Racing Green 89 Mini

Started by MiniDave, August 19, 2016, 01:37:24 PM

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MPlayle

Now you get to try to find the proper bayonet bulbs that fit.  That is unless your old gauge cluster has the same bulb holders, but even then you may be short one bulb.


MiniDave

Nah, I just pulled the bulbs out of the other gauge set, it's all working now.  4.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#202
I think it turned out good......but I think the little knob that adjusts the time is broken off the clock, so I'll unplug it till it's right, then plug it in again - it works tho!  ;D

Can't start it to check for oil leaks till the wife gets up in a few hours tho, the noise and fumes would kill her sleeping in the bedroom right above the car.

I also fixed the fog light, I found the wires taped up and hanging under the dash, so in my last order I bought a switch, today I fixed the wires and plugged it in - Viola! - fog light.  4.gif I think I'll take the brake check light switch out of the center plate and put the fog light switch in it's place.

That's about it for the interior - I may takes BruceK's advice and leave that radio blanking plate out in the sun for a few days and see if it matches better.

About all I have left to do is rebuild the front calipers - rears are good, no leaks and plenty of shoe left - and of course take it up to school to do the last alignment. I do need to order a couple of tires tho, two of these are petty well knackered. If anyone has some good 175/50-13 Yokomama A008's they aren't going to use, let me know.

Over the winter I'll pull the engine and change the final drive, fix any oil leaks I might find and clean and paint it up a bit, that should be the last of it....then I'll just drive it and have fun with it till it's time to sell and start on the hot rod. Probably need to sell my old Jag first, both to make room in the shop and to get some funds available. If I could sell the Jag first I wouldn't need to sell this Mini, it might be fun to have a stock one and the hot rod.

I'm also going to attempt to replace the chrome filler strips around both windshields - I borrowed the tool from another Mini owner, we'll see how THAT goes....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

roadhouse

New gauges look right at home in that dash. well done  4.gif

MiniDave

#204
Thanks Roadhouse!

Finally got the alignment done, now to put some miles on it......I need to order some tires ASAP tho......

Worst case I could pull the tires off the wheels that don't fit and put them on these, but I think I'd rather just get 4 new ones........
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

The clock should be a "push" on the button to set the time.  Pushing the button makes the clock run faster to swing around to the correct time.  It does not twist.

MiniDave

#206
OMG!   :D

Once I put my glasses on and got the trouble light down close to it I could see the little indentation in the end of the button, I used the pointed end of my test light and it worked exactly as you said....perfect!

I was just going to unplug it and wait till it read the correct time, then plug it in again   ;D ;D ;D ;D :-[ ::)

Thank you!

I was a little concerned about oil pressure on this engine as it took a few seconds for the oil light to go out on cold startup, although the engine sounded fine......now that I have the gauge on it, it reads 70 psi hot at rpm and 40 at idle - I'm no longer worried about the oil light!  4.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

I thought maybe I'd wired it up wrong or one of my wires had come undone as I wasn't getting any reading on my voltage gauge - turns out the damn thing just doesn't work! I took it back out of the dash and hooked it up directly to the battery with a couple of jumper leads - nuttin. So I sent a note off to Mini Spares to see what they want to do about it - I have an order in the basket waiting for me to push the "Buy" button so they could just ship it with that......we'll see what happens.

In the meantime I have a customer car coming in tomorrow for a gas tank. The lady's husband spent several years restoring the Mk1 and just after he completed it he died.......he had fitted a 5 gallon fuel cell which takes up the whole spare tire well in the trunk (I have no idea why) so I told her I would put a regular 9 gallon left side tank in if she wanted. She ordered all the parts and she'll drop it off tomorrow.

She's talking about coming on our Texas road trip too, so she'll need the extra gas!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Wow. Great progress.  The dash setup looks much like mine does.

Get that radio plate sitting out in the sun for a week or two letting the UV rays to their thing, and I think you'll see it start to match the color of the rest of the dash.

So, how do you like the coil over suspension now?

Great to hear another Mini may be coming for the Spring run!
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MPlayle

Also glad to hear about another potential attendee.  At the car show today, I got some interest in the drive from one of the other classic Mini owners as well.

The Moke performed nicely driving out to the show and back.

MiniDave

#210
John Styers said he's up for the trip too, but it's a little far out to make a firm commitment as his job and living arrangements are in "flux" right now....but if he can he will come.

Susan (she's a member here but hasn't posted anything yet) is the owner of the Mk1 that I'm changing the tank on, she's planning to go too.....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: MPlayle on October 29, 2016, 02:14:28 PM
The Moke performed nicely driving out to the show and back.


Great!  Any pix?
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Quote from: BruceK on October 29, 2016, 01:03:12 PM
Wow. Great progress.  The dash setup looks much like mine does.

Get that radio plate sitting out in the sun for a week or two letting the UV rays to their thing, and I think you'll see it start to match the color of the rest of the dash.

So, how do you like the coil over suspension now?


Yep part of the reason I did it was how much I liked the way yours looked.

We're not getting a lot of hot sun this late in the year, I'm not sure how much good it would do till spring time.

Mixed results on the suspension, I think I have it set pretty much right now, but it tramlines something fierce (could be the tires) and if you hit a bump with a sharp edge it's really harsh, however in general driving it's way better than it was and rides nicely. I'm going to play with the shock setting a little more yet too.....I have the fronts set at 4 and the rears at 5 right now.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

#213
Quote from: BruceK on October 30, 2016, 11:36:02 AM
Quote from: MPlayle on October 29, 2016, 02:14:28 PM
The Moke performed nicely driving out to the show and back.


Great!  Any pix?

Sorry, no pix - forgot to take my camera.


BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on October 30, 2016, 11:55:44 AM
We're not getting a lot of hot sun this late in the year, I'm not sure how much good it would do till spring time.

I don't think it is the heat of the sun as a much as the direct rays no matter what the temp.   At my home I removed a big built-in book case the previous owner installed right over the wood flooring.  Once removed, the floor was very much a different color where it once stood protecting the floor underneath it and it was obvious the sun had faded the rest of the floor.  But 3 months of the sun shining through the windows one winter and now you can't even tell where the bookcase used to be. 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Today I worked on my own car for a change!  ;D

I put the four new Yokohama 539's on and balanced them up - I was super impressed when the worst tire took 1.5 oz, one took .5 oz and one .25oz, one took no weight at all.

I was less impressed when they shook like crazy on the way home..... :(

One of the other instructors was there while I did them and we both thought the balancer was not working correctly, so I'll take another run at them next week. They weren't that bad, and the strange part was the shaking came and went.......weird.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

My car has been shaking like crazy.  Hoping to balance them this week.

MiniDave

#217
Where do you get your 10's done? It's hard to find a shop around here that will even try to do them....

When I got this car the wheels shook like mad at anything above 50, I balanced them at school and they were smooth as glass after that, but they looked like they were really old tires, the rears were worn terribly and they were all weathered, so I was glad to get them off the car.....just need to get them smooth again.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

I bought them mounted. Hopefully I don't have any issues finding a place that can do them.

Vikram

I bought my wheels and tyres separately, and had them mounted at Tate Boys up in Bartlesville with no issue. That being said the car has not been driven so I have no idea about the balance.

94touring

Well now I know where to go!

John Gervais

I've also had a bit of shaking and suspect the 539's as well.  I haven't had it out for a while, but expect to drive it again soon - need to put a coat of paint on yet another set of new rear drums (this time not EBC's - thinking of scrapping them, but a set from MiniSpares) which arrived Saturday. 

I'll then be able to drive with the winter Hankook tires and find out if it's my Yokos out of balance or something not right with the suspension.
- Pave the Bay -

John Gervais

I took the mini out today on it's winter tires and there wasn't any shake whatsoever.  I wonder if the Yoko's could have slid on the rims, because there was severe shaking at the steering wheel last time I drove on them.  Either that, or they may have developed a flat spot from the car just sitting parked.

In any event, I'll take them to the tire shop and ask to have them re-balanced.


There is one issue with the car, though, and I'm at a bit of a loss to find the cause.  There's a distinctive 'clunk' (believe it to be on the RH front, but I'm not sure) on 'sudden' deceleration.  No problem if one is easy/gentle when coming off the throttle, but if driving somewhat spirited, then it's very apparent.  I've lifted the front end; pulled, pushed, jostled, tugged and wiggled and can't find anything amiss.  The suspension was apart for new cones and bushes recently, but everything seems tight.  The engine has 4 stabilizers (2 x lower to subframe legs, 1 x lower forward (at the oil drain-plug area), and the standard dog-bone)  All use poly bushes - I wonder if they could seem to be good to a solid tug/jostle, yet worn in an almost linear point-to-point section along the axis of compression or stretch (I didn't have time to remove them to inspect).
- Pave the Bay -

MiniDave

#223
That would be my guess......do the poly bushes really do that much better on the engine stays? I would think they'd stop engine motion at the cost of NVH.

If your tires are smooth, why have them rebalanced? I'd bet you had flat spots and just hadn't rounded them out yet.

How did she run? Did you do an hour or more or just a quick trip around the block?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

John Gervais

I took it out for a proper drive.  Gave it a decent warm-up and then took it onto the highway.  Cruised at 55mph for a while, brought it up to 65 mph for a while, back to 60, up to 75, then 85 for around 15 minutes, back to 60 and cruised home.  I think I was out on the highway for around an hour or so.  Sounds really great with this Maniflow Twin Box-Big Box exhaust (very British) and I believe I've sorted the ignition issue.  The car felt a bit twitchy at speed though, so I increased my caster angle slightly (bumped it up closer to 4°) and will take some measurements this weekend to ensure symmetry. 


Fueling was also pretty much spot-on, though it could use a tad more through the needle at 75-85mph (but where to remove it from (HIF38)...  I've already reduced the needle diameter at positions 5 (-0.0005"), 6 (-0.0015") & 7 (-0.002") and while I have 3 additional new AAA needles to work from, don't want to waste any more of them than necessary.)

Maybe I'll pump the summer Yokos a bit firmer for winter storage and see what happens - can always re-balance in the Spring if needed, air is still free.

I installed poly 'road' and poly 'race' bushes in order to secure the engine as much as possible, without resorting to solid engine mounts.  I'm thinking that installing normal rubber bushes, maybe at one end only, might provide a bit more 'give' without being too soft. 
- Pave the Bay -