rover v8 in mini clubman

[roger mcnab]

hi
another busy day working on bonnet for car to cover air cleaner which sits 20 mm to high but that is no worry as i got a sheet of 2mm thick alloy and it is big enough for the whole bonnet putting a pair of gt falcon air scoops in the front to feed air onto the air filter so it gets fed cool air
the alloy is a bit stiff but with a bit of effort it can be bent to shape so when finished will post pic fly wheel is in the planning stage soon to get turned up
crown wheel and pinion half way done just needs teeth cut along with the other hundreds of jobs still waiting
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi all
been making a bonnet for the mini from alloy a lot of fiddling about but almost ready for welding together just needs the hinge brackets fitted and some
bonnet lock downs like the mustangs and gt falcons had much neater than pins and clips
will send pic to timmy 201 for him to put up for me
cheers roger

[timmy201]

Today’s photos;

[roger mcnab]

thanks once again timmy201 it is good to have a friend to put pics on the site for me the first pic is the bonnet in the frabricating stage yet to be welded
the next pic is the carb with edelbrock proflo air cleaner in situ you can see the reason for the bonnet to have the center raised
the last is the bonnet on car the scoops are in line with the air cleaner
still a lot more work to be done the front end needs rebuilding but is held up because parts are slow in coming aust post has exclusive use of snail mail
well cheers for now roger

[roger mcnab]

hi
well have decided on using the old bonnet hinges and as the slam panel is cut away for extra room i will fit some gt falcon lock downs they are same as the mustang ones and look better than the pins and clips still no parts for the front end as yet
the rz 750 yamaha is starting to get my attention it was 80% finished when i decided on the mini well time will tell might have to change my supplier but i do not like to do that
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well time moving along faster than i hoped on the 4 th of dec i celebrate my 75 birthday and hope the next year sees the engine in the car and a move to getting it finished before i turn 80 but the way the parts do not come i seriously doubt that will happen
but to day i did some more work on the brake booster bracket to mount the booster near the drive end of engine a pic to follow when it is finished then start on the clutch master cylinder the brake one is a dual circuit one from a laser
cheers roger

[mk1]

Glad tohear that you are still making progress, all be it a bit slower than you would like. Isn't that always the case!

I look forward to hearing more soon.

[roger mcnab]

thanks mark 1 it gets a bit frustrating when after 3 months that the parts have not been sent yet that yamaha is looking good but if i fell of i could get hurt and that is not an option now but it would look nice finished
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hello again
finally got the lower arms for front suspension they came out of dons car as they were out of stock but they are a start had to use the press to straighten one
good reason to get it out of the box after 2 years been modifying the brake booster from ford laser also the wiper system from said laser as it will work in with the laser steering collum ? which the adrs require a collapsable one ? at 75 my spelling is not good
next year i hope to get an other gear box mk2 as the one i have has i crack in the rib where the bearing at the pinion is so no goodand also get engine bored and fly wheel and diff gears made so some work has to be done also get air /con pump set up in gaurd
cheersroger

[roger mcnab]

been fiddling about where the air con compressor can sit well the only place is into the left front mud guard on a platform that will allow v belts to be replaced
easyly but it will have to be well made as it is heavy but other progress is slow always waiting for parts
well cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well still waiting for parts to be sent but busy with the new front chassis rails making them out of 25 mm x 38 mm box section with 2 mm wall thickness
pain to weld unless all zinc is removed passenger side simple to do driver side is a bit more harder as i want to be able to change the clutch without removing the engine the front lifts of in 1 piece will send pic when done before welding in place
these will be joined so the front sub frame can be taken off they will go down the floor channel the pipes went for the suspension as this will run on coil overs
well some more parts may get here by christmas
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well have been the shed for ages making the chassis rails to replace the cut off front half of the sub frame and can report that all is well with them welded on
they are quite solid and were tricky to weld as the box section is galvinised and needs to be ground back to bare metal to get a good weld
i am pleased at how good the gasless mig works really good welds with .9 wire 100% better than .8
the driver side rail is shaped to allow the bell housing to be removed with the engine in place makes for easier clutch plate changes no engine out just drain 6 litres of oil and unbolt and easy
will send pics soon
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi all
been busy cutting and welding the sub frame so i can fit the hardy spicer joints all fitted up into the gear box complete and not struggle doing them up in the small space where they will be a lot easier as the slip joint would be inaccessable to fit the boot
getting the fly wheel made so more progress might have to lower the gearbox face to get the clutch shaft to line up maybe
well soon time to attack the body and also make the wiring loom fun wel keep up the good work
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well it never rains but pours i just got news that the roller bearing on the first motion shaft is not available part no 22h303 these gearboxes are as rare as rocking horse poo will have to clean out the shed and see if i can find the good old one
well the new flywheel is made up and the diff gears are also about to be made so some things are going well
still have to make room for radiator will move the grill forward a bit and alter the bonnet to suit no radiator in boot it will still look a bit like a clubman
well i need to get over the flu so i can get some more done been cold here as winter is coming
cheers and keep on welding etc roger

[roger mcnab]

well an up date on the roller bearing which i was told was no longer available on checking with the local bearing shop it is still available so that was a great help
also found on the web that a group in sweden has 3 0f that bearing in stock but do not answer e mails
well i found on the net that basils bolts have lots of stainless bolt and cap bolt sets for a lot of vehicles as they are in england they are expensive in aud but a lot easier than looking for them over here especially unf and unc gets a bit tricky
will be getting parts from a more reliable supplier as sick of waiting 6 months for parts and no reply to phone calls
some parts are cheaper to buy here than england i recently bought a set of arp main bearing cap studs for a fraction of the price quoted from england but when searching must specify australia or get the prices in us dollars
flywheel for rover v8to austin 1800 is finished but waiting for engineer to come back from tour of indigenous sites in the gulf he does this as a side line and it takes ages the diff gears are being done as we speak so things are happening
well keep up the good work
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well not much action in the shed of late i picked up a virus and was crook for a few weeks but on the mend so will start on the mini soon just waiting for parts to come but in the mean time i am starting to get info together for the next project a unipower gt replica this will be a challenge as i will have to do it all here in australia will have same power set up as my mini so should be interesting
well cheers for now roger

[roger mcnab]

well have started to collect some bits for the unipower project i have got the tr4 windscreen frame from a guy in adelaide who has about 9 different trs also organized the 3.5 rover v8 and austin 1800 gear box so by the time i finish the mini i should be on the way with the next one
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well i need to get back to my first job
and not spend so much time chasing bits for the unipower but as i have got most of the main hard to find parts for that one i will focus a lot more time on the mini
but first my daughter conned me into making a wooden kitchen for her new /old house that they are renovating so a few weeks and that will be gone but having to do this required a clean out of the shed so more room will be getting the new gears for the diff soon and also the flywheel so that will make a bit of progress
also need to get the bonnet welded up thought about doing it myself but to get a tig and the gas would cost more than the weld job
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi
been a while but have been tracking down parts for the uni gt but have finally got to have a talk with my mini parts supplier in victoria about getting the parts for the front drive brakes hubs outer cvs drive flanges while waiting for these to come i decided to remove the old bearings in upper control arm stubben ? little beggars took a lot of effort with bearing puller but they finally gave up now to paint it and install new bearings with press
cheers roger mcnab

[timmy201]

Here’s Roger’s latest photo