Camels Mini

Camel · February 3, 2013

:hmmm:

It's painful, I have chunks of skin missing from my hands and fingers. Big hands are no good working on a mini engine. :(

Noticing that my screwdriver thingy had a hole through the top of it that I could put another screwdriver through was annoying. Don't know why I didn't notice it sooner.

Although I did sheer a bolt on a hose clip.

Camel · February 7, 2013

And have a bonus image!

It runs really well now. Managed 50 miles of country driving and didn't overheat, not anywhere near overheating!

Also managed 38MPG and that included over an hour of idling at 1500rpm whilst I cleaned the cooling system. Not bad me thinks.

Fear Deer · February 7, 2013

Isn't the road big enough for you?

Oh I see, you are one of those, who think they are the kings of the road.

Yea Yea, i get the whole picture. :U

(lovely car ahah x) )

CarMadMike · February 7, 2013

Are those relentless cans yours?

The car's looking fantastic though! Are the wheels meant to be that colour?

The Compensator · February 7, 2013

What's up with that exhaust? Someone has flipped over it to make it worse looking? :susp:

Camel · February 7, 2013

Haha, one of them was mine. First one I'd had and it made me hyper. I know what to drink before uni now though. :lol:

And sort of, they're meant to be gold but they're knackered. I'll be sanding all the rust stuff down and smoothing them off then priming and painting them white. I just need a sunny day where it's above 0degrees.

E: The exhaust, if it faces down then it catches on speed bumps. I'll be getting a new downpipe, silencer and tip sometime in the near future I hope. I think it just looks daft as it's just a tip that's bolted onto the standard exhaust pipe.

Mb · February 7, 2013

Get a twin center exhaust! :D

killalldude · February 8, 2013

Get a twin center exhaust! :D

Agreed. Add white rims (or white plasti-dip) to that list as well.

Camel · February 8, 2013

I will be paining the alloys white, just need to wait for better weather and I want a centre exit exhaust but need to check the boot area to make sure the exhaust gasses won't get inside the car. Exhaust gas already is I think so I need to sort that first.

Camel · April 2, 2013

BOOM!

Got a semi-plan ready for my car now that I've got my job sorted out. :) Should hopefully be ordering all of the parts soon.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get it on stands and clear sections of the underside of the car of underseal to see if there's any hidden rust. Depending on what I find I'll be ordering some new panels for it. So far I'm looking at inner sills, outer sills and front floor panels as some numpty in the cars pat has jacked it up using the floors so they're bent in which irritates me. And the last repair job is terrible in the front tbh. Fairly cheap though, looking at about £60 for the parts and I'm borrowing a MIG welder.

Next up is a stage one upgrade kit which is basically a whole new intake and exhaust system. About £200 for a new air filter, carb needle, water heated intake manifold, exhaust manifold, downpipe, twin silenced centre exhaust. Should be fairly easy to fit myself but I'll need to get it tuned up properly on a rolling road which is an extra £80.

Should hopefully be checking the brakes tomorrow to see if they're worn or not. They feel fine to drive and stop the car easily enough but still worth a check. New discs and pads are fairly cheap, £40 for the fronts and around £20 for the rears if they need doing.

Some other minor things that will soon add up and cost plenty. :lol:

New HT leads

Enamel paint for the head and rocker cover

Still need to paint the alloys

Front wheel bearings

New locks all around and a new locking filler cap

And once ^^^ is done I should hopefully be getting a respray which should be fairly cheap as my uncles friend resprays cars and tracc'ors in one of his barns. Apparently he's really good at it and some of the tracc'ors have won awards at shows. Not sure how much it'll cost but if it's £500 or less I'll be happy even if I have to buy the paint. Full respray at decent garage would cost £1000 upwards. :eek:

tl;dr

I'm actually gonna start fixing it up.

If anyone has any ideas feel free to share!

Fear Deer · April 2, 2013

But...Will it blend? :mhmm:

The Compensator · April 2, 2013

^ Rather will it drift? :p

It may be too early to ask, but what color do you want to respray the car? The blue isn't definitely bad, however some sort of grey wouldn't be bad though... :hmmm:

Camel · April 2, 2013

No, I don't think it blends.

Yes, it does certainly does "drift" when I go around a left hander sharpish.

