Don's New Ride - MG Midget Roadster

Started by MiniDave, April 28, 2017, 03:27:27 PM

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MiniDave

Don went with us on our Texas adventure, driving his red Vtec Mini P'up, but he'd been hankerin for a little convertible...after weeks of research and scouring the ads, driving every one he could find, he happened across a one owner, original interior and paint, 33K mile car for sale in Mason City, Iowa. The seller agreed to meet us about halfway - in Des Moines - so we drove up yesterday to meet him in Don's JCW....we met at a truck stop on the west side of town.

The seller flat-bedded the car down, it was a cold, misty grey day when we met up, but the car looked terrific. Not perfect, but really good and unmolested.....

He made the deal and we drove back to KC, we only had one little "moment" on the trip home - he went to turn on the heater fan and it filled the cockpit with smoke! Turning it off stopped the smoke and we drove the rest of the way without further incident.

He's already making plans for his next moves - lowering the car, and maybe changing out the rubber bumpers for the earlier style chrome ones.

Here are a few pics......

It only got up to 50* on the drive home, but he HAD to drive at least a little ways with the top down!   ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Very cool!    I love it.    I had a '73 Midget way back when, so I know how much fun they are.   And I used to own a classic Mini that was this same British Leyland color:  Pageant Blue 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#2
The name seems appropriate .......cause you have to be one to get in it!   ;D

Actually, once in the car it's not bad - way more room than in his P'up - but getting in and especially out is a challenge at least for me.

We think even the tires may be original to the car....we'll know when he pulls out the spare.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Willie_B

Very nice. I too had a Sprite, the bugeye version. Great fun car with perfect balance.

MiniDave

#4
He wanted a Bugeye, but he wanted one that had been uprated with a hot 1275 motor and disc brakes.....and those were just way out of his price range.......then he started looking at the later cars, the 1275 chrome bumper cars bring as much as the Bugeyes do now, but these later rubber bumper cars are pretty affordable.

Everything from 74 on has a Triumph 1500cc Spitfire motor in it, which was a little weird for him, but he got used to it. It runs really well, 70-75 on the highway was no issue and it pulled hills without losing speed too. It's not fast, or even quick.....but it gets there just fine.

They make kits to drop the ride height back to what the earlier chrome bumpers cars were at, so he's looking into that. It may also need a new carb....but I don't know if you can buy a new Stromberg anymore, might have to re-engineer it for an SU, or maybe a pair of SU's off a Spitty.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

They also do a Weber down draft carb conversion.  I think it is the 32/36.  The trick with the Weber conversion is they are set from the factory for a Ford 2.0 engine and are too rich for the 1275 A-series or even the TR-1500 engines.  I had to dig like crazy to try to find information about tuning them and don't think I ever found where anyone posted online what they finally were using for the jetting on a 1275 A-series engine.  They would only post that they had finally gotten it tuned, but not the jetting numbers.

The green Mini Panel Van I had a short while back came with the Weber carb.  I ended up swapping to a HIF44/HIF6 instead.  I believe I kept the books and jet kits I bought to try tuning the Weber.


MiniDave

Yeah the local Brit parts place sells a Weber conversion, but I think he'll want to keep it "British", a set of twins from a Spitty would work well and look cool too.....plus I'll bet make more power.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Today he's been learning about British car electrical systems...... 8.gif

He's trying to trace down why his turn signals quit working right after he turned on the heater fan switch and filled the car with electrical smoke - what he's found so far is that the heater and T/S are not on the same fuse, and BTW, the fuses were not blown!  ::)

Tomorrow we're taking our cars up to school so I can do an alignment on the Racing Green Mini and he can walk around under his new roadster and see what everything looks like.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

Could there have been a case of American fuses in the fuse box instead of the British fuses?  The rating system between the two is different and American fuses of the same rating will allow the harness to smoke.

British ratings are a "guaranteed blow value" whereas American ratings are a "guaranteed carry value".

I kept the attached pdf from a post elsewhere that explains the differences in the ratings and shows examples for the cross-over.


MiniDave

Very possible, I did explain the difference for him and one of the fuses was a US style glass fuse. I'll see tomorrow, but so far he says he hasn't found any burned looking wires under the dash, and the heater fan spins freely. The more we look at it the more I'm convinced this is a 33K mile car.......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on April 28, 2017, 03:37:22 PM
We think even the tires may be original to the car....we'll know when he pulls out the spare.

:-\  And he drove on the highway with them?     Argh.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Yeah, well we had to get it home, and it was only 180 miles or so......

The tires are not weather checked or dry rotted, so.....we took a chance. New tires are on the parts list already.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

tsumini

I find that the wear on the steering wheel is one of the best indicators of mileage. I bought a 1973 Monte Carlo with 7000 miles in 1985 and the steering wheel was dramatically unworn. Especially noticeable on a wheel that has some texture. But the tires were square from not moving for years.

MiniDave

Put the car up on the rack today and was pleased to see how solid it is....no rust anywhere. This car has spent almost all of it's life in a nice warm dry garage.

Don't understand why the rear springs have de-arched like this in only 33K miles, but it definitely is low on the left rear corner. He's ordering springs all around since he want's to lower the car anyway.

Turn signal problem was fixed with a $3 flasher from Autozone, only thing left to trouble shoot is the heater fan. The odd idle was cured by lubing the accelerator cable.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Don has started his modifications on his Spridget, so far.....

New header and complete exhaust system - still waiting for the rest of the exhaust system to come in, so he'll wrap the header while waiting.

Springs - the rear springs were in stock so he's installing them today, along with poly bushings. He bought the standard 1275 springs, when they built the later rubber bumper cars they re-arched the springs to raise the car up to meet the bumper height requirements so he's thinking this should lower the car but keep the ride quality.

He has the std 1275 front springs coming also. He also bought a 1" lowering kit, but I suggested he wait to install it till after the springs are on and see where it sits.

The last few days he noticed his brake pedal getting soft and found the rear brake hose leaking so he bought all new hoses and installed them but could not get it to respond to his efforts to get them bled out - I sent him off for a new Master cylinder and that got his pedal up and the brakes working again....we also drained and flushed the clutch system.

While under the hood he removed the air pump - amazing how much more room there is under the hood once you get rid of a few pieces of smog crap out of the way.

Next up, finish the suspension and install the exhaust, then I think he'll just drive it and have fun with it for the summer. Still thinking about changing the rubber bumpers for chrome ones and whether to invest in a set of dual carbs for a little more power and performance than the single Stromberg that's on there now.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

#15
Cool.  I wonder how much the body hiding underneath had to be changed for the rubber bumpers?   Easy fix? Or more challenging? 

Are the new tires going on the Rostyle wheels or something different?   Embarrassing to admit it now, but my '73 Midget actually had whitewalls for a quite a while until I could afford some brandnew Goodyear G800 radials. Yes, I still remember the tire model because it took me months and months to save up for four of them.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

I don't know what tires he'll wind up with, the 13's on my Mini are the same size it's supposed to take, but  I don't think his wheels are wide enough for them (175/70-13) Wonder if the bolt pattern is the same?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#17
Question for the brain trust here:

Don's 79 Midget sits low on the left side about 3/4", both front and rear. He has replaced all four springs, checked all bushings etc....I thought one of the rear springs might have de-arched but when we got them off and compared them side to side they were exactly the same, same for the fronts.

The body shows no evidence of an accident, no rust at all and truly looks like the 35K that shows on the speedo.

So why is it low on the left? Any ideas? Suspension has been gone thru thoroughly, nothing appears amiss.

