Category: Suspension

Nearly Ready to Fire the Engine

9/2/2010

Since my last post I have been busy working towards the day when the engine can be started, and there is not too far to go now.

After refurbishing the Carburetors the next job was to refurbish and refit the front drive shafts and hubs.

I had previously refurbished the hubs, they had required two new ball joints, new bearings and new discs, while the rest of the components had been stripped to bare metal and given a coat of rust preventing primer and engine enamel paint. So onto the drive shafts.

After cleaning and dis-assembly I inspected the rubber components (drive donuts, and gaiters etc) for any signs of damage, dryness or cracking and was pleased to find that I only needed to replace the small inner boots. I then inspected the ball bearings, cages and housings for any pitting or polishing, and once again was pleased to find them all in excellent condition.

So then it was a simple matter of fitting them all back together again with nice fresh grease.

Next I inspected the dampers, they were working well when I drove the car home after buying it so it was a case of checking for leaks and with none found I went about cleaning and painting them.

Finally I refurbished the brake calipers, the pistons were in good order but the outer dust seals were perished, so I bought a refurb kit and replaced all the seals, I have also replaced both the bleed nipples. I then gave them a coat of high temperature paint.

Once complete, all the components could be fitted to the car (drive shafts, hubs dampers and calipers). This is one of those satisfying jobs that really makes a difference to the look and feel of the car, with hubs waiting for wheels it suddenly feels more like a whole car than a shell.

I then carried out the same operation on the rear radius arms and hubs (not essential for the engine start, but it's much easier to fit the handbrake cables before the exhaust. They are all jobs that need to be done anyway.

Unfortunately I have managed to corrupt the file of pictures showing the stripped parts and the rebuild, so below are the before and after shots.

I replaced one wheel cylinder, the other was in very good condition, as were the brake shoes, I also replaced one bearing. The right hand hub nut thread was very stiff, so I have cleaned the thread on the stub axel and have ordered a new nut (it's worth noting that the hub nuts are handed, so the right one has a normal right hand thread, while the left has a left hand thread).
I also fitted two new pivot pin kits which rather frustratingly were supplied with very slightly undersize plain bearings. After much deliberation, the fix was to borrow a reamer from my friendly local engine re-manufacturer and carefully resize the bearings. They were only 0.2mm under size and once machined went together perfectly. I've fitted a number of pin kits in the past and this was the first time I have needed to machine them to fit.

The last two pictures above show the new Copper brake lines. I have included a protection sleeve, which is a length of thick plastic screen wash tube, slid over the Copper line before the end fittings are made. This gives a little extra protection, although not original and not essential, it's a technique I was taught when preparing cars for gravel rallying and it's very easy to do, so I tend to included it when ever I fit Copper lines near to the wheels.

Next up I have fitted the fuel pump, being a Cooper this is a solid state electric pump fitted to the rear subframe (the non Cooper cars had mechanical pumps fitted to the back of the engine block that ran from an additional lobe on the Camshaft).

That's as far as I have got at the back of the car, there is just the exhaust left to fit back here before the engine can be run. However there is still more work to be done elsewhere before that can happen. My next port of call is the interior, where there is some wiring to be done.

I had previously rested the binnacle in place to see how it looked. Now it's time to make the wiring connections and fit it properly, quite a fiddly job, but by no means impossible. I also fit the steering column so I can wire the column stalk multi-plug (for the indicators, high beam and horn).

I have managed to source an original steering wheel, although I'm still on the lookout for an "Austin" center, to replace the "Mini" one that came with it.

So with all this sorted out and fitted the interior is really taking shape

The last thing I have been up to is some plumbing and fitting out in the engine bay.

I have run the heater hoses through the bulkhead, fitted new choke and heater valve cables, a new throttle cable and routed the speedo cable. As mentioned before, I'm trying not to use plastic cable ties, so where necessary I have secured the hoses etc by using lock wire, protected with a strip of flexile rubber sheet (actually it's cut from a surplus inner tube).

So all that's left now, before the engine can fire, is a little more wiring, the heater needs to be refurbished, to complete the cooling circuit and the exhaust needs to be fitted! exciting indeed!

Finally for today I have taken delivery of a set of brand new reverse rims and tyres, so I'll leave you with a picture of them balanced in place.

As always, until my next update, thanks for your time and good luck with your projects.

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Subframe Carburetor and Distributor

8/21/2010

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Thanks for checking in on the blog, since my last update having installed the engine, I have had a week of holiday, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of Mini progress to update you with, far from it.

The first job after fitting the engine meant changing the order of my plan round, for a very good but rather unexpected reason. Originally I was thinking I would finish off everything in the engine bay before tackling the rear subframe and rear suspension. However I noticed when lifting the car back up to a higher setting on the axel stands that with the engine in place and virtually no weight in the back of the shell, the whole car wasn't actually all that stable, there was a small risk that it could end up toppling forwards! So I brought the rear subframe strip and re-build forwards, literally to balance out the assembly.

Having used the rear subframe for alignment duties during the shell welding I knew it was in pretty good condition under the rather badly applied red paint, but once stripped it became clear that this is a virtually new part, it really couldn't have been any better. So all I needed to do was make sure it stays that way for years to come. As with the front subframe I first applied a coat of red-oxide primer, and followed this with a number of coats of hard wearing engine enamel paint, you can see in the pictures below that the headlamp bowls are also getting the same treatment. On a hot summer day it was like working in an oven and the coats were dry almost before I had finished.

I then fitted the brake lines, the mounting brackets with new rubbers and the exhaust mounts before fitting it to the shell. Once in place the back of the car was nicely weighted down so I would be safe to continue my work at the front.

So, back to the engine bay. First up is a strip clean and rebuild of the distributor, it goes without saying that I have fitted a new set of points, a condenser a Rotor arm and a cap, the leads were new on the car when I bought it, otherwise I would have fitted a set of those as a matter of course too. It's also important to check that the vacuum actuator is working, the rubber diaphragm inside can perish, but fortunately this one is fine and just needs a clean and a coat of paint.

I then fit the Dynamo, as I have mentioned before the car was bought with an Alternator fitted, which was not the original specification for this period of car, so I have bought a new voltage regulator which is already fitted and this is a new dynamo. Then I have made a coil bracket to fit the coil in it's correct location above the Alternator, I did look but it proved impossible to find an original bracket, so mine is as close to original as I can get it, working from some pictures of old engines bays I found on the internet.

Next up is a big job, in fact it took about twice as long as I was anticipating, the Carburetor rebuild.

It only took longer than expected because I had forgotten just how many components there are in the carbs and they all need to be cleaned and made spotless. Plus of course, being a Mini Cooper there is a pair of them! So I had a happy couple of evenings in the degreasing tank (affectionately named the "Gunge Tank" by my daughter!).

There are some parts that can wear on the SU Mini carbs, the needle and jet are examples. However it’s very difficult to measure, and almost impossible to see needle and jet wear, so I have rebuilt using the original parts and will wait to assess their condition when the engine is running. With a running engine it will be apparent if there is wear (to be honest it was running quite well when I bought it so I don't expect to have an issue). I did however find significant wear on one of the throttle plate spindles, so I sourced a replacement, which came in a kit with new throttle plate screws directly from SU. Its worth passing on that SU are still in business and still sell spare parts in kits for their original products, which for the spindle I needed, was the cheapest I found (SU is actually part of Burlen Fuel Systems now, but they can be found under SU on the web).

As you can see in the pictures above I tackled one Carburetor at a time, even having stripped and rebuilt numerous of these, it's still worth restoring them individually, initially this is a good idea because you always have a fully assembled part for reference, but the main reason I do it this way is to make sure I don't mix up the parts for one side into the other and vice versa. It's important to put the same components back together in the place they came from because they will have bedded in there, and you will get unwanted clearance and / or faster wear if you don't put them back into their original location. Once complete it's time to put them back onto the engine, which also secures the exhaust manifold into place. So it's all coming together. I have also rebuilt the drive-shafts and front hubs, but I'll take you through that in the next blog.

Thanks as always, for your time. Before I sign off I should let you know that the car is now advertised on E-bay. My plan is to have it finished by the end of September, so the advert will hopefully create some interest ahead of that. After all, the sooner it sells the sooner I can start the process of looking for the next project! (However for now, this one is getting very exciting!)

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Front Subframe and Steering Rack Get Attention

7/23/2010

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Now the body shell is back from the paint shop I'm getting excited about the prospect of starting the re-assembly process, however before I can get carriend away there is some more restoration required.

First up is the Front Subframe. Fortunately this is in remarkably good condition and will only need stripping, rust protecting and painting, here are some pictures of it all stripped down.

All the other components receive much the same treatment, and where necessary I have replaced parts with new components. In this layout picture you can see I have new ball joints and brake discs, I'll also fit new wheel bearings and rubber bushes as a mater of course. The hubs, drive flanges and back plates (once stripped and re-painted with tough engine enamel paint), are ready to be used again, hopefully they will last another 41 years!

Here's something that you might not know. It's fairly common knowledge that the early Mini Coopers and Cooper S cars were fitted with front discs, in place of the standard cars front drum brakes. What you might not know is that on the Mk1 and Mk1 two cars the Cooper discs were 7" diameter while those on the Cooper S were 7 1/2" parts.

From Mk3 all the Coopers (whether S or not) used the 7 1/2" set up. This means that the 7" parts are getting quite difficult to find and it's not just the discs that are unique, the calipers, brake pads and drive flanges are all matched to the 7" specification.

Once all the parts are ready I can fit the suspension and brake lines back into the subframe. I have left the hubs off for the moment because it's mich easier to handle the subframe assembly without them, so they will be fitted after the subframe is in the car.

Next for attention is the steering rack, I follow much the same process as the subframe, but on the rack there are some measurements to make to ensure the right shims are fitted, and the running clearance is to specification once it's re-assembled.

Below are the "before" pictures, unfortunately the "during" and "after" pictures have been corrupted, so you'll have to wait to see just how nice and shiny I have managed to make it!

The next job I’m really looking forward to.... a chance to start fitting parts to the fresh body shell.

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Nearly Ready to Fire the Engine

Subframe Carburetor and Distributor

Front Subframe and Steering Rack Get Attention

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