will take you to the intended page.  The address in the browser address bar stays the same!

That antenna is supposedly designed with the fiberglass hot-rods in mind as they tend to lack the steel body for a ground plane.

Cool, thanks.....

Well, it was a short leave.....he only got a few miles down the road and the temp gauge was almost pegged, so I had him bring it back. Might be putting a water pump on it after all. It's 95* today, but my green car doesn't do this....something's amiss.

Still won't start when it's hot either - I had to bring it back on the rack with my winch.

The good news? He absolutely LOVES the way it drives on the smooth a rides!

Also, check the thermostat.  I remember reading not too long ago on one of the Mini forums about someone that had a thermostat fail in the closed position causing their car to overheat - fluid not being permitted to flow to the radiator.

New thermostat, and you can easily feel the heat flow thru the top hose when it opens.

First thing I'm going to do is put a capillary gauge on it and see what it's really doing, then I'll go from there......

At the owner's request I pulled the radiator and water pump off the engine, but found no issues with either....the block looked really clean too.....so I put everything back again. He complained that it ran hot when he got it, that's why we put the Chinesium radiator in - which absolutely cured my 89's hot running issues.

Before he tried to drive it home last week I had also found the distributor loose so I reset the timing, but he said the gauge still went to H only a few blocks from my shop....he also said it dropped back again as he stood idling at the light, then went up again the minute he took off again.

I checked the thermostat and it's new and opens as it should, so I'm down to the gauge again.

Anything I might have missed?

Here's a question:  If there was no temp gauge to fixate on, would a driver even think the car was not running normally?  Any real symptoms of overheating?   

My car has a simple 2-core radiator, tropical fan, and that's it. And I drive it through balmy Texas without issues. Of course, I just have a hard-read temp gauge partially hidden behind the steering wheel, so I don't really look at it much.

Well, that's what I want to find out too.....just whether it is running hot or the gauge is crazy.

However, the owner is the type who want's everything to work correctly........so I'll carry on. If the mechanical gauge says it's not running hot, then it's a simple matter of ordering a new gauge. If it turns out the gauge is right, that's a whole nuther matter.....

Idling in the garage the hottest it's gotten according to my laser thermal gun is 180, but I didn't try checking it on the road.

 I'd buy a cheapo temp gauge from the auto store and take it for a drive.

Also it is possible to have a cracked head letting hot gasses in under throttle then cools off under idle.

I ran compression, it was good. tomorrow I'll go get a gauge....

I had to get a specialized adaptor to get the mechanical gauge to fit the head, good ol Victoria British came thru again - I had to do the same with Buzz, now that I think about it. I put the end of the gauge in boiling water to make sure it worked properly, which it does.

It's blazing hot out right now, so I'm going to wait till later this evening to go drive it and see what it does. If it checks I'll take it up to school tomorrow and finish the alignment and fix the exhaust. Still don't know why it doesn't want to start when hot, but one thing at a time.

More as it happens......

Could the not starting when hot be coil related?  The coil getting too hot from being a mismatch to the wiring (ballast coil & non-ballast wiring or vise-versa)?

The other possibility I can think off would be vapor lock on the fuel line?

I doubt timing is way out as you've indicated having reset that already.

Not to be picky, but  shouldn't the gauge show 212 degrees or so when stuck in the boiling water?

Yes, but I took the pic before it got all the way up there.....I just wanted to know that it worked OK. Dooder's been having trouble with the ones he bought for his car and the speculation is that it's leaking in the capillary tube somewhere. This ne went full scale so I'm comfortable that it's good (enough)

Michael,yes it could be a bad coil. However, it is the right ohm coil, and it is getting 12V as it's supposed to. The car has an aftermarket ignition system of unknown origin or brand - could be the "black box" is getting hot and failing too. I doubt vapor lock, it has an electric fuel pump mounted in back below the tank. One thing that does concern me - every one of these I've seen has a phenolic block between the carb and manifold to act as a heat soak or insulator - this one doesn't - there's no room for it as it will make the carb hit the bulkhead.

First I want to get the temp thing sorted, then the alignment so it's drivable, then I can see about the ignition - starts perfectly when cold or if it hasn't been run that far.

Temp capillary tube taped down ready to be driven once it cools off a bit tonight....

Found a little more info......the car has a Lucas "black box" amplifier, same as what they used on many 80's and later English cars and this is apparently NOT well regarded. We're talking about switching over to a Pertronix or the like and eliminating the Lucas box.

We have an answer!

I put the mechanical temp gauge on it and hit the highway - 165* for as long as I drove - same as the thermostat opening temp. I then did a bunch of stop-go, no change. Then I let it idle in the driveway for about 5 min, the hottest it got was about 185, and as soon as I drove it around the neighborhood it immediately cooled back down to 165 again.

So, we need a new temp gauge is my guess   ;D

So, tomorrow to school, then once he gets the bulkhead panel I'll start on the gauges.

The first pic is running down the highway about 10 miles, the second after it was idling in the driveway for 5-10 min......and it's over 90* today.

Good diagnostic work!   And great to know the problem is easy to solve.

Was the original gauge electric or mechanical?  An article about gauges I read a while back went into a lot of comparison between electrical and mechanical gauges for things like oil pressure, oil/water temperature.  The take-away I had was that most mechanical gauges tend to be more reliable than the electrical.  The electrical are also easy to get a mismatch between sender and gauge.

I would tend to want to recommend replacing the old gauge with a mechanical.

Well, it will be up to the owner which he chooses - as he wants to keep it period, I'm not sure they make a Smith's mechanical - I'll have to check into that.

Quote from: MiniDave on July 08, 2017, 07:34:43 PM
Well, it will be up to the owner which he chooses - as he wants to keep it period, I'm not sure they make a Smith's mechanical - I'll have to check into that.

I had a Smiths mechanical temp gauge on my Mini Traveller, and it was the capillary type.   But it was a combo gauge.  This one.

https://www.bpnorthwest.com/gauge-dual-oil-pres-water-temp-in-fahrenheit-ah-bj8-mga-mgb-63-to-67-sprite-midget.html?gdffi=7c26fa82af054ed48c16509776f45115&gdfms=26C6272BB45F4638B6E6C7ADD9928D25&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg9TOnrT81AIVFRuBCh2cxAKfEAQYASABEgLiQvD_BwE

Not sure if they make a standalone one.

MiniSport has one - spendy tho.....$152 plus shipping

https://usa.minisport.com/smitg131001-c078-smiths-classic-mechanical-water-temperature-gauge-has-a-range-of-30-110-degrees-c-and-comes-with-black-face-and-chrome-bezel.html (https://usa.minisport.com/smitg131001-c078-smiths-classic-mechanical-water-temperature-gauge-has-a-range-of-30-110-degrees-c-and-comes-with-black-face-and-chrome-bezel.html)

Quote from: MiniDave on July 09, 2017, 07:33:59 AM
MiniSport has one - spendy tho.....$152 plus shipping

https://usa.minisport.com/smitg131001-c078-smiths-classic-mechanical-water-temperature-gauge-has-a-range-of-30-110-degrees-c-and-comes-with-black-face-and-chrome-bezel.html (https://usa.minisport.com/smitg131001-c078-smiths-classic-mechanical-water-temperature-gauge-has-a-range-of-30-110-degrees-c-and-comes-with-black-face-and-chrome-bezel.html)

Got to be sold cheaper elsewhere.

Edit:  Yup, here's one for about US$90 plus shipping.

http://bullmotifminispares.com/4828/mini_capillary_water_temperature_gauge_tg1310-00c078_sib422

That's a lot better! Thanks for the link......I'll pass that along this afternoon when he comes to get the car.  4.gif

Mania wanted $220 plus shipping......vs about $90 plus shipping from Bull Motif.

Watch that you forder one in fahrenheit.

They don't seem to be available scaled in Fahrenheit anymore - only Celsius.

Well, I drove up to school today in 95* temps and set the ride height and aligned the car, the temp on the highway stayed right at 165, on the way back it stayed the same till I got stopped at a long light, where it got up to about 175, as soon as I started driving again it dropped right back down to 165 again.......so this engine is NOT overheating, in fact it runs exactly the way my green one did when I put the chinesium radiator in it. The car really drives nicely, the suspension is so smooth and composed and the car runs sweet thru the gears and pulls well getting onto the highway......this will be a great daily driver for him.

BTW, anyone who tells you you can't align a Mini with 10" wheels on a modern Hunter alignment machine is either full of it or just doesn't want to do the work......it is NOT a problem.

I also got the exhaust reset and installed the new hanger, so it's tucked up where it belongs and is no longer vibrating against the subframe.

He's coming to get it this evening and will drive it about 20 miles to his house, I'm going to take my gauge off and reinstall his sensor, but I'm going to leave the wire off so it reads C all the time - nothing scares you worse than to see that gauge climbing up to the H!

The hot start situation didn't happen to me today, so I'm going to see what it does when he comes to get it......later when we do the dash install we're going to swap out the Lucas box for a Pertronix and std coil, I think that will take care of it once and for all.

The owner just texted me that he made it to his plant (where he stores his cars) with no issues, car ran strong, rode smoothly, no rattles and the temp gauge never went above "C"   ;D

(I left it disconnected  ;D)

The next round will start in a couple of weeks when the bulkhead plate comes in and I install the new dash, in the meantime he's asked me to build him a towbar like mine so he can haul the car to me instead of having to arrange rides and such. This car is finally taking the shape he saw in his mind when he bought it.

I showed the owner of this 73 my towbar and he immediately said "what a great idea, let's build one!"

He's been having to work the logistics of bringing his cars over to my shop from the other side of town, arranging rides and so on and he quickly "got" how much easier it would be to simply tow the car over, so I built him one, and he ordered the parts from Harbor Freight. Due to the lightbar mounted on this car I had to do things a little differently, but I actually think this design works better. He will have to buy a different light bar for his 71 Cooper S as the current one is mounted in the holes where we attach our towbars.

Pics of the 71 lightbar, and the new towbar mounted on the 73

Nice job.

I tend to worry about having the tow bar too far out from the front panel. 

If the bolts to the subframe are too long, they flex and you get a failure.  I have first hand experience with those bending/breaking (they were grade-8 as well).  Of note is that I did not have the steel cross piece, just the tow bar mounts to the Mini.  Fortunately it failed as I was stopping in an empty parking lot to recheck and had already gotten to under 5 mph.

I've since been told the cross piece makes all the difference, but still recommended to keep it as close to the towed car as possible.

The cross piece does make all the difference, plus I weld the spacer tubes to the cross bar, that way the bolts only have to perform the task they are designed for - to clamp the bar to the subframe, not in shear - then the bar and subframe act as one piece to steer and pull the car.

I've done a lot of miles with mine with no problems (made it to SA, Texas and back in March!  ;D) , I feel confident it will do the job.

The spacers are only just long enough that the bar clears the sheet metal of the body (LP brackets) and that bracket for the light bar, each by about 1/4".

I doubt he'll be towing his car for thousands of miles, this is more of a convenience to allow him to move it between my shop and his, or to his house without having to arrange rides or extra drivers, I doubt he'll ever do a cross country run with it, but who knows?

Bruce's tow bar is an example of too long on the bolts.  It puts too much leverage on the subframe and things actually started bending. 

When I did the one for the current Moke, I did the cross piece ('L' facing forward where the one Dave just made faces backward) and had the spacers and tow bar brackets welded to the cross piece.  The Moke being a flat front, I have it up close - maybe 1/8" - to the front panel.  It will get transferred to the new shell when all of that finally takes place.

Quote from: 94touring on July 14, 2017, 07:13:16 AM
Bruce's tow bar is an example of too long on the bolts.  It puts too much leverage on the subframe and things actually started bending.

True. But, on the other hand, I have  literally towed over 10,000 miles with that towbar and nothing broke.  I think it bent during a very tight U-turn maneuver in a tight hotel parking lot coming back from Mini Meet West last year.  I should have unhooked the Mini instead of trying to U-turn, but it was late and we were tired.   

Anyway, Dan is going to shorten it and reinforce it so it's more like the one Dave built. 

Speaking of tight turns - this '73's turning circle is tighter than any Mini I remember driving before, it literally turns on a dime! I know why my green car doesn't, it's those enormous wide 13" tires.....

You likely have the reduced rate steering rack.

You mean the quick rack? Yes, I think it does, but that shouldn't affect the turning radius.....should it? Seems like even tho the ratio is quicker the amount of stroke between the two racks should be the same or similar.

Big difference in turning radius between the mpi I owned and my pickup when I was driving both.  The mpi rack just didn't turn as far. 

Yes, but wasn't that because they used stops so the tires wouldn't rub on full lock due to the 13" wheels?

I thought it was something within the rack?

http://minispares.com/product/Classic/Steering/Racks/GSR1185.aspx?1802&ReturnUrl=/shop/classic/Steering/Racks.aspx|Back%20to%20shop

Exactly.....now I remember, they sell blocks for the regular rack when you use 13" wheels so they won't rub on full lock.

Well, I'm in the last round with this car now (I hope) and in addition to the mods and repairs we'd already planned for he's come up with a few more....

First up was to finish the Broadspeed dash installation....it's taken a bit of engineering to get it to work as he sourced a bulkhead plate for the later model cars (with the gauges off to one side) that he wanted me to use, making it work on this car will require some modifications and work.....but I finally got it all to fit and it's ready to install...I also found the problem with the tach - one of Smith's wires came apart, thank dog it wasn't anything I did. I also am replacing his temp gauge as it always ran really high and I already installed a mechanical gauge to prove that the engine isn't running the temps the gauge said it is - I hope that sorts that out, but before I can do that......

........the car has a radio and he complained of lousy reception so we bought an antenna that mounts inside the car so we wouldn't have to cut a hole in the fender, so I need to figure out where to mount that, plus there's a substantial voltage draw when the engine's off that will flatten the battery in three days time, I think that's going to be the radio too, but I need to sort that out first.

While we were discussing the car he noticed that there was a big old chunk out of the rear windscreen rubber and the chrome inserts were discolored, so he ordered new seals and chrome and oh what the hell lets get a new windshield too while we're at it!

Oh and there are pits in the chrome on the taillights, so lets get a set of those too - which means I have to pull the gas tank yet again (third time now) to replace the left side T/L assembly.

I also have a few bits to do on the towbar, shorten the safety chains and a bit of this and that - but it works great now and he absolutely loves having it.

Oh, and those vinyl cards on either side of the instrument cluster are looking a bit tatty, lets change those too.....

The car has been hard to start when hot, so as a pre-emptive measure we're replacing the old Lucas electronic ignition with a modern electronic distributor.

I also had him order an adjustable engine steady as this is not the original engine or carb setup, and the K&N filter just touches the new bulkhead plate - tipping the engine forward just a bit will give about 1/4" of clearance, that should do the trick.

Lets see.....what else?

It's developed an oil leak that looks like it's the seal inside the right side pot joint, so I may have to tear into that yet......

