EcoClassic Electric Mk1 Austin Mini

[Bitsilly]

The Mini in the garage!

[underkut]

Fully understand.
It took over 30 years for me to finish my project (i say finish, but they are never finished)
Work, girlfriend, who became wife, 3 kids , starting a business, fixing the house, extending the house, all got in the way of progress.
I am lucky enough that i know only work 3 days a week and progress on the mini and my 1300gt over the last 4 years have pushed them both on.
When you are young you have all the energy, but there are betting things to spend your evenings on that a damp garage.with age allows the time but still lacking on energy some times.
Still you cant rush these things can you.
Cheers

[Bitsilly]

Hi all,
I have been testing and de-bugging the 'old' side of the 12V loom/supply for the car.
I thought I should share a couple of points.
Some of the branches of the old loom are obviously redundant (starter motor, fuel pump etc) and there is no need for a number of the components they supply, BUT occasionally some of the power supplies or earths are connected with others on the back of the component. Sometimes the connections might be made with dual spade terminals. For example, my wipers and heater fan did not power up and it turned out two of the green wires connect at the fuel gauge, once connected everything was fine. Sometimes the two wires would be run to the same female connector and so are connected but just be aware it is not always the case!
Another issue was the flasher relay. I had fitted a new one but it was duff. Following a bit of help from the forum I went and found a new-old-stock one and it worked perfectly. So I concur with others here by saying some of the new ones are rubbish.
Still awaiting rear battery pack, then things will get rolling again.
Cheers
Ed

[timmy201]

Modern flashers are ok if you don’t buy “Lucas” ones. They are a pretty generic item so you can pick good ones up anywhere. If you’ve got a mix of LED and incandescent bulbs you may need a “non-load” flasher to get a decent flashing speed

[Bitsilly]

Yep, it was a ‘Lucas’ one!
The current one is now working well with the leds thankfully. As usual I was trying to stick to stock traditional, a little bit moot I know as it is next to a battery pack and motor but the approach seems to be working. I love the old and new side by side.
If the flasher goes again I may get back to you! Thanks for the advice.
Cheers
Ed

[mk1]

I just love this project Ed. I really want to do similar with my Moke at some point in the future.

[Bitsilly]

Thanks Mark, as I've said before, I couldn't do it without the forum.

As the debugging is now complete, the dash has gone in finally. I absolutely love it!
Stereo not in yet, but it is so simple and uncluttered I may not bother!

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[Bitsilly]

You may have noticed the door light trigger. I decided this was prudent as where the car will be parked at my wife's work is super dark in the winter.
As there is no courtesy light there I hid one!

[Bitsilly]

There is also an override switch for the interior lights on the top of the binnacle, using a period switch. From this angle you can see the LED strip light. Normally the light is hidden. One on the top, one at the back of the shelf front and one beneath the shelf (actually it is one which snakes).

[Bitsilly]

Also under the shelf is the control for the heated seat and a USB charger.

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[Bitsilly]

The current plan for the drive selection is this, it may change!
The top legend illuminates with the car lights and when one is selected (momentary switches) the lower warning light stays on.
I don't think it looks too out of place except for the legends which may go once I am used to it, red reverse, green go, so even I may remember it!!

[Bitsilly]

The high beam warning light on the speedo will be operational, and the fuel gauge will be linked to give the battery capacity remaining.

[mk1]

Bitsilly, The more I see of your build, the more I like it.

Reall attention to detail & some brilliant innovation.

We all love our old Mini's but to see one with a genuinely new twist is an inspiration.

[Bitsilly]

Cheers Mark!

Just a little post today!
Finished the drive selection panel and started to wire it in, but IMO it was too bright.
Swopped from parallel to series and it is much better, certainly better than my photography!

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The momentary switches arrived and were fitted, they point up so far they obscure the legends, however and luckily, when fitted low on the shelf the are perfect!
They will be working once Nick finishes the rear battery pack and it is fitted.

[Bitsilly]

This post is not my-car-specific but not worth a separate thread like the indicator inclusive wing mirrors one.
It is just about fitting the edging strip to an 850.
The car came with unused trim which had the extra lip. Turns out this was bought by previous owner as he had intended it to be a Cooper lookalike.
Anyway I had a go at fitting it and cannot ever remember anything more difficult to get right! Hot water, heat gun, nothing I could do made it work!
So before bodging on, I checked with the genuine experts on this site if this trim was the correct one to fit. The consensus was that the deluxe 850 model like mine would have come with a very plain 3-piece stainless edge trim.
Relieved, I bought a very good match from Car Builder Solutions, stainless foil in a plastic u-profile.
It bent a lot better but I still ditched my first attempt as it kinked and flattened and looked terrible, which leads me to the reason for this post as I know fitting the trim is a dark science and lots of forum members have had trouble. This way was really quick and painless (eventually!).

First I recommend the trim from CBS. Second, it too comes from a large roll and so is curved. Third, don't forget the original was in 3 pieces.
The second attempt was really successful because I gave up heating it other than the slightest amount (say the lowest on a hairdryer).
Step one is to use the existing curve to fit it to the wheel arches and keep going into the reverse curve, above the sill, until it starts to kink, and cut it there.
Now flip the roll over, I can't believe this didn't occur to me the first attempt but this trim is symmetric so it does not matter, but now the curve is in the same direction as the small curve and the trim bends enough to fit with no kinks.
You can choose your own method to glue it or use clips but I would guess silicone is a good choice as its waterproof. Good advice from this forum is also to make sure the painted lip is sealed before fitting the trip and so won't rust.
Having got it so wrong before I thought I would share this method in case anyone is ever in the same boat.
Here is the result. Zero kinks for the first time!
Amazing amount of thought/trouble for such a small task!!
Cheers

rsz_img_4768.jpg

[Bitsilly]

rsz_img_4770.jpg

[mk1]

That looks tidy!

[W1NG3D]

Nice job, I've fitted the MiniSpares "deluxe" chrome trim a couple of times (the one with the extra curve on it like you mentioned), it's never been a fun task. Probably would've made my life a lot easier to fit in three separate sections as you've done!

[gs.davies]

This is one of the greatest build threads I've ever seen, incredible work keeping the appearance of the MK1 but incorporating electric drivetrain, heated seats etc etc.. Awesome, can't wait to see it charged and running!

[rpb203]

That’s exactly what I was thinking - and do every time a new post comes up on this one.
Would be great to see it finished as I am sure a lot on here are as well.