Starting a new thread under the "Maintenance" category for some of the little things the Mini Marcos needs.
I've started a list of things to address on it:
- locking door handles
- possibly change the seats
- fix/replace the headliner - sagging in places and ragged edges at window/door openings
- replace the rubber floor mat with proper fitting carpet
- fix/replace trim panels to fit better
- replace vintage 4-point racing seatbelts with standard ones (done)
- fix issue with headlight high-beams not working (done)
- replace RHD column switch set with LHD set (parts ordered)
- upgrade taillight bulbs to brighter LEDs
- add third "high mount" brake light
- add manual reverse light
- verify accuracy (or inaccuracy) of speedometer (possibly change to electronic)
- adjust idle up slightly (new process for me as this is my first Mini with dual carbs)
As Noted in the list, I have already done the headlight fix (and passed the state inspection) and changed out the seatbelts.
I also ordered a set of new column switches for LHD cars so I can avoid hitting the wipers when I want to signal a turn.
Aren't those column switches a pain? I changed them over on Buzz too....the only issue with swapping them is you're using your shifting hand to operate the signals too....but I prefer them the "correct" way for us.
Dave,
The car is LHD and right now the turn signal switch is on the right (same hand as for shifting) and the wipers on the left. The set I've ordered are opposite - turn signal on the left, wipers on the right.
Getting the new switches has a second purpose as well - hopefully more reliable connections.
Oh, for some reason I thought it was right drive....why the heck would it have right drive switches I wonder?
Switches come from the "donor" car when building one of these. That was probably the case back when this one was first built - donor may have been a RHD Mini.
I get it....
Started some of the tidying today. I started with replacing the side mirrors. I took off the small bullet mirrors that are about 3-5/8" diameter and put on some rectangular ones that about double the viewing area.
Next up was swapping out the steering column switches from the original RHD set to a new LHD set. There were two reasons for the swap: a) the connections in the switches were being a bit unreliable, and b) putting the turn signal lever on the left for a LHD car so I would quit triggering the wipers instead of signalling a turn.
Michael, you mentioned you are looking for a center mount brake light.
I highly recommend getting one from this guy. He offers the top quality Hella brand, so German engineering. You may have seen the 3rd brake light I got from him on my Mini. I've had people mention that the noticed how bright it is. The ones he sell are made in New Zealand and also meet all Australian Design Rules criteria, so it's not just Chinese junk.
The website is a little strange and the guy is a little idiosyncratic, but he's an engineer so I guess that goes with the territory. Apparently he is highly regarded with the Porsche crowd.
https://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html
I'm into the next couple of tidying projects on this car already as well.
1) The seats are some older Cobra classic bucket styled seats and both have seen better days. The support straps for the seat bottoms have aged and broken. New seats in a standard classic bucket style have been ordered and are due to arrive Monday (June 10th).
2) As seen in the pictures of the changing out the steering column switches, there is no carpeting on the main floors. There was some thick, flat, smooth rubber mat laying in a single sheet across the front floors and another across the rear floors. I am measuring and making templates for putting more proper carpet in place. It has to be done in more pieces due to the cross framing on the floor for the custom roll-cage that is in the car.
3) I am also working on a fix to an "engineering design flaw" in the structure of the roll-cage. The cage has anchors into the subframes. The rear does not appear to have issues, but the front had a design flaw that caused an interference with the steering. The lower bar of the anchor braces on each side was far enough out that on hard turns the inside edge of the tires would rub on the brace. After consulting a couple of specialty shops and getting some nebulous responses, I decided to remove just the offending bar on each side and patch the holes through the wheel wells.
The following pictures are in order showing the problem and the progress on removing the bar on one side. I have the bars removed on both sides and am beginning the process of patching the holes.
Some more progress today.
I did fiberglass patching of the holes in the wheel wells today. I'm happy with how it turned out. (First two pictures.) Tomorrow, I will top-coat with a flexible sealer to finish the patches off on both sides.
I also refined several of my templates for carpet sections and made other various measurements for making more templates. I even installed a few small sections of carpeting. (Next three pictures.)
The new seats and locking door handles also arrived today. Pictures of those later as they get installed.
The rest of the main carpet is now in. I replaced the door handles with locking ones and have begun recovering the door cards.
I have also been planning, measuring, re-measuring, re-planning, and re-measuring how to approach covering the interior body sides and headliner. I think I finally have down how I'm going to do the sides and back area.
Proper and tidy! Great job!
Some more progress:
The main carpet for the rear cargo area is redone in the grey.
Started the vinyl on the interior sides. It will wrap to the top of the door and side window where it will meet the headliner.
One door card finished and reinstalled.
A bit more progress to report:
Trimmed out the inside of the rear hatch cover.
Completed the other door card.
Installed the right rear main covering (grey vinyl).
Installed the recovered right rear side panel.
Covered most of the right rear shock tower with carpet. I have to make a template for the top piece. I am going to make a stiff backing for it and velcro it down as it needs to be removable for accessing the hole for reaching the top shock nuts.
Coming along nicely, what are you doing for the headliner?
There's a red Mini Marcos here at EMW, I'll get you a pic, but they knew about your car!
I'm going to use a charcoal grey felt for the headliner. It is very close to the same color as the carpet.
My car made the intro page for the Marcos Club website as the June "Car of the Month".
There is also apparently a small pocket of Mini Marcos cars in the general Portland area and mine was know as a part of that group.
Right, they knew who had owned it - not that I remember the name.....
The previous owner's name is David Munsey.
If you have a chance, let the folks with the red Marcos know about this thread.
The weekend was spent at my nephew's wedding. As a result, there was a gap in progress, but I did get a few more hours yesterday and today on it.
I started the left rear side covering and did a "skirt" piece for the very rear of the cargo hatch area. I also did the carpeting over the left rear wheel arch & shock tower cover.
Coming along nicely. That color really makes the interior much brighter. Looks great.
The red one at the Mini Meet is owned by Mike (Crazy Mike) Kimball and Amanda Silverstein in Sacramento.
Is that the hood prop clipped in the back? Or to hold the deck lid up?
It has got to be hot out there, working in that garage - even with the fan blowing!
The wooden rod is the rear hatch prop.
There is a metal bonnet prop that attaches in similar clips along the right door sill. The bonnet prop has been constructed to attach to the dzus fasteners that normally hold the bonnet closed. It is sitting on a shelf at the moment because of all the getting in/out and sitting across the door sill involved in doing the interior - I did not want it in the way.
There is also a wooden dowel under the rear deck for holding that up for access to the spare and tools.
It does get hot working in the garage. I do about 3 hours work before having to quit and go inside the apartment to cool off. Thus the slow progress. (Being more of a "night owl" person does not help either as I always seem to get a late start.)
The latest progress:
- I installed some heal pads onto the front carpet sections below the pedals and matching position on the passenger side.
- I finished up the grey vinyl and black side panel for the left side.
Now I get to move on to doing the headliner. I have some medium (charcoal) grey felt I am going to glue in place for the headliner. I did some measuring to better size the starting piece. I will cut down what I have to the initial size and begin fitting over the weekend.
After the headliner will be installing the new seats, re installing the rear quarter-light windows, and reinstalling the rear hatch cover.
Then I will consider what to do about the inaccurate speedometer. It reads about 20% low across the whole range: 30mph indicated is 36mph by GPS, 50mph indicated is 60mph by GPS. I am considering going with a matched set of the new smiths electronic speedometer and tachometer.
What is the eye for on the panel by the rear downtube of the cage?
It's really starting to look finished now. Where's your first run with it going to be?
The eye bolt is just as a "handle" for the carpeted cover. The covers on both sides are held on by velcro. I used the little eye bolts and some fender washers to make "handles" for pulling up on the center while peeling them up. The handles sit over the access hole in the fender cover for reaching the top of the shock.
I may redo those covers as I am only "okay" with how they turned out.
I have not determined where my first run with it will be.
Progress report - no pictures today as I forgot to take the camera out with me.
I redid the top covers for the shock towers. I found some button plugs/caps in my leftovers from the Moke project that were just the right size for the access holes. So I cut some new pieces of carpet the right sizes and shapes for the tops of the shock towers and glued them into place with holes over the access to the shocks. I then took the eye-bolts and put them through the caps (putting the carpet plugs on the caps as well) as handles and inserted the caps into the tower access holes. Looks much better - no gaps.
I also have and 75%-80% of the headliner material glued into place. I have been working from the back to the front.
Since I am past the rear side window openings with the headliner, I also reinstalled the rear side windows. Paying attention to various discussions on this forum about installing windows paid off in getting them in without major frustrations. I used recycled popsicle sticks to work the glass into the seals along with slightly soapy water. I also had gotten one of the heavy duty locking strip tools. The tool and generous use of the soapy water worked great.
I also reinstalled the rear hatch cover and adjusted it. I may need to make a slight additional adjustment at the hinges for the edging I added.
My goal is to have the headliner finished this week and the new seats installed by next week.
I can tackle covering the A-pillars with the seats back in.
Edit: Added pictures showing this progress level.
Finished up the headliner today.
I also began test fitting the new seats. I have to fabricate some mounting adaptations. The mountings for the new seats are on wider spacing than the old seats. I think I can make some sections of 2"x2" square steel box tube work nicely. I just have to find some and cut the necessary lengths and drill the appropriate holes to mount the tube to the existing mounts and the new seats to the adapter tubes.
Looking great. I am assuming someone told you that Mike K. had his at Snowmass.
Dave mentioned there was another Mini Marcos at Snowmass.
There is another "brand new" one in the SF Bay Area. My son and I helped move the shell when it arrived, that was a few years ago. The owner bought a new shell from who ever is doing them now. It has been a long process for him, but it is now roadworthy.
Terry
I knew about the "brand new" one in the Bay area. The owner's first name is Brian. He had some posts on the Mini Marcos Club's forum that I followed for a while when I contemplated doing the same thing. Brian's is a light blue to resemble the old Gulf livery colors.
Glad to hear his is now roadworthy. I hope he gets to enjoy it. I read somewhere that some of his delays were due to a growing family.
Well, I get to figure out a "plan B" for mounting the new seats.
The slider brackets with the new seats have 90* ears for mounting. I was going to use 2" box tube to create a "standoff" to mount to the old mounting points and permit the side mount of the new seat sliders.
Unfortunately, the extra 2" rise added to the height of the seat bottoms and my head hits the roof.
"Plan-B" works! The driver's seat is fully installed and I now have about a 1" gap between my head and the roof.
I'll get some pictures tomorrow as I work on the passenger seat installation.
Don't hit a bump! ;D
Both seats are in! Next is reinstall the battery box and battery. Then it will be back on the road for enjoying a bit while I template the A-pillar covers.
Nice looking seats. They look comfy.
yes, what are those from? They look new!
They look like a similar shape and size to Austin America seats but way too nice for 40 year old ones.
They are new seats:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Scat/942/80-1400-61L/10002/-1 (https://www.jegs.com/i/Scat/942/80-1400-61L/10002/-1)
I bookmarked those for a future build, they look great, comfy and I like the cloth......I'll wait for your review after you've put some miles on them.
I took the Marcos out for a short drive today. Handling is a bit twitchy - probably need to have the alignment checked. Otherwise it drove fine. It keeps up with traffic nicely and gets lots of looks.
The seats do seem comfy. Being new, they are firm. The driving position is a bit different from a regular classic Mini - more laid back, sports car style than the upright of a normal Mini or my Jeep.
The only other drawbacks: a) not the greatest cabin air circulation; b) like almost any other Mini, it does not like 100*F temps and stop-n-go traffic.
a) I will likely add a fan inside (under the dash maybe?).
b) I do not know what thermostat it has, but will likely put in a 160*F. I may also look into other cooling system upgrade options. It does have a front mount radiator (of unknown origin and specs) and a temp controlled electric fan with a manual override switch. It also uses what looks like some sort of "swirl-pot" tank. The thermostat housing goes to the swirl-pot along with the heater return and then out the bottom of the swirl-pot to the radiator.
Quote from: MPlayle on July 20, 2019, 01:38:43 PM
I took the Marcos out for a short drive today. Handling is a bit twitchy - probably need to have the alignment checked. Otherwise it drove fine. It keeps up with traffic nicely and gets lots of looks.
The seats do seem comfy. Being new, they are firm. The driving position is a bit different from a regular classic Mini - more laid back, sports car style than the upright of a normal Mini or my Jeep.
The only other drawbacks: a) not the greatest cabin air circulation; b) like almost any other Mini, it does not like 100*F temps and stop-n-go traffic.
a) I will likely add a fan inside (under the dash maybe?).
b) I do not know what thermostat it has, but will likely put in a 160*F. I may also look into other cooling system upgrade options. It does have a front mount radiator (of unknown origin and specs) and a temp controlled electric fan with a manual override switch. It also uses what looks like some sort of "swirl-pot" tank. The thermostat housing goes to the swirl-pot along with the heater return and then out the bottom of the swirl-pot to the radiator.
I was going to ask how the windows rolled down (i am sure they do) as in the pictures you posted i didn't see any window cranks or mechanism.
On FB today i saw a two fan set up with a 12 volt port plug on it. I is supposed to attach to the front head rests for rear passengers but with the brackets it had it could easily be adapted to work in the dash area of a Mini.
The door windows on the MK-4 Mini Marcos are three sections of lexan. The large center section slides up and down - no winder mechanism. There is a thumb-screw arrangement on the front channel to act as a stop by wedging the edge in the channel.
Due to the window shape, the back portion sticks up about 3 inches when the thumb screw is at the top of the leading edge.
I may relocate the thumb screws to the back channel to get that little bit more opening.
I know the MK-6 Mini Marcos uses modified Mini window winder mechanisms for its windows.
I had the alignment done this afternoon. They struggled to get it close to the desired numbers. Afterward, I took it for a short highway run. It is bit less twitchy.
When I owned my pick up I removed the sliding windows completely in the Summer months to help with the air flow, it helped but with the rear glass so close to the back of your head there was a constant buffering going on.
So the quarter lights at the front of the doors don't open?
Of course, when it's 100* out it really doesn't matter how far the windows open or how many dash vents or fans you have, it's still hot!
The front quarter lights of the doors do not open. The previous owner added the racing style circular push-out vents into the front quarter lights, but they really don't seem to do much.
Yeah, I didn't notice those before.....so it will mostly be a cool weather car for you? Does it have a heater? What is the round thing at the right end of the dash?
After you sell your trailer, are you planning to buy another, or a tow dolly or??? so you can go to some runs?
Are you planning to do the Mini 60 in October with CMU?
I have thought about looking for some sort of fan to install for added circulation or taking it over to Vintage Air and seeing about a custom a/c.
It does have a heater tucked up in the dash. I have not yet investigated its installation for how it is plumbed for were air flows. One of the rocker switches in the dash turns on the heater fan and it blows air out the demister vent.
The round thing at the far right of the dash appears to be a fresh air vent with a hose running out to behind the grill.
The plan regarding the trailer has been to get a longer one once the folding trailer sells. I may investigate a tow-dolly as an option, but the low ground clearance in of concern. I measured under the body the other day and it is only 5" at the floors (less under the exhaust and rod-shift housing).
I had not planned to do the CMU Mini 60. It may be too late to make arrangements for it now.
Nah, plenty of time still - it's not till Oct 9th-13th......I hope you can make it. I wasn't planning to go but our plans for the F1 event have changed so I'm looking into it now. I won't register till probably a few weeks before the event. My plan is to take the Innocenti, but I still have a lot to do before I can consider that. If not, I'll take the racing green.
I sold my double axle Trailex aluminum trailer a while ago and have been using my tow dolly and flat towing the Moke with a Harbour Freight tow bar.
As my 4x8 trailer is gone too i am looking at aluminum trailers with a full floor that can do double duty when needed to (Home Depot/Lowes etc) and the Aluma tilt 78x12 with no ramps or electric over hydraulics to mess with seems like a decent set up starting at around $3000.
Just trying to thin the heard i had 5 trailers here at one time but i will be keeping the enclosed 6x12 as it is handy for storage.
Do all the aluma tilts have the loading ramp that folds up? Doesn't that add a lot of drag? my little 5' X 8' trailer has a mesh loading ramp and it adds a lot of drag.
I like the idea of an aluminum trailer, they've got to be lighter than a steel, and since our cars are so light strength shouldn't be an issue.
I flat tow my cars with no issues. If it were a show car I might want it in an enclosed trailer, but since they're not I'm good with just flat towing.
Quote from: MiniDave on July 22, 2019, 11:59:46 AM
Do all the aluma tilts have the loading ramp that folds up? Doesn't that add a lot of drag? my little 5' X 8' trailer has a mesh loading ramp and it adds a lot of drag.
