kws

My Rover GM 3spd auto didn't have a drain bung. Very messy. Mercedes sucks the oil out at the dealership, but they still have drain bungs. Probably quicker to suck it out than to remove all the bloody under trays.

Stupidly, the ZF box in my BMW is meant to be serviced, ZF say, and it has drain and fill ports and ZF makes instructions on how to do it. BMW deemed they knew better, and marked it as "lifetime filled". My diff doesn't have a drain hole, once again because lifetime fluid.

So, according to Phil at PD automotive, my radius arms have been rebuilt already and have little to no wear. He can't see how vtnz failed them for "play". Interesting. Bloody vtnz nailing their stereotype.

Since I was at a standstill with the rear of car due to waiting for the rear arms to be reconditioned, I decided to push on with the front of the car. Referring back to the Rego inspection sheet, up front I had play in the front lower LH "kingpin" (lower ball joint), and play in the RH rack end. I ordered a replacement standard steering rack (I considered a quick rack, but apparently they can make the car too twitchy to drive normally and it's not like the standard rack is slow) and a pair of ball joints. I had been procrastinating the rack replacement as everything I had read indicated that it's a complete arse of a job. "Step 1, lower the front subframe". Yeah. Anyway, yesterday I bit the bullet and got stuck in. The first job to do is to get inside the car, and remove the column pinch bolt. Remove the nut, and then use a flatblade screwdriver to open the gap on the clamp up a little and the bolt should come out fairly easily. I also loosened off the upper column clamp. This is meant to have a headless shear-bolt, but in typical Leyland fashion mine wasn't sheared off. The head of the bolt is the orange arrow, and it screws into the blue arrow. The "nut" on the end is weird, it free spins and doesn't lock into anything. I used a screwdriver jammed into the slot to jam it and undo it. Next it was time to crack off the nuts inside the car that hold the U clamps to the rack. There are two on each side of the floor. Blue arrows are the nuts. Orange arrow is the hole in the panel to access the centering hole in the rack. With them cracked off, but not too loose, it's time to get ready to lower the subframe. Undo the top nuts for the shocks, and remove the shocks from the mount And remove the tie rod ends from the knuckles Now to drop the subframe. I left the front mounts done up (its rubber mounted on my car so has some give), and removed the four nuts and bolts on the lower rear mounts I supported the engine with my jack and some wood, and then removed the two massive top mount bolts. This allowed me to gently pry the back of the subframe down and get the much needed clearance. I did also lower the shifter box from the floor (two nuts inside the car behind shifter), otherwise there isn't enough clearance to slide the rack passed the rods. The manual says you only need to gain 20mm of space, but I had to lever it down as far as it would physically go, and even then it's just enough. The four nuts inside the car hold the rack in place, so remove those and then the U bolts can be removed from under the car And then with some wiggling, out comes the rack (I hadn't lowered the shifter box yet, so it pulled the boot off during removal) from the drivers side. The rack is completely covered in oil/grease, and the rack ends are quite floppy. Compared to the new one, it looks very grotty I filled the new rack up with some differential oil (there is a lot of discussion regarding what should be in these; grease or oil, but as I had oil on hand, and the rack was completely dry, it's what went in it). You fill the rack via this port, which is also the centering hole for the rack. Its usually got a black plastic plug screwed into it, which can be seen in the photo above And then with the help of my lovely wife, I carefully slid the new rack into place, and secured with the U bolts. I cleaned the grease off the bolts and replaced the plastic strips. It's a two person job for sure, as one person needs to push the U bolts through the holes, and the other needs to spin the nuts on to hold it in place. Do NOT tighten the U bolts up yet through, leave them loose enough to be able to move the rack. With the rack in place, I used the jack to carefully raise the subframe back up, and refit all the bolts and secure it. I was planning on reusing both tie rod ends, but unfortunately one was damaged during removal. A replacement is on its way, and one has been reused. I counted the turns during removal, and refitted the same amount of turns, so hopefully the alignment won't be too far out. Will get it aligned anyway, but need to drive it there. So, whilst waiting for the replacement tie rod end to arrive, I looked into the ball joint play. This is what I found. So, the whole damn joint is loose and moving on the knuckle. Thankfully the locking tab did its job and stopped it coming completely out and falling to bits. Yes, that is also water coming out of the boot. I think the fail was fair. I was intending to replace this with the hub on the car, but knowing what I know now, that would be a huge pain to do, so I removed the hub from the car. Having to spin the whole hub assembly around to undo the brake line sucks, but I couldn't be bothered stripping the hub to remove the cylinder and spin that off. I was also only intending to replace the lower joint, but the top joint turned out to have miles to play in it, so that was getting replaced too. I don't have many photos of this process because it's very messy, but once I had the hub on the workbench I hammered back the locking tab, and used a massive socket to remove the dome nut. The grease in both joints was bad. Almost looked like grinding paste. I cleaned up the hub, and noticed a couple of rough spots which I cleaned up with fine sandpaper. Then it was a matter of refitting. Getting the shims right was a real pain, but trial and error got there eventually, so that the amount of play in the joints was just right. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of how to do this, so I wont go into too much detail. New joints look good though. I need to get more grease to pump through the fittings, and tighten the hub nut, but otherwise that is another job done. The last job for the day was to center the rack, and reinstall the column. To center the rack, remove the plastic plug discussed above, and use a 5-6mm drill bit, and a mirror, and whilst someone slowly turns the rack from either lock, look for the hole in the rack and slip the drill bit in. This is dead center on the rack. As there is only one spot on the rack pinion for the pinch bolt to fit, the column can only be fitted in one way. Keep in mind the rack MUST still be loose in the U bolts for this, so you can tilt the rack up for down to align the pinion. Turn the wheel so the pinch bolt hole lines up with the notch on the rack pinion, and slip the column onto the splines. It should slip on easily, if it doesn't, try to change the angle of the rack up or down to make it a straight line with the column. Next try to slip the pinch bolt through. If you have the column lined up well, it should slip through without too much issue. If it doesn't, take the column off the splines and turn the wheel to align the notch and try again. Unfortunately after all this, because the column could only go in one spot, my steering wheel is rather out of alignment. I'll need to take the wheel off and reinstall it straight. Tomorrow morning I drop the arms in for reconditioning, and then its a case of building it all back up, reinstalling everything, bleeding the brakes, and it should be ready for the re-check.

