Project Zippy (Midas Mk1 Coupe) Engine In!

[Bandit127]

Those little details keep getting in the way...

The rocker cover looks awesome, a shame it doesn't fit in the space. Perhaps an original cover stripped and polished? (Not sure about chrome plated - could well be over the top - but I have seen them about).

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see it on wheels.

[MrBounce]

Thanks Bandit! Those little things certainly do get in the way... Ironically the engine came with a chromed rocker cover (original style) and I sold it... I think once the engine has settled on its mounts a bit more there *may* be a few more mm of room 

Tearing myself away from most things engine-related, I thought I ought to take a look at the wiper motor. This was languishing on the spares shelf and had been since I stripped the car. No More! Once I got it on to the bench I realised that it was filthy and in need a of a clean and minor refurb. As far as wiper motors go, it probably hasn't actually done that much work so a freshen up would most likely do. I stripped it down into its component parts, noting where everything went and started the deep clean. Typically the park switch broke but new ones are available and are not desperately expensive so I'll get a new one. The old one was disgusting though, so I probably did myself a favour.

I gave the wiper rack tubes a degrease, de-rust and spray in primer followed by satin black. I then did the same to the 3 parts that make up the wiper motor body. Interestingly the motor was dated 1982, which must mean that the original on the car was probably replaced at some point, this being a 1981 car. I shall hopefully put it all back together with no issues...

Wiper Motor in its component parts, midway through being cleaned.



Rack tubes mid-colour change



Body parts in primer...



...and in satin black.



Of course, I did the main body too.



Filthy switch with broken locating pin. It might work again, but I'll replace it.

[MrBounce]

Just a quick update today.

As I am likely to fit the tank fairly soon, I realised it needed the neck sealing ring (which I didn't have). Not to be deterred I found and decent piece of dense foam in the Manroom and cut it up until I had something approaching what is sold normally. it's a bit untidy but nobody's going to see it anyway...

I was fiddling around with the wiper rack tubes and the new wheelboxes on the bench and thought to myself "I may as well get these out of the way". So, armed with a 5/16" socket and the parts, off I went down the front end of the car. After some initial confusion where nothing seemed to line up correctly (I'd inadvertently put the wheelboxes upside down), the job was pretty straightforward; although having 3 hands would have made it easier. I have rubbed down the chrome plinths I have and sprayed them satin black - these will go on later.

Finally, as I was fiddling around in that area, I took a look at the washer tubing. I have always hated the way this worked on this car. It was loosely fed up the side of the washer bottle and through the bulkhead using the same hole as the wiper rack. It looked dreadful. So out came the drill and the vicious little nibbly thing (cone cutter). My first plan was to use a grommet and feed the washer tube through the bulkhead using a small hole cut by the bottom of the washer bottle. However, the fibreglass is pretty thick here so I had a rethink. It turns out that fuel hose is the exact size for washer pipe to run through, so I cut a 6mm piece and popped it into the hole I'd drilled. Looks SO much neater. Needs a tiny bit of colour matching (you can just make out a tiny ring of white...) but that won't take much to sort.

Homemade tank neck sealing ring. 5 minutes work with some foam and pair of scissors. I think I used a pint glass and a tin of polish as templates to draw round. I deserve a Blue Peter badge!



Small but satisfying modification to the route the washer tubing takes through the bulkhead. Much neater.

[MrBounce]

More shenanigans have gone on in the past few days: I finally managed to get hold of the correct fan sender switch for the radiator - a proper "New Old Stock" piece so spend 12 seconds fitting that, then decided to drag the alloy wheels out to give them a once over. Of course they were filthy, covered in dust, dirt, overspray and spiders' webs. I also got the pressure washer out so gave them all a good blast. Now, the initial plan was to get them blasted, but as funds are tight I am not sure that they need it as they look like they're in quite good condition bar the overspray. A few hours with some wet & dry and they might be good for a fresh coat of paint. What do people think?

I then got back to the wiper motor. My new park switch had arrived so I could get back to putting everything back together. On went the new switch, followed by the motor itself, and I then sorted the wheel and greased up the rack and the innards. All is ready to go into the car now. One thing I could never stand was the way Minis had a piece of foam where the wiper motor sat, happily taking on water so it could start rusting through the bulkhead. Although that's not an issue here, wet foam looks rubbish once it's got wet, so I will be using some rubber drawer liner which I have kicking about. Fold it over and there's plenty of cushioning - a nice pad for the motor to sit on. I should be able to install it once I find the strap. I have made a modification to this as well, but that will have to wait until next time...

New fan switch installed. Fits beautifully.



Dirty wheels about to pressure washed



And drying off in the sun. They don't look too bad.



Old switch, new switch. No prizes for guessing which one I used.



Motor and cam wheel installed



All greased up



New pad for the motor to rest on



And the finished product. I just need to find the strap now so I can fit it...

[Bandit127]

You only have time to loose with the wheels. If they don't come up with wet & dry after an hour or so you can still get them blasted. Although I think they will need to come up pretty good to match the standard of the rest of the car...

Are you going to leave them silver or have you thought of white? White would contrast well with the orange IMO.

[MrBounce]

Nope - they'll be going black 

I couldn't find the wiper motor strap I had so dug out the old one (For some reason I had two) and then proceeded to modify it in a similar way to the one I've lost. There's a problem that the Mini wiper motor lends to the Midas - Cracks. This is because when I got it, my wiper motor strap was held on by two rather large screws, which had caused the fibreglass to crack around where they'd bitten in. I wanted to avoid this, so decided to go down the good old-fashioned spreader plate method. Using 5/16" bolts, a strip of 3mm steel raided from an old Ultimate Engine Steady, 2 nuts and a welder, I made a decent spreader plate then proceeded to go about fitting it.

First I modified the strap by drilling out the screw holes to accept 5/16" bolts, then measured up where it needed to be on the bulkhead. Out came the cordless drill and 2 holes appeared. The plate lined up beautifully (I think I am getting good at this measuring lark). But I wasn't quite finished. I didn't want it to move if I ever needed to take the wiper motor off, so whilst held in place by the bolts, I spent a few minutes fibreglassing it in place (and enjoying the fumes). Typically though as I was moving stuff to start the fibreglassing, I broke one of the washer jets. I know they're only a couple of quid but "Grrrrr!"    New ones are on order...

Although I didn't take any pictures, I have also remade my bracket to hold the gear selector in place as the curvature was all wrong on the first attempt. It's currently being painted. More to follow.

Wiper motor with strap, midway through drilling. You can just about see the edge of the rubber pad I'm using.



Spreader plate ready to go in.



Bolted in place



And time for little bit of CSM and resin!



Oops - broken washer jet...

[MrBounce]

Right seeing as Photo-fcuk-it has turned itself into a favourite go-to site for ransomware, it is with a slightly heavy heart that I will no longer be updating on this site as once I have uploaded all my pictures elsewhere, I will not have time to edit 4 separate threads with close to 1100 photos on. I will be starting to upload the old pics back onto Imgur and editing in due course - please bear with me. If you wish to continue following this thread, please do it here:

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/191577/1981-midas-coupe-project-zippy?page=1

[Bandit127]

Oh Crap! You certainly get your fair share of bad luck. I will follow you over to the new forum.

The upside for me is no more trawling through posts about Mk7 build weeks, where their missing foglights are and posts upon posts about the best detailing products to use on a new Mk7.5, because seeing your progress was the main reason I visit this forum now it has moved on from Mk4s and Mk5s.

I feel for you.

[Wazzzer]

Same here mate, photobucket have destroyed over 10 years worth of build threads for me too

I'll keep following you over on retro rides though as I'm a member over there

[Mr_Orange]

Missing the updates on this car... I did enjoy following the build story. Any chance of a cheeky update?