73 Mini Innocenti 1300 Export

[MiniDave]

Differential went together smoothly, everything fit and feels correct.....

I spent the rest of the day cleaning all the cases and misc shafts and other bits, any time you use the bead blaster the tiny remains of the glass beads get into every crack and crevice, also in the threads of all the blind holes and studs and they all have to be cleaned out.....merely blowing them out doesn't do it. It also embeds itself into the aluminum so I have to take a wire brush to it as the solvent runs to make sure there's nothing left. I run a tap into every hole, then spray with some spray lube and then blow it out again to make sure all the threads are clean. It takes hours but if I don't whatever hole I didn't clean out either won't accept the bolt or torque properly.

Ready to put it all together tomorrow.....

[MiniDave]

I'm working on the transmission today, and working thru all the inner bits to make sure they're assembled correctly - and work as they should.

On the early transmission cars they used a reverse light switch mounted on the front of the transmission, under the oil filter. I have that switch and everything I need to make it work except one thing, there is a small plunger that fits inside the detent spring that is pushed up by the detent plunger and activates the switch. I need that little rod that connects the plunger to the switch - or if someone can tell me the length and diameter I figure I can make one out of an old drill bit - but it needs to be the right length.

The plunger is at the bottom right of this picture....

[MiniDave]

After thinking it thru a bit I got out my old drill bits and found a 7/32" fit smoothly in the spring so I took a guess and cut one just over 1/2" long and ground the tip, then installed it and the switch and set up my ohm meter - it immediately squawked at me so I knew it was a bit too long. I took the bit back to the grinder and took it down to exactly 1/2" and tried it again......when I turned the ohm meter on it was quiet - so far so good. Now the real test, I pushed the link into reverse and it immediately squealed at me. Result! Now I know the reverse lights will work too, once hooked up. It's interesting that the wire ends in the new harness appear to be set up for a switch on the remote housing, but I've never seen one there - only on rod change gearboxes. So I may have to do a small mod on the harness to reach the switch on the front of the gearbox.

Pic of my switch, spring, plunger and detent

[BruceK]

Congratulations on your success!  My first Mini had an Austin America 1275 power unit from about a 1968 donor car that had the reverse switch mounted like on this gearbox.   So an America or Morris 1100/1300 might be the general source of that gearbox you are working on.  Unless reverse lights were an obscure option on Mk I / II Minis with remote gear changes.  Of course reverse lights didn’t go mainstream on Minis until the Mk. IV was introduced in the mid-1980s with the 3 color tail lights.

Edit:   Just remembered that an America remote housing is totally different from a Mini remote housing.  So that can’t be the source. 

[MiniDave]

Don't forget.....this is an Innocenti…..it has reverse lights.

[MiniDave]

Gearbox progress.....

Shift rods and forks in, detents in, main cluster in, both main shaft bearings in and locked in place. Diff side bearing shimmed correctly.

Next it's get the reverse gear in, then the central oil pickup, then the lay gear. Once those are done It's time to add the diff and shim those bearings, then it's just a matter of putting all the remining covers and bits on till I can join it with the engine.

By the way, this is what new parts look like from MiniSpares these days....these are lock tabs for the diff bearing retainer....

[MiniDave]

More progress on the transmichigan…..

The biggest time suck is sorting out which bolts and washers go where, and then cleaning them all...…and then learning and/or remembering all the little idiosyncrasies of this particular trans, when I haven't had a remote gearbox apart since about 1968

[MiniDave]

Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy....

I spent all morning making some special thick washers to go under the bolts that hold the stub axles onto the output shafts of the differential. I found some just the right thickness at the hardware store, but I had to grind the outside edge slightly so they would fit into the recess in the stub axle, then I had to bore the inside diameter to fit the shoulder on the bolt. I had found two really large lockwashers in the nuts and bolts for the Inno that fit the shoulders of the bolts, but when I looked up the parts on Somerford, they only showed two plain washers., that's why I decided to get the thick ones and make some. Boring the inside diameter was a pain, the first couple of steps on the step drill worked perfectly, but that last step wouldn't go. So, I thought I'd run down to HF and buy a new set - they didn't work either so I wound up grinding them out by hand. They came out perfectly. The next step was to insert the collets that set the stubs in the right place...…

I looked for them for three hours!

Finally in desperation I brought out my secret weapon - my wife - and set her to looking for them. It took her about 5 minutes to find them neatly put away in a bag I had marked 'Hardy Spicers parts", along with the new axle seals, the new special nuts and of course the flat washers that go under the heads of the bolts!

Ay carumba!

The good news is I have everything, I just needed to find them.

The bolt on the left has the new washers I spent all morning making, the one on the right has the original lock washer/flat washer combo. One set of collets is installed in the stub axle on the right...

[BruceK]

Finally in desperation I brought out my secret weapon - my wife - and set her to looking for them. It took her about 5 minutes to find them...

So cool!  That's sort of the human equivalent of forgetting something and then having to retracing your steps to try to help remember what you forgot!  But a lot more reliable I bet!

[MiniDave]

I dropped a special washer the other day, looked high and low for it, got down on my knees with a flashlight - could NOT find it. So I get Rose, she comes down the stairs and points right at it!

[94touring]

Weird how women can do that.

[MiniDave]

Started with this, the remote shifter - hard to see in this pic but the shifter handle is coated in rust, not paint. The housing itself is dirty enough, but the insides are packed with rock hard grease (how? there are no zerk fittings, whatever grease is in there should have come from when it was built) and the shift rod was so stiff it would hardly move.

I got it all torn down and found the end that the shift ball locates to was completely loose. Also, there is an anti-rattle device - just a brass plunger that rides against the shift rod - but the fitting was absolutely tight in the housing and the corners completely rounded off. Nothing I had would get it loose, even a 6 point Snap On socket, so I cut a 1/2" nut in two and welded it to the part that was left, that way I could get it out (and back in again.)

Paint is drying so I won't be able to re-assemble it till tomorrow but it will certainly look like new - hopefully it will work like new too.

[Willie_B]

Smart mod to the anti-rattle thing. I might have to do that on my new one before install.  Thanks

[MiniDave]

My bolt was all rounded off.....I'm only slightly concerned about clearance between the head of the bolt and the tunnel, won't know till I put it in there whether I'll need to grind the head down further.

[MiniDave]

So, I got the shifter all built up at last.

I had one heck of a time getting the shift linkage socket that the ball fits into tight on the shaft, finally I put it in the vise and squeeze it down at the split, then it was too tight to get started on the shaft, so I took the shaft out and drove it into the socket, drove it out again then put it all together again. Now it's perfect, no play at all and the shaft moves smoothly.....

Here's the final project.....compare to the pic in the previous post. In the last pic near the engine end there's a hole that looks like it should be for a zerk fitting to lube the shift shaft, but it's a blind hole - now I'm thinking I should drill it thru and tap the outer end for a zerk….but that would mean taking it all back apart, and I already greased everything.....so maybe not. 

[MiniDave]

FINALLY! Found the bulkhead insulation I was missing - I looked for it off and on for two weeks - finally found it in a box marked "Inno brakes", I guess the association with brakes was because I need to install it before I fit the two master cylinders and the brake lines that were also in that box. Drove myself nuts trying to figure out where the hell I put it!

I also found the shift knob I bought for it back last October, I liked this turned aluminum much better than the original black plastic. Might need a shift knob cozy for it in really hot or really cold weather tho..  

[MiniDave]

Gearbox is complete, time to see if it shifts....

And just for fun, a comparison video from my new Cell phone, I didn't get the angle quite the same, I had to prop it up with my rubber hammer....

I don't see a lot of difference, myself.....

[94touring]

Clicking good!

[Willie_B]

Both videos look good to me.

Trying to fine my shifting in the mini. It feels a bit notchy, sometimes hard going into first when stopped.

[MiniDave]

My Green car is that way, I just go into 2nd first, then it goes in easily. I think it's just wear in the shifting mechanism in my car....

In the still pics above, the cell phone is definitely sharper.

[MiniDave]

Some progress......motor is married back to the transmission, clutch and flywheel are installed. Still need a few bolts to button it up before I can put it in the engine stand and finish installing all the other parts.

[MiniDave]

I think I'll start it in the engine stand using the single HIF44 I have, I know it will run on that carb cause it did before. Then once I have the timing set, the head retorqued and the valves adjusted, then maybe I'll swap in the twins and see if I can get a baseline tune, good enough to start driving and putting some miles on it.

Once the motor is done, I still have to install the wiring harness, button up the dash again, then it's just a matter of putting all the pieces back in the jigsaw puzzle till it's a car again!

After we get some miles on it Dan and I are planning to get it on Jesse's dyno and see where it's at. He also wants to see if all the changes he's made to his carbs on his Blue car have given him a couple more ponies too.

Fun times ahead, I hope! 

[94touring]

On those twins, once you get them on they should be setup well enough to fire up and run.  I did the setup based from my car but a fair amount richer on the needle profiles given the larger displacement.

[MiniDave]

OK, well since I already have the manifold on, maybe I will. I was just thinking go with what you know works first......

[MiniDave]

In order to sort it out I decided to go with the single carb and manifold - who knows, before I start it up I may change my mind 

I did get the engine mounted into the engine stand and mostly hooked up, however I'll going to have to sort out the oil cooler situation before I can start it. Either I'll have a custom hose made to connect the block to the oil filter housing (probably) or have them make up two new hoses and hope I get them the right length (ummm…….probably not) either way I need a fitting to match up the oil filter to the hose - that could be tricky....we'll see.

I tried to hook an oil cooler up to my green car just to sort out the hose lengths, but I could not get it even close to the right position to get a good measurement. The hoses on the coolers now are rock hard and weather cracked, so even if I could make it all reach they're not really usable. The MGB cooler that was in the Inno will not fit the green car at all, I don't know that I tried to fit the Inno oil cooler that Dan found for us as I can't get one of the hoses off, and the fittings don't match up. It's gong to take some thought to work this all out.