Camels Mini

Camel · January 10, 2013

:toetap:

I got between 45 and 55 mpg too. :)

Although my oil is going down rather quickly... :eek:

The Compensator · January 10, 2013

Sounds like a Trabant. :hide:

CDMC · January 10, 2013

can i please see the video now?

EDIT: finally works :)

Camel · January 11, 2013

New speakers came today so I set them up. No bass at all so :hmmm:. Turns out the person who put the wiring in mixed up the + and - cables so I just swapped them around on one speaker and voila, they sound awesome!

But with something good comes something bad. Went up to my brothers only to see that my car decided to take a pee on his driveway. Lost about half a litre of coolant liquid and a small blob of oil. :eek: Whilst faffing around under the car trying to spot the leak I noticed that there's a bolt missing from the timing cover and it looks like that's where some of the oil was coming from! And the blob of oil was around where the gearbox linkage goes into the transmission which shouldn't be too difficult.

I made it home and the oil level had gone up to what it was before(probably parked on a slight hill before) and the coolant hadn't leaked anymore but was steaming a little. I'd only driven about 4 or 5 miles in total.

Oh, someone nearly put a dent in my car too. He decided to cross the road without looking and no ABS = almost needing new jeans. :lol:

Ryzza5 · January 11, 2013

You're always almost crashing into things :p

Camel · January 11, 2013

He almost crashed into me. He did crap himself when he heard my tyres sliding down the hill towards him.

Maybe that's what made my car have a pee. :lol:

Just ordered about £100 worth of parts too. Not sure when they'll get here though.

Ryzza5 · January 11, 2013

You should know how to brake better than ABS anyway? Haven't you ever done threashold braking before? It's actually quicker than relying on ABS since ABS completely takes off the brakes ~8 times per second to stop the wheels locking.

Camel · January 11, 2013

Knowing how to and being able to do it the first time you try are two very different things. This is the first car I've driven with no ABS and the first time I've had to break hard in it. And with me turning off a roundabout going down a wet hill, it just made it ever so slightly more difficult...

Camel · January 14, 2013

:yay:

My car runs awesomely now. Cleaned the air filter and it's stopped the rattling noise when I accelerate and it lets me actually accelerate. Now I can do 25mph in first gear easily and it's still in the power band. Before it sounded like it was going to blow up doing 10-15 in first. :lol:

It also sounds like a car now when I'm driving it rather than a tractor. Much faster too which means my MPG will plummet. >.<

Just waiting for my anti-freeze and the new thermostat to fix the cooling, it's not good at that at the moment. The oil seal kit and suspension parts will be coming at the same time too.

It's also brilliant in the snow, I could do hill starts on steep hills where even some 4x4s were struggling to get up. :lol:

TIMELESS · January 14, 2013

It's also brilliant in the snow, I could do hill starts on steep hills where even some 4x4s were struggling to get up. :lol:

Thin tyres Mellors.. thin tyres. :evil:

The Compensator · January 14, 2013

Thin tyres Mellors.. thin tyres. :evil:

And good tires... good tires. :evil:

Camel · January 14, 2013

They're wider than stock though!

Also managed to slide it all the way around a car park roundabout as the minibus driver from worked laughed. Had quite an angle too, was right fun. xD until the speed bumps broke my back even at less than 5mph. >.<

Even in 2nd gear if I put my foot down in snow it just digs in and grips as if it's just a bit wet.

Ryzza5 · January 14, 2013

Just don't drive near any walls ;)

Great to hear you've improved it

Milli · January 14, 2013

Nice little car. You still have the Focus though?

Camel · January 15, 2013

Nice little car. You still have the Focus though?

Yea, still insured on that too. Drove it a couple of days ago for the first time in a few weeks and didn't like it at all! There's just no feeling to it.

Camel · January 16, 2013

Great news. The absolute retard who last put the bottom hose on the radiator decided to do it the wrong way! So the hose clip screw points right at the bulkhead so it's almost impossible to get a screw driver onto it. He did this rather than making it so the screw pointed straight up to the bonnet between the bulkhead and the radiator.

So my radiator is full of crap and doesn't work properly which means my car overheats rather quickly. And there's no way to fix it! Oh and I ripped my hand to shreds trying as the fan blades are rather sharp.

All because of Rover in their infinite wisdom decided to remove the cooling system drain plugs from both the radiator and cylinder block. :rolleyes:

Camel · January 27, 2013

Well all of my parts came!

Although nothing at all went to plan. I broke a rather large, strong 12" monkey wrench compressing the suspension to get the old bits out. According to my brother it's because I went into hulk mode when doing it. He's bigger and stronger than me but he couldn't turn the big nut when I could. :lol:

So I broke the wrench which resulted in it hitting the rocker cover and me falling flat on my arse. I think I'm going to pay to have it done at a garage as I injured myself doing the safe easy bit. The next part was where you can lose fingers or eyes if the compression tool breaks.

I also broke my new screwdriver trying to get a bolt from the radiator bracket with the socket attachment on it. The bolt is pretty damn corroded and it's the wrong size for the hole...

So all in all I broke my 2 most expensive tools, fell over and accomplished nothing in an entire day. =D

Still love it though, awesome little it.

E: Oh, it also starts first time in -7C within a second or two after it's not been started for days which is pretty damn good to say it's which the thick oil. It starts quicker than my dads car in the cold and that's over 20 years newer. :hmmm:

Jacob · January 28, 2013

You need to buy yourself some rust penetrate really helps with corroded parts. It has saved me many a skinned knuckle, and my tools from flying across the room. Glad to see the little Mini's coming to life :thumbsup:

Camel · January 28, 2013

I'm gonna ask the garage to try one of their power tools when I take it in for the suspension. They offered to lend me some tools so I could do the suspension at home so I don't wee why they'd say no.

And I would do it at home, but I value my fingers too much. If the compression tools breaks when I'm taking the trumpets and knuckle joints out I'd lose some fingers.

His face fell off. :(

TIMELESS · January 28, 2013

so I could do the suspension at home so I don't wee

:mhmm:

Camel · January 28, 2013

See, wee, what's the difference? *shrug*

TIMELESS · January 28, 2013

:hmmm:

Jacob · February 3, 2013

I'm gonna ask the garage to try one of their power tools when I take it in for the suspension. They offered to lend me some tools so I could do the suspension at home so I don't wee why they'd say no.

And I would do it at home, but I value my fingers too much. If the compression tools breaks when I'm taking the trumpets and knuckle joints out I'd lose some fingers.]

With air tools. Its extremely important to use the proper impact sockets. You can't just use regular chrome sockets. But once you have the correct sockets theres really nothing to worry about. I use compression tools everyday and have never had anything shatter or break. Sorry if it sounds like im always trying to shove advice down your throat. Just trying to be helpful.

Camel · February 3, 2013

I managed to free the seized bolt myself. Eventually.

I used somebodies hair dryer on it *cough cough*, let it cool down a bit and then used my screw driver with the right socket on the end, stuck another screw driver through he end of mine so it was sticking out sideways then slowly wiggled it and it eventually came free.

Managed to get the radiator out and flushed the entire cooling system. Was shocked at how much crap actually came out of it. Got the radiator back in but it was too dark to tighten up the bottom hose properly. Hopefully going to get it finished off today so no more overheating! *crosses fingers*

Also learnt not to try and flush the engine block when the thermostat is in, the water won't get past it as it's closed and it'll just squirt back out the hose and cover me. :fp: