My 65 Australian MKI

[MPlayle]

Slight irregularity in a brake drum rubbing on backing plate?

[gr8kornholio]

Will double check the rear brakes. 

A little googling and some info points to possible issues with the tires themselves.  Now I’d hope the tire shop would have noticed and or mentioned something if they saw it.  Then again they balanced them pretty quick so not sure.  Going to do some checks tomorrow. 

These wheels have pretty much been a pain since getting the car and just about ready to just buy something else.  Always loved the mambas.  Also like the “turbo” wheels. Jbw has an inexpensive set.  Specialist components and force racing have a fancier pricier version. 

[94touring]

I can't remember but are the rear backing plates for the drums new?  I've had new sets and combined with new drums, bind up and cause a friction area that needed filed down. 

[gr8kornholio]

Yes the entire rear drum assembly is new.  Believe I bought it as such from mini sport. 

I searched the forum cause I swear there was an entire thread about tires but all I found were bits and pieces. 

Also if anyone has other 10” wheel makes I’d love to know.  So far I have Jbw, force racing, specialist components, ultralight and even looked at the Japan mini place. 

[Willie_B]

Also if anyone has other 10” wheel makes I’d love to know.  So far I have Jbw, force racing, specialist components, ultralight and even looked at the Japan mini place.

I have a set of new 3 piece wheels. Three of them have not even been assembled yet. They have never been drilled for the valve stems. I will post up some pics and measurements in a bit for you. The only downside is the place that made them no longer does, and you would have to have lug nuts made for them as they don't have anymore.

[MPlayle]

I have an extra set of 10"x6" 'deep dish' Minilite style wheels with lug nuts and decent tires.

I can take pictures and post if you are interested.

[Willie_B]

CMW racing. 10x5, 3 15/16 backspace, could never wrap my head around the offset measurements.

[MPlayle]

I went out to the garage and took some pictures of the extra set of wheels I have.
They are Minator 10"x6" in silver with "diamond cut" rims and Falken 165/70/10 tires.  They also have all of the lug nuts and center caps.

One of the pictures shows the details of the back with the stampings readable.

[gr8kornholio]

Those 3 piece are nice but sounds like a lot to get going. Also with that backspace wonder if they would rub or hit something. 

The Minator wheels are a nice take on the typical minilites, which mine are styled after.  If I can determine it’s the wheels I may discuss further. 

This is when I miss having Bruce and Louis around.  Last time had this issue was able to swap a set of known good wheels and discover all issues were gone so therefore I knew it was the wheels.  Unfortunately I didn’t have the car when I got the wheels “fixed” so don’t know if they weren’t fixed right or if something else is wrong.

[MPlayle]

I'm not too far away to work something out as I am down in San Antonio.

The Minitors I have were taken off my blue "window" Van - it does not have flares and they stuck out enough to look too "boy racer" for my tastes.  I went with a different set of narrower wheels I already had.

The Minitors seemed to clear everything just fine when the Van first got here and it has the 7.5" Cooper-S style front disk brakes.

[gr8kornholio]

Drove the car again today.  Still something not right with the choke.  It doesn’t want to idle high until I pull the little gold screw out.  This is the only way it will start to high idle.  And once it warms up I screw it back in so it’s not touching it idles fine with choke off.  Crazy part is sitting there holding the throttle doesn’t make a difference.  It only likes the gold screw moved. 


So pretty sure front knuckle rattling is wheel.  Only does it above 35.  Going to swap front wheels and see what happens.   The rear I’m pretty sure is the left side and it starts very early and can hear it coasting all the way to a stop.   Drove down streets with lots of parked cars and there seems to also be a clicking noise in sink with the wub wub wub.  Guess I’ll take that side apart and have a peek inside. 

[MPlayle]

You may be turning the screw too far in.  It is supposed to have just a tiny gap between it and the cam when the choke is fully off - so it is not affecting warm idle.

It is supposed to be close enough that pulling the choke on makes it contact and rotate the cam some for the high idle with choke on.

A check of my notes from the Nurlen site for tuning SU carbs indicates the gap should be 1.6mm.

Here is a link to the SU carb tuning site:
https://sucarb.co.uk/technical-hif-type-carburetter-tuning-general

[gr8kornholio]

Yea everytime I play with it I make sure there is barely a gap there when choke is off.  I’ll set it to the 1.6 and see what happens cause currently it’s way closer.  Just fitting my thinest gap feeler in there.

Something I did notice is the choke assembly has some play in it.  Meaning I can push the whole assembly in towards the carb body.  Pretty sure I tightened it all correct so is this normal or something it should not do.

[MPlayle]

As I recall, there should not be any such play in the mechanism.

[gr8kornholio]

So dismantled the left rear where I thought noise was coming from.  Nothing there. The lip of the backing plate in one spot had a bend but didn’t look as it was hitting anything.  No noises though.  Did notice marks on the wheel weights but realized nothing back there for them to rub.  But I did just move that wheel from the left front. 

Went to the left front and pulled the wheel.  Yep, marks on the weights.  Put the wheel back on and yep, there’s the noise.  It was just barely rubbing and noticed the caliper casting was a little rough so I filed down the high spots and tried again.  Took a few rounds but got them smoothed out and no rubbing.  Then I checked the right front.  At first I didn’t see any marks and didn’t hear anything.  Turned the fan off and turned it and then heard a faint rub.  Again barely touching so just smoothed out the rough edges of the caliper casting.  Rub noise eliminated.

So next to either drive again or put up on stands and take of the wheels and run it up to 35 and see if it rattles the knuckles. 

On the carb choke front I talked to Dave and his has the same play.  So gonna try a few things cause it really doesn’t make sense.  If they don’t work then I’ll take that link and start all over following the setup. 

[gr8kornholio]

Quick wheel debate in case it leads to it.  10s or 12s?   I like the, I’d call it novelty of the 10.  No one but mini owners dare to say they are that small.  Issues with them is finding tire shop to work on them and balancing. Also with the center so small you don’t get a lot of the “design”.  Do 12s solve some of these issues?   Or do they carry there own issues. 

[MPlayle]

I have not had issues getting 10" tires mounted at one of my local Discount Tire locations.  The same location has done 12" ones on wheels for some of my Minis as well.

10" tires have more sidewall for adding some "cushioning" to the suspension.  12" tires have less sidewall and the 13" tires for Minis even less.  The less sidewall, the harsher the ride tends to be a common argument.

If your car has the 8.4" front disk brakes, 12" wheels/tires were the standard.  You would have to retro to the 7.5" disk brakes to fit 10" wheels/tires.

I have not had 13" wheels/tires personally, only 10s and 12s.  I have not really noticed much difference between 10s and 12s for ride and handling when comparing the same width tread.  I tend to prefer the narrower 145s verus the 165s.  The wider treads sometimes are more sensitive to road surface variations and ruts.

Many Mini owners seem to prefer the look of the 10s as being more visually balanced to the car's proportions.

[MiniDave]

I think Michael hit all of the talking points, so I think it comes down to what do you like?

I like the 10's on the Innocenti, but I like the 13's on my Racing Green, mostly because it has the big flares (arches) and the 13's fill them out more. It does affect the ride and handling, but considering how few miles most of these cars get driven, I don't think it matters....it's certainly never stopped me from going someplace, whether a show or a driving event where I put on a few hundred miles in a couple of days.

So, I think those are the most important factors - are you planning to drive it cross country? Or is it a fun, run around town and go to shows and close-in events car?

Then find the ones you like and go with those. Given how much trouble you've already had with these wheels I think you're due for a new set, and with 12's you don't have to worry about the weights hitting the calipers!

[MPlayle]

As Dave says, 12" wheels will give more clearance for the calipers if your front disks are already the 7.5" for using with 10" wheels.

The set of 4.5"x10" wheels I currently have on my blue Van have a similar issue of the stick on weights on the inside scuffing on the caliper.  The 10" wheels on my green Saloon do not have the issue.  It depnds on the thickness of the rim base and whether intended for drum brakes or disks.  The ones I have that rub the weights are "supposed" to be for disks, but are a thick rim base.

The 6"x10" "deep dish" Minitors I posted earlier are also supposed to be for disks.  I do not recall having any issues with them other than they stick out enough that small flares should be used.  I went with the narrower ones I had as extras because I did not want to add flares to fully cover the tires sticking out.

[gr8kornholio]

Thanks for all the info.  I have one test to try but haven’t had the time.  Should narrow it down. Of course if it is the wheels then decision has to be made.  My current wheels also stick out a bit and I don’t plan to run flares.  So may look at 5” instead of 6” or a wheel patter with more backspace.

[gr8kornholio]

So testing the car without the wheels was a royal PITA.  Love open diffs.  One hub spins other does nothing.  And wouldn’t you know it, the hub that spins isn’t the one that would rattle.  Tried putting tire on that one for more weight.  Nope. Ok, what can I wedge under it.  Aww, the other tire.  And sure enough, no rattling.  Put both tires on and rattling. 

Did notice that the tires were no square so with the wife’s help got that fixed.  Not sure how it got off since we set it.  Everything was still tight.  After this drive it up to 50.  Only rattling is when I let off.  Pretty sure in neutral.  May try another run and leave it in gear.  Idk part of me still says it’s the wheels.  Going to call a couple places tomorrow about alignment.  They are shops that specialize in custom suspension setups. 

Carb thing just won’t straighten out.  Going to start over and check valves, timing, spark plugs.  Today when I shut it off it dieseled until I pulled a plug out of the block.   No coil. No plug wires. No battery.  Kept running until I pulled the plug out.  Probably going to pull the carb too to make sure no gunk in the bowl. 

[94touring]

Is the rattling detonation?  I've never had one diesel on with the entire electrical system disconnected before.

[BruceK]

I am late to the wheel discussion, but aesthetically speaking 10 inch wheels look best on a Mini in my opinion. Nice, chunky 10 inch wheels and tires just seem to fit the overall design of the car better than anything else.  My car has 12 inch wheels but somewhere down the line I will probably make the disc brake conversion needed to switch to 10 inch wheels.

[94touring]

I am late to the wheel discussion, but aesthetically speaking 10 inch wheels look best on a Mini in my opinion. Nice, chunky 10 inch wheels and tires just seem to fit the overall design of the car better than anything else.  My car has 12 inch wheels but somewhere down the line I will probably make the disc brake conversion needed to switch to 10 inch wheels.

They handle better with 10s too.

[gr8kornholio]

Is the rattling detonation?  I've never had one diesel on with the entire electrical system disconnected before.

That’s a thought.  The only question mark there is why it only does it with the wheels on.  Didn’t do it at all with the wheels off.  And with the wheels off up on stands is when it dieseled on forever.