Racing Green 89 Mini

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

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BruceK

1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

It's ready to go in, but it's gonna get COLD tonight - damn cold - like under 20*, tomorrow it will be 1* and sunday if we're lucky maybe the teens......so it may have to wait a few days.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

The combination of the scissor lift and the hydraulic lift table make putting aa subby/engine back in from below a whole lot easier!

She's in and bolted down, now all I have to do is hook up everything, install the exhaust, radiator, shifter, intake, starter, alternator, wiring, cables and linkages.

The temp is still holding at about 50* in the shop with the heater running even tho it will be in the single digits later today - it's 12 right now. after tonight when it goes down to zero or lower I probably won't be able to work out there tomorrow, but it's supposed to be in the 40's again by Tuesday.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Willie_B

Looks like a great way to install it all.

MiniDave

I've done it with a cherry picker, but on these late model cars with the big brake booster you either have to remove that or tilt the engine at a crazy angle to get it in/out. This way it's a fairly easy procedure, especially when working by myself. The only downside is having to disconnect a brake line and drain brake fluid, and there are a few more things to unhook before the subby can come down.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Got the shop temp up to almost 50* this afternoon, so I got some more done on the Racing Green, got the "back" of the engine done and the radiator in, now I have to go underneath and finish that end up - run the main battery cable, hook up the shift linkage and the exhaust, then bleed the brakes and the clutch. After that, add oil and water and make some noise! I'm sure there are a bits and odds and ends still loose that will need tidying up too.....

Had to stop tho, my feet got too cold.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#556
Alrighty then, only 2 months after I tore it down - back on its wheels again......since the weather will be in the 40's tomorrow I'll put the seats back in, add oil and coolant, charge and hook up the battery, bleed the clutch and brakes and it will be time to fire it up.

Not too bad to do a complete engine and transmission overhaul along with the brake rebuild and modify the interior, build new seat mounts and patch the floor.

I have some new windshield washer jets to put in and a few misc bits to do after it runs, then put the grill in and the hood back on too.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

Its nice to see that 3 days into the New Year you are still failing at retirement Dave ;)
Just joking well done its looking good and ready for April's CMU bash.

MiniDave

Ready for CMU is the plan, don't know if I'll be driving it or towing it there at this point. Plan right now is to caravan with another Mini owner, but if that falls thru.....well, we'll see....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

#559
Yes we are booked in at the campground and are towing probably the Moke in our toy hauler.
We bought it used the first year of the pandemic figuring everything would be closed up England was out and not even wanting to stay in hotels and ended up using it quite frequently.
I would like to take another Mini but I am still finishing up renovating our Daytona beach rental condo getting ready to sell it while the market is still hot.
It will be enough work getting the Moke ready lol.

MiniDave

#560
Well, she's ready to start, but even tho it was in the high 40's earlier today, by afternoon it had gotten cold again - headed down to the teens tonight and low single digits tomorrow, so I didn't want to open the garage door.

I'll be heading out of town this weekend to do the trip we couldn't do last weekend, so it might be next week before I get to drive it....too bad too as it will be in the 50's on Sat, then cold again Sunday when we get home.

Paul whipped up this cool cup holder, I put the seats in today and bolted it in - looks like it will work, but he's going to tweak the design a little for me. I got everything ready to go, just need a break in the weather....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Scargo

If you need a steering column drop bracket and cannot find yours, there's a used one listed at the top of the MM classified page.


MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

gr8kornholio

You are failing at retirement and killing it as a mini car guy, I'm failing at being a mini car guy.  Had mine back for 15 months now and still not running.  Lol. Parts I ordered 2 weeks before Christmas showed up just in time for temperatures to plummet and I don't have a garage heater.  Will see how warm it gets Saturday.  Again nice job on getting the car back together. 
I am the GR8KORNHOLIO! Are you threatening me?

