Racing Green 89 Mini

[John Gervais]

Cool - just didn't wanna see brake juice and a soiled seat cushion.   :-\

[MiniDave]

Mike and Joe, where did you get your bar?

Most of the ones I've seen for sale are like the one John has on his car.

[MPlayle]

I don't know where the one on my former Mini (sold the Mini a few years ago) came from.  It was on the car when I bought it.

[towjoe]

Hi Dave ,
The bar came from my 60 mini . I kept it after selling the car. So I decided to put it on my 92 in 2011.
I think it was from a company that produced sway bars in the 80's , although I cannot remember the name.
regards
Joe

[MiniDave]

Today's project - swap in the instrument cluster Vikram so kindly gave me, not only do I like the magnolia faces better, it also has an MPH speedo....we'll see how accurate it is, but the KM one that was in it was woefully off, maybe this one will be better. Of course it won't matter when I change the diff ratio.....

Several things I learned.....there are three different methods of attaching the speedo cable - the old  tried and true threaded nut, the newer single tab that you push down to release the cable (Buzz had this style) and this third one used on the late style Seiki Nippon clusters. On this one you lift up on the tab that isn't solid and it slides right off......I used a thin blade screwdriver.

Second, the aftermarket wood dashes do not angle the gauges the way the factory surrounds do, so not only are the gauges flat to the dash, but you have to modify the tubes that show the turn signals and such so the gauges will fit in the surround. It only takes a few minutes with a hacksaw.....but that explains why the gauges were slightly difficult to read....the angle's wrong so it hides the upper part of the gauge. I can deal with that. Come to think of it, I've never driven this car at night, so I have no idea if the gauges even light up! I should probably check that while I'm in here......

Next I found out why I wasn't getting any air thru the left side vent - it wasn't connected - plus it was full of debris. I cleaned it out and put a short length of flex tube between the vent and where it exits the firewall. It may or may not work now, I won't know till the next time I hit the highway. 

I have two projects I want to do while I have the dash out, I want to wire up the 12V sockets so I can plug in my Garmin, phone or whatever and I'm going to make a simple blanking plate for where the radio was removed. Later this winter I'm going to install an oil pressure gauge, volt gauge and clock where the hole is - but that project can wait for now. One of the members here contributed a magnolia faced clock a while back (thanks!) and I'll order the other two gauges with my big suspension order. I have white faced gauges in the test stand that I could use, but I want to try and match what I'm putting in the gauge cluster. What the hey, it's only money!   ;D

Turned out there were three sets of wing nuts holding the dash in place, two sets were easy to reach, one was an absolute bitch kitty and instead of a wing nut on the top one, there was an actual nut, so not only did I have to squeeze my hand in the tiny opening I also had to feed a short 10mm wrench in and manipulate it to loosen the nut! I'll be changing that.....I doubt I can find a 6mmx1mm wing nut, so I'll relocate the one to an easier to reach place.

[94touring]

Yeah when I did the dash on flur I found out there was fab work involved in getting the dash mounted to it. 

[MiniDave]

So, did you name one or was that the color (flur)?

[94touring]

That was the Tahiti blue build.  The previous owner named it flur.  I think that was before your time here.  The owner had a build thread going, fell into hard times, I bought it and built it for a guy in Indiana, then MPlayer bought it and has since sold it.

[jedduh01]

Told ya so = about the Drivers Side bracket  50.gif  - Its not Fun!   youll get better with it

Also - I see your vent backs  are still "full length"
  My car had the backs of the vents cut off= and then an Accordian style tube was a bit larger FIT Well between the vent and the body vent.

Very much pictured in this video here, and mentioned the 'cutting' of the vents in Part 1.  I think the accoridan vents allow the fit of the air to flow better than that rigid stuff.


https://youtu.be/TT4HCDFZH_8?t=1m34s

[MiniDave]

Wow Judduh, good eyes....yes my vents are still full length, so I'll mod them like the guy in the video, also I can remove that bracket like he did since the cluster is now attached to the dash.

I also liked his tip about using a bit of hose over the ends of the brackets to keep them from vibrating, although truth be told I never noticed hardly any rattles and vibrations in this car - except for the sunroof panel.

I made a simple black painted panel for a radio blank out, but I wonder if someone has their old wood blanking plate from putting a radio in their car - I won't install one in mine.....I rarely turn it on and don't miss it - besides, I doubt I could even hear the thing, especially on the highway!  ;D

[MiniDave]

OK, so I cut off the ends of the vents, and I removed that bracket which really opens up the room under the instruments. I also made a blanking plate for the radio opening, but I ran out of black paint so it didn't come out great. Still, it fills the hole.

Next up, I need to wire in the power sockets, then make some lugs for the steering wheel boss so they will contact the ring on the turn signal switch and my signals will self cancel again. I'll need to replace that T/S switch at some point, the spring that holds the lever up off the high beams is weak or gone, and I find myself driving along with the high beams on, or they stay on after I shut the car off and run the battery down.

[MiniDave]

And all back together now, I have since sourced a wood radio block off plate, should get it next week sometime but I'll leave my metal plate in for now. Next challenge is to see if the instruments work! I'll take it for a run tomorrow and see what happens. I did turn on the ignition and the oil and alt lights come on - that's a good sign. Plus nothing let any smoke out, so I have that going for me, which is nice........

I also got the self cancelling turn signals worked out, and the aux power sockets are wired up so I now can use my Garmin to see how fast I'm really going!  ;D

The last thing I did was cut a little notch in the fender for clearance for the corner of the radiator, these aluminum rads are a little wider at the top than the regular ones. The last drive I took the ambient temp was in the 90's and the gauge ran right where it's supposed too....I think this will be the answer to the hot running issues I had, just like Dan said. For $60 shipped these chinesium radiators are the tits!

Next up, suspension parts. I'm going with the Protech coilovers from Huddersfield, and I'll add adjustable lower arms, tie bars and camber plates for the rear, then take it up to school and align it up.

This winter I'll pull the motor, replace a few leaky seals like the one on the shifter rod and change the diff ratio. I also have new seat foams coming, and since the covers are in good nick it won't take much to straighten them out.

[Willie_B]

Dave, where are you getting the seat foams from? I could use some for both the seat in my car.

[MiniDave]

Mini Spares has them, the back is pretty cheap - $15 but the bottoms are $45 - so $60 per seat. A little spendy and I'll bet a good upholstery shop can make them for similar money, but I decided to try them......I'm only doing the driver's seat. It has a small tear in the vinyl that wraps around the bottom too, so I'll take the seat up to the local shop and have them sew a new piece of black vinyl on there, then put it all together. These later model seats are a whole lot better than the early ones, even the ones in Buzz (1980) were pretty awful.

[MiniDave]

Ordered a couple of box loads of parts, fully adjustable suspension bits, coil overs, 3.1 diff ratio and so on, however they did not have the damn seat foams!

[John Gervais]

After Dave's first post about the seat foams, I checked MSC's website, as my rear seats have long been on my 'someday' list.  Sadly, not available, nor are the vinyl covers.  They could probably get them from Newton Commercial though, as can we...

I think I'll end up trying to find a local boat upholstery shop and asking if they can whip something up. 

I'm toying with installing a fire extinguishing system and having the bottle mounted between the left & right seating sections of the rear seat, so won't be needing foam between the L & R sides of the rear seat, just the base and back sections where someone might sit and a vinyl cover that'll tie the two sections together - the extinguisher bottle would be bolted through this bit - as if a passenger could get behind the roll cage's 'X'.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, since they didn't have the ones I needed either I'm going to take the seat apart and see if I can just pad it up some....it's not bad as it is, but could be better.

[MiniDave]

Newton Commercial has the seat foams in stock, FWIW....that's probably where everyone else gets them anyway....about the same prices too.....

My suspension bits came in from Huddersfield today, everything looks complete and well made, the upper shock bracket in particular is one heavy piece of kit. I won't get to mess with them till next week, we have a KC MINI Club event this Sat and it may or may not rain buckets on us, if it does I'll drive the Blue Clubby, it doesn't mind the rain. If I like the way these ride and drive I'll do another set for my project Mini too...these were about $150 cheaper than the Gaz kits Mini Spares and others sell, and came highly recommended by John McGee of McGee Custom Minis, he's used three sets of them so far on his builds and swears by them, so we'll see. These are made by ProTech. I know Don's P'up sure rides better than any other classic I've ever driven and it has coilovers on the front only.

I had organized a classic Mini run for Sunday, but weather for where we were headed says 100% chance of thunderstorms, so maybe next Sat instead.

[John Gervais]

Nice bits you've got there!

Yes, I've also looked at the Newton Commercial stuff.  MiniSpares used to feature their products in their catalogs, but I'm not going to pay their prices.  If I can't get something suitable sewn & stuffed locally, I'll probably simply dye the rear seat and call it good 'nuff.

[MiniDave]

Boat shop is a good idea actually.....

[94touring]

I have a guy in the uk that does my covers.  Very affordable.

[MiniDave]

We have a KC MINI Club event tomorrow that I wanted to drive the green Mini on so I took it up to school to try and balance the tires a little better - I decided to move the rears to the front and in doing so discovered a 1/4" spacer on the left rear wheel and a 1/2" spacer on the right rear!

So, I decided maybe some new drums were in order, but I can't decide if I need to bother with the superfins or just go with the regular Cooper S drums with the built in spacers. I figure with the coilovers and the 13 X 6" wheels I'm gonna need the spacers......

While up there I also found I have an alternator bearing making a lot of noise, and on the drive up the clutch pedal went to the floor! On top of all this my MiniSpares order came today.......looks like I get to make another. Lets see, new master, new slave, might as well get the hose too......drums, longer studs....the list just keeps growing!

On the good news side, all the instruments worked - mostly - the gas gauge is intermittent, the speedo is about 10% slow, but as I'm going to change the diff ratio that might work out. At least I have my Garmin to get the real speed now as my power sockets worked too.

I did manage to get the wheels really smooth - at 70 mph - but at 55 they shimmy a bit......who drives 55 anyway?!?!?  ;D

What a day. This car is becoming Buzz - Part 2!

Tomorrow I'll drive my 2009 Clubman S instead - it's gonna rain anyway!  ::)

[MPlayle]

I think that car should have had drums with the built-in spacer from the factory.  They should have been like the Cooper-S drums - a 1" built in spacer.

[MiniDave]

Yes, it should....you're right. Although this car was originally a 998......

Can't decide whether to get the finned drums or the standard ones.....

[MPlayle]

Anything that was originally after about 1984 (whether 850, 998, or 1275) had the 8.4" front disk brakes and rear drums with built-in 1" spacer and 12" wheels.

Most of the Minis I've had over the years had just the plain steel drums.  I had one that had the finned and really did not notice any difference in normal driving.