My Very Cheap Mini One D Dooer Upper...
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I have a Mini (no pun intended) update!
I took this afternoon off work to try and find somewhere that could MOT my van (it ran out 2 months ago and I only realised yesterday!). Unfortunately because it's a registration month everywhere is booked solid! This however meant I had an afternoon free to work on the Mini. What made this even better was the fact that my Brother was off work too. This meant possibly being able to get the engine onto the stand today
I started off by removing the gearbox, which took quite a bit of persuasion to release from its home nestled up against the engine. After using persuading stick number 3 (big rubber mallet) it eventually let go. While I was doing that my Brother removed the turbo and manifold to free up a bit of the weight. I also need to remove a snapped stud from the turbo before it all goes back together. The gearbox came off, I unbolted the clutch and gunned the flywheel off and sat back, amazed at how easy that stage had been! Unfortunately by thinking that I tempered fate and hit a problem
The studs I use to mount engines onto the stand were too big to fit through the holes on the block! This meant a trip to Wickes to acquire some smaller ones. Thankfully Wickes is 5 minutes away and before we knew it we were bolting the bracket to the block and doing lots of warm up exercises to get ready to lift it onto the stand! We needn't have bothered as it was nowhere near as heavy as we were expecting and it slid into the stand with ease!
This is where we called it a day. I had to get ready to go out running (very new to all this exercise lark so trying to stick with it!) and my Brother was off out with some mates. I currently have no plans for Easter Sunday so I'm hoping to start replacing some of the gaskets! You'll all find out soon enough if I got round to it or not
I took this afternoon off work to try and find somewhere that could MOT my van (it ran out 2 months ago and I only realised yesterday!). Unfortunately because it's a registration month everywhere is booked solid! This however meant I had an afternoon free to work on the Mini. What made this even better was the fact that my Brother was off work too. This meant possibly being able to get the engine onto the stand today
I started off by removing the gearbox, which took quite a bit of persuasion to release from its home nestled up against the engine. After using persuading stick number 3 (big rubber mallet) it eventually let go. While I was doing that my Brother removed the turbo and manifold to free up a bit of the weight. I also need to remove a snapped stud from the turbo before it all goes back together. The gearbox came off, I unbolted the clutch and gunned the flywheel off and sat back, amazed at how easy that stage had been! Unfortunately by thinking that I tempered fate and hit a problem
The studs I use to mount engines onto the stand were too big to fit through the holes on the block! This meant a trip to Wickes to acquire some smaller ones. Thankfully Wickes is 5 minutes away and before we knew it we were bolting the bracket to the block and doing lots of warm up exercises to get ready to lift it onto the stand! We needn't have bothered as it was nowhere near as heavy as we were expecting and it slid into the stand with ease!This is where we called it a day. I had to get ready to go out running (very new to all this exercise lark so trying to stick with it!) and my Brother was off out with some mates. I currently have no plans for Easter Sunday so I'm hoping to start replacing some of the gaskets! You'll all find out soon enough if I got round to it or not
Once again I apologise for lack of updates, however I'm outside working on the car right now and I'm totally baffled at how to get the PAS belt on I had to cut the original one off because there's no tensioner for the pump.
This is what the belt looks like fitted without the tensioner bracket fitted.
This is the tensioner bracket hanging down loose. The threaded hole to the right of it is where it's meant to bolt to! How the hell am I meant to stretch the belt that much??? I can only lever the pump about an inch away from the block with the belt fitted!!
I had to cut the original one off because there's no tensioner for the pump. This is what the belt looks like fitted without the tensioner bracket fitted.
This is the tensioner bracket hanging down loose. The threaded hole to the right of it is where it's meant to bolt to! How the hell am I meant to stretch the belt that much??? I can only lever the pump about an inch away from the block with the belt fitted!!
Is it a new belt? If so are you sure you have the right size belt?
If the answer to both of those is yes, then I suspect the PAS belt is a stretchy belt, and as such doesn't have a tensioner, the belt length is such that it is slightly over tight at first installation, and the tension drops to normal in the first few hours of running.
I have never fitted one myself, only had experience of them at work, so I am not sure how you refit them. Probably a special tool.
If the answer to both of those is yes, then I suspect the PAS belt is a stretchy belt, and as such doesn't have a tensioner, the belt length is such that it is slightly over tight at first installation, and the tension drops to normal in the first few hours of running.
I have never fitted one myself, only had experience of them at work, so I am not sure how you refit them. Probably a special tool.
Pretty sure hey're a stretchy belt fit. There's a special tool and you wind the front pulley to turn it on.
Not used this exact tool but looks like it'll do the job.
http://www.lasertools.co.uk/items/PDF/Products/632...
Not used this exact tool but looks like it'll do the job.
http://www.lasertools.co.uk/items/PDF/Products/632...
bungz said:
Glad to see you are sticking with it
To be honest I just want to get it on the road now. I've got a week off this week to completely gut my garden, put up all new fences and a new shed, so the marquee is now full of everything that was in the shed. It's just a never ending story right now!I'm going to be honest with you all. I've completely lost interest in this car! I've recently bought an XR2 race car and all I want to do is get this Mini done and out of the marquee so I can get the XR2 in there and start getting it ready to race next year!
I had the afternoon off work today to get some things done. They didn't take as long as expected so I headed into the marquee to crack on with the Mini. Now at the last update I was waiting for the stretchy belt tool to arrive. It arrived ages ago so I set to work fitting the PAS belt. It should be nice and simple. Slide the belt over the crank pulley, start to feed it over the PAS pulley and the clamp the belt to the pulley with the tool and turn the crank until the belt is on. Simple! Well actually no, it wasn't simple at all! I followed the (very basic) instructions and got as far as turning the crank, at which point the belt just started to slip. Then I tried turning the PAS pulley at the same time, which started pulling the belt on! Then as the belt was starting to look good a piece of the PAS pulley snapped where the belt was pulling on it! I honestly don't know who came up with this idea but its the most f
king stupid piece of st idea I have ever come across! What the fk is wrong with a tensioner?!?!? I moved the tool to the other side of the pulley and tried again. I got to about the same point and the supposedly stretchy belt snapped!
At this point I started to lose my temper and almost gave up and went straight back inside. Then I decided there was other stuff I could do instead...
I decided to bolt the turbo back on with its new gaskets etc and then started removing the snapped stud. It was putting up a hell of a fight and just as I was about to admit defeat I found a knackered old 7mm socket that hammered nicely over the bit of leftover stud As if by magic the stud unwound itself and I cheered up a little! The shiny new one went in and that was another (small) job crossed off the list.
By now I had cheered up a little and decided to get a few more little bits done. I figured I may as well bolt on the shiny new (very expensive) engine mount brackets. If you remember back to when I first got the car, these had both snapped causing the engine to rock about when driving. It took all of 5 minutes to get them bolted up and the engine was one step closer to going back in the engine bay.
Seeing as I will have to order another PAS belt there wasn't really much else I could do to the engine so I decided to bolt on my shiny decat downpipe that I bought ages ago. Another nice simple job that was actually nice and simple. Makes a change I decided to end today on a high note and give up while I was ahead (ish). I will order another PAS belt tomorrow and have another go at getting the poxy thing fitted! I may possibly lose my temper with it again though if it snaps! Once the belt is fitted then the engine can come off the stand, fit the flywheel, clutch and gearbox and then slide the engine back in! Then it's just a case of bolting everything back together and plugging it all in (in theory that should only take an hour or so!) I can kind of see the finish line and I really do hope this car doesn't put up too much more of a fight! I'm tired and it's rapidly sapping my enthusiasm!
I had the afternoon off work today to get some things done. They didn't take as long as expected so I headed into the marquee to crack on with the Mini. Now at the last update I was waiting for the stretchy belt tool to arrive. It arrived ages ago so I set to work fitting the PAS belt. It should be nice and simple. Slide the belt over the crank pulley, start to feed it over the PAS pulley and the clamp the belt to the pulley with the tool and turn the crank until the belt is on. Simple! Well actually no, it wasn't simple at all! I followed the (very basic) instructions and got as far as turning the crank, at which point the belt just started to slip. Then I tried turning the PAS pulley at the same time, which started pulling the belt on! Then as the belt was starting to look good a piece of the PAS pulley snapped where the belt was pulling on it! I honestly don't know who came up with this idea but its the most f
king stupid piece of st idea I have ever come across! What the fk is wrong with a tensioner?!?!? I moved the tool to the other side of the pulley and tried again. I got to about the same point and the supposedly stretchy belt snapped! 
At this point I started to lose my temper and almost gave up and went straight back inside. Then I decided there was other stuff I could do instead...
I decided to bolt the turbo back on with its new gaskets etc and then started removing the snapped stud. It was putting up a hell of a fight and just as I was about to admit defeat I found a knackered old 7mm socket that hammered nicely over the bit of leftover stud
As if by magic the stud unwound itself and I cheered up a little! The shiny new one went in and that was another (small) job crossed off the list.
By now I had cheered up a little and decided to get a few more little bits done. I figured I may as well bolt on the shiny new (very expensive) engine mount brackets. If you remember back to when I first got the car, these had both snapped causing the engine to rock about when driving. It took all of 5 minutes to get them bolted up and the engine was one step closer to going back in the engine bay.
Seeing as I will have to order another PAS belt there wasn't really much else I could do to the engine so I decided to bolt on my shiny decat downpipe that I bought ages ago. Another nice simple job that was actually nice and simple. Makes a change
I decided to end today on a high note and give up while I was ahead (ish). I will order another PAS belt tomorrow and have another go at getting the poxy thing fitted! I may possibly lose my temper with it again though if it snaps! Once the belt is fitted then the engine can come off the stand, fit the flywheel, clutch and gearbox and then slide the engine back in! Then it's just a case of bolting everything back together and plugging it all in (in theory that should only take an hour or so!) I can kind of see the finish line and I really do hope this car doesn't put up too much more of a fight! I'm tired and it's rapidly sapping my enthusiasm!
I've tried those belt fitters before and TBH they are crap, fiesta 1.25s use them as well and after trying 3 differant belt fitting tools i went back to a small pair of molegrips to clamp the belt to the outer lip of the pully then rotate the engine till it's on, maybe the same will work on the new pully/pump when you get it on ?
S0 What said:
I've tried those belt fitters before and TBH they are crap, fiesta 1.25s use them as well and after trying 3 differant belt fitting tools i went back to a small pair of molegrips to clamp the belt to the outer lip of the pully then rotate the engine till it's on, maybe the same will work on the new pully/pump when you get it on ?
I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do next! I've never been stumped by fitting a bloody PAS belt before!Stick with it you are not far off the home straight with it now.
There must be a way to get these things on in seconds, cant see them taking hours to put a belt on when they are assembled but I agree it looks like a god awful set up.
Edit:
I am thinking the problem is getting the belt over the actual lip of the pulley? When the belt is bedded on its ribs that would give it a little slack wouldn't it? How about removing the pas pulley, seating the belt then finding a way of getting enough force on the belt to line the pulley back up?
There must be a way to get these things on in seconds, cant see them taking hours to put a belt on when they are assembled but I agree it looks like a god awful set up.
Edit:
I am thinking the problem is getting the belt over the actual lip of the pulley? When the belt is bedded on its ribs that would give it a little slack wouldn't it? How about removing the pas pulley, seating the belt then finding a way of getting enough force on the belt to line the pulley back up?
Edited by bungz on Friday 12th August 08:42
bungz said:
Stick with it you are not far off the home straight with it now.
There must be a way to get these things on in seconds, cant see them taking hours to put a belt on when they are assembled but I agree it looks like a god awful set up.
Edit:
I am thinking the problem is getting the belt over the actual lip of the pulley? When the belt is bedded on its ribs that would give it a little slack wouldn't it? How about removing the pas pulley, seating the belt then finding a way of getting enough force on the belt to line the pulley back up?
The problem is getting the belt to even begin to stretch over the pulley. It genuinely doesn't seem long enough. It doesn't help that it's a plastic pulley so is going to end up snapping clean in half if I carry on like this. Have a look back at one of my previous posts ad you'll see even without the PAS pump bolted in the belt is pretty taught already!There must be a way to get these things on in seconds, cant see them taking hours to put a belt on when they are assembled but I agree it looks like a god awful set up.
Edit:
I am thinking the problem is getting the belt over the actual lip of the pulley? When the belt is bedded on its ribs that would give it a little slack wouldn't it? How about removing the pas pulley, seating the belt then finding a way of getting enough force on the belt to line the pulley back up?
Edited by bungz on Friday 12th August 08:42
Are you sure you have been supplied with the correct length belt? Even a few mm's difference in length will be a problem with these things.
They are by all accounts a bh to fit, but they shouldn't break a pulley of snap trying to fit it. Have you still got the old belt? If so read the part number on it, it will be something like 4XX1111 or 1111XX4. The 1111 will relate to its length in mm's and the 4 will be the number of ribs.
They are by all accounts a b
h to fit, but they shouldn't break a pulley of snap trying to fit it. Have you still got the old belt? If so read the part number on it, it will be something like 4XX1111 or 1111XX4. The 1111 will relate to its length in mm's and the 4 will be the number of ribs.marmitemania said:
I used to have to put these belts on Transit vans, st idea. I would try putting the belt in boiling hot water for a few minutes to see if it will soften/ stretch a bit more.
Yeh I was thinking about giving that a try. Annoyingly nowhere has another belt in stock so I'm having to wait until Tuesday/Wednesday before one arrives!t idea. I would try putting the belt in boiling hot water for a few minutes to see if it will soften/ stretch a bit more.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff