Project Zippy (Midas Mk1 Coupe) Engine In!

[MrBounce]

Right now I am an angry man. I am not sure exactly who to aim my anger at though. Let me explain: when I started on the rebuild for this car, I decided to use dual circuit Mini brakes using a "yellow tag" master cylinder and brake limiter valve on the bulkhead. I had used this set-up on 3 of my old Minis and they all had very good brakes - it just seemed a better and more cost effective idea to do this than buying a brand new Cooper S master cylinder and rear valve which would have cost £150. Of course, the main problem I had was that I needed new brake lines - not a problem as I was going to replace them anyway. And this is where the problem starts - BL or Austin Rover or whatever they were called that week thought it would obviously be a really good idea to have the two different ends of the brake pipe with different threads, one UNF, one metric. And obviously they were going to make it where one would fit the other, but only for a couple of turns - and it won't tighten up. However, for some reason, there is also an all metric brake line available (I know that Mini Sport sell one - https://www.minisport.com/bp96m-brake-pipe-96-front-pressure-valve-to-rear-3-way.html?___SID=U ). I have just discovered this, as the one I have fits perfectly in the valve on the bulkhead, but at the rear, it won't go in to the UNF 3-way union at all. I think that I have been accidentally sold an all-metric pipe because before I fitted it, I only checked the fit on the valve. More fool me. My problem is, I can't remember where I bought the pipe from so I can't yell at anyone but myself.

Therefore I will now have to remove the whole pipe and replace it with the correct one unless anyone knows where I can get a 3-way union with a metric inlet and two UNF outlets? This will take an annoying amount of time and will also require the help of an assistant, to hold a screwdriver so I can undo the bolts for the P clips. I am hoping that I can squeeze the new line in without having to fully remove the rear beam because...

I have re-done the fuel line, and it was a good idea that I did - I found a kink in the last 3 inches, which would have made fuel delivery a touch restricted. I cut the kinky bit off and it now sits nicely over the top of the beam, ready to be connected up to the fuel pump and filter I have. I have also fitted the first of the two radius arms. Using the help of a conveniently sized wooden box, which was exactly the right height to rest the arm on, I was able to attach the arm and associated bracket and tighten up the the nuts. I also chucked on one of the beautiful new rear shocks. However, I couldn't fit this properly, as when I jack the arm up, it'll only go so far before the rest of the car comes with it - this means that with the new bushes I can't get the top nut on it... Damn you new springs!!

More to follow as long as I don't go in there with hammers.

Fuel line now going exactly where it should be.



Radius arm attached to car, complete with backplace and brake mechanism.



Oh, and one of these beautiful bits of kit too.

[MrBounce]

I have come very close to setting the garage on fire this weekend. I don't know whether it's me doing things wrong, or if this car is cursed, or I have just been REALLY unlucky with items bought.

I have firstly dealt with the brake pipe issue by getting myself a brake flaring tool, along with a proper pipe cutter. I tidied up the fuel pipe end whilst I was under the car using said cutter, then removed the offending metric brake union. A small bit of work later and I have a re-flared pipe end with the proper UNF union on it. Then Andy popped round on Saturday and after a bit of cursing and hitting things with a rubber mallet, the second radius arm was on the car. I haven't properly tightened up the nuts on the brackets yet but that will come later. On went the shock and we connected both shocks up without the top bushes in for now, until we can lower the car down onto its wheels. Then it all went a bit pear-shaped.

The plan was to pop the drums on and sling a couple of wheels on and take the thing off the rear axle stands. I wound the adjuster all the way out so the shoes were at their lowest possible adjustment. From what I can tell the springs and shoes are all in the correct position. But the drums will not go on. I took the whole brake assembly off and tried the drum on with it missing. Drum goes on ok. Put everything back on. Drum won't go past the shoes.

I have shut the garage and walked away, making sure that in the meantime I have no access to anything that can produce flame or be used as a clouting tool. I shall return to the garage when I am in a better mood...

Brake Pipe Flaring Tool helped sort out my pipe problems.



Driver's side radius arm now on.



Look at the shiny shiny (which won't go on...)