Oh, and he bought a set of pads and rotors too.

Whew! it's been a bit of a journey with this car, that's for sure, but it drives really nicely now with the new suspension and it's always run well so I think in the long run he's going to  be happy with it.

The windshields (I ordered one for my car too) came in in perfect shape, MiniSpares did an excellent job of packaging them, now I just have to wait for the rubbers from Phoenix Trim and I can call the glass guy to do the install.

I may do the one on my car myself, but no way I'm going to do a "customer" car!

I had to pull the fuel tank (again!) to install the left tail light assembly - what a PITA - but it's done now.....so on to the next thing. I put up a pic of my puller setup - worked perfectly just like before.

Glad they showed up unharmed.  They do pack them very well.

Eventually pulling tanks and installing glass becomes easy.  Do you have the beefy filet tool?

No, I have the cheapy wire one, I don't have the one with the roller - that looks like the way to do it right......

Pulling the tank is no biggy other than having to drain it and get gas all down my arm,  and use the puller to remove the Monza adaptor.

The glass guy is going to charge $115 to R&R each windshield, front or rear - haven't decided to let him do mine or not.....

Oh see when I move a tank off to the side like you have it, I don't disconnect the line.

I tried but could not get it out of the sleeve around the neck until I disconnected the line....so I had to drain it.

Finishing up the bulkhead plate today, I may have to install the speedo cable before I bolt it up - which may mean unhooking the transmission end first, plus I have to find a tiny opening for the oil pressure pipe. Once in it should work fine but it's going to be a PITA the first time I install it. I made a grommet for the main cables out of some windshield squirter hose and RTV'd that to the plate, it's curing now.

Oh, and the latest wrinkle? He wants me to pull the head and see if it has the hardened seats for unleaded gas. Yes, it's a good idea but..............I'm never gonna be done with this car!   ::)

The Broadspeed dash is now installed - doesn't look like it but it was a LOT of work - but that was because I was building a bulkhead plate to cover the opening, I was trying to modify one used on the later cars with the instruments to either side, but it did not work, between the main wiring harness, speedo cable and oil pressure line, plus all the wiring in the instrument cluster, plus the non-original carb on the engine side, I just could not make it fit. I still have to make the right side dash card fit, and the tach interferes with the defroster down tube on the right side, so that will take some modification yet......these defrost vents are really cheap, just a thin molded plastic folded over and stapled together to make the assembly.

I was able to get the hidden antenna to fit and it definitely made a difference in the radio performance. BTW, it was the radio causing the battery to go flat in 3 days - it had a 1.6 amp draw even when turned off - so either a bad radio or something going on there. I re-wired it so  that it only comes on with the ignition, the alternator should be able to handle a 2 amp radio - now the draw is more like .02 amps - which is the memory draw.

Still to do, modify the right side dash card to fit the new opening, fix the tach wiring harness and install it, then install the new electronic dizzy, new pads and rotors and change the brake fluid, cut the safety chains for the hitch to the right size and a few other bits on the tow bar and that's about it!

Except pull the head for hardened seats.

The glass guy is scheduled for Wed morning to install the new windshield and new rubbers front and rear.

The owner is anxious to get the car back, I think he's had it for more than six months and hasn't driven it hardly at all, but we're in the home stretch now....hopefully.

I have set of the offset metal defrost vents.  They need cleaned up a bit.  I got them a while back to use - possibly on the Moke - but am not going to use them after all.

Make an offer plus postage?

I'll let the owner know and get right back to you....what are you thinking? $10 each or something?

$10 each plus postage will work for me if he wants them.  They will fit in a USPS medium flat rate box which lists as 13.60 postage.

They have the top plate and screws as well.

Well, if he's not interested I would be.

Yes, I'll take them, can I send the money via Paypal?

I don't have a Paypal account.  Check is fine - like with the gas cap.

I still have your address over in the PM section.  I'll get a box today and get them into the mail by Monday.

Address for me changed:

Michael Playle
5903 Babcock Rd, Apt 1505
San Antonio, Tx 78240

OK, thanks.

Had a heck of a time fixing the tach wiring - getting the little connector out of the housing was the tough part, then I had to retrace which wire did what and label them.....now it's ready to go back in the car, but first I have to make up a new oil pressure gauge pipe.

Installed new rotors and EBC green stuff pads, although the old ones looked almost new and I saw no wear on the rotors at all - but, his call.

One thing I've found on these AP calipers, when you use the stainless brake hoses, the fittings screw further into the caliper than the stock hoses, then the inner piston won't retract quite fully. If you go ahead and stuff a new pad in there you could create enough drag to heat and warp the rotor - I wonder if that's what was going on here?

My solution is to use my belt sander to take a little off the inner pad till it slides into place easily and doesn't drag.

I tried to install the oil pressure gauge pipe but it broke in two...this gauge uses a weird fitting I've not seen before so I'll go to the hydraulic store and see if they have some hose small enough that I can just clamp it onto the broken piece and reuse the fitting it had.... sure don't want to dump oil all over the interior.