And I'm probably going to get it resprayed in Blue, a similar shade to what it is now if I can't get the same one. I love the colour it is now but the paint job was done by the last owners and is pretty terrible in certain areas. Mainly the bonnet, scuttle panel, roof and wheel arches. Plus I'd like the inside sprayed Blue properly too. Should also mean less prep work.

Ryzza5 · April 2, 2013

Will it fall over? :p

Take plenty of pics/videos while you're fixing it up.

Fear Deer · April 2, 2013

Take plenty of pics/videos while you're fixing it up.

That is a mighty good sugestion!

Camel · April 2, 2013

Will it fall over? :p

Take plenty of pics/videos while you're fixing it up.

With some of the potholes around here that is very likely. :lol:

And I will do if I remember. Should get some tomorrow showing the poor state it's in around some areas tomorrow.

Camel · April 6, 2013

Did some of the checks, mixed results.

The brakes are way past their best, one side is binding badly and the other has a warped disc. So I need new discs and pads. The calipers will also need a refurb so new pistons, fluid and a general clean up is in order for them.

The underside of the car is pretty good. The only rust I could find was on the rear subframe and that's only surface rust which I'll be fixing shortly. Front subframe has small patches of rust which again should be fairly easy. And then just some new sills, flitch and floor panels should get the rest sorted.

Checked the HT leads and they're slightly corroded on the inside and the spark plugs were thick with carbon so gave them a quick clean and now it runs so much smoother, cranks much faster(not sure why the plugs made a difference to this, thought it was mainly the battery). Seems better in the corners now as the power is so much smoother.

TIMELESS · April 7, 2013

Rear subframe is pretty common for rusting on Minis, right? Sounds mixed but overall not too shabby. At the end of the day it's nothing major, although the brakes are a pain. So when are you getting that turbo fitted and boring out the 998? :lol:

April 7, 2013

Damnit Softie your posts are confusing the hell out of me still :susp:

If it were me I would've been more worried about the underside of the car, massive holes in the floors/chassis, but it sounds all good. The brakes were probably something the last owner neglected and needed doing anyway, plus I'd imagine they should be fairly cheap to rebuild considering they're from a Mini :lol:

Good luck with the floor section and sills :D

And as said already, be sure to take heaps of pics along the way, you'll regret not taking them as the car goes on in the years to come if you don't :cheeky:

Camel · April 7, 2013

With a Mini it's common to have rust on parts of the car that are impossible to rust, like the seat fabric and the dashboard switch covers. If it's a part of a Mini it can rust. I'm leaving the 998 standard apart from upgrading and intake and exhaust. Maybe buy a stage 2 or 3 engine in a year or two, they're about £2000 for a newly built one.

Brakes will cost about £25 a wheel for the fronts so fairly cheap.

Here's the nearside front brake.

Underside of the car, with many oil leaks. :lol:

Inside the nearside front wing.

And some various poor repairs if I can call them that. Can you believe he paid £250 for the "welding" in the front footwells?

Nearside footwell

Offside footwell

Sills and inside the rear bins, these show what the inner sills are likely to be like.

Camel · May 1, 2013

Poorly car is a little poorly. Had to have a ride home on the back of a recovery truck. :(

Top radiator hose split and sprayed coolant all over the engine bay, everything is soaking and sticky. 15 miles from home too so I didn't want to risk limping it home.

Getting the classic car breakdown cover has more than paid for itself. :)

Camel · May 27, 2013

It broke again. :lol: Going to be off the road for a week at least. :(

Just tried to get the front swivel hubs off to change the bearings. No chance, all of the ball joints are knackered and would not come free. The hub nut washer had also shattered. Track rod end had a split boot. Tie bars are bent. Calliper pistons are rusty...

Just ordered another £300+ of parts. >.<

Although I am now getting fully adjustable front and back suspension. Will be able to adjust the front caster angle, camber and toe along with the rear camber and toe as opposed to just the front toe. Should handle much better.

khevolution · May 27, 2013

how you manage that?

Camel · May 27, 2013

Everything is just old and seized up. Had to jam a flathead screwdriver into the track-rod end to get the nut to stop spinning so we could undo it.

I'd rather have all new parts fitted rather than old parts they are well beyond their best. All new ball joints, track-rod ends, adjustable tie-bars, adjustable bottom suspension arms, rear camber brackets, lowered shocks.

It's also safer to get new parts rather than put the old parts back on. God knows how old they are or how worn out inside.