kws

The end result was seized wheel cylinders anyway, so hopefully should be pretty obvious when its all working again. The Mini adjustment system is very reliable, the only issue as you mention is it cant self adjust.

As the first step to sorting out the issues needed to get Snicket on the road, I decided to remove the radius arms, so it also knocks out two jobs in one. I had suspected there may be some play in the rear arms, as when taking a corner hard, the inside rear edge of the tire would often make contact with the body... and it shouldn't be able to do that. They also look super old and crusty. The first thing to do was to whip the wheel off, and check out the "soft suspension" that was noted. You can also see on the right of the photo, where the tire has rubbed the inner guard. I think I found why it failed on it... The shocks have leaked all their oil out, and are doing nothing. The other side was worse! Ok, so that's fair enough. Next was to remove the drum and inspect the LH brake, which was the one noted as doing nothing. I backed the adjuster right off and pulled off the drum There is a bit of grease on the hub, but nothing inside the drum. The shoes are showing weird markings, but could just be because they havent been used in anger for a while. No obvious signs of brake fluid leaks from the cylinder. As a test I set my camera up and checked what happens when I put my foot on the brake, without the drum on. I should have seen the shoes get pushed out by the cylinder... but I had nothing. Not a mm of movement. Guess that's that; the cylinder is seized. I took the dust cap off, and I'm sure it's not meant to look this grotty Moving along, I proceeded to disassemble the arm for removal. Disconnect the brake lines from the hose. From left to right, is the fixed nut on the hose, bracket on arm, star washer, locking nut to secure hose to bracket, and then the brake pipe nut. Removing the shocks was next. For the LH side I had to move the fuel tank to access the shock, which was a pain. Also found more surface rust, which I brushed back and treated (looks worse in the photo than it is). I used my cordless ratchet to spin the nut off But like most shocks, the shaft will try to spin, so I used a pair of vice grips to lock it in place. Worked like a charm The shocks when removed offer almost no resistance to being moved by hand. Since the arm can now drop right down, I removed the trumpet and cone. On this side I had to use some percussive persuasion with BFH to free the cone from the trumpet, but it was only stuck there, not seized, so didn't take much. The other side came apart easy. Somewhere in here I removed, but forgot to get photos of, the hand brake quadrant. It's on the underside of the arm, and in the left of the photo above with the cable running to it. Mine was held in place by a split pin, onto a pin that goes through the arm. You also need to remove the cable from the bracket on the backing plate of the brakes (and from the lever, just a split pin and remove the pin). Do this by levering the metal collar with the spring, out of the tab on the arm and pulling the cable free. Next I removed the brake hose from the bracket on the subframe, and from the pipe. This is not fun to access, but can be done. I have replacement hoses which will be fitted on reassembly. With the hose out of the way, there is a large nut on the side of the subframe that needs to be removed And another on the outside of the subframe, where the grease nipple is. I have also loosened one of the outer mounting bolts in this photo, above the arm. Another bolt is hidden under the arm Then there are another two under the bracket, and once removed, the arm can be pulled free from the car My arm is pretty grotty. Old grease, dirt, and what I think is a Lanolin based rust protectant. The other side is the same deal, and took me about quarter the time to remove that the first one did, but with one little catch. The brake splitter is close to the RH side, so the brake pipe is very short. There is very little movement in it, so to access the nut on the side of the subframe I needed to remove the bolt holding the splitter to the bracket, and gain some space. You could also just remove the pipe from the splitter, which is probably better, but I didn't want to risk rounding the nut. It looked old. This side was worse when the arm was removed I'm going to have to chip all that out before I refit the refurbished arms. Oh well. So the arms are out, I have ordered two new brake cylinders (RH side cylinder didn't look any better, so doing both) and a new set of shoes. I'll be dropping the arms into the local Mini specialist to have him fit the rebuild kit, as I don't have the tools to ream the new bushing out, and I'll get him to fit the new brake cylinders too. Once they are done and back I can reassemble the rear, and start work on the front.

[PANTS]

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Never really bonded with it, or enjoyed driving it. Effie was the better car to drive, which is a shame.

The Mini adjuster doesnt have clicks as such, its a threaded screw with a squared off head. Bit of a shit to adjust, but i did it as per this video and afterwards the handbrake worked mint (didnt work beforehand and the adjustment was way out) which is usually a good indicator the brakes are adjusted well

Well the time finally came, Tess is now with her new owner. I know I have been quiet for the past month or so, but funnily enough, I had been driving Tess a lot recently and she had been completely solid and reliable, so there wasn't a lot actually going on. I have also recently started a new job, so been flat out working. Tess had been advertised for sale for about a month, with a lot of interest, and two people claiming to be "getting the money together" to buy her (and one of them even viewing the car and loving her). Recently a third interested party contacted me, offering to swap his boat for Tess. Unfortunately I have no use for a boat (or anything to even tow it) so declined the offer. Instead, he chose to list and sell the boat, which happened fast, and that freed up the cash to enable him to purchased Tess. It all happened very quickly, and Tess ended up on a trailer to her new owner up in Auckland, yesterday. She certainly got some looks from passersby, and it's easy to see why. Stunning. Brent from Classic Towing (big thanks to him for taking good care of her, again) was the lucky fellow that got to transport her again, so it was a familiar sight, albeit, just a bit different. She didn't need blocks to help her clear the ramps, and she started and drove on easily (unlike last time, where she just didn't want to start). Unfortunately it sounds like she had some teething issues with the new owner, who had her delivered this morning, but I'm sure she will pull herself together and play nice soon. So that is Tess. Its been a wild ride, and I have sunken a lot of time and some money (just shy of $3000 in parts)into her, but she should be a good sorted example now. I'll miss the noise, and her stunning looks. I will have some parts available for sale once I sort through my spares, so keep an eye on the SD1 Facebook page in the next couple of weeks. In other news, Snicket was dropped off at VTNZ yesterday for its re-registration inspection, but I'm still waiting to see how that goes. They're really dragging their feet, for what should be a quick and simple process. It's almost like someone who books in and pays a couple of hundred dollars, doesn't get priority... I also have a flight booked for Monday, to pick the new car up from Hamilton and drive it back, so keep an eye out for that one. I'll be posting that trip on Instagram as I hoon down the Island, with a post to follow. I leave you with a couple of videos of Tess I took for the new owner Good bye Tess, please be good for your new owner.

I adjusted them both perfectly last time, so im hoping there will be something obvious going on when i take the drum off. I have also heard of the brake hoses internally swelling, so i have a pair of them on the way. I think the inspector may have been a bit more understanding if it had done more than 10% of the work lol. Gravel/quiet road could be the go....

Its nothing too unexpected, except for the brakes. I had a feeling the rear arms were flogged, because taking a corner hard would result in the rear tire contacting the inner guard.... and it shouldn't do that. I've ordered parts, about $600 worth, and have someone that will ream the bushes for the rear arms for me. I may need more parts, but thankfully unlike the Rover i can get them locally, so isnt too much of an issue. Realistically, for a car that has been off the road for a number of years, and seems to have had some questionable treatment when it was on the road (not to mention I suspect it was being used as a parts car before I got it), I don't think the list is too bad. No rust anyway, which is great.