The Adventure of Miss Mini - '74 Mini 1000

Started by SoCalMiniFan, September 21, 2015, 04:04:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MtyMous

Bad Ball Joints are the whole reason I started modifying my suspension in the first place. In my opinion, the ball joint design for the classic mini and the hub as well, is a bad design. The fact that we need to lap them, fit them, shim them, and then sort of guess what level of tension is the proper tolerance... that is a bad thing.

I spent hours following all of the steps on my car and finally had them set up exactly like I was supposed to set them up... And then less than a couple hundred miles later, this happened.





The upper ball joint pulled out of the cup somehow under slightly harder than normal braking.



Which caused the lower ball joint to just completely rip the threads off the hub.



I say all this to let you know why I upgraded my hubs entirely to accept the sealed, pre-assembled, and no guess-work ball joints from metros.



They are a bit on the expensive side, but I think the investment is well worth it for my purposes. Maybe not for everyone, but it is an option.
http://www.minisport.com/fam2390akit-mini-lightweight-alloy-front-hub-kit-for-all-disc-brake-minis.html

John Gervais

 :-\

Those hubs do look beefy!  Too bad they cost so much!  Wow! I do like the idea behind 'sealed' swivel pins, provided they're well-made.

I recently received a package from MiniSpares - a pair of C-STR687 cones and some ball-joint shims, steering rod ends, etc.  My plan, should I get my arse up to the frozen garage, is to rebuild the upper arms (I've had the rebuild kits since May 2007) and re-shim the ball joints.  Of course I forgot to order new rubbers for the knuckle joints...  I've got everything else, new nylon cups, bushes for the lower arms and tie-rods and so on, but it's a job I abhor. 
- Pave the Bay -

94touring


MPlayle

It looks like the ball joint that failed on "Miss Mini" the lower one.  From the look, perhaps the spring that is normally under the seat was either missing or too short.  That would have let the pressure push the seat up too far and allowed the ball to start banging the rim of the seat well instead of riding in the seat cup.


John Gervais

I noticed that you're not using shields over the disks - neither MtyMous or SoCal -  umm, why not use them? 

Or, maybe I should ask, how do you not get grease on them when you're pumping up the ball joints or greasing the top arms?
- Pave the Bay -

94touring

You know I usually ditch the shields too.  Not sure if that's bad but I've never had issues. 

SoCalMiniFan

Quote from: MPlayle on January 15, 2016, 09:59:01 PM
It looks like the ball joint that failed on "Miss Mini" the lower one.  From the look, perhaps the spring that is normally under the seat was either missing or too short.  That would have let the pressure push the seat up too far and allowed the ball to start banging the rim of the seat well instead of riding in the seat cup.

The spring was there, and is the one that came with the ball-joint.

Quote from: John Gervais on January 15, 2016, 10:08:45 PM
I noticed that you're not using shields over the disks - neither MtyMous or SoCal -  umm, why not use them? 

Or, maybe I should ask, how do you not get grease on them when you're pumping up the ball joints or greasing the top arms?

My car didn't come with them, when I went to get my disc brake conversion kit it came down to spending extra money on the shields or upgrading to Timken Bearings. After a little research I skipped the dust shields.

Top arms and ball joints all have Zerk fittings for grease.
"If it's not fun, why do it?"

MtyMous

The sealed ball joints are really heavy duty in comparison. And you literally just thread them into the hubs and torque to spec. Add a tiny bit of loctite for good measure and you're good to go.

I don't run shields on certain cars because they just get in the way. I run them on my truck because it gets heavy use and I just pump in grease and forget it. Also keeps the winter muck out of the brake system. On the mini, I pump in grease, wipe of any excess, cycle the suspension to squeeze out the extra, and wipe again. I'll get under there and check/clean again after a few good runs again. It's definitely some extra steps and probably more than I need to do, but I've never had transfer onto the brakes, so I'll keep my method. I have had more issues caused by the shields though. Trapping rocks, grime, etc. I prefer it without them so I can easily clean everything.

AcesLow

 I just ordered the KAD version of those hubs. Do the Metro ball joints have the same taper on them as the mini ones or do you need to modify your upper and lower control arms?

MtyMous

Aces, the metro balljoints had 2 different designs. Make sure you order the ones for cars before 1984. The metro had the same taper up until then.

I actually liked a couple features on the KAD ones better than the ones I got, but the KAD ones had one big flaw to me.  I was talking with both manufacturers with really technical questions about their designs.  I spoke with one of the design guys from KAD and they informed me that their hubs are slightly thicker, by design, around the bearing housing. This is to add strength, but it does mean that the hubs cannot be used with the 7.5" S disc drive flanges. Thus, their hubs can only be used with the later 8.4" (or 7.9") disc flanges. Not necessarily a problem for everyone, but it was for me. My plans required the 7.5"rotors and flanges.

SoCalMiniFan

With Mini Meet West approaching I've decided its time to work on the interior of Miss Mini.  Nothing crazy because I want to do body work on her at some point and I don't want all my energy spent on something that will most likely be removed to do the body work so I'm having fun. 

Originally my sister was going to print me up a large multi-colored roof piece that resembled the Paul Smith Mini but it fell through.  Since I'm in So. California I decided to go with a little Latino/Mexican feel.  I ordered up some Sarape printed vinyl and did the rear deck.  It kind of goes well with the Bold Purple color that my car is painted. 

First step was to make a new rear deck out of 1/4" MDF.  It's nice and solid, heavy duty, won't curl up like the original. I traced the other, then with my dremel I actually cut it out with a beveled edge so it sits nicely in the rear deck. 



I ordered the printed Vinyl from some random store online.  It's nothing fancy, it will probably fade, but it was pretty cheap and I liked the pattern.

I laid it all out with my new rear deck, measured it so I had the center line IN the center and slowly began the installation process.  I've worked very minimally with Vinyl before and by minimum I mean I put some yellow overlay on the fog lights of my Subaru. So I took my time, avoided fur balls from the cat and dog and I'm happy with the results.  This was an adhesive vinyl, no heat needed, no water. Kind of like a better quality contact paper.



Deck before placing back in the car:


Deck in the car:


I have some exciting plans for the dashboard next but need to do some preliminary plans, sketches, measurements.
"If it's not fun, why do it?"

94touring

I like that.  Goes well with the purple too.

Willie_B


MiniDave

Can't wait to see you next month in Sandy Eggo.  Since I sold Buzz I'll be riding with a friend from Texas - he has a white 88 with a black roof. We'll look for you!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad