Project Zippy (Midas Mk1 Coupe) Engine In!

[MrBounce]

I really know how to rock a Friday night. Mrs Bounce was out with the girlies so I did man stuff. This meant opening a bottle of beer and getting down with the rear loom in the lounge. I had already had some help from Mike the previous evening (in between inhaling cellulose thinners and fibreglassing his Biota's underside) where we tested all the wires to make sure they were all working. One wasn't (one of the rear lights). This was because it was all corroded, black nearly all the way through. All the others were fine.

So we took the tape off that section of the loom and followed that bit of wire down to where it joined the other rear light wires and cut it off. We then replaced it with a new wire (the same colour from another loom in Mike's bits box) and soldered it in place. This was then heatshrunk and everything tested again. All that remained was for me to clean up the ends and fit new connectors where required and re-tape the loom. I even used yellow tape. Attention to detail and all that...

There's still a couple of small bits to attend to i.e connectors on the foglight & fuel sender, but they can wait until I have fully decided what I am using.

Loom on sofa (Don't tell the wife)



New wire soldered in & heatshrunk



Now all tidy & almost finished.

[MrBounce]

As I was wanting to avoid the wiring (and hatch hinges!) for a bit I started looking at the front bodywork again, now that I could go into the Manroom and not lose all feeling in my hands. I needed to have a closer look at the offside front as well as finishing off the nearside. I have avoided the very bottom of the airdam for now as it will be MUCH easier with the car on its side.

My afternoon was mainly spent using the Dremel, chasing cracks and grinding them out. I also found a bucketload more filler, most off which was unceremoniously chiselled out. It seems that whoever did the "bodywork" on this front end just used a bucketload of Plastic Padding with little regard to what it would end up looking like or how it would react. Still, once I've stripped it back, resin, fibreglass & a LOT of sanding will have it looking better before painting. It surely can't look any worse... There was one piece of gelcoat that had so many cracks on it that I ended up just cutting it out with the Dremel & throwing it away. It's pointless chasing 93 cracks in such a small piece of plastic when I may as well start with a blank canvas.

Engine bay lip, star-crack ground out.



Indicator surround, looking a little... gouged.



Full of Filler?



Not any more...



More filler removed



Offside is full of gloop too



It appears to be a USA Freeway Intersection map



This bit was rubbish...



...so I removed it.

[MrBounce]

Had an unexpected afternoon in the Manroom today so made full use of it. As it was unlikely that I would be able to get the cast aluminium of the one hinge I have left to take a thread given my meagre tool set, I drilled it ready to take countersunk bolts (similar to the type that hold the rear drums in). It was then that I realised that the hinges are "handed" to match the small curve of the hatch opening. James from the Midas forum had sent me a spare and we didn't realise that they were different. Guess what I have got... That said, I don't think it is necessary to change them. A small amount of work on a grinder will make the "wrong" one fit fine, and unless you look REALLY closely I doubt anyone but the most anal will even notice.

Whilst at the bench I also took time to knock out the rings that the bearing races roll against in the hub. It's a job I have been meaning to do for ages (thanks, cold weather...) and I will shortly clean up the hubs ready for paint before sorting replacement bearings and balljoints.

I went back to the front end - the area where the bumper sits on the driver's side was a total mess. I reckon it was here that took the brunt of the impact when the car was shunted. There was so much cracking and badly replaed fibreglass I cut it all out - it saved a hell of a lot of time. Although it would be under where the bumper sat and therefore "unseen", I would rather it be solid than the dodgy mess it was. Dremel cuts! There was a large lump of fibreglass filler which fell out - this was where one of the bolts which held on the grille mesh had snapped. Horrible.

Talking of the bumpers, I haven't even looked at them since removing them 18 months ago. I grabbed the front one and spent AGES removing all the expanded foam from inside. There's plenty of star-crazing all over it just like on the body, which someone has tried to disguise using badly applied black paint. It's also been repaired (badly) at least twice. So that's another thing to add to the long list of repairs to do. I will also try to sort some "invisible" fixings rather than using a wood screw through into the bodywork as it was when I took it off...

Hinge redrilled & countersunk to take crosshead screw.



Oops! Two the same...



Hubs now bare apart from steering arms. Time for clean-up & paint.



This area was nasty and needed to be taken out of the equation...



...so out came the chopper.



This was the lump that fell out. Yuk.



Bumper before being attacked.



All the crap foam removed. It's a lot lighter.

[MrBounce]

Well it's been a while. That's because my hands threatened to drop off anytime I went outside during most of March. So I didn't. I have spending my eBay funds (and birthday money) on stuff that I need for this project so numerous little parcels arriving in the post  were gratefully received. I also went to Mini Spares to get some heavy stuff and to exchange an old steering rack for a new one.

The list is as follows:

New front wheel bearings
New balljoints
Exchange Steering Rack
Rack to body bush
Rack to U-bolt strips
Rear brake drums
Some core plugs for the block
A pair of brake discs
Handbrake levers (for the rear drums) and their gaiters
Lower arm bushes
2 TR7 fuel caps - one of which was the wrong one. Doh!

I also received a petrol tank sealing kit and a set of TR7 rear light gaskets for my birthday.

I was so fed up with grinding and sanding fibreglass (I am also helping a friend with his Biota - it's got about 5 layers of paint and makes my car look in good nick) that I decided to do some mechanical work. I spent the afternoon fitting the new front wheel bearings and shimming up the balljoints. I remembered that I always used to hate balljoints. After this afternoon... I still do. Only one of them was easy to sort. Each of the others took at least 10 minutes each!! At least the bearings were nice and straightforward. As I was on a roll I thought I would do the rear hub bearings too - the previous owner had chucked a couple of rear bearings in the spares box. Never trust someone who's selling you a project with the truth about bits. They were indeed bearings, but they were different from each other & neither was for a Mini. One was a rubbish ball-bearing race (and the grease had congealed - nasty). I don't know what it's from as the part number has ripped off the box. The other was a nice Timken kit for a Marina/Allegro/TR7. So that's something else to add to the shopping list.

I also decided to prepare the fuel tank for the sealing kit, so I have put the sender unit back in (not sure if Gaffa tape will hold up to it). Of course one of the bolts has sheared off. And one is missing. Where's my hammer???

New Discs



1st new fuel cap, showing how badly wrong I got it. Of course the two fittings are totally different...



Steering Rack! (A present from Mrs Bounce xxx)



The 2nd fuel cap. This one fits.



Hubs all bearing'd and ball-jointed up (yes I will knock over the lock tabs before fitting to the car!)



1st "Mini" rear bearing - for Allegro/TR7/Marina...



2nd "Mini" bearing. I have no idea what it's for. Apart from the bin.



Tried to get a photo of inside the tank. You can just see how horrible it is in there.



Sender unit bolt snapped. Yay.

[Bellend]

I'd recommend buying some strong hydrochloric acid.

No idea where you'd get it from and the fumes although not that great in mass are hideous fumes.  One of my contracts gave me a bottle and the way it eats through rust is unreal! It will eat through aluminum if not careful though. Stuff I have is 33% Wheel acid. Basically what they clean wheels with.

Really helpful at rusty stuff and miles less chance of snapping stuff! Just rinse well after and use gloves!

[MrBounce]

No need Josh - have the correct tank cleaning & sealing stuff from Frost - the only reason I put the sender back in is that I am not sure that gaffa tape will be up to keeping it in the tank...

[MrBounce]

This weekend I have mostly been playing with chemicals, removing rust and painting. A light touch of the Dremel's cutting disc was all that was needed to make the broken bolt move again, this time under the power of a flat-blade screwdriver. After a tiny bit of cleaning I could actually see the pinhole in the side of the tank so it was time to deal with it. I taped up the pinhole, fuel sender & fuel hose holes and got to work with the Marine Clean part of the petrol tank repair kit. This stuff is evil, even if you only use 2 pints of it, mixed half & half with warm water. Although they say in their instructions to "tape up any holes in the tank", Marine Clean of course is used to remove the built up gum & deposits from fuel. This includes glue on Gaffa tape. A little seepage was ok to deal with, although I did have to replace it quite regularly whenever I moved the tank around. I re-used the sender unit & gasket after the first "seepage" incident. You are advised to keep this evil concoction in there for 24 hours, regularly rotating the tank. Although I have no pictures to show what it can do (can't get my SLR inside the tank!) it is AMAZING stuff.

Whilst I was waiting for the Marine Clean to do its stuff, I realised I had only removed the bearings from one of the rear hubs. So I got on with the other one complete with all the surface rust and its nasty gummed up bearing. Some of the grease inside was black. The old bearings were quickly drifted out and binned. I cleaned the hubs up in the parts washer and gave them a coat of fresh paint as well as cleaning up the threads on the studs.

I also had a quick look at the old coilover shocks from the rear of the car. A bit of searching showed they're Spax units with the number "EF 377" stamped into them. I have no idea what this means, although couldn't find much on a quick Google search. Anyone got any ideas?

My calipers (which are just plain ugly) desperately need a refurb, being covered in bad black paint and rust. I managed to get the pistons out using a combination of a punch, hammer & molegrips - given the state of them it looks like the calipers were painted badly as there's paint on the exposed parts of the pistons. I shall deal with them later...

After 24 hours I drained the Marine Clean and got a frothy brown liquid which looked a bit like real ale. It did NOT smell like it... I then rinsed the tank 4 times and used the Prep & Ready rust remover. This went in neat and only needed to stay in for an hour or so. Bonus is, it's reusable (although not as strong the more times you use it). Given the seepage from the pinhole, its rust removing capabilities are pretty good. Once more the tank was rinsed.

Then, finally, it was time to seal the tank. The instructions suggest only doing this when the tank is completely dry, and you can only do this using either a heat gun or hairdryer. I don't have a heat gun, so I managed to convince Mrs Bounce to lend me her hairdryer. Luckily she doesn't use it too much, so I jammed it in the filler neck and left it on high for a while until every last patch of damp had been dried out. I then poured in the sealant, rotating the tank so it got a really good coverage, especially around the pinhole area. After draining it out the excess out, it has to be left for 96 hours to set properly. Thumb twiddling time!!

"Repaired" bolt on sender unit.



Pinhole just visible in centre of pic



Taped up (which didn't really work...)



Oh my. How good is this stuff??



Disgusting congealed grease in rear hub.



Cleaned ready for paint.



Painted & threads cleaned



Shocks were Spax, apparently... Anyone know what this number refers to?



How ugly are my calipers?



Pistons aren't much better...



Beer anyone?



Rinse time!



How to dry your tank completely. Thanks Mrs B!



Lovely silver zinc lining inside filler neck. Should now in theory be properly sealed...

[MrBounce]

Tested the tank with water yesterday. It is leak free! 

[MrBounce]

Not much more to report this weekend (had a wedding to go to) apart from the tank has had its first coat of paint.

[MrBounce]

Once able to get back into garage I have finished off the rear hubs - they now have their bearings and are sat inside my tool cupboard in a box so they don't end up with loads of crap in them... I then had a little think about what to do next. I have LOADS of bodywork to do I know, but I thought I would avoid that by checking out the front bumper instead. I am not entirely sure this was a wise thing to do as I found some evil stuff.

It's now well known that the guy who did the bodywork on the car after its smack on the front end can best be described as a bodge merchant. This bumper is no different, especially as it was the first thing that took the impact. It seems he has done his usual: chuck a load of filler in it then paint over the top. The matt black paint he'd used was thick & nasty and had cracked all over where there were cracks in the fibreglass, but the 80-grit 3M sandpaper I had made relatively short work of it. Sadly the cracks are fairly deep so I am going to have to grind them out. Whoop-di-doo.

There were also some repairs to the back, with a huge wodge of "new" fibreglass at the right front and in the middle, plus also an enormous lump on the underside of the bumper on the far left. And of course there was filler; but not as much as in the bodywork. Still enough to really annoy me though. Most of it is now out, leaving a hole the size of a 5p piece on the front right corner. Repairs will follow.

I also looked at the rear bumper, hoping to see no cracks as I don't believe the car has been rear-ended as well (thankfully). Still the same horrid black paint, but a lot less in the way of damage. I still have to scoop out the foam left in it though.

Hubs finished



Cracks, cracks & more cracks. In the paint and in the fibreglass.



Top, Middle or Bottom? Doesn't matter, it's ALL awful...



There's filler in here. What a surprise.



Here, too.



Bottom left corner. A "step" of 2-3mm. Gotta love this guy's attention to detail.



"Repair" job in the middle



Worst of the filler removed.



Rear bumper. Better than the front.