Tink: My '89 Mini

Started by MtyMous, April 01, 2013, 08:44:41 PM

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MtyMous

Quote from: MtyMous on September 11, 2014, 08:35:54 PM
You guys remember when I said I bought a LOT of new stuff?



Not everything is new. Mostly everything on the white towel was actually field stripped and sanded smooth. Then painted with a couple coats of epoxy paint.

Gonna need to figure out how to remove the old bushings and bearings. Then I need to put in and reem the new bushings. Should be fun... not.

94touring

I found a piece of pipe in the shop that was just the right diameter to punch out the old stuff. 

Mudhen

Quote from: 94touring on September 12, 2014, 07:43:04 AM
I found a piece of pipe in the shop that was just the right diameter to punch out the old stuff.

Do you have to attack it from the inside and push the bushing out?  ie, you can't just drive everything out one end, can you?

94touring

The one I just did was able to drive the one side right out from the other end.  The bearing had failed and so after beating on it, it made its way into the void in the center after the plastic tube was removed.   I then spent some time fishing it out of the grease and punched it out in a couple pieces.   Not an enjoyable job.

MtyMous

That's what I'm afraid of. I had no idea these things were basically hollow until I got into it.

MtyMous

Here are some other pics that I took. Please excuse the crap quality. They came straight from the camera with no editing.



The hubs are fantastic quality. I almost don't want to put them on the car to get dirty. Haha. The threads for everything but the ball joints are helicoils. Supposedly that is stronger than having the threads cut directly out of the hub's metal. Here's a pic of the three  for the uprated steering armsarms (notice that the factory only has 2).






BBB



94touring


MtyMous

Sorry for the potato quality. Finally got the rear subframe fitted. It was an absolute bear with the new poly bushings. There is a LOT less give than the old worn out rubber ones, and having the extra thickness of two layers of the Lizard Skin.  It was somewhat difficult, but it's in there.

Still need to finish up putting on the other swingarm (it got late) and then putting in the brake lines. They are all already plumbed up. I just need to attach them. I already bent up and fitted the swingarm hard lines. I wanted them to have nice clean bends on every part of the car, so I spent some extra time making that happen.

Next is to put in some more old parts that I cleaned up, then the front subframe and its suspension/brake components. Then we wait for the money to roll in again.


94touring

They're usually a huge pain in my ass with new standard bushings.

MtyMous

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Glad I have 2 floor jacks.

MtyMous

Well work has been NUTS, and money is tight. So I've only been able to install all of the subframes, the new suspension components, the new hardware, and the new brakes front and rear. There are a lot of pieces in between that are mundane. Poly mounts, new shock bolts, all of that.

There are two tips I will share with those who are considering rebuilding EVERYTHING.

1) Subframes with new bushings (especially poly) are a complete pain in the butt to install. The bushings aren't as compressed as the old ones and all of the mounting points will be off. This doesn't necessarily mean your subframe isn't square. Trust me. Mine went in like a kid shoving a square peg into a round hole. So I dropped it and meticulously measured it for square and it was perfect. So in it went with some wedging, sledging, and a few of my favorite drifts to line up the holes before shoving a bolt though and torquing them down.

2) If you intend to put new bushings into the rear swingarms, you must ream the brass bushing after installing. It's an incredibly easy process if you have the right tool. The right tool is a LONG 13/16 reamer. Using the needle bearing on the other end as a carriage for the reamer's shaft. Huge thanks to Justin for lending me that one. It will be in the mail and on its way back to you soon.


Anyway. Here's the photo update. Loving the look I decided to go with. Brushed metal will look great.


94touring

Gotta love new rear bushings.  I get 7 out of 8 bolts loosely in and struggle with the last one every time.   

MtyMous

You're lucky you get that many. These Poly bushings had every one of them too wide out. Had to gently persuade each one. But I got it in and it's pretty sold now. I'm hapy with the end result. Forgot anti-sieze on 2 bolts so I had to take them back out and I was afraid I'd never get them back in. Haha.

Also.... My brake kit that was "Specific to my vehicle and braking system".... wasn't. I'm bending and flaring my own pipes. The only ones that matched up were the ones mounted to the rear subframe and the rear swing arms. I guess the main benefit is that I have all the fittings that I need. I'm using PVF coated steel brake lines. I bought 25ft and I'll be bending them up and routing them where I see fit instead of fitting them as best as I can with the short lengths that were provided in the kit. They don't look as a pretty as the copper tubes, but they will last years and years and I can do custom bends that get everything out of the way. Should make for a much cleaner install.

MtyMous

Finished up making my own steel lines. PVF coated and should last until I die.

So to celebrate that experience being over... Here's some status pictures.

There she be. I'm really digging the brushed look with the paint. And the performance parts next to all that. Can't wait to get some wheels and tires under it... then a motor... then an interior. haha



Some of the leftover fittings that I'll keep around... just in case.



And my favorite image of the bunch.


94touring


MtyMous

I promise this isn't dead. I've just been talking with numerous people about some custom details and I wanted to halt the purchases of small things until I was sure I could get some custom work done first.

I was talking with Carl from Force-Racing about doing a set of one-off wheels. Seems it's just too dang hard to make the designs shrink down to a 10" wheel. Let along the fact that the centers are actually smaller than 10". But we worked out a way to get a unique set of wheels anyway. Should be a nice little touch.

And there are a few other touches in work. Stay tuned. Just gotta get that next promotion to pay for all this fun. haha

MiniDave

Well, here we are 4 months later, what's the status?

Will it be on the road by March? I'd love to see you on our Classic Mini run then!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MtyMous

I hate that this has hit a stalemate recently, but I haven't been able to put more funds into it just yet. It hurts every day that I get home from work and open the garage to see it sitting there. I had some things come up. Holidays were the least of them. Family was the biggest. Had to spend money on life and make responsible adult decisions... which is stupid. haha. But it seems that things have settled down and I can get back into a routine of spending money.

I'll be making a parts order later this month to get some more goodies to get it moving forward. Unfortunately, this has slipped my timeline. And I've decided to add some more goodies to the engine/trans setup while I'm building it. I figured I should just build it right and get a LSD and I'm still considering having the crank and piston sleeves coated before going to the machine shop. Then there's the question of whether or not I should do forged con rods or just have the stock ones cleaned up and re-used. I'm leaning towards the stock ones if they are still in balance. So all of the new parts mean it will take longer to get them purchased and alas... an extended build date.

It's painful, but I think in the end it will be worth the while to go ahead and spend a few more thousand dollars now and wait a bit longer. In the meantime, I'm just cleaning up the re-usable bits and trying to continue the theme of brushed metal/flat metal. I want all of the chrome to be muted on the car. It's getting there.


But of course I'll post pictures when I buy more shiny pieces. haha.

MiniDave

The standard H style conrods are very strong....do you have Vizard's book on tuning the A series engine? I wound up with an extra I would sell cheap. Ol Dave V. knows everything there is to know on building a Mini engine, I think....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MtyMous

Never got a copy of the book. Really aught to, though before I start building the new engine and trans. I was going by the ole "Installation is the reverse of removal" tactic. haha. Well plus some skills in engine/trans building I've picked up along the way.

Shoot me an email on the price you're looking at. I'm sure I'll be in to buy.

Oh. And thanks for the insight on the rods. I'm not putting in anything crazy, so I figured as long as the standard rods aren't junk, they'll hold. Just didn't want to get a nice shiny new engine built and grenade it because I went cheap on something important.

MiniDave

His book is not a how-to on disassembly and reassembly, but it does teach you all the performance tricks - and he knows them all I think.

I learned a lot of neat little tricks, and if you want to build a good reliable engine he can help you avoid some pitfalls. There's nothing magical about the A series engine, but there are some unique things about it and some easily made mistakes to avoid.

I've built them since the late 60's an I still learned a bunch from reading this book.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jims5543

Those Mini Sport Calipers give me anxiety. I hope they were not 1/2 the price compared to everyone elses calipers. If they are it might be at the expense of quality.

The rockers I purchased from them were complete garbage. They insisted the failure of them was my fault and when I sent them off to be tested and the results came back that the billet they used was weak and not up to the task. They still told me it was my fault they failed.

I put a set of rockers in from MM, which cost 2X what Mini Sports cost and they have no lasted about 6X longer. Mini sport failed in the first 100 miles MM's have lasted over 600 miles now.

Please be careful brakes are much more important than rockers.  I do not trust that company anymore nor will I purchase anything from them ever again.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

MiniDave

Vizard says the stamped steel cheap looking rockers are as good as anything up to about 6500 rpm, you only need fancy schmancy roller rockers if you're looking for high rpm race use or going from the stock 1.23 ratio to 1.5.....

I went one step better than the stamped steel and used the factory forged Cooper S rockers, they were about $65 the set IIRC, but you do have to have the bushings reamed.

What's that old saying - Do a man right and he'll tell a few friends, do him wrong and he'll tell everyone in the world?

I've had very good service from Mike Guido and MiniSport, and I will continue to buy from them.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jims5543

No argument on the rockers. I would be weary of the calipers and the material used.  Go to my thread on my pickup and see the email exchanges, it was bizarro world dealing with them. Even after proving the failure was not my fault and a fault in the material the rockers were made from, they responded that they were glad I agreed it was my installation that caused the failure.  I was blown away.

Rockers are one thing, the car stops moving, brakes are another deal all together, I would hate for you to see a failure.  Do they state your calipers are for off road use only? I would be curious if they submitted to the DOT for approval for road use.

Yes, one bad customer can do a lot of damage, I have pretty much kept my mouth shut outside my thread about my Minisport Experience.  I could not keep tight lipped when I saw their name on an item that can kill you if it fails, brake calipers.

I just checked their site, no mention of DOT approved, and VERY cheap prices for a big brake kit. I am not trying to bring a smear campaign against them, just do not want to see Dan lose a member here. 


http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=532.175

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring

I don't want to see my paint job screwed up lol.   Couldn't be worse than Dean hitting a dog a month after doing his car.   Got to do his car twice!