We've decided (well - I've decided) not to pull the cylinder head, I checked the valve clearances and they're fine, it has an 11 stud head and high performance rockers, I can't believe someone took this much trouble to build this engine and didn't do the hardened seats.....plus I doubt he'll do 500 miles a year in this car and very little of it will be near redline or on the highway. Bottom line, I think he's fine.

Package with the defrost vents is on its way - estimated delivery for Wednesday.

Edit:
USPS tracking number 950551462782232199786

Perfect, I'll mail the check in the AM....thanks Michael!

Today I finished his tow bar, all the brackets and chains cut to size so I can get mine back (he'd been using mine while waiting for the tow part to come in from Harbor Freight)

I also installed the new electronic distributor, but I can't start it and set the timing till I get the oil hose fixed. Likewise I can't finish the dash install till I get the nozzles from Michael and install the oil pressure pipe and gauge, then the tacho and run the wires for it.

Wednesday the glass guy is coming to replace the windshield and front and rear rubbers and chrome finishing strips, the owner is hoping to take the car home Wed night, but we'll see if I get all the little bits and bobs done by then, he'll certainly have it for the weekend and the nice weather still to come in Sept and October.

I have to work Monday and Tuesday so if I can get the hose I need before then I might get it all done by the evening.

Defrost ducts got here this am, thanks again Michael, that's exactly what I needed.

Gave the right one a quick wire brush and a coat of Rusty Oleum, but I just heard from my glass guy that he's not coming today and re-scheduled for Friday, so I have a little more time for the paint to cure, and I can finish buttoning up the interior bits. He bought a new vinyl that covers the bottom of the parcel shelf, it goes in before the dash cards, and I thought it would be cut to fit, but nooooooooooooo......I've been trimming and fitting it for an hour now! It's now done, so I need to put the heater back up, reinstall the shift boot and shift knob then I can see about trimming the dash cards to fit the new binnacle, I think the left one will fit as it, but the right one will have to be contoured to fit around the tach. I might have to cut a new opening for the defrost hose from the heater too, I don't know if it will reach the way it is now, but that's no biggy........

I also came up with a simple way to fix the broken oil pipe for the oil pressure gauge with a couple of couplers and some of the regular nylon oil piping

It was 58* this morning! What a relief from all the rain and humidity and 90+ temps we've been having.

Just a thought while you have the dash area apart. Maybe install a power plug, some now have a USB post built in along with the round plug.
I now have two under my dash, a regular one and a heavy duty one for my seat cooler.

Yep, one of the things I did in the first go around....I put one in my car and Susan's too....you need those for GPS and phones.....just left of the radio in this pic.

More info or links on those plugs.  Please and Thank You.

They're all over Amazon and Ebay, I used to buy them at Wal Mart for like $6, the ones with USB ports were more like $10.


As an example, this one has 2 USB ports, a 12V port and a voltmeter! for $13.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3in1-Waterproof-Car-Triple-USB-Charger-Port-Voltmeter-Cigarette-Lighter-12V-/172548581892?epid=623207129&hash=item282cb26a04:g:-ZEAAOSw9GhYfuW5 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/3in1-Waterproof-Car-Triple-USB-Charger-Port-Voltmeter-Cigarette-Lighter-12V-/172548581892?epid=623207129&hash=item282cb26a04:g:-ZEAAOSw9GhYfuW5)

(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-ZEAAOSw9GhYfuW5/s-l1600.jpg)

this one just has the $12V and USB for $8

http://www.ebay.com/itm/P2-Dual-USB-Port-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-12V-Charger-Power-Adapter-Outlet-/231949150449?hash=item36013f28f1:g:KW4AAOSwJ4hZADAU (http://www.ebay.com/itm/P2-Dual-USB-Port-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-12V-Charger-Power-Adapter-Outlet-/231949150449?hash=item36013f28f1:g:KW4AAOSwJ4hZADAU)

This one has it's own box, so it's easier to mount under a dash like on a Mini

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-12V-Boat-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Charger-Power-Adapter-Outlet-Port-/361668105851?hash=item543519567b:g:xtMAAOSwfZhXM0-c (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-12V-Boat-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Charger-Power-Adapter-Outlet-Port-/361668105851?hash=item543519567b:g:xtMAAOSwfZhXM0-c)

Sweet, THX!  77.gif

Buttoned up all the loose ends on the '73 Mini and took it for a run this afternoon - mixed results. The car starts and runs fine, and drives well.

The new brakes will take some bedding in, but no matter after I pulled out of the garage I found a puddle under the right rear wheel - I don't think I'm ever going to be finished with this car!

.......and dammit the tach still doesn't work, and the temp gauge still reads high.

The hard start problem seems to have been cured by changing out the Lucas ignition for a new dizzy with points eliminator kit in it.

After all this work, I'm still dealing with two of the original problems....plus now I have new ones...<sighs.>

Did I read in here that a different gauge showed it didn't read high? 

Faulty tach or screwey wiring gremlins?

Yes, a mechanical gauge showed the temp running just where it's supposed to.....but this gauge and the old one read high. I also tried a different temp sensor....same result. I wonder if the voltage suppressor is working right.....more investigation needed.

