73 Mini Innocenti 1300 Export

Started by MiniDave, October 23, 2018, 01:33:44 PM

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Vikram

Dave, I saw your post on Facebook about VIN plates but couldn't reply.

I got both a vin plate and body number tag from Mini Mail. Excellent quality and I'm sure Tim would ship it to you.

MiniDave

Vikram, thanks I'll contact him....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

There is a guy Stateside that does reverse stamped vin plates.


MiniDave

Finally got the rest of the transmission to come apart, specifically the two nuts that hold the differential pinion and the first motion shaft in place. Everything looks really good in the box, synchros, op sleeves and gears are not torn up at all, roller bearings are all in good shape and no wear on the inner surfaces of the gears or shafts. The 1st motion shaft bearing was a little rough so I have a new one on the way but the rest look good. I'll clean it up a little more and when those bits get here I can put it together, then marry it up to the engine and put them in the engine stand and make some noise!

I put some special air tool oil in my impact wrench, maybe that's what did it?

Still a lot of work to do, but......progress!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

What final drive are you going with for it?  I have a spare 3.1 set up for grabs.


MiniDave

I'm going with a 3:1, but I already bought it new from Spares......thanks!

I might be interested in it for my green car tho. PM me what you want for it, OK?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#582
Yesterday I had another session at the back doctor so I couldn't do any work, today was transmission day. I managed to drift out the main shaft bearing so I could remove the mainshaft cluster, I'm surprised how good all the components look, synchros are not worn, nor is the facing on the gears that the synchros ride on. The teeth on the operating sleeves are not chewed up and all the bearings are actually in pretty good shape. I thought the input shaft bearing was bad but after I cleaned it up in the solvent tank it runs smooth as can be.  No matter I have a new one on the way.

Now the real work, I'm taking all the case parts over to my friends shop to bead blast them. That takes long enough on it's own, but then the real time consuming part is getting all the glass bead detritus out of every nook and cranny, then taking a tap to every threaded hole to clean the crap out of them too.

The result will be a case that looks brandy new, and clean parts always makes assembly go easier. I take my inspiration from the MiniMania YouTube videos, they always have the case clean as new. I'm hopeful the last few bits I need will get here quicker than the last order did - that one took 12 days. And while I'm not pressed for time on this build, I would like to continue making progress.....I like to finish a job before I jump onto something else if I can.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Never fails.....

I can't get into my friend's shop to do the bead blasting till Friday - which is the normal day as production at the business is actually closed on Friday so there are very few employees there - so I decided to rebuild the diff in the meantime, and change out the final drive ratio from the 3:44-1 it has to a 3:00-1, since this engine will have plenty of torque it can easily pull the taller gears and it will cruise at lower revs on the highway.

So, I tore it all down, and opened the diff package and new cross pin kit I bought and after cleaning everything thoroughly I realized it doesn't have one bushing, and the small thrust washers are for an A+. It also didn't have the fiber washers that go under the stub axles. So.......yet another order to MiniSpares and another delay.

I compared the order with MiniMania to MiniSpares and the difference was about $50 plus shipping.....so I ordered from Spares again.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Today I got an email from Minispares saying they didn't have one of the items from my Sunday order asking what I wanted to do - as the item was something I can get at the local Britparts store I told them just to go ahead and ship what they had, but the good news is that the delay means they can combine yesterdays order with Sunday's and as they're all small parts I won't have double shipping, saves me about $30. So, more delays but less money out of pocket. Now I won't expect to see parts till the middle of next week at the earliest based on my experiences with them the last few orders.....I guess the days of ordering Sunday and getting them by Wed are well and truly gone - it was great while it lasted!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

gr8kornholio

Guess we spread the word to well as to where to get mini parts.  Shouldn't we get a discount for that?  ;D
I am the GR8KORNHOLIO! Are you threatening me?

Saussie Aussie 1965 Australian MK1 Mini.
"Beavis" - 07 MY/MY MCS, B/MY Konig Daylites, JCW sideskirts, TSW springs, TSW lower rear control arms -- Exploring the country with new friends since 11/09.

MiniDave

Yeah, I don't know what happened over there - whether they fired a bunch of people or somehow it's Brexit related, but it changed very suddenly just before Xmas and has not gotten better....

Picked up the back seat for the Inno just now, fronts are still in progress.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Picked up the rear seat from the upholsterer's today, had a devil of a time getting it installed as unlike regular Mini backrests (or maybe the same, I'm not sure) there are a couple of long studs that go thru the rear parcel shelf cover and I had a heck of a time getting them down thru the holes. Once in I cinched them down (5mm studs, not 10-32! I find little things like this all over the car.) then it went into place and tied down the parcel shelf cover. Then I tried to get the seat cushion into place but gave up after a while....foam is too thick or something.

