Racing Green 89 Mini

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

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MiniDave

Well, the puddle isn't large, but it's there.....so I'll go ahead and change the axle seals on both sides......it was so easy to do this while the engine is out of the car and so much work to do them when it's in.  ::) :( 50.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#501
Right side is pretty dry, left side is definitely leaking....I have the suspension loose but I may need some help to get the axle out of the pot joint, I don't think there's enough room to just pull the pot joint out of the transmission and move it out of the way so I can pop the seal out and replace it, tho that would be the easiest way to do it. Still cogitating on how best to do this.....On the right side I can just slip the pot joint out of the transmichigan and change the seal.

With the old joints I would just release the large end of the boot and pull the inner part out of the pot joint, but these new joints don't work the same way, they have in essence an inner metal ring that the boot attaches to rather than the shaft and the shaft snaps into this metal sleeve arrangement.

Hmmm, it still might come apart by just releasing the big clamp and pulling the guts out. Need to study on it a bit before I go cutting clamps.....

Everything else seems drier than a popcorn fart!  ;D

Left side caliper seems to be draggin on the disc, while I have it off I may as well rebuild it - I was going to do this 5 years ago when I first got the car but they seemed OK after I cleaned up the pistons and changed the pads and rotors. Talk about project creep.....wonder if I have time to change the head too?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Wound up taking off the big clamp, then pulling the axle out completely. Knocking the pot joint out of the transmission isn't too big a deal, I use a brass drift and a 3 lb hammer, they come out with just a couple of taps...

Once out it wasn't too hard to get the old hard dried up seal out and the new one back in....I found a socket just the right size and put a long extension on it then had Rose bump it with the hammer while I held the socket and watched to make sure it went in square.

The hardest part was getting the boot secured again, it wanted to pull off the top since the suspension was all the way down, so I got out the floor jack and raised it as close to level as I could, then it went into place.

Just took a short run around a few blocks and pulled it back in the shop to see if anything is going to drip....if no puddles in the AM I'll consider it fixed - for now!  ::)

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Nice to have a partner there when you need that extra bit of help.  4.gif
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#504
I've come up with all sorts of "aids" to hold things or whatever over the years, since I usually work alone. There's not a lot she can help me with, but if I need someone to "hold that right there" or shine the light just so, it's nice to have her here.  77.gif

The other thing that's even more important now is if I fall or something happens. To that end we've put a camera in the shop so she can check on me from time to time - it's PTZ, and has a mic and speaker so we can talk thru it too.

No puddles under the green car this AM, so I'm going to put some miles on it this weekend

I have the car show next weekend, then after that I'm planning to take it to Blackhawk Farms Raceway the following weekend for my pit car and run to town car.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#505
Went for a pretty long drive today including some highway speeds and then city, car runs really well although down on power from the old engine. It idles better and has much better oil pressure and starts easily - all things the old engine didn't. Also, no exhaust smell in the car and no oil drips when I stopped.

Still puts out a pretty good oil smoke cloud when first started, but the guy following me said it doesn't smoke at all when driving, so I'm thinking some worn guides or stem seals. I have another head ready to go on it so I'll do that after the car show this weekend.

I was going to go to Blackhawk farms with it the following weekend but it's going to be in the 90's, so I'll stay home in my air conditioned garage and work instead.

Oh, the steering wobble seems much better now that I've done some miles in it - no idea why!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Not too surprising I guess that my exhaust fumes are gone considering the size of the crack I found in the header, but what does surprise me is that I never heard it....the engine sounds exactly the same as it did. Usually you can easily hear a cracked exhaust manifold or header.

My friend Seth put a new exhaust on his car and with in a few days started smelling exhaust just like mine did, so I told him to pull his header and see what he finds. I'm betting it's the same issue.....we'll see.

I think it would be pretty hard to near impossible to fix one of these after it's been ceramic coated.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

Mine has always smelled of exhaust and it drives me bonkers. I have always thought it was the connection points of the Y pipe to the header as when I first got it I was backing it off a trailer and that connection point snagged on the rear of the trailer, breaking it loose. I reconnected everything but no matter how tight I make the clamps the smell has never gone away entirely (it did get better).

I was going to get some of the better style clamps I have seen as they look like they would work a lot better than the ones I have now which are the single bolt style that you can only get so tight. But now I wonder if I should check the header itself to see if something didn't crack when it got hung up. It sure does not sound like it has a cracked header, but apparently that isn't necessarily a good indicator.

Guessing it's probably pretty much impossible to get the header out without a crap load of work

MiniDave

It's not horrible, you pretty much need to remove the intake manifold, and then get it loose from the Y pipe.  Depends on how rusted together it is.

My old 63 Cooper S Mini had the single pipe connection that always leaked till I used some exhaust sealer on it. Now I always use it.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

I may have to give it a go, or least a good looking over.

The guy I got it off of did have some exhaust sealer stuff in one of the bins of parts that came with the car, of course that was 10+ years ago so I tossed it out a long time ago. I did not use anything when I put it back together so perhaps that is the issue, I do not remember it smelling of exhaust the couple of times I drove it before I bought it so maybe that is where he used it.

Do you just use the permatex style stuff or something else?

Jimini II

When we installed Joe Schotts engine back into the car he used some flat stainless clamps from a boat store, a bit spendy but they worked great.
I have always used the flat Mini Sport/spares ones and they always seal well.

MiniDave

#511
Quote from: cstudep on June 08, 2021, 01:40:15 PM
Do you just use the permatex style stuff or something else?

I used the Walker muffler sealer, it's a black goo that you smear on then put it together and clamp it up. Then start and run it and the exhaust heat causes it to flow and then set up. If you have to take it apart again it's no big, you just scrape the old stuff off and put on a new batch.

I don't know how long the pipes on my green car had been together, I've had the car 5 years now and I had never had them apart but mine were rusted solid, I had to get out the acetylene torch and get em pretty hot till I could get them apart. When you use the sealer they don't rust together and you can get them apart again later on.....

I've been driving my Green Mini pretty much every day now and I have to say I like how it runs and drives now much better. The difference in power is very apparent but it's still fine, and it will cruise easily at 70-75, the temp stays in the spot it should on the gauge and the oil pressure never drops below 40 psi - only goes there at idle when hot - otherwise it's right at 60 even on a hot day on a long highway run.

AND......

It hasn't leaked a drop from any source!   77.gif

I'm going to pull the head and see what the valves and guides look like - if the guides aren't worn I'll put new stem seals on it and bolt it back on, if they are worn I have another head ready to go and I'll use it instead, while I send this one out to be redone, and have hardened seats put in. I may also do a little port work while I have it out....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#512
The last thing I'm going to fix on the Racing Green Mini is the cloud of blue smoke on start up. I'm confident the problem is just dried up rock hard stem seals as it only does it on cold starts and never when driving, on overrun or under hard load. To do that I pulled a head off the shelf - the idea being just to swap it out with the one on the engine. It's had a fresh valve job, new guides and I figured to just pop it on, but.....when I took a look at it I could see it did not have any valve stem seals on it. I got the head from Clancy in part payment for some work I did for him so it doesn't surprise me about the seals as you don't need those or hardened seats on a race engine.

So I dug around in all my parts boxes and I came up with a grand total of 6 stem seals. I called Clancy and he had 2 leftovers so I'll get those on Sat. at the car show he's bringing the Moke to. I went ahead and pulled the springs off and installed the six I had, then I decided I should go ahead and clean it up and paint it to match the fresh paint I put on the engine in the car, so I cleaned it all up, taped it off and gave it a coat of etch, and a couple coats of RustyOleum sunrise red.....turned out pretty good I think. After the car show I'll swap it out and send the one on the car now down to the cylinder head shop for new guides and hardened seats and a good three angle valve job.

From there I'm just going to drive it, even tho both 2nd and 3rd are pretty grunchy, if I'm careful I can drive around the problem and it drives pretty nice these days, so I want to put some miles on it.

Loyal readers will remember that when I had this engine in the engine stand for the first start I was pretty concerned because it had little to no compression on two cylinders and poor compression on the other two. Dan said put some Marvel Mystery down the plug holes, let it sit a few days and see if it comes up, and sure enough it did - on three cylinders, #2 was still quite a bit lower than the other three but we decided to just drive it and see if it improved. I ran a compression test today and I'm happy to report it did just that! All 4 are now exactly the same.   77.gif

The plugs don't have a lot of miles on them but they're running pretty clean with good color.....

It's probably good that I won't get to it till next week so the paint can harden off too
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Willie_B

That did turn out nice. Happy motoring.

MiniDave

I got the last two seals installed, but now I don't know if I have time to change the head before we leave town on Thursday.... I think I'll probably wait till I get back in case the carb pulls shenanigans again. It's running fine right now except for the large cloud of smoke when I start it.....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#515
I'm happy to report that the car ran perfectly all weekend - big blue clouds of smoke notwithstanding!

I didn't stay at the track and my hotel was about a 20 minute drive across town - and in another state! (The track is right on the Illinois/Wisconsin border and the town straddles the state line) So it was great to have it so I could run errands and get back and forth tot he hotel when I wanted.

My plan right now is just to drive it for a bit - possible strategies are to put this stock head on it and see if it cures the smoke, or just build up the original engine and swap them later.....haven't decided yet.

The trip home was uneventful - although we drove right past the Chemtools plant, we couldn't see any evidence of the fire, no smoke, no smell in the air....but it's a big place.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

So, I've decided to rebuild the motor and transmission that were originally in this car (well, when I got it - when it came out of the factory it had a 998 in it according to the vin) and that is the engine/trans combination that are in my video series on rebuilding a Mini engine.

Here  http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=2529.0

I'm actually looking forward to getting this back in the car, it always ran well - it just smoked, leaked oil and had a noisy transmission -  but it ran strong. It will be fun to see if the improvements I've made will show up at the wheels. Since I had this car on Jesse's dyno I have real world numbers to compare once it's running and broken in again.

However - those runs were done with a 3:44 and now it will have a 2.76 diff. I'll have to ask Jesse what effect that will have on the dyno results. I'm hoping to have it in the car by Mid October, that should give me enough time to get some miles on it before really cold weather sets in.

Don is in the middle or rebuilding his Honda motor too, so we might both go up and see what we get - I'm sure his will be significantly more impressive than mine!  ::)

I also have a customer for the engine that's currently blowing blue smoke out the back of the green Mini, so it will get a complete rebuild too.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Got a good start on removing the engine from the RG, all I have left to do is remove the left axle and motor mount and it's ready to come up and out - I decided not to pull the subframe after all, to that end I went and bought an engine leveler from HF as to get it out from under the brake booster I have to really tip the water pump end up.

Going back in is just about as hard as I have to level it out again after it's back in place. I think this tool should help with that.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

And.......................she's out!

The leveler def made the job easier for a one man band to get it out - no cussing, smashed fingers or dented/scratched panels!

I learned something from this effort to about where and how to attach the chains too.

Now I need remove the water pump, fuel pump and flywheel/clutch assembly as these were all new parts when I put old smoky in the car. I'll transfer them over to the white engine and it will be ready to install in the RG. I still need to rebuild the front "breaks" as even tho I put in new pads and rotors a few years ago, I didn't rebuild the calipers and I think one has been dragging causing issues with the rotors. I have another new pair of rotors to go on once the calipers are fixed.

More as it happens.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Haha. Love your reference to "breaks".   It's amazing how many self proclaimed "car people" don't know of the word "brakes".   Is it because nobody reads car magazines anymore - so they never actually see the word in print?
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#520
I think it's because they're posting from their phones, and while autocorrect will fix misspellings, it won't fix the wrong word entirely....

I'm going to have the machine shop I use see if they can do a very light cut on these rotors, I think they're more than usable if I can clean up the surface.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

LarryLebel

I like the misuse of your for you're.

MiniDave

Just about ready to drop the vanilla ice cream engine in the green Mini, got it all stripped down so I could put it in from the top when I found this......

So today I dropped the subby out so I could more easily get to it and weld in a patch. I also pulled out all the carpeting in the interior so I could remove the sound deadening. I'll take my wire brush in my angle grinder to it and see just how extensive a patch I need to make and how far I have to cut back to get to good metal. Someone has jacked the car up with the floor pans and really bent them upward near the flitch panels, I think that cracked the sealer and allowed the water to get in and rust this section out, cause the rest of the floors and sills are fine.

The left side has a little crustiness but nothing like this crack and split. I'll bang the floor back down where it's supposed to be and maybe put some seam sealer and POR15 over it, but I don't think I'll have to weld a patch on the left side.

Once the subby was out I saw I had a torn steering rack boot too.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

I think just about every Mini I have owned has had the floors dented by previous owners, if you have no option but to use the floor for a jacking point a simple piece of 1' x 1' 3/4" plywood spreads the load and leaves no dents.
Funny I have never seen this problem on the Mokes I have owned.

MiniDave

So, I made a hole!

Still have to clean off all the paint and sealer around the edges so I can weld in the patch. I also need to make up the patch. I did make a CAD template tho.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad