Discussion
Sorry, I've been lazy and not updated this! There's been a few goings on with the Mini and the rest of the fleet, I'm thinking of starting a separate thread to document what I've been getting up to in the workshop as a lot of it has got nothing to do with the Mini.
Big news is that it finally passed it's MOT earlier this year
To be honest, I'd lost interest in it for a while, the car was probably 90% complete but that last 10% is always the most time consuming and difficult. There were a few other jobs that needed doing in the workshop and I was getting involved in other projects and for a while it was pushed into a corner and left to gather dust.
In the end I got sick of the sight of it looking forlorn and decided to get my finger out and finish it.
Bought some adjustable tie rods and negative camber bottom arms to replace the bent tie rods that were on the car, welded a few patches under the car, stone chip painted the floor and the arches. Thought everything was good to go, did a test run round the block and heard a horrific noise and the car started shuddering awfully, dragged it back to the workshop to scratch my head...
Long story short the car was originally an auto and so we had the engine sitting way too low and off to one side causing the pot joint on one side to come adrift. We fabricated some different engine mounts to raise it up and move it across and all was well. Down to the MOT centre, passed first time, the only problem after that was that it developed a fuel leak when the tank had more than a dribble in it, solved by putting a new seal on the sender unit.
Latest job has been to cover the inside of the roof for rudimentary headlining and fit some incredibly simple door pulls!
Jobs still to do: sort out the dash instruments, find out where it's leaking from (it's like a swimming pool in there when it rains) and tidy up a few cosmetic bits outside. I'm quite liking the fact that it looks a bit rough and ready though. Not sure whether I'm going to keep it, although I love loud obnoxious cars, it is a little bit too devoid of creature comforts and it's certainly not relaxing to drive. I'll probably keep it over winter as I'd imagine it'll be slightly easier to handle in inclement conditions than the TVR...
Going to try and find a recent picture of it and then I'll start a thread about the other cars/things I've been doing in the workshop, this may take some time!
Big news is that it finally passed it's MOT earlier this year
To be honest, I'd lost interest in it for a while, the car was probably 90% complete but that last 10% is always the most time consuming and difficult. There were a few other jobs that needed doing in the workshop and I was getting involved in other projects and for a while it was pushed into a corner and left to gather dust.
In the end I got sick of the sight of it looking forlorn and decided to get my finger out and finish it.
Bought some adjustable tie rods and negative camber bottom arms to replace the bent tie rods that were on the car, welded a few patches under the car, stone chip painted the floor and the arches. Thought everything was good to go, did a test run round the block and heard a horrific noise and the car started shuddering awfully, dragged it back to the workshop to scratch my head...
Long story short the car was originally an auto and so we had the engine sitting way too low and off to one side causing the pot joint on one side to come adrift. We fabricated some different engine mounts to raise it up and move it across and all was well. Down to the MOT centre, passed first time, the only problem after that was that it developed a fuel leak when the tank had more than a dribble in it, solved by putting a new seal on the sender unit.
Latest job has been to cover the inside of the roof for rudimentary headlining and fit some incredibly simple door pulls!
Jobs still to do: sort out the dash instruments, find out where it's leaking from (it's like a swimming pool in there when it rains) and tidy up a few cosmetic bits outside. I'm quite liking the fact that it looks a bit rough and ready though. Not sure whether I'm going to keep it, although I love loud obnoxious cars, it is a little bit too devoid of creature comforts and it's certainly not relaxing to drive. I'll probably keep it over winter as I'd imagine it'll be slightly easier to handle in inclement conditions than the TVR...
Going to try and find a recent picture of it and then I'll start a thread about the other cars/things I've been doing in the workshop, this may take some time!
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