I like the idea of an aluminum trailer, they've got to be lighter than a steel, and since our cars are so light strength shouldn't be an issue.
I flat tow my cars with no issues. If it were a show car I might want it in an enclosed trailer, but since they're not I'm good with just flat towing.
No on the tilt ones the whole bed drops to the ground no ramps or ramp gate i think a 15 degree or so load angle, you just drive on and the hydraulics and gas strut do the rest lowering it slowly.
The ones with the ramp have the ramp that folds in half to reduce the drag i guess.
They use a single hydraulic piston that slows the movement up and down and a gas strut to hold it up, quite simple and it works good.
Another plus is no rust or painting and they only weigh around 700lbs.
There are options you can buy but like most trailer places you can find them a lot cheaper elsewhere.
One option i would like is detachable fenders just in case i needed them to at any time.
My Trailex had 13 inch tires and the Mini doors cleared the fenders but most trailers i have looked at the fenders are in the way, i am not sure why we don't use the smaller pontoon trailer type fat tires over here like they do in Europe it would save a lot of hassle.
Howard Collins/scargo on here has an Aluma and he likes it.
I've spent all afternoon in the front end of the Marcos today.
I noticed that I was still getting some rubbing sounds on full lock left turns - such as pulling into the garage. It turns out the outer leading edge of the right front tire was rubbing the front edge of the wheel well.
I had some body shims left over from another mini long ago. They came in handy today. It helped some, but I also discovered the previous owner had the hi-los set all the way down - maximum lowered. I set about working on raising the fronts to try to eliminate the rubbing. I am almost there. Some more adjusting tomorrow and also raising the rears. Then I will take it back and get the alignment redone - got it as a "lifetime" alignment when I had it done Saturday.
I will also need to replace the steering rack ends as their rubber dust caps are shot. That will mean a third round of alignment when I get those in.
On the trailer subject: due to the way the Marcos body attaches to the front subframe and the nose overhang, a tow bar is out. A tow dolly "might" work, but the Mini Marcos body tub tends to have lower ground clearance and the dolly tails may be more likely to hit the bottom of the Marcos.
My current trailer fit most Minis fine. The MK-4 Mini Marcos floor pan was supposedly based on the Mini Van floor and thus has both the LWB and the front nose overhang that makes it just a bit too long for my Kendon folding trailer.
The Kendon trailer weighs 510 pounds (without the spare) and is a steel mesh deck. I have a set of longer ramps I used with the Moke I will include for anyone on this forum that buys the trailer.
Adding to the trailer talk!
Ive been too watching Aluminum trailers locally... Alum for the light weight and easy maneuverability.
This Triton 12 x 6 Popped up with foldup gate (i at first wasn't sold on a gate and wanted traditonal ramps but now im sold)
It was for sale as a used trailer at a Power sports dealer.
2800$ Out the door taxes tags and title...
Empty it weighs just at 550# and does jockey around Loaded With car Its amazing to tow with. I have my hitch set Slightly high = which helps the loading angle.. A Lotus i towed did grab the trans housing on the edge, but havnt had any issues with mini's on and off.
I also modified the plastic fenders with easy on and off knobs. to remove the fender so you have a SLIGHT bit more door access to get in and out of (mk 1 Sliding windows dont help.
Keep eyes out at your local ATV sellers,.,, they had 2 new ones available = and kind of regularly take in on trade , sales guy said everyone that works there keeps them too. A full size side by side ATV weighs just as much as a mini... This trailer is rated for 3000 Lbs axle = I MIGHT try an MGB on it one day if needed. ( i would consider that the limit)
That's really nice, looks like there are D rings in the floor? I don't have anywhere to keep one if I did buy it, plus too and also my tow vehicle is rated for 1500lbs, that's why I flat tow my cars.
I could easily haul one of these with my Audi, but then the gas mileage would go from terrible to Exxon Valdez needed terrible! ;D
I am extremely pleased with my Aluma tilt trailer. Perfect size for a Mini and extremely easy to
load, unload and tow.
It's just too bad I can't properly load a photo.
I've been kind of slow in the latest progress, so here is a catch-up report.
