Post by 9fsay on Jun 2, 2014 20:40:50 GMT 2
This post is copied from the MOCKZN forum. I'm Abri, Austin850 on there.
I found the car on gumtree, based in East London. It was sold as a non runner project having been scrapped (last on the road in 1999). I bought it because it looked a very complete, unmolested car. After about a year of not having enough space for another mini I finally bit the bullet a couple of months ago, also because the owner significantly reduced the price, making it worthwhile to ship the car from East London to Cape Town on an auto carrier.
Here are some pics of the car as advertized.
Front
Interior
Engine bay
The first order of business was getting the motor running. I gave it a thorough service (plugs, points, filters, oil, rocker clearances, carb cleanout), fitted a spare fuel pump and fuel hose that I had. Also fitted a replacement early radiator. I replaced the floor start button which was dead.....and vroom! For a short while it ran and then started blowing water and steam out of the radiatior cap :shock: Fearing the worst, I decided to remove the rad again and check the water pump - only to find the pump is blocked solid (and I mean SOLID) with weird white deposits on the alloy. I cleaned it up and the bearings in it sounded fine, so I refitted it. After sorting that out it ran perfectly! It sounded a bit like a Harley Davidson because the exhaust had rotted off under the car, but I was stoked.
Next up I got a second hand exhaust from Mini HA HA on this forum (thanks!) and now it is running very quietly.
So the motor was running but it couldn't drive yet because the clutch slave was seized. I couldn't get the pedal down no matter how hard I stomped on it. With a second hand clutch slave fitted (new seals) and the clutch master seals replaced, I could slowly drive it backwards and forwards in the garage because the brakes weren't working yet. :lol:
Set to work on that immediately...replaced all brake cylinders...all were seized solid. Refurbed the brake master with new seals. I also got a second hand set of handbrake cables from Gary (local mini specialist) because the brake cables were snapped. Brakes working? Check!
So I could take the car for short illegal spins nearby because I was too excited to drive it before I could go through the list of things to repair to get it ready for roadworthy.
This list included replacing or cleaning up/refurbing all ball joints, fitting new CV boots, tie rod ends, track rod rubbers, rear indicator lenses, front indicator bulbs, number plate light bulbs....the list goes on.
In the mean time I started cleaning out decades of dirt from the engine bay and pretty much everywhere else....making the engine bay look like this.
Also removed door cards, rear parcel shelf and rear quarter panel cards and did a big clean up. I removed the vinyl from the old broken/warped/water damaged cardboard. Using the old panels as templates I cut new ones out of new cardboard with a jigsaw and glued the original vinyl back. Fitted it ended up like this.
I also spent a bit of time restoring the faded paintwork with a restorative wax. The colour came back quite well, but it needs a respray to be honest.
Here it is now
So since these pictures were taken, I've got it through roadworthy and back on the road legally. This involved taking it through police clearance. The traffic dept issues one with a temporary license if you can drive your car to police clearance....but also because getting it back on the road requires a weight certificate as well. So I had to take the car to a weigh bridge and get that certificate which is one of the requirements that the roadworthy center checks for when you take it for the test. Once small hiccup during the test was that the tester took the car out for a spin and drove it around in tight circles in a parking lot, pulling one of the drive shafts out of a CV joint in the process. This was obviously my fault having not refitted the CV joint properly (anyone who's done that job will know what an f@%$&!g nightmare those little circlips are....or maybe its just me being incompetent). So the guy came walking back saying there's something "wrong"with the car. I sorted that and double checked the one at the other wheel. All fine. So it is now legally on the road and my extremely slow daily driver
I also cut a new set of carpets. Here is the front one fitted. I sewed on a later Leyland heel mat to the drivers' side footwell and got some loose offcut sections of carpet at protective overmats. The bulkhead original vinyl is loose and that is the brown thing you can see on the floor in this pic. Needs to be stuck back into position.
Also fitted new sliding window channels - from Minispares UK.
One original rear bin liner was still in the car but the card was too badly damaged to use, so I used it as a template to make up two new cards. Bought some vinyl in a close enough colour and texture and some card backing and set to work.
Vinyl comparison
Card being stuck to vinyl
Job done
Fitted
Next I have to fit a new timing chain and engine mountings. I think I'll pull the motor, do this and sommer clean it up properly and give it a new coat of BMC green paint. Lots of work but fun times!