Dunno, the damn tach worked before, it ought to work now too......

Yeah the suppressor would screw you up.  I believe the tahaiti blue build I had to flip some wires around to get the temp gauge to work.  Does this tach being electrical and all share the suppressor? Might have some wires flopped around back there.

Also I'm sure you're aware but I'll add some limited info I know on mini tachs.  The green wire you had pull loose is your 12v wire, black ground, red illumination, and white is your signal wire. A white wire goes to the negative post on the coil and the other goes to the spade terminal on the distributer.

I can't see but does that tach match this model?

RVI 5000/00A

Illuminatin:  Red with white stripe
Ground Wires: Green & Black
Power Supply Wire: Red
White with Red: Distributor side of Coil
White with Black: Distributor

No, close....the way you described the wiring in your first post is more how this one wires up.....but this is an aftermarket Smiths tach....the one difference is it has an additional wire for "electronic ignition" and one for "normal", and the car had a Lucas electronic ignition -  I removed that and installed a modern dizzy with a points eliminator kit, so I need to get into the harness and see if switching that wire will make it work, which means redoing the entire damn harness as I shrink taped it. Originally it was done with butt connectors that barely made connection and tape and I soldered all the connections and shrink taped it all up.

I'll have to get my meter in there and probe around a bit and see whether the voltage stabilizer is working or if the wires are even hooked up to it - I'm thinking this gauge needs the reduced voltage and that's why it reads high.

Rear brakes....went to drive it the other day and found a small puddle under the right rear wheel, so I got new shoes and wheel cylinders at Victoria British and changed them out today. The parts look new but the shoes were sticky with fluid - I think the car wasn't driven much after the restoration was done a number of years ago - same with the front pads and rotors. I'm going to clean up those rotors and keep them for a back up set for someone - my car has 8.4's and these are 7.5's - I might take them up to school and take just a few thou off to make sure they're true and don't have any hard spots on them.....

I'm guessing you didn't use the special wheel cylinder tool for that job.

Yes, actually, and it worked pretty well too!

When I have the backing plate on the bench I can just pop them on with a hammer and a drift, but on the car the tool works better - if it works at all.

The cone has a number of divits in it now, but it still seems to work with some grease on it.....

Good to hear it worked.  I remain unimpressed with it. 

Nor am I, but I'm glad it worked as it's a bit awkward wedging the wheel cylinder hard enough to hold it while I bang the clip on with a hammer and drift - I've done it but it's not easy.

This '73 Mini is just about ready to go home, at last!

The new tachometer came in from MiniSpares and I made up a new wiring harness and it works perfectly, thank dog.

He bought a new plastic horn button for his Moto Lita wheel, but it doesn't fit so back to the interwebz for that.

Still had a brake fluid leak right at the right rear wheel cylinder - the cylinder is new so I made a new brake line - hope that's it but I couldn't find anything wrong with the one on the car other than it was old. All I need to do now is bleed the brakes again.....

The glass shop (Safelite no less) did a perfect job on the windshield and back glass, the rubbers fit perfectly and the chrome trim looks great too....they charged him $150 each.

The last thing I need to do other than drive it and bed in the brakes is maybe tune the carb a little bit......

The '73 went home at last......

I fitted a voltage stabilizer to the temp gauge and that seems to have fixed it....after running in the shop for about 10 minutes it was reading just under the N - which is what my car does, it's only when I get on the road on a hot day that it gets to the center of the gauge, and the highest I've seen it on a hot day after a long run on the highway is just to the top of the letter N. I checked it with my laser thermometer and it's running right at the thermostat setting - 165-170....I'm calling it good.

He towed it home with his new towbar and a big smile on his face, and is already making plans to bring his 71 Cooper S over. On it (so far) I need to fix a leaking displacer hose and the breather on the top of the bell housing is one I'd never seen before - but looking in the original Mini Parts catalog sure enough, it was used on Cooper S of that era. It has a stripped bolt hole that I'll heli-coil and I think that will cure his major oil leak. He also has lost brake fluid and says he saw a puddle under a front wheel, so it sounds like I'll be rebuilding his calipers and maybe the whole brake system for good measure. Lastly, he wants to figure out how to make his tow bar work with this car too, but it has a lightbar mounted in those holes, so it may take some engineering to make it work - or a different lightbar.

I told him I need to finish a few other projects first, not the least of which is Dan's engine, which is all done and just needs to be run in, and the wife's Audi which has a parasitic draw that flattens the battery over a couple of nights. If I can I'll make his car a winter project, tho I'm pretty sure he won't want it out of the safety of his storage at his work. His company is in one of the huge converted industrial caves we have around here where the temp and humidity are even all year round - great place to store something that's prone to rust!

I've not read through all pages of this....so forgive me.

What is this car then...title says 73 Cooper....of which there is no such thing.
Last Cooper being the 71 Cooper S...(still with hydrolastic).

To most of us, every classic Mini is a Mini Cooper......sorry......I changed the title to reflect.

The 73 Mini is back again, just a small list this time. The car isn't quite running right, missing and popping a bit. I've been thru the ignition completely - it has new plugs, a new electronic distributor, new coil and I've been thru the rest of it....I think I'm down to bad gas. I had him put a bottle of Heet in it but no improvement......It starts instantly and runs smoothly till you put some load on it, then it misses but not uniformly. Definitely not hitting on all 4 tho.....I'll get into it more tomorrow......

Some new plugs and some carb adjustments and the 73 seems to be running fine. I also replaced the speedo cable and did a few more tiny little things and it's ready to go again. With the smooth a rides it really drives nicely!

He asked me to take a fairly long test drive to test the hot start issue he'd been having so much problem with, and to prove how nicely it's now running I took a dash cam video.....if you have 23 minutes to kill, here you go!

What exhaust does he have?  I have a short clip I will post for Vikram in my thread. Big difference in sound.

It's all stainless, I know that, just a final box, no intermediate. It's pretty quiet....

I may take off my intermediate for ground clearance.  I adjusted it as high as it can go before rubbing brake cables but it's still too close to the ground for my liking.  The pipe from the Y off these headers just isn't jiving, so will try a straight-straight pipe to the muffler.  Good to know his is quiet without it.

My green car only has the rear box too, but the Play Mini exhaust is quite a bit louder than this is. Yours sounds great!

I only took this video to show the owner how well it runs.

Wait till you hear it in person  ;D

Is this the car that has wing dents? Wonder if I should bring the dolly set to de-dent it.

Yes actually....that would be great, he'd love that.

I'll try to remind myself. 

The 73 is back in my shop with an ever dwindling list....the headlights weren't working right, and I found where the harness had gotten into the alternator fan so I took the harness out and repaired it and now they all work correctly again.

I also had the grill out - the starter seemed to have a dead spot in it so we replaced that and while the grill was out for the wiring repairs and the starter, he decided to replace it with a chrome one instead of the black.
I think it looks better with the chrome too.....

Next up, the turn signal switch bracket (which is just plastic) is broken allowing the switch to move when you use it, so I'll replace that switch too. Oh, and install a steering wheel drop bracket.

After that all that's left are to try and chase down some rattles and a couple of dash lights that don't. He's really happy with it these days.....

BTW, he ordered some new plug wires and mistakenly got the ones for an MPi, which won't work on his engine - so if anyone has an MPi and needs some new plug wires, let me know.

Finished up the 73 Mini today, ran into an interesting problem with the new T/S switch. This car purports to be a 73, but the steering column doesn't seem to be. When looking for the switch the right one for this car appears to be for 76 and later LHD cars, and 84-89 RHD cars. This is supposed to be a 73 RHD but when you look in the catalogs, that switch is made completely differently than the one in the car - so we bought the later one that matches both this style and mounting.

The next problem was that it didn't fit over the column - the column clearly measured out at 32 mm, but the switch opening was 31mm, should be able to just stretch it over the column, right? Nope. I think that's what broke the other switch - forcing it over the column. There is a locating tang inside that keeps the switch from moving when you operate it , or I could have just set it up in the mill and bored it to size (the owner has an extensive machine shop in his business) except that would eliminate that tang. So I went all old school on it, and got out the dremmel and took a little off the inside. Fit perfectly and tightened up just as it should. Job done.

While I had the wheel off I went ahead and installed a drop bracket so it would be slightly less bus like, even tho the owner is a big guy he figures if he can manage to fit under the wheel of his bugeye, he can get under this one too!  ;D

A couple of minor wiring glitches fixed and I'm done with this one. New starter works perfectly, grill looks nice....finished.

When installing the drop bracket, did you remember to loosen the steering rack 'U' bolts to allow the rack to pivot to match the new column angle?  (And then remember to tighten them back up?)

Absolutely!   77.gif

Well, the drop bracket was a resounding failure, with it down it blocks his view of the top of the tach, with it up it blocks the oil pressure gauge and the lower part of the tach. He's thinking maybe a bigger wheel might work - he has a 13" now.

The car was running fine when I sent it back to him a week ago, and came back running like crap.....I couldn't find anything wrong, but he also complained that the tach wasn't working right, sometimes it didn't work sometimes it did but was way off. Finally on a hunch I unplugged the tach and drove the car - ran fine. Aha!

So I had wired the tach hot to the hot side of the coil, just as a test I disconnected that side and ran a jumper down to the battery cable on the starter solenoid. Tach worked fine. so I ran a new power wire to the fuse panel and took it for a drive. Car ran perfect, tacho mostly worked fine, read accurately but acts like the needle sticks sometimes. I told him to just go drive it and see what happens.

I also found the horrible rattle/buzz in the front end.....I had Rose rev the engine to where it made the noise and found one of the front lic plate brackets that are spot welded to the front valance panel had broken loose. I just drilled it and put a bolt thru it. Fixed.

He's coming to get it tomorrow and he'll probably just put it up for the winter......that's OK by me.

It still has one rattle thats really bugging him, and I cant find it. Sounds like a shock rattling on th eleft but they're brand new and they're not loose. Still looking for that one.....