I took it for a professional alignment. The older tech that did a great job on the Moke was no longer there. The guys that attempted it did an "ok" job - they got close to the desired settings. On driving it home, I found it had a new rubbing spot when turning hard left to pull into my garage: the outer leading edge of the tire was hitting the front lip of the wheel arch.
I added some body shims I had left over from another long ago Mini project. I also found the suspension lowered as far as it would go (front and rear), so I raised it a bunch. I took it back for another go at the alignment (got the "lifetime" alignment the first time as a precaution.) They still struggled to get close to the desired numbers, but they did keep it from going back to rubbing. I will try to figure out a way to attach my "home" kit. The kit attaches to the wheel by magnets. Unfortunately, my center caps are plastic and the wheels non-magnetic alloy. The kit tries to cling to the lug nuts, putting it off-center. Also nee to make an access hole to get to the steering rack centering plug.
I also tackled some upgrades to the cooling system (engine and people). I added a metal fan shroud to the radiator's electric fan, changed the water pump pulley and made a small nose panel cover for the engine side. I added interior fans for the people side.
In the pictures below, I show the fan shroud with the new nose panel cover off. You can see how the nose panel is notched forward with a visible cross-member. That is normally covered by the factory nose panel cover (shown in the last picture). Leaving off the factory nose panel cover will open a gap between the nose panel and the bottom of the bonnet for more air to enter the engine bay (and let out hot air in stop-n-go traffic). That would leave the notch exposed, so I made the small panel cover to "hide" the notch when leaving the factory cover off for the summer. I also drilled a series of approximately 1/2" holes in the front apron below the grill and in alignment with the radiator to let more "fresh" air reach the front of the radiator.
A follow-up to the cooling system "mods": I had the Marcos out for a short drive to go have Dim-Sum for lunch. The drive over through normal streets went fine. The temp gauge got up to 75*C and held there. That is about expected as the thermostat is a 160*F rated unit. The electric fan also appears to be set to come on at that temp. I am not sure if I can adjust that.
The run home, I took it out on the highway and ran it up to about 70 - 75 mph (rough "guessing" as I measured the speedometer to be about 20% low versus gps a while back). It did creep up to about 80*C on the highway depending on speed and clear airflow, but did not climb more until back to slow speed pulling into my apartment parking area and garage, then it crept up to 85*C.
This is in outside temperature of 95*F+.
I do get some "run-on" when turning off the car in the heat. I will look into the timing/tuning next. Time for me to learn to tune dual carbs.
The first thing you have to do - and the one that most people forget - is to disconnect (loosen) the linkage between the two carbs. You set them independently and then tie them back together, otherwise you're wasting your time.
Secondly, before you attempt to do any carb adjustments, first make sure timing and valve adjustments are correct. Carbs are the last thing you do in any tune up. Points, plugs, condenser, rotor, cap, wires and valve adjustments first, then carbs....do you have a Unisyn or the like?
If you already know all this consider it a reminder for those who don't and carry on 77.gif
I basically knew the steps. I did not remember about disconnecting the carbs from one another. I do not have any form of synchronizing tool. I need to get one.
I knew to check timing and such first with the carbs being last. It has an electronic points-replacement system installed. I have already checked the cap and rotor and they are good.
I know to check the valves when the engine is cold. I have a basic timing light and a diagnostic tachometer.
Brian is getting his on the road as well out west. I saw he drove it to work or on errands as well.
I have a Unisyn I can loan and send you, but hopefully someone closer has something. I am pretty sure it would fit in the small flat rate USPS box.
Terry
Yeah, the reason you disconnect them is so you can set the throttle openings the same, you don't want one open further than the other and drawing more air and more fuel. If that's the case you'll never get them set right. Some people just use a length of tubing stuck in the mouth of the carb, other end held up to their ear and listen for the difference in the sound of the hiss of air, but I was never sure I had the difference accurately set this way - I always preferred a graphic indication of how much air was flowing thru each one. Far more accurate.
Once you get the air equal, then you set the mixture to best run, you may have to change the idle speed as you get the mix set, so then you have to make sure you didn't close one down more than the other. The good news is that once you get them set right, they generally never go "out of tune".
I have a Unisyn also, but I would need it back fairly quickly as I'm not far from putting the engine in the Inno. That's why I use the single HIF44 on the test stand, no trying to balance carbs. Bruce may have one too, but the chances of him being able to find it in the middle of a move are slim!
Many years ago (quite a while before I got into Minis) I had a UniSyn tool for when I was into old VWs. Somewhere over the years, I gave it away to someone that needed one and I did not think I would need it again. This is my first dual-carb'd Mini in around 25 years of the Mini hobby.
I still have not ordered the UniSyn. I keep forgetting to hunt one down.
I had the Marcos out for some errands the other day and had something unusual happen. The tachometer starting acting up in a manner I have not seen before.
When I first started the car, the tachometer responded as normal. I drove out onto the highway and was at speed for about 15 minutes, then got off the highway to go through a neighborhood to my destination. When I reached a stop light, the tachometer would not drop below 3K rpm. The engine speed had actually dropped to normal idle (about 900 - 1000 rpm), but the tachometer registered 3K. Blipping the throttle would make the tachometer jump up from the 3K mark the same as if that were the 1K mark.
After letting the car sit for a bit at my destination, it returned to normal operation at the start of my drive home, but acted up again as I reached traffic lights near home. Then it went back to normal again as I pulled into my apartment parking area and into the garage.
I have no idea what the tachometer originally came from. I think it is a Smiths and is labeled as for a 4 cylinder.
I do know there is an electronic "points replacement" module in the distributor. I don't think it is a Pertronix brand, but something similar.
Any thoughts on how to diagnose?
You need a new tach......I had a brand new one go south on Deighton's car - it went the other way - read 0 till you revv'd it then it read as if it was set for a V-8. Brandy new - really pissed me off.
I had one new out of the box act screwy like that! Directly in the trash.
I guess I will look at replacing the tachometer and speedometer after all.
I had thought about it when I determined the speedometer read 20% low and decided to just use my Garmin GPS instead.
I had my eye on a set from the same place I got the electronic speedometer for the Moke. I will probably go that route.
Remove it and try it on another 4 cylinder car with points. I am not sure which tachometer you have but i have heard some older tach's do not work well with electronic ignitions, to be fair though in my experience for the most part they usually work or fail.
I have not yet driven the car a lot since getting it in May, but the Tachometer had worked fine before this last outing.
I do not have access to another 4 cylinder car with points to try that experiment. The tachometer looks the same as one from a MGB or MG Midget.
As stated earlier, I had toyed with the idea of replacing at least the speedometer to something I can calibrate to be more accurate than 20% low all the time. As such, I had also considered replacing them both in order to have a matched pair of new main gauges.
I'll look into it after the car show next weekend (Sept 27-29).
I did another local car show this past Saturday. Drove the Marcos to the show and back home in the 95* heat. It ran well. The car's temperature held in the range where expected.
Driving at 60-65 seemed okay - a bit sensitive to steering. Trying to run 70 in any sort of highway curve and it would be squirrelly and unsettling. It was also being very sensitive to road surface variations, so I held it to the 60-65 range.
I used my Garmin GPS as a speedometer and confirmed the car's speedometer read 20% low throughout the range.
The shop I was taking it to (lifetime alignment) was always struggling to get anywhere with making adjustments. To get an idea of what to look for in diagnosing why it was twitchy on the highway, I read up on understanding how to do alignments. I now know that the "techs" at that shop were doing things backward. They could not have had their machine registering the wheels correctly as they were making caster and camber adjustments backward.
Today I spent some time in the garage with it getting things loosened for checking the alignment myself. It was a struggle, but I did get all the locking nuts released. I also set up my tow plates and a string box to get some references. I know the left front wheel is pointing dead straight and has -0.75* camber. I did not measure the left side caster, nor the right side camber or caster. The toe plates are 24" long and I have them centered on the hub. They show 1.125" toe in! All of it is on the right wheel.
Wednesday will be the next session with it. I plan on fixing the toe setting of the right front wheel first, then checking the caster and camber on each front wheel before making a final toe adjustment.
The proper sequence is to set the caster, then camber, then toe last as each of the other two will affect the toe. Likewise, changing the caster will change the camber.....sometimes you go back and forth with C&C several times till you get it right, then set toe.
In the front I use:
3* caster
1/2* neg camber
1/16" toe out each side
However I don't know how much adjustment you have without seeing the suspension you're running. Could be all you can do is toe.
The Mini Marcos came with fully adjustable front suspension. All the nice heavy-duty versions.
Dave,
I reread your post to be sure I would do the right order come Wednesday and discovered another "error" the shop I took it to did.
They would do camber first, then caster, then toe. They did not like going back and redoing either camber or caster when changing the second made a big difference in the first. They also would "gorilla" loose the lock nuts for camber, adjust it, then "gorilla" tight the lock nuts and then move to camber and repeat the "gorilla" effort. They also would not ensure the car and/or steering was held firmly, so the car and steering would shift a lot - changing numbers around as well.
I got out to the garage and did the alignment today.
I measured the existing settings prior to making any changes. This is what a local service shop left it at from the second try at an alignment on a Hunter machine.
Left Right
Caster +7.25* +9.5* (degrees)
Camber -0.75* -2.0* (degrees)
Toe (in/out) 0.0" 1-1/8" toe-in (inches)
I used a string "box" to get some "center line" references for each side, my bubble style caster/camber gauge, some home-made slide plates (two vinyl tiles, smooth sides together with grease between them) and a set of 24" toe plates. I was able to get the desired settings Dave recommends: +3.0* caster, -0.5* camber (both sides) and 1/8" total toe-out.
I will take it out on the highway tomorrow to see how it feels.
It should be immensely better, and easier to steer! That much caster is nuts!
They had something registered wrong on their machine as I recall it was trying to tell them to shorten the control rods to go to a smaller angle. When I read up on alignments, that was the wrong direction to be going. Following the instructions for my bubble gauge, lengthening the control rod would push the wheel back and make a smaller caster angle.
The lesson I learned is their "techs" may be good at following the directions of the machine, but they do not know the geometry and function of the settings. If the machine is not registering correctly, they still blindly follow its directions even though backwards. They do not know the geometry and so cannot tell when the machine is not operating correctly.
I ran into this a lot when I taught steering and suspension at college, my solution was always to tell the kid to pull the car off the rack and roll it back on and start over. Sometimes the machines lose their way too - and you have to reset it to get it accurate.
A tool is only as good as the guy using it......
Waiting to hear how it drives now....... 77.gif
Oh, and yes, you lengthen those rods to reduce the caster angle.
Had the Mini Marcos out for a "test drive". It handles much better - more stable in curves at speed on the highway. It is still a light handling little car, but no longer feels like it is suddenly trying to plunge into hard turn halfway through a bend in the highway.
I'm gradually getting confidence in it for general running around. Now if only the 95*+ temperatures would finally break.
You guys not getting any of this cold front coming in overnight? Tomorrow high is 60 and think Sat. low is 40's
We're supposed to get some of the front tomorrow (Friday) morning. Good for a couple days cool down into the 70's daytime and upper 50's overnight. Back into the upper 80's to mid 90's by Monday/Tuesday.
54 years since the Mini Marcos "debuted" at the 24hrs of LeMans
http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2020/06/today-54-years-ago-mini-marcos-at-le.html (http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2020/06/today-54-years-ago-mini-marcos-at-le.html)
Mine is still for sale.
Some recent videos of the Mini Marcos.
Cold start:
Walk around:
Short drive:
Medium drive:
All the videos look good. Every time I see it I think how much fun it would be to drive.
Michael, I like what you shot, but the video quality seems low. Did you upload them in a low quality format? Is the original video higher resolution (sharper images and better colors saturation?)
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think a top presentation will help bring top dollar.
You need to put some tape over the mic too, the wind noise ruins the sound on the video......or if you can get a remote mic to work on this camera and can put a wind sock over it.
The driving and walk around videos were recorded in 1080p at 60fps. The cold start was at 1080p and 30fps. The cold start and walk around videos were uploaded as the original MP4 format. The drive videos were edited using QuickTime on my Mac to clip them out from a single 20 minute drive video and so uploaded in the QuickTime 'mov' format.
I did have the windows open for air circulation since they were taken on a morning that already had temps well over 90* by noon (some of the recent 100*+ days). There is less air noise than many of the comparable drive videos on BaT.
The camera is supposed to support an external microphone, but did not come with one and I do not have any form of one to try.
Then just put a piece of duct tape over the mic opening, it will cut down the wind noise considerably.