I've used autosol in the past, but its pretty agressive. My go to now is as mentioned above, a buffer and Ultimate Compound polish

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]

Oldest page

Old page

Page New

Page

New

New page.

Neeewwww pageeee

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.

So my Mini failed its rego inspection on a rear brake imbalance, with the LH side only doing 10% of the work. obviously not good, and ill strip it down and see whats up, but what im stuck with, is without rollers, can anyone think of a simple way for someone at home to test for an imbalance? I'm guessing no, but it's going to be a pain to take it down to VTNZ again to see if it passes or not.

Its been a while, but I finally got around to taking the Mini down for its re-registration inspection so that it can be driven on the road again. Unfortunately the inspection was a fail, So I need to sort these, A new lower ball joint (will do the pair) A new rackend, which isnt available, so a new steering rack >_< Rebuild both rear radius arms Replace both rear shocks (apparently there is play before the cones compress) And fix the brake imbalance (LH 10% / RH 93% - Almost nothing from the left), which may be the hard one to do. I don't recall any obvious leaking etc when i last removed the drums, so will strip both down, clean the lot, and replace the rear hoses when I remove the arms. Hopefully there is something obvious that needs to be replaced. I'm not looking forward to the work, and only have 20 working days to sort it all before i have to pay again and have a full inspection.

I can also now confirm that this information was sufficient for VTNZ. They would prefer you used one of their special Stat Dec forms, but saw no reason they couldn't accept the generic one signed by a JP (yes, that's how they said it, "couldn't see why not" ). They didn't specifically need anything but the Stat Dec and printout from NZTA about the black plates.

Right, so I took the Mini in for a re-rego check on Wednesday at VTNZ. The car was ready for pickup today, Friday. Cost was $229 and the inspection was a strict WOF inspection. My car has failed on a few things, but i have 20 working days for a recheck. The recheck MUST be booked in first. If you miss that deadline, you must pay again and have a full inspection again. Any brake work needs to be signed off on the included declaration, with receipts, but they are happy for me to do the work and fill it out myself.

The engines appear to be have been made by Toyosha. Without knowing exactly which model Toyosha engine is in the MB1500, the best i can do is this site, https://www.southern-global.com/index.php?route=information/information&amp;information_id=8 Either 49-58NM or 59-68NM depending on model HTH.