Well, no joy in Mudville.....

Tach is still wonky, runs like shit when cold, gets way better when it warms up...I don't know what's bugging it, when we had it on the dyno it ran perfectly, needed nothing according to the run.

Today it runs like shit, and I can't find out why.

New electronic dizzy, new plugs, new correct coil - the only thing not new by me are the plug leads and they look new. I still think it's ignition as choking it more when it misses (cold) doesn't help.

I still have a nasty rattle in the back that I can't find, it's not the exhaust, all the suspension is new as are the brakes, I can't find any play in anything yet just backing down the driveway you hear a rattle and it seems like suspension. I'm pretty frustrated with it and I know he is too, I told him to just come get it.

I think from now on I'll just work on my own stuff.

Understand the frustration with working on other peoples stuff.  I like to help people with theirs, but don't think at this point I'd take something in.  Guess it comes down to expectations on both sides.  How perfect do you want it and how much are you willing to pay for me to get it there. 

Rattles are the worst.  You have a creeper?  Crazy thought, is to roll down the driveway next to the car as it back ups but that sounds sketchy just typing it.  Anything attached to the subframe could be causing it.  Loose brake line, emergency cable, nut or something in a pocket of the subframe.  Those things have lots of nooks and crannies. 

Anything in the boot?  Things like the jack, tire iron, etc. can also rattle during motion.  Also check under the spare and around the battery for anything loose.

No, took every thing but the battery out, still there......

Does it have hi-los in the rear?  If so, could one be just loose enough that it is letting the cone rattle as the wheel moves up/down?

Tag vibrating on the boot lid ?

No, I installed that tag and it's solid. Also, it's not that type of sound....to me it sounds like a loose shock.

The car is back in the cave now so I won't see it again till March or April. I also parked my Green Mini in his cave/garage while I'm working on the Inno, that way it won't have to live outside.

If I didn't know about the actual storage caves in KC I'd think you were using the dreaded usage of 'man cave'.

Yeah, he has 150,000 sq ft of developed cave under ground, and has his business in there.....he also has a part of it partitioned off with a garage door where he keeps his cars - that's where we put the Racing Green. Good thing too, it's turned rainy and cold today. The cave is both temp and humidty controlled.......

This car still has running issues....

When he first got the car it had hot starting issues, since then we've replaced the plugs, coil, plug wires and put in a new MiniSpares pointless distributor. It is not ballasted - but gets a solid 12V+ at the coil and at the dist. it now starts perfectly when hot or cold but.....

It starts instantly when dead cold on the choke, and idles just fine but when you try to drive it, it runs like crap, misses and sputters and will hardly pull itself. As it warms up it runs better and better till when fully warm it runs fine, pulls strongly and so on. We had it on the dyno at Prathers and the mixture was dead on, we made no changes to either the carb or the timing. I have checked the choke o-ring and it looks new, the carb is not new but it's as clean as new, including the piston and dome.

I feel like the problem must still be in the ignition circuit rather than the carb as it runs well and the dyno said it was doing all it should....about the only other thing I can think of is that maybe the points eliminator kit is not set right, but I don't understand why it runs right when warm, it should be the other way around  if that's the issue.

Anyone have any good ideas? or bad ones?   ;D

What sort of vacuum or mechanical advance does the distributor have?  Could it be sticking until warmed up?

If it has a vacuum advance, is it connected properly at the carb so as it does not get too much or too little vacuum when cold?

Brand new vacuum advance along with the brand new dizzy, works fine - showed the proper advance on the dyno (warmed up of course) but I don't know why it would stick when cold.

My thoughts on it sticking when cold was: if slightly greased inside, cold grease might be stiff and not allowing proper advance - the grease may soften enough when warm to permit proper advancing?

Granted, it is a total guess on my part and just as likely to be completely off base.

I have heard of coils giving issues, but that is usually when warm.  You are describing just the opposite.

Quote from: MPlayle on December 23, 2018, 02:58:37 PM
I have heard of coils giving issues, but that is usually when warm.  You are describing just the opposite.

Exactly why we tried another known good coil....

The removable wideband would come in handy to check fueling.  Clogged filter?

When we had it on the dyno it was perfect, it hasn't done 20 miles since then. I don't think it's a fueling issue....

One thing I forgot to mention....the tach isn't working right now either.....it reads 0 at idle and when you rev it up it only goes to 1-2K. another reason why I think the problem is electrical. It worked fine before....yes I disconnected it to see if that was the issue with the poor cold running, no improvement.

I've had the same problem with my 60 Austin 850 with electric Fuel pump. I wrassled with it for a long time when initially getting it running.Finally got the timimg right with new ignition parts. But it stilldoesn't start cold worth a sh--. but warm it runs great, good throttle response puls good etc. again without dyno.Advance is about 30 degrees IIRC at WOT. Starts great when warm. I had some trouble setting richness at idle. The pin to raise the damper to set richness is stuck (down) so kinda had to guess.
oh yeah, That was at 8300 ft elevation, now its 400ft so may have to tweek something.
i'm not help