[MrBounce]

Another quick update as there's not much to show for it - but I have managed to sort my shoes & drums issue. As I had bought the shoes from a show many moons ago, I have no idea a) who I bought them from and b) who made them. So I did the honourable thing and bought myself a set of Mintex shoes from our local Mini Specialist. Today I went into the garage and after the usual swearing and struggling with those pesky brake springs, the shoes were on.

Now it was time to answer that million-pound question - would the drums go on? As I am not currently sitting in a police cell for arson, you know it did without a hitch. It's a funny old world. (*Note to self  - don't buy no-name parts from a show...)

The answer to the brake shoe issue: Mintex shoes!



And look - it fits!!

[MrBounce]

Just in case you all thought I'd given up and gone away, don't worry - I am still here - there just isn't a huge amount to show for my recent couple of evenings in the Manroom. My main reason for this is Mini rear brakes. I never liked them much in the first place, but this is the first time I have taken a set totally to bits and put them back together again.

Firstly we had the issue with the unusual brake shoes where the drums would not fit over them. They were cheap and from a show and clearly didn't fit properly. A comparison with my newly acquired Mintex shoes showed that despite having all the same fixtures, holes etc, the cheapo shoes had a shedload more meat on them, but more importantly, the curve of the metal part of the shoe was totally out of true. Lesson learnt: buy cheap, buy twice. Unless anyone wants them for free, they're going in the bin.

Secondly is totally down my own stinking incompetence. Like I said before, I had never had a rear brake set totally in bits before, so when I built them up I was delighted to get the shoes and springs on correctly and lined up nicely. The only problem was that Mr Numpty here had conveniently left off the handbrake mechanism, so I had to take them all apart again, find and then fit the handbrake levers and gaitors before re-fitting the shoes.

There was much shouting, swearing, springs sprung somewhere in the Manroom and bleeding fingers, but eventually, both sides now are in place. No pics as I did not take the camera in with me.

[MrBounce]

Right - having been having a clear-up and building a tool wall for the garage, I am now back on the project again.

As I am likely to fitting stuff back together in the coming months, and there's a few bits already on the car that are rear brake-related, I pulled the handbrake mechanism out of the bits box. I gave it a clean up and followed this up with a coat of paint. It needs greasing up before fitting but I will get round to it once I have drilled the mounting holes for the new handbrake lever - the old one was scrap so I will be using a Mini lever I bought AGES ago.

And now - for some slightly bigger news: The front subframe is ON. Andy came over last night so I fed him then put the boy to work. Using a large piece of wood and a jack, we lifted the subframe up as far as it would go, only to find that the front teardrop mounts would not fit past the front panel. We played around for a bit, took the teardrops off and wound the tower bolts in slightly so we could (with the use of the "F" crowbar) make enough room to bolt the teardrops back in. This meant we could wiggle everything into position so it looked almost ready to go. Then of course there was the heelboard mounts. The passenger side needed just a little tweak with a screwdriver to pull in into line and the bolts lined up beautifully. We got the nuts on but left them loose in case of further tweaking. The driver's side was somewhat more swear-worthy. It took a good half an hour's worth of extremely bad language, struggling with lining things up and dropping stuff before it all fitted together as it should. I still don't know where that nut and washer went mind you...

The front teardrop mounts will need a bit of work though. The Mk1 front end is different to the Mk2 and this car also originally had a twin-bolt subframe in it when it was first built. I have had a look through my old photos and when I took the subframe out there was an extra nut in front of the teardrop mounts acting as a spacer. As I am using solid mounts, I will get proper spacers made up to fill the gap. More soon!

Handbrake gubbins loosely fitted together.



There's a subframe fitted to my car!



Some minor tweaking and spacers are required at the front.

[MrBounce]

Just a very quick update -  I was round at Tink's last night and asked if he had any spacers kicking around. Out came a whole box of them. I found two nice round ones in aluminium although they were a bit thick at 14mm. I shortened them to 9.5mm and they fitted beautifully. All is nipped up nice and tight as a solid mount should be.

[MrBounce]

I haven't done a huge amount on the car recently, mainly because I was looking for a specific bit in the garage. And of course this bit was in the last place I expected to find it - as such it took AGES to find. Still, the Manroom is a little bit clearer now...

I had an issue. When putting some stuff on the bench the other evening, I happened to knock one of the light lenses off, which hit the floor and broke. I have managed to find another on eBay (the correct side too - I did check!). I have glued the old one, but if it doesn't take I will still have the new one to help. Still, it's a pain in the **** that I could have done without.

As I am still concentrating on the rear end, I needed to sort the handbrake itself. The one in the car was of unknown origin, but was also knackered, with its button and internals either missing, seized or broken. So I got myself a standard Mini handbrake. This of course did not fit at all due to the Midas tunnel having no appropriate bracketry to mount it too. The Midas handbrake had horizontal mounts, whereas the Mini item's were vertical. Not helpful. Still, I am nothing if not resourceful. I had knocked up a bracket & spacer arrangement a couple of years ago but needed a half decent spacer to replace the hacked about steering drop bracket I'd used as a temporary measure. Once again Tink's spacer box helped, offering a perfectly sized item. I shall drill the holes in due course and mount it.

Moving on, I FINALLY found the bits I had been searching for: seatbelt stalk mount captive nut plates. I had put these in the cooling system parts box so I wouldn't lose them. It took the best part of 5 hours' searching to eventually unearth them. Luckily they'd already been reconditioned and painted. As I was on my own in the garage and don't have arms like Mr Tickle, actually getting them in place provided a slight issue. This was solved by popping the bolt through the bodywork, securing it with a ratchet & socket, then spinning the plate on until the rivet hole lined up. I then chucked a screwdriver through the hole and tightened up the bolt. This kept the rivet hole lined up nicely. I then simply removed the screwdriver and used a 16mm headed rivet to secure the plate. I also drilled a couple of extra holes in the plates to double up on the rivets. I still need to drill the new holes. Still , the first one is mounted with (the original arrangement of) one rivet.  I ran out of time to do both (Took Mrs B out for her first drive of my daily) so will sort the other one next time.

Not the sort of thing you want to happen. I swore. Loudly.



Handbrake with better looking spacer (awaiting paint).



Been looking for these for AGES!



Riveted in place.

[MrBounce]

Got a bit more done tonight, and as usual I ran into a setback or two.

I fitted the second seatbelt stalk captive plate. Having done one already, this was a piece of cake and only took a couple of minutes.

I gave my washer bottle a good wash - this included the cap, the plastic thread in the cap and the plastic gauze filter in the filler neck. This had accumulated all sorts of dirt and stuff during its time in storage including what looked like the remains of spider's eggs. A few minutes with some bleach and judicious use of a scrubbing brush had everything looking much cleaner. By the looks of things, the bottle itself either began with a blue-ish tinge, or the number of years that it's had screenwash in it has permanently stained it.

I then turned my attention to the wiper motor as this will probably go in the car soon, mainly to get it out of the way as it's not the easiest thing to store. I firstly looked at the wheelboxes and the outer rack tubing. This was covered in surface rust following my rust removal back when I'd first removed it. I will clean this up and respray it. However, when I originally cleaned it, I did not take the wheelboxes apart, and they're really stiff and covered in solidified old grease. Time for a dunk in the parts washer and a re-fresh.

Whilst working on the wiper bits, I decided that the best way to get rid of the hubs that I kept having to move was to put them on the car. I would have also connected up the steering rack but then I realised that I didn't have any locknuts for the track rod ends. These will need to wait until another day. The hubs themselves are just finger tight at the moment as I will doubtless need to pop a balljoint or two to get the engine & driveshafts in.

Finally I checked the glued-together lens. Typically some glue has seeped out on the outside. I might be able to save this by some careful Dremel work, but as there's another one coming it'll be good for a spare if nothing else.

Seatbelt stalk mount in place. Significantly easier than the first one... (Excuse the rubbish pic)



Funky washer bottle now devoid of spider eggs and looking clean again. Made by Mitsubishi.



Wheelboxes look nasty. Time for a Parts Washer dunking.



Hubs on (albeit only loosely)



It's just a little seepage! (Hopefully the Dremel can clear it up)

[lemski]

Nearly back together isnt it?
Looking excellent though

[Bandit127]

Good to see your progress on this.

A freshly sharpened chisel might be a better tool to start with on that glue than a dremel. A slight slip will cause less damage and the results will be more "optical".