Project Zippy (Midas Mk1 Coupe) Engine In!

[MrBounce]

I have finally finished removing the horrible tar-like paint from the other half of the tank. I think the vendor slapped it on quickly before bring it down to sell as it was still tacky when I bought it. It didn't help that it was very thick in places. I am forever grateful for paint stripper and my trusty scraper. The top I was wearing can probably be turned into rags now though... Once the paint was off I gave the tank a wipe down with white spirit to remove any traces of stripper, then gave it a tickle with the wire brush on the grinder to remove any stubborn bits. Another wipe down was followed by a couple of coats of primer - quite difficult when you can't hang it up...

Finally got the last of the "tar" off. Yummy.



Primer on both the top...



...and the bottom. Paint to follow.

[MrBounce]

Not much else to report today other than I have finished painting the tank. I put in a new sender unit and used brand new screws. I might even chuck it on the car just to get it out of the way...

[MrBounce]

I have finally sorted my window winder issues. Well - almost. As the screw that seized in the old winder seemed to be made of diamond and was thus impossible to remove, I did the honourable thing and bought a Fiesta window winder, drilled out the rivets, removed and then re-riveted the new wheelbox on the Midas mechanism. It works perfectly - the thread for the screw was even clean! However, this was when I discovered that Mk1 & Mk2 Fiesta window winders have slightly different splines. Anyone got a Mk2 window winder going spare??

As I am getting nearer to the stage where I can bolt stuff back on to the car, I realised I really ought to sort out the driveshafts. They'd been sitting on the bench pretty much when I removed them from the car (that was in 2012!!) so I dunked them in the parts washer to remove all the grit and old grease - they've come up rather nicely. There were no obvious marks or wear on the inner pot joints, so these will be regreased and reassembled with new boots. I have new outer CVs to go on the other end of each shaft.

New wheelbox attached. Winder required...



Driveshafts & pot joints in need of a clean.



Looking a bit more presentable!

[MrBounce]

Once the pot joints were cleaned up, chucking a couple of new boots on the driveshafts was easy. At least it would have been if one of the cages hadn't been put on the wrong way round. The drivetrain on this car has been a bit weird, what with the broken castellated nut on the front end and the "modified" hub. I guess it was no surprise that the driveshaft was going to be wrong as well. So out came the balls (carefully noted where they came from) and I turned the cage to its correct position, subsequently remembering that "refitting is the reverse of removal". Still, could've done without it... I've put the shafts to one side (again) as I won't be putting the CV joints on until I'm ready to fit the subframe.

I have turned my attention back to the dashboard and have done a lot more sanding. However, rather than crackle finish it, I may instead be using vinyl and a heat gun. It could take forever to get this stuff smooth enough for paint, so I will see what vinyl comes my way. I offered up the multi-gauge binnacle liberated from an XJ6 and also made the first hole for my 52mm rev counter. More to follow!

First pot joint quickly sorted.



Second one took longer because I had to put it right...



5-gauge binnacle offered up.



Rev counter hole sorted.

[Horney]

Interesting. I never noted which balls came from where when I stripped down pot joints. How the hell did they get it to work with the cage on backwards? Muppets!

[MrBounce]

A short update today. It was time to turn my attention to the rear end of the car. I am in the process of ordering some new rear springs so in theory I should be able to bolt everything together and be able to take the car off its trolley and on to its wheels. So the beam came off the shelf and the brackets came out of one of the boxes. Of course it should have been as easy as just bolting everything together but of course that was some hope. If there's one thing I hate about Mini radius arms it's those rubber seals and big washers on each end. Eventually both arms were sorted, both brackets were bolted on and the whole shebang was back together for the first time since 2012. I have laid the braided brake hoses in place because (of course) I can't find my 3-way brake splitter. It's not where I thought I'd left it, so I am currently annoyed. I do however have the (new) brake pipes ready to bend up. More later.

Beam retrieved from the shelf.



All bolted together. All I need now is brake pipes, a splitter and new coilovers.

[MrBounce]

I have been a busy boy again so not much to report. I have been having fun (or not) with brake pipes. I dug the compensator valve out of the brake box and realised it was still a horrid colour, so I wire brushed it and gave it a coat of primer & satin black to match the master cylinder. I then grabbed the beam and hoisted it up onto the bench to start dealing with the brake pipes. When I bought the car there was a kit of brand new (Mini) pipes - all except the front to rear pipe, so making up the new pipes was not an issue.

I found my 3-way splitter and bolted it to the beam, then made up the first (short pipe) to go between the splitter and braided brake hose. All went together easily. I then got the longer pipe for the other side - this needed to be bent about a bit as the Midas has a narrower rear track than a Mini. Again, not too much of an issue. Then I once again delved into the brake pipes box to find only one pipe to go from the braided pipe to the cylinder. Typical! There is also a problem with the front to rear brake hose - the ends are different on the one I need. The one I have does not...

I have put an order in to Mini Spares.

Compensator valve looking more respectable.



Short brake pipe made up and fitted...



...and longer one bent about a bit to fit.

[MrBounce]

Have completed a few more little jobs and have also got started on something that's been bugging me. When getting my replacement brake pipes from Mini Spares, I also took the time to top up with half decent replacement bushes for the top and bottom steady bars as well as a further steady which is mounted to the gearbox. The car will now have a total of 4 steadies, all without the need for an "ultimate engine steady" - I'm not keen on these.

I sorted the bushes for the bottom steady bar and bolted it to my improved and far stronger bracket on the front subframe then, using the vice, pushed in the uprated rubber one-piece bushes into the top steady bar. Quite why BMC/BL/Austin Rover etc didn't do this to start with instead of waiting until the 90s I will never know but I guess that's "progress".

The brake pipes were easily fitted - a simple matter of gently bending them to shape and screwing them in. One looks smoother than the other due to one being dead straight from the packet and second one being already bent!

Finally, the spare wheel "hump" used to have a captive nut in it and a "T-bar" assembly which had been cobbled together. The captive nut broke off so I had to cut the original out using a Dremel. As I wanted to try the welder again, I got hold of a nut and long bolt plus a piece of 3mm thick steel. I drilled a hole then welded the nut on properly before giving the whole lot a coat of primer prior to some paint. Once finished, I will construct a new T-bar section and glass the whole lot into place.

Bottom steady bar bushed and fitted.



Top steady bar with new one-piece uprated bushes.



New brake pipe fitted. This is the tidy one.



And the other side, looking slightly less professional.



Original "T-bar" section and dodgy captive nut I had to cut off



New captive nut plate sprayed up in primer.

[MrBounce]

Had a few more minutes in the Manroom so I sorted out missing captive nut on the spare wheel "hump" in the boot. I stuck the steel plate with captive nut on to the hump with epoxy resin, and once that had gone off, I screwed a bolt in covered with tape to stop the threads getting gummed up with resin. I mixed up some fibreglass resin and glassed over it with CSM. I also started to make a new "T-bar" to screw in. I used a bolt roughly the same size as before then cannibalised a top engine steady bar. Unfortunately things went wrong - after a poor attempt to weld it all together, I welded the tip of the welder up and when trying to remove the old tip, it snapped off, leaving the threaded part in the nozzle. Oh joy.

Captive nut plate stuck on with epoxy resin.



Glassed over.



T-bar midway through construction when the welder broke.

[Horney]

I used to eat through those bushes in the upper dog bone. Longest I got a set to last was about 6 months.