Keeping sane during the isolation lockdown

[iain1967s]

Haven’t made much progress on the mini in the last 4 months...

With Massachusetts on lockdown for essential trips only, and none of the usual car shows and driving events to attend, I didn’t really have much motivation to spend my weekends working on the car.

But we had a rare warm autumn day today, so I decided it was well past time that I get out of the house to go rolling around in old oil and grime on the floor of the lockup garage that I rent for the mini. [I hasten to add, the grime and oil is not from my mini. It’s left over from the Mustang that the previous tenant stored there]

Anyway, a new personal best. 2 hours 32 minutes from opening the bonnet, to engine out of the car.

Now if we get some more mild days I can get on with my odd-jobs list, such as converting back from QL5000 yokes to Hardy Spicers, changing the exhaust manifold, and generally tidying things up after three years of “minimalist maintenance”; installing the new engine and box won’t be until Easter at the earliest.

[iain1967s]

Next job is to rebuild the brake servo. Generally it works ok, but makes a strange whooping noise when the engine gets warm. Also, the brakes have a tendency to bind on due to the filter being bunged up.

[MiNiKiN]

You have a Munich number plate - how comes?

[iain1967s]

You have a Munich number plate - how comes?

Car is originally a German export model per the Heritage certificate.

Most classic minis in this area of USA are later imports from he UK, many still carrying their original DVLA plates, so I figured I’d use a German plate just to be different It’s just a random German plate I got off eBay complete with original 1967 dated TÜV sticker, really just to be a talking point at car shows.

Local state RMV doesn’t seem to care what’s displayed up front, its registered as an antique car with a single [rear] ‘year of manufacture’ number plate.

[MiNiKiN]

I never understood why you are not required to show a front plate in some US states - Over here for using a different foreign plate, you would at least be asked some intimidating questions by the cops and probably done for document falsification.

You in the US and UK are really lucky that the authorities don't seem to care much about car modifications - not like here in Austria where you almost have to go through homologation for every sticker you put on your car (exaggerating, but not much )

[InnoCooperExport]

Next job is to rebuild the brake servo. Generally it works ok, but makes a strange whooping noise when the engine gets warm. Also, the brakes have a tendency to bind on due to the filter being bunged up.

Whatever you do don't try to split the filter! According to Lockheed you can best clean them out with white spirits. You can see a manual for them on the mk1-performance main page. The filters are quite costly to replace but not difficult to do.

[MiNiKiN]

Whatever you do don't try to split the filter! According to Lockheed you can best clean them out with white spirits. You can see a manual for them on the mk1-performance main page. The filters are quite costly to replace but not difficult to do.

You now make me curious and anxious - do you know why the filter should not be disassembled? Asking for a friend

[InnoCooperExport]

If you look on page 8 of the manual for the servo as shown here:

http://mk1-performance-conversions.co.u ... _servo.pdf

It states you can, and should, clean the filter but not disassemble it. I take that to mean you can remove the whole filter unit from the servo but not remove the cap with the filter in it. So don't push the metal tabs in that hold the cap with holes in it. I think the inside is a mess of springs, rubber, and some sort of packed filter gauze.

[UHR850]

Did have the time to do some repairwork on a FORMEL woodrim steeringwheel.

FORMEL was the German opposite for the British Formula steeringwheel. It's a very nice wooden wheel and a very good strong quality.

Kees.

[UHR850]

Did a small job the otherday, because my Microcell Bucked Seat is far more heavy than
my original seat I did put in a new set of brackeds to make everything a bit stronger.

Kees.

[Rolandino]

You should make a batch and sellthem. You'll make a small fortune! If you do make some more, give me a PM please....

[GraemeC]

You should make a batch and sellthem. You'll make a small fortune! If you do make some more, give me a PM please....

They are made by John Betts (JB Fabrication):
https://www.facebook.com/JBFabrication/ ... 8973586704

£29.50 per set.

[UHR850]

https://jbfab.co.uk/product/extended-seat-brackets/

[iain1967s]

Can’t believe it’s been three months since my last update...

Weather here in Massachusetts is still too cold to work on the mini in its unheated garage, yet spring is hopefully just around the corner - so figured I should finally get started on the long to-do list.

Of course I haven’t installed the new S engine and box yet, but some baby steps...

The brake servo has been making a strange whooping noise when the engine had warmed up, and I thought maybe diaphragm wasn’t sealing properly.

But when I took the vacuum control valve cover off the brake servo, I found that it was full of brake fluid. Evidently the seals on the pistons are well past their best, so it’s probable the bores aren’t in particularly great condition either.

I was originally intending to rebuild it myself, but after seeing the general state of things I decided it would be better to send the whole servo off to be rebuilt properly.

In the meantime, I did make up a brake line adaptor to bypass the servo temporarily, so the brakes will at least be usable if I get the engine back in and running before the servo is ready.

[iain1967s]

Out with the old, getting ready for in with the not quite so old...

The newly built engine has been sitting next to the old one in my rented, unheated garage since November, and there are already a few small areas of surface rust to be touched up.

But by far the worst is the bare alloy of the NOS water pump, which has completely whitened from oxidation of the bare aluminium.

I was already reconsidering my choice to use that pump anyway, as I really don’t know what condition the internal rubber seal would be in after sitting on the shelf for so many years.

So instead I will use a modern MiniSpares Evo pump, and give it a coat of paint to avoid the corrosion.

[iain1967s]

A little bit of automotive archeology...