Oh, and about the bumpers, the rears are a fairly straightforward swap....the fronts, not so much. The turn signals on the rubber bumper cars are mounted in the rubber bumper cover as compared to in a rectangular cutout in the front fender on the chrome bumper cars, so you'd think just remount the turn signal unit as the holes are still there in the fender, right? Nope, doesn't work that way, the holes in the fenders are a completely different size, so you either remake them and fit the old style turn signal units, or change to the early style fenders.....either way involves paintwork Also, there are some new frame horns in the grill area that require you to use a certain style grill and modify it slightly. Then there's the cost of the bumpers themselves and all the attaching brackets and hardware, I think it might cost close to $1000 to do this. It's on hold for now.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

I seem to recall many years ago reading something about the original hydraulic lever shocks getting weak having an effect on ride height.  Frequently showing first on the driver's side as many are driven without the weight of a passenger.

Sometimes, just a fluid change helps, otherwise it is a rebuild or replace sort of job.  That tended to be when owners considered the coil-over conversions.  There were mixed opinions about the conversions at that time.  (This was 25+ years ago, when I was first getting into LBCs.)


MiniDave

That's interesting, wonder how it is that the shocks would affect ride height?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

As stated, I am recalling vague, old memories from way back when my first LBC was a 1964 Sprite (prior to getting hooked on Minis).  I may be way off track with the information.


MiniDave

#21
Don's had his Midget for about 6 months now and he's one happy camper.

So far, he's:

4 new tires mounted and balanced

All new springs and bushings (the cure for the low side was to put one of the old springs back in that one - car sits dead level and drives like it should now.

Removed all the air pump and associated hardware - which freed up an incredible amount of room under the hood

All new Monza exhaust from the head to the tailpipe, getting rid of the original cat, replacing it with a nice header. Sounds better and has a nice set of four pipes out the back.

Replaced the heater fan switch that let its smoke out on the drive home, heater works fine now.

Cleaned everything, especially under the hood.

Replaced the leaking tin valve cover with a nice aluminum one.

Replaced the brake master cylinder and bled everything, then replaced the rear wheel cylinders and shoes

Replaced the now leaking clutch master, slave and line. He also topped up the transmission which made it shift much better, but it has a leaking rear seal that still needs to be done.

Removed the clutch style radiator fan and replaced it with an electric

The biggy - replaced the Stromberg carb with a Weber 2bbl downdraft and manifold. He had "fixed" the Stromberg and it no longer worked - it just dumped fuel and ran like shit - no idea what he did but the Weber was a good move!

Lastly, over the winter he'll change out the worn and mouse urine soaked carpets for new ones that he got from Vicky Brits.

After all that he still only has about $6K in the car! Bargain......


Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Minty

that's quite a lot of work done on the Midget

MiniDave

Don's Midget carries on.....

This week he finally replaced the leaking rear transmission seal - this was a real milepost for him as he's never done heavy mechanical work before - in fact this whole car has been a real adventure for him and he's doing surprisingly well IMHO.

The carpets he ordered from Vicky Brits were the wrong color, so he waited several months for the correct ones to come in, then several more months to tackle replacing them as it pretty much involves gutting the interior of the car - only to find out that these are for a right hand drive car! So back to Vicky Brits they went and as all the sets they had were marked wrong, he wound up at Moss Motors and bought one of their sets, due to arrive this weekend when he's headed out of town on a work assignment for a week! It's always sumthin!

Overall the Midget has been very reliable, starts and runs well now with the Weber carb and he's been having a blast with it....he's going to Hot Springs Arkansas this summer for a Midget event, so he wants to get all this sorted well in advance before hitting the road. This car has been a typical Brit PITA, and he may have to put a clutch in it before this summer's drive but he's having fun, and that's what counts.

He also has ambitious plans for his Pup, dropping the motor and fixing some oil leaks, then changing the final drive ratio in the trans - so he want the Midget finished first so he'll still have a fun car for the summer.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

John Gervais

I put a 32/36DGEV and header on my old Toyota Celica (20R engine), along with removing all the EGR crap and it completely transformed the car.  I can only imagine how the MGB likes it - the Weber/Pierce manifold wasn't very deep under the carb, but if I remember correctly, it did have some interesting ribs inside.  Opening the secondaries is really cool -

Personally, though, I would have gone with a pair of twin HS4's and kept that real 'British' flavour.  I believe he can also change the rubber bumpers to proper metal bumpers also.
- Pave the Bay -