Anyway, then I broke out the carpet kit to see what's involved in putting it in and just laid the pieces out for a quick trial fit. I think it will look really nice once in - need to find some floor mats tho, I think this light color will show dirt pretty quickly.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Willie_B


MiniDave

#589
Those are nice but................whew! Spendy!  :-\

The last set of mats I bought for the green car cost me £12, plus shipping!   77.gif

Edit: Just checked - they've gone up to £12.50! Huddersfield. Of course, they're not cocoa mats....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#590
My parts came from Spares today.... I've been complaining about slow service on TMF and this freebie came with my order today.

Hmmmm, wonder why it turns the photo from the phone sideways?

Wiring harness came from Bull Motif too - looks great. I'm not going to use the back half at this time as I would have to unglue and pull down the headliner. I may wind up using it after all but we'll see how it goes, the back seemed to be in better shape than the front and all the rear stuff worked perfectly.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

I have an app on my phone to rotate photos before I post.  Forum glitch.

MiniDave

I picked up the seats from the upholsterer's today, it took him a long time to figure out how to install them correctly and I'm pretty sure he didn't make any money on this job, but it was still spendy. I couldn't have done them and I don't think Dan wanted to try again either, so sometimes you just have to go to "the guy" to get it done right. They turned out well and I'm happy with his work......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

TDA

Who did you have do the upholstery work?  Do they do repairs?

MiniDave

Yes, he does repairs.....I've used him on a number of projects. Tell him MiniDave told you to call....

Terry Frazee

Mid America Auto Interiors
9115 Elmhurst Dr,
Overland Park, KS 66212

913-649- 9440
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Scargo

#595
MiniDave ... I experienced the same issue with sideways photos when I posted photos a few days ago of my tilt bed trailer on the Mini Marcos thread.

94Touring ... What's the name of that phone app you referenced for dealing with that?

94touring

Its called "reduce photo size".  Simple open a photo and if the orientation is sideways then rotate, if it's not sideways when you open it in the app, it will post correctly.  It also makes your uploads quicker since it reduces file size as the forum software doesn't have to reduce large file sizes on upload.

MiniDave

#597
Damn, the more I wait, the more I have to wait....

I waited 16 days to get the few bits and bobs I needed to finish the transmission - one of which is a bushing that goes inside the differential to support the stub axle, the one in there looked worn but not badly so in for a penny....I got the parts yesterday and this morning I knocked out the old bushing and pressed the new one in - only to find out I need to ream it to size. So now I'm stopped again.....I really wanted to get the trans reassembled and to get all these loose bits put into the trans so I could stop worrying about losing something desperately important.

Most of the machine shops are quoting 2 weeks.....I keep thinking I must have a friend with a lathe somewhere!

Edit: just found that the outer stub axle bushings have to be reamed to size too. the hunt is on for a local with a lathe or something in their basement. Deighton's shop could do it but I hate to ask the favor.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#598
OK, the bushings will be reamed tomorrow at Deighton's shop by one of his techs in his CNC machine, I can pick them up tomorrow afternoon, so that's good news.

In the meantime I'm working on the wiring harness - I got the entire front harness out of the car and it's even worse in the daylight than it looked in the car. Where the rear harness joins the front over by the wiper motor the wire ends are corroded and some of the insulation is broken in places, but Dan and I don't want to try and remove the headliner to fit the entire rear harness, so I will try and splice and repair what's there. The main part that was bad is the engine compartment and dash anyway....

If I can get the diff parts tomorrow I can start putting that back together this weekend, I hope there aren't any special shims I need to finish setting it up but you never know with new components till you start putting it together so you can measure things. I'm at least a month behind at this point, I really want to take it to the CMU 60 in early October, but I also want to get some miles on it first and make sure everything is right first, plus Dan and I want to get it on the dyno along with his blue car and see how it does, and get it tuned out right.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

I picked up the parts at Deighton's shop this morning (man I am tired of the road construction around here - it's a wonder you can get anywhere so many roads are closed or detoured - but I digress) which is on the opposite side of town from me, about 30 miles away.

The bushings look perfect - the tech said they weren't round by quite a bit but that he was able to get them there and still hold tolerance.

So, now I'm ready to put the trans back together - I should have everything I need at last.

Good thing too as the next thing up on the body was to fit the insulation that I very carefully cut and fit to the bulkhead - and now I can't find the damn thing anywhere! Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad