Stan's 78 mini restoration

[94touring]

I see my brake lines reach  4.gif

[MiniDave]

I had to put a pretty good kink in the one to shorten it enough to reach......

[94touring]

Easy to make them shorter, hard to make them longer!

[BruceK]

I really like that valve cover - it has a 1950s sci-fi look to it.   Like it houses an atomic reactor or something.   77.gif


edit:  Or like Robby's car in Forbidden Planet !

[MiniDave]

Yep, and Stan customized it to match the rest of the engine scheme......very spendy tho - check DSN for all sorts of cool A series stuff - you should see their timing chain covers......

To open it you just press those buttons on top, and the lid pops open, but I think you'd probably want to take it off to adjust the valves rather than work thru the lid opening.

[MiniDave]

OK, so the pedal assemblies are in, radiator is in and plumbed, master cylinders are in, clutch controls are in and adjusted, carb and intake are on, new fuse panel installed and a bunch of wiring done.

[94touring]

Moving right along  77.gif

[MiniDave]

I like that idea, but around here we use our heaters!

I had both for a while on my last Mini, and found it to be pretty accurate, comparing pretty well with the mechanical - but I liked the idea of having actual numbers to work with rather than somebody's idea of what hot and normal are

[MiniDave]

Moving right along  77.gif

Seems like I take 3 steps back for every one forward.....I had those master cylinders in and out three times - I had the pedal assy in and out twice and the engine steady in and out at least 5 times......but every day the car gets more complete.

Still trying to figure out the rear wiring harness, I got it passed down thru the A pillar and the engine side buttoned up only to discover that the electrical connectors in the rear won't pass thru the opening I was going to feed them thru, so I may have to pull it out again and feed the front up thru the rear......I hope not but I'm not seeing any other way to do it short of cutting a hole in the rear panel large enough for those ends to pass thru.

Any advice from those who have gone before me?

[94touring]

Flur was the first full build I did, and I had things in and out several times too.

[MiniDave]

Did you have the rear wiring harness out of the car?

[94touring]

I did not.  I've been lucky enough to not have to run the harness from front to back.  I stuffed it in the companion box I want to say when I sprayed.

[MPlayle]

I did the rear wiring harness on a 1961 MK-I a few years back.  I ran it from the front to the back.  I was able to carefully feed the ends through a gap at the end of the parcel shelf where the factory harness came out.

When I removed the old harness, I used it to pull a "fish line" through the C-pillar for drawing the new harness back down.

Since you are likely to still have the tank out, you could possibly use a piece of stiff "bailing" wire to run up from the boot to the top of the C-pillar to use as a "fish line" to pull the harness back down.

I carefully tape wrapped (masking tape worked fine) the new harness ends and branches into a single strip/bundle to avoid snags - no loose ends.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, the problem is that these ends won't go thru the gap......I thought that back corner might let them thru, but it doesn't.....

[94touring]

That plug doesn't fit up there in the corner where the parcel shelf meets the c post?

[MPlayle]

I do not recall mine having those kind of connectors on its ends.  Mine was for a MK-I, so I think they were a series of bullet connectors instead.

I agree with Dan, they "should" be able to be squeezed one at a time through the gap at the very back of the C-pillar and parcel shelf.  That is the gap mine went down.

[MiniDave]

Well, I'm going to give it one more go before I cry uncle and pull the harness out and feed it thru from the back to the front, as I already have the front end all buttoned up. Those connectors are for the taillight assemblies and so far I haven't been able to persuade them thru the gap, but I'll give it another go today......

[MiniDave]

So I wound up taking the rear harness out again and running it from the back to the front, it was a major PITA but at least now I know how it's done.

Still waiting on a few key parts that are at Stan's, I'll pick them up this weekend but I still have plenty I can do yet.....

[94touring]

Now we know! Next time I have my tank out I'll see if my clips fut between the parcel and c post.

[MiniDave]

I think it's only the cars with the large taillights.....

[94touring]

Mine has the same clips. But I seem to remember feeding them through to paint.

[MiniDave]

Could just be this car I guess.......

[MiniDave]

A few more bits installed, wiring harness to the back, shifter and some others.....

[MiniDave]

Exhaust is done.....it IS nice to be working with new parts.....I spy a loose brake line that didn't get attached.....

[jeff10049]

Brakes are overrated.

Could you have just released the ends out of the connector and fed the wires through and then put the plastic connector back on or do they not release?

Looking very good nice work Stan, Dan, and Dave