Mini project

[RussellG]

GTIAlex said:

Loving the work.

Seems a shame to use grubby washer bottle and brake fluid reservoir though!

Been working on a remedy for the grubby washer bottle tonight (new pictures soon of the final results) & planning on a stainless cover for the brake fluid reservoir.

[RussellG]

Plenty going on with the car still but the only visible external change today was the fuel cap


9/6/13.1 by russell.grant, on Flickr

9/6/13.2 by russell.grant, on Flickr

[FWDRacer]

Get the washer bottle in the dishwasher. Make sure "she" is out!

Edited by FWDRacer on Thursday 13th June 10:17

[Altrezia]

Russ,

Can you pop down and make me a frontend like that? (seriously).

a

[RussellG]

Altrezia said:

Russ,

Can you pop down and make me a frontend like that? (seriously).

a

I have actually had a few requests like this but to be honest it took a huge amount of man hours, much of which looked like either no progress or very little progress until I was happy with the results. Im not really convinced I could do it much quicker now as no two mini's are exactly the same in my experience.

I doesn't really seem financially viable to do it if you have to pay for labour & I would suggest that anyone thinking of tackling it themselves give it serious consideration before doing it as in my experience its actually much trickier & more complex to do than it appears at first glance.

That said hopefully the results are well worth it & if anyone else wants advice Im happy to try and offer some of my experiences.

[Altrezia]

I thought that'd be the case. It certainly doesn't look an easy task when you see all the bits laid out in front of you. Ha.

[MCBrowncoat]

I know it's much, much more complicated than this - but I wonder if there's an off the shelf kit that you can buy? What I like about this type of front end is how much easier it would make working on the engine bay - plus it looks cool!

[RussellG]

Update time !

As promised I have sorted out the tired looking washer bottle.


16.6.13.1 by russell.grant, on Flickr

Also hooked up the wiring for the interior lighting, I have ran a feed to the original courtesy light position, the top of the A pillar & under the dash board


16.6.13.2 by russell.grant, on Flickr

Hoping to use some of these to do something a bit different.


16.6.13.3 by russell.grant, on Flickr

I was a bit concerned they might not be bright enough to do what I want, so I switched off all the lighting in my garage to test them.


16.6.13.4 by russell.grant, on Flickr
Doesn't look like a lack of lights going to be an issue

[benters]

blimey ! sun tan here you come

[guru_1071]

is this where russell owns up that his other hobby is exhibition dogging!!!

[GingerWizard]

guru_1071 said:

is this where russell owns up that his other hobby is exhibition dogging!!!

[RussellG]

guru_1071 said:

is this where russell owns up that his other hobby is exhibition dogging!!!

Not sure a mini would be the ideal car for dogging though.

[guru_1071]

RussellG said:

Not sure a mini would be the ideal car for dogging though.

that's why they call it exhibition dogging.....

[RussellG]

Today I did the wiring for the front spotlights, oil pressure gauge & volt/ammeter. Then I did the driver & passenger footwell illumination.

http://youtu.be/elHNfmL5mys

Then it was back to fabricating the switch panel that incorporates front & rear fog light switches & the safety switch for the bonnet solenoids.


21.6.13.1 by russell.grant, on Flickr


21.6.13.2 by russell.grant, on Flickr


21.6.13.3 by russell.grant, on Flickr

Should hopefully get the switch panel finished during the week

[RussellG]

Today I got a few things done before the new interior arrives.

wired & tested the Oil pressure & voltage gauges


30/6/13.1 by russell.grant, on Flickr


Installed more LED interior lighting


30/6/13.2 by russell.grant, on Flickr


30/6/13.3 by russell.grant, on Flickr


finshed the switch panel as well & left the paint to dry before I fit it


30/6/13.4 by russell.grant, on Flickr

Also stripped the kad style quick shift down again & modified it so that it selects all the gears smoothly & easily including reverse.

[RussellG]

Been messing about with the fuelling & idle on the car as well, I am reasonably happy with how its running now although the mixture is still a bit on the rich side but I will deal with that nearer mot time.

http://youtu.be/dS4ZtDeegyA

[GTRMikie]

RussellG said:

although the mixture is still a bit on the rich side but I will deal with that nearer mot time.

Running rich is not good for a newly built engine. Bore wash will result in the rings not bedding in properly. It needs to run lean for about 500 miles.

[RussellG]

GTRMikie said:

Running rich is not good for a newly built engine. Bore wash will result in the rings not bedding in properly. It needs to run lean for about 500 miles.

Don't worry I will set it up properly before its been anywhere near the road. Its on the things to do list.

[RussellG]

Decided to give the garage a tidy up this afternoon, since I was running out of clean workspace again

This didn't leave me much time to do much to the mini.

I have got a picture of the completed switch panel & one of the front end with a number plate fitted now.


6.07.12.1 by russell.grant, on Flickr


6.07.12.2 by russell.grant, on Flickr

Tomorrow I need to have a look at the front & rear suspension. The rear hi-Los are too low and need adjusted up & the front ones are far too high even though they seem to be adjusted to there lowest setting.

[guru_1071]

RussellG said:

Tomorrow I need to have a look at the front & rear suspension. The rear hi-Los are too low and need adjusted up & the front ones are far too high even though they seem to be adjusted to there lowest setting.

don't forget that if you have used new rubber cones and knuckle joints it will all have to settle a bit.

new rubber cones will drop about an 1" quite quick, so don't waste too much time getting it looking bang on, as you will only have to do it all again once you have used it for a couple of weeks!