Tink: My '89 Mini

[94touring]

Snap some pics of it and how much metal you got to deal with.   Gaps front and rear too. 

[MtyMous]

Rog

[MtyMous]

Pictures as requested.

You can see where I opened up the hole a bit more. I'm afraid to open it up any further, but I don't really think I have too many options at this point.

[MtyMous]

Finished with the rear subframe. Had a little help.

[94touring]

Hmm  8.gif. Well I guess the hood isn't agreeing with the new hinges cause there definitely wasn't that big of a gap before.  What if you take a piece of 16 or 14 gauge steel, make an extension, bolt it to the current hole, create a new bolting point opening and drill more of the rear hole out?

[MtyMous]

Yeah. I think the new hinges just made the problem worse.

Funny you mentioned that fix. I had the same idea and found some SS flat bar on my way home from work. We'll see how it works out.

[MtyMous]

More progress tonight.

Upper Control arm rebuilt.

Before


After


It's darn near impossible to get the shock bolt out of the other side on the control arm. Gonna have to go with more drastic measures.


The good news is there's a Fastenal down the street that can order just about any nut bolt, etc that I want. So I started out with a small order of all new fasteners.




Oh... and something tells me this isn't right....

[Mudhen]

Dude...I'll give you $20 for the nuts/bolts parts list from Fastenal...ok, $30.   19.gif

[MtyMous]

I'm making a list as I replace them. It's all in an excel file right new. They don't have everything, but they've been able to get me what I need so far. Most of it is weird lengths and fine pitch metric bolts that they don't stock but can special order. I'm replacing everything that I can. Especially if it's corroded, damaged, or inferior finish (raw steel vs zinc coated).

I'll be sure to share my list... for free. I'm surprised no one has done this yet in 55 years.

[MtyMous]

Alright... the hood still doesn't fit quite like I want it to, but it's not as crazy as it was before. I need to bend it in a few places... Which I don't really want to do because the paint is so freaking nice.

I'd like to caveat this with the fact that I don't hold Dan responsible for any of this. I believe this is just a fluke in this aftermarket hood. Win some/lose some.

Anyway. The only way to fix this one was to add on to the bracket. I was going to make a stainless steel bracket to sandwich it all together, but that just wasn't gonna work.


So here's what I ended up doing.

Cut down a piece of steel to size


Weld it up (not all of us have fancy welding areas and we have to make messy welds in our garages. haha


Then you get to clean up those messy welds.


Then you clean up the messy welds a bit more, cut out your slots... and add paint







But this thing still doesn't fit quite right. Not loving the gaps all the way around or the over all fitment front to back. It's not terrible, but it still just isn't right. I was able to get a bit more out of the hinges as well. They sit about 8mm further back than the factory hinges do. So that helped out with the 14mm gap. Then my bracket mod gave me the extra bit I needed. But you can see the other bits. It just seems a bit out of shape in a few places. Might have to get that carbon hood after all.

Front gap is almost there. Not terrible, but if I go any further back, the back of the hood actually hits the scuttle... so clearly this hood is a bit long.


And if the hood isn't long, then usually it's a little flat and needs to add a bit of curve to the nose to shorten it up. But not so in this case. It actually sticks up a bit.




Then there's the rear of the bonnet that lays perfectly flush at the corners, but sticks up about 1cm in the middle..




See... Corners are flush and the gaps are uniform. haha


So... I'll probably run with it for a while until it really starts bothering me. Then I'll just go ahead and get the carbon bonnet I've been eyeballing for a while anyway.

[MtyMous]

But on a lighter note, I've decided to go fuel injected so I have an HS4 carb to sell. And I've decided on another route with the heater so there's a great working condition heater for sale as well.

Completely rebuilt the thing and was running it with complete success right before my rebuild started. I mean.. maybe 50 miles on it. haha






And I've done quite a bit more. Trunnions, poly bushings, and a bunch of other small things that I don't really care to waste forum space with. But I was able to completely restore my rear caster/camber adjustment brackets that I got with the car. I REALLY hated these things when they were on the car because they were seized onto the car and made adjusting things a complete pain in the butt. But now that they move freely and are clean and not in the way... I kind of like them. Might end up putting them back on the car instead of going with a different set.

[94touring]

For the most part they all stick forward about like you have.  Maybe you can adjust the latch to close a little tighter.   It is higher in the rear for who knows what reason.  Being a mini they rarely fit perfect.  Even Deans heritage front end was out of whack. 

[MtyMous]

Yeah. I know they all require a bit of tweaking. It's just irritating not being able to get it just right. Especially knowing how great the rest of the car looks now. And that the hood actually does look great. It's just wonky.

[MtyMous]

Got the minivation hinges in and sorted out. I'm happy with them actually. Gives me more room on the firewall as well for future items.








Also, you might have seen my new Rogue Se7ens Carbon upper dash pad peeking through. It's just roughly fit in there right now. Will likely need a bit of tweaking, but I'm liking the contrast of grey and CF.

[MtyMous]

Well... Just bought over $3 grand  in parts. If that's not a way to jumpstart a project, I don't know what is. Haha

I'm super excited about a few of the parts though. Muahaha.  As soon as they arrive.

[94touring]

I'm going to get your extras shipped out here within a few days.  I'm not sure if the flairs showed up with your addy on them, but otherwise I'll need an address for you.  I've been taking a breather the past few days and haven't' been to the shop.   

[MtyMous]

I'll just email you my address. Flairs should have return address on them, but better safe than sorry.

[Willie_B]

Well... Just bought over $3 grand  in parts.

Did you decide to go with the fuel injection?

[MtyMous]

I have decided to go fuel injected, but that wasn't included on this order. Haha. The bill on this Resto is adding up quickly.

Still have engine machine work, transmission posts, fuel injection, and some other goodies. I just want to do it right while I'm young and stupid.

[Merlin]

What are you doing for fuel pump? In-tank or external? I am going fuel injection on mine and want to know your route on this.

[MtyMous]

I liked the idea of internal for clean install and all that, but I like the idea of being able to access everything easily while in a road trip and easier to work on. Also, it allows me to use the cheaper sending units/pickups that already work with my current tank. So I've decided I'll go external. Not sure yet on the pump/regulator,  etc. But definitely external. Unless someone can make a convincing case to the contrary.

[Merlin]

Internal are quieter, run cooler, last longer, reduce fuel slosh and if done right, can use stock parts that can be found at any local autoparts store. Although there is no current conversion, I have been toying with the idea of making my own conversion and making it available. Since we are down the street from each other, it might be worth our effort to bang our collective heads together.

The down side is that they will reduce fuel capacity and be a little more difficult to access. If using OEM grade stuff, you won't have to access the pump for a long-ass-time.

With that said, externals are cheaper and easier to install as it only requires removing the old pump and putting a new one in.

[MtyMous]

You guys remember when I said I bought a LOT of new stuff?

[Mudhen]

 :-\

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[94touring]

Rear radius arm re bushing  4.gif