When I bought my Mini, a previous owner had fitted a 10-row oil cooler similar to the MG Midget / Cooper 997 had. It was leaking from a stone puncture, so I had already changed it for a new Mocal 13-row cooler back in 2018. However, I was never really happy with how it fitted up behind the grille; it was very close to fouling on the edge of the distributor cap.

The bottom lip of the front panel where the cooler fits behind the grille is supposed to be folded flat on the S, with two L-shaped brackets to support the taller 13-row cooler lower down in the aperture. But a previous owner had fitted a replacement front panel without that flat, and instead of using the proper L brackets had just MIG welded two brackets onto the edge of the lower lip.

With this modification, it offsets the oil cooler mounting too high up, and too far back toward the engine, for the correct 13-row cooler to be used. So I guess that’s why they fitted the shorter 10-row cooler. One bodge on top of another.

So next up is to install the Nippycars 13-row oil cooler kit - but this time, properly.

First I had to get the grinder out and slice off the MIG welded brackets... then carefully dolly the lip back so that it is flat enough for the length of the cooler and brackets, and a lick of paint to tidy it up. The back edge is still a bit rough looking, but fortunately should not be visible after the cooler is installed.

Once the brackets are fitted, the oil cooler should properly straddle the lip of the front panel, rather than sitting on top of it, to give correct clearance for the distributor cap with the taller 13-row cooler.

[Peter Laidler]

Been following this great engine building thread Iain. Kept me busy reading for hours!!!!! You mention that it didn't have an oil cooler plus it had QH drive couplings. Did it start its life as a Cooper? while in Germany. I never quite saw why BMC didn't use QH's from the word go.

Having a servo by-pass hydraulic brake pipe (Master cyl direct to 3-way connection on bulkhead) is a good idea too. Ive got one that I can quickly install especially if I want/need to work in that area for clutch. Or as I needed to last Summer or so, to replace the bulkhead engine steady bracket. I've also a rubber bung that I can plug the manifold vacuum take-off.

I had my servo disconnected for the whole Summer and to be honest, I didn't really notice the increase in operative effort.

[iain1967s]

Hi Peter, thanks for taking an interest.

When I bought the car, it came with two engines. The installed engine was a MED A+ 1380, and the second engine was a disassembled Cooper S 1293. The gearbox in the car was a later 4-synchro 22G846 gearbox with yoke diff, probably changed early in the 70s.

My aim is to get the car back to it's 1967 factory specification as best I can. To begin, I reassembled that pile of S engine bits and installed it in the car (details here) and sold/installed the MED to a local club member's car (details here).

Since then, I've learned that the casting code of that S engine block indicates it was cast second shift on 8th October 1965. Whereas my car was built 7th April 1967 as German market S per the heritage certificate I received for the chassis number. So neither the engine nor the box were original to my car.

My car does have some other original 1967 S features intact, including factory straps for the second tank, so it does look to be a genuine Cooper S. The inside of the car has never been resprayed, and it also it still has a lot of early 67 date coded parts such as glass, switches, wiper motor and fusebox etc. and the FE number is in range for early 1967 so I have no reason to doubt the body is not original to the car. One of the original Petroflex 'S' type oil cooler hoses survived, so the car does seem to have been factory oil cooled, so really I'm just undoing the bodges done by previous owners to put things back as the were originally.

The 'new' S engine I built for the car has a casting code from first shift 1st Feb 1967. That's a lot closer to the build date of my car, so I am calling it period correct... whereas the 'new' 333 box has a June 64 stamped date - not ideal, as it has the earlier thin nose transfer gear - but 333 cases aren't exactly easy to come by so it'll have to do. But I have made a point to building it up with all 1967 spec parts including Hardy Spicer flanges to replace the yokes.

One thing I've learned since building the engine is that the convex tappet chest covers while correct for the '65 engine, would have been concave by the time the '67 engine was assembled. Blanchards have NOS of the later type, so I will change those over before I get the engine installed - I know nobody can see it, but OCD will forever be nagging at me if I don't fix my own mistake I'll reuse the NOS convex covers when I rebuild the '65 engine so they won't go to waste.

[iain1967s]

Finally got my COVID shot, so things are looking up here in Massachusetts. No car shows on the horizon yet, but maybe the summer driving season won't be a complete washout after all. Before then, I still have a long list of jobs to do while the engine is out of the car, so best get cracking...

I've already swapped over from yoke to Hardy Spicer couplings on the driveshafts, in preparation for the 'new' gearbox. Original rubber gaiters were still supple, so those will stay in place given how poor modern reproduction rubber is these days. Just a liberal re-greasing, and and easy job done.

With a bit of adjustment to the L brackets, the new Nippycars retro oil cooler kit fits snugly into the newly re-profiled front panel lip, and my less than professional attempts at panel beating are fortunately not visible.

Next up is to make a new brake line that goes around the front subframe as it is showing some corrosion [i.e. the end sheared off when I undid the union], and while I'm there I may as well replace the flexi hoses with original black reinforced rubber type since I'll have to bleed the front brake circuit again anyway.

Ideally with the engine out I would paint the engine bay back to body colour, because currently it's daubed with chassis black. But as that was done during its 70's/80's racing years, I think - along with the cut front wheel arches - it can stay for now as part of the patina. Plus, I really don't fancy dropping the subframe out to paint the bulkhead properly.

[iain1967s]

Changed from pre-66 convex to post-66 concave tappet chest covers, and finally I can drop the engine back in.