I found the car on gumtree, based in East London. It was sold as a non runner project having been scrapped (last on the road in 1999). I bought it because it looked a very complete, unmolested car. After about a year of not having enough space for another mini I finally bit the bullet a couple of months ago, also because the owner significantly reduced the price, making it worthwhile to ship the car from East London to Cape Town on an auto carrier.
Here are some pics of the car as advertized.
Front
Interior
Engine bay
The first order of business was getting the motor running. I gave it a thorough service (plugs, points, filters, oil, rocker clearances, carb cleanout), fitted a spare fuel pump and fuel hose that I had. Also fitted a replacement early radiator. I replaced the floor start button which was dead.....and vroom! For a short while it ran and then started blowing water and steam out of the radiatior cap :shock: Fearing the worst, I decided to remove the rad again and check the water pump - only to find the pump is blocked solid (and I mean SOLID) with weird white deposits on the alloy. I cleaned it up and the bearings in it sounded fine, so I refitted it. After sorting that out it ran perfectly! It sounded a bit like a Harley Davidson because the exhaust had rotted off under the car, but I was stoked.
Next up I got a second hand exhaust from Mini HA HA on this forum (thanks!) and now it is running very quietly.
So the motor was running but it couldn't drive yet because the clutch slave was seized. I couldn't get the pedal down no matter how hard I stomped on it. With a second hand clutch slave fitted (new seals) and the clutch master seals replaced, I could slowly drive it backwards and forwards in the garage because the brakes weren't working yet. :lol:
Set to work on that immediately...replaced all brake cylinders...all were seized solid. Refurbed the brake master with new seals. I also got a second hand set of handbrake cables from Gary (local mini specialist) because the brake cables were snapped. Brakes working? Check!
So I could take the car for short illegal spins nearby because I was too excited to drive it before I could go through the list of things to repair to get it ready for roadworthy.
This list included replacing or cleaning up/refurbing all ball joints, fitting new CV boots, tie rod ends, track rod rubbers, rear indicator lenses, front indicator bulbs, number plate light bulbs....the list goes on.
In the mean time I started cleaning out decades of dirt from the engine bay and pretty much everywhere else....making the engine bay look like this.
Also removed door cards, rear parcel shelf and rear quarter panel cards and did a big clean up. I removed the vinyl from the old broken/warped/water damaged cardboard. Using the old panels as templates I cut new ones out of new cardboard with a jigsaw and glued the original vinyl back. Fitted it ended up like this.
I also spent a bit of time restoring the faded paintwork with a restorative wax. The colour came back quite well, but it needs a respray to be honest.
Here it is now
So since these pictures were taken, I've got it through roadworthy and back on the road legally. This involved taking it through police clearance. The traffic dept issues one with a temporary license if you can drive your car to police clearance....but also because getting it back on the road requires a weight certificate as well. So I had to take the car to a weigh bridge and get that certificate which is one of the requirements that the roadworthy center checks for when you take it for the test. Once small hiccup during the test was that the tester took the car out for a spin and drove it around in tight circles in a parking lot, pulling one of the drive shafts out of a CV joint in the process. This was obviously my fault having not refitted the CV joint properly (anyone who's done that job will know what an f@%$&!g nightmare those little circlips are....or maybe its just me being incompetent). So the guy came walking back saying there's something "wrong"with the car. I sorted that and double checked the one at the other wheel. All fine. So it is now legally on the road and my extremely slow daily driver
I also cut a new set of carpets. Here is the front one fitted. I sewed on a later Leyland heel mat to the drivers' side footwell and got some loose offcut sections of carpet at protective overmats. The bulkhead original vinyl is loose and that is the brown thing you can see on the floor in this pic. Needs to be stuck back into position.
Also fitted new sliding window channels - from Minispares UK.
One original rear bin liner was still in the car but the card was too badly damaged to use, so I used it as a template to make up two new cards. Bought some vinyl in a close enough colour and texture and some card backing and set to work.
Vinyl comparison
Card being stuck to vinyl
Job done
Fitted
Next I have to fit a new timing chain and engine mountings. I think I'll pull the motor, do this and sommer clean it up properly and give it a new coat of BMC green paint. Lots of work but fun times!