Saussie Aussie 1965 Australian MK1 Mini.
"Beavis" - 07 MY/MY MCS, B/MY Konig Daylites, JCW sideskirts, TSW springs, TSW lower rear control arms -- Exploring the country with new friends since 11/09.

MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

Looking good, that color for the block/head was a great decision, looks really good with the car color!

MiniDave

Thanks, Paul......and thanks for making me a plus sized cupholder!

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

We have liftoff!   62.gif

I drove it around the block today - it starts, shifts, stops (slowly - I need to bleed the brakes!) and does everything it's supposed to including rattles, squeaks and buzzes!  ::) 77.gif

I completely forgot to look at the speedo to see how it compares now that I have the tall diff ratio in it....something for tomorrow's test run.

If I get the brakes bled I'll try and get a short video when I drive it tomorrow.

I had a thought about the wobble in the steering -  I wonder if it was caused by the duff diff? Maybe I'll get to find out tomorrow on my test drive, assuming I get to. We have a weather front moving in hard.....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Congratulations!  You've done it again!  4.gif
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Jimini II

Sounds good Dave, well done.

cstudep

Quote from: MiniDave on January 13, 2022, 01:11:54 PM
Thanks, Paul......and thanks for making me a plus sized cupholder!

Nice to see they work, I changed the angle of the mounting face about 2 degrees on the plus size one because I thought with the larger diameter it might end up being too close to the seat for a larger cup. Looks like that was a wise decision seeing the plus sized cup in there.

Hopefully they hold up, but if not we can always make new ones out of a stronger material.

MiniDave

#571
I think they will hold up fine, I think the only way it might break is if someone steps on it accidentally.

Today I managed to take it for another spin around the block, a little farther this time.....my speedo is woefully off now, so I will be using my Garmin for a speedo - which is what I do anyway.

The engine feels good, the brakes feel good and overall I think it will run nicely. After experiencing all three common ratios (3.44, 3.0 and 2.76) I think the 3-1 final drive is the best combination, but the 2.76 will be better for long hauls, and I plan to do more than a few of those this year. I may have a 3-1 coming to me (a guy might want to go from that to a 3:44 for his car) so it's possible I'll have one to swap out if I decide to.

I didn't get any video as I was hurrying to beat the weather, but I will the next time I drive it. I also didn't go far enough or fast enough to determine if the front end wobble is gone, that will also have to wait till next time.

So far, so good!

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

So speaking of diffs, is there a way to check the ratio without removing it from the car? Obviously it's pretty straight forward for a rear wheel drive vehicle but is there a way to figure it out on a front wheel drive? Just curious I guess what is in mine, I suppose you can probably take a best guess based on RPM vs speed but didn't know if there was a better way?

MiniDave

I suppose you could count the number of revs of the engine for one rotation of the wheel in 4th gear, but other than that I don't know of any way to do it in the car.

However, if the transmission is original - you can pretty well figure which it had based on the transmission number, original engine number etc.

So later 998's for example most probably had a 3:44, so did carbed 1275's, SPi's almost all had 3-1, and MPi's a 3.0 or a 2.76....however, even some 998's came with a 2.76 if it was an "economical" model. But the smaller engined cars and early cars could have had a number of different ratios. If you have a tach and can check the RPM at a certain speed, you can use the chart on Guesswork's site and probably figure it out.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Quote from: cstudep on January 14, 2022, 08:33:51 PM
So speaking of diffs, is there a way to check the ratio without removing it from the car? Obviously it's pretty straight forward for a rear wheel drive vehicle but is there a way to figure it out on a front wheel drive? Just curious I guess what is in mine, I suppose you can probably take a best guess based on RPM vs speed but didn't know if there was a better way?

There's calculators that use rpm, speed, and you'll need to know your tire diamter.  I have a 3.44 but with my small diameter race tires it's more like a 3.66 equivalent.  At some point I'd like to change things around, but that also includes the turbo kit I made but have yet to find time to install.