Mk1Mad

Cool, yeah let me know. Am looking to buy a house at the same time so may end up not needed once it comes around. NIck

Hi all, just moved back to Wellington from the UK and looking for a garage to rent in Wellington, ideally in or near Brooklyn. Wan't to bring my mini down from Taranaki and get it back on the road so ideally somewhere dry, secure and with power. PM me if you know of anything. Nick

I got a dizzy complete from this guy. Be aware, they are a copy of the original casting and not perfect. Mines been running for a year and has been perfect. http://www.simonbbc.com/

Some suggestions. Float value in carb sticking/not adjusted right? Dizzy gunked up and advance weights not expanding out all the way at high RPM? Plug leads degraded? Nick

Found a recommendation on some of the NZ BWM forums for Page European on Mt Vic. Gave him a ring and he sounds like a good sort. $320+ for a full service. Any experience with them anyone? Nick

Cheers guys. Just checked with BMW. The 60,000 km inspection is meant to be Inspection 1. $300 to $400. Is pretty comprehensive: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1810648 Won't include brake cable/pad replacement, and they figure a couple of hours on the ramp to complete it all. Always had great service there too. Will try Autocare too.

Thought this was the best place to post this. Looking for a recommendation for a garage in Wellington to service our modern daily. Can't be bother doing stuff on it ourselves. 2003 BMW 318ti Needs an oil and filter change, brake checkover and adjust. Maybe needs handbrake cables replaced, possibly pads as well. All in all, just a good general service. Currently have had Dave Tunley of Taranaki Street recommended. Would prefer a garage within walking distance of the CBD for easy dropoff. May touch base with Jeff Gray too, see what their ballpark figure is.

Has anyone had any experience with these Eastwood welders? http://www.restosupplies.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=198 They are a Chinese manufactured unit. Reviews also sound like its hit and miss whether the one you receive works straight out of the box, but once they are going the reviews are good. As they have a NZ importer I would be asking them to unpack and test it before sending to me. Seems like a good price for home use considering it comes with a reg and foot pedal at that price.

Try these guys. The dizzys are knockoffs but I have one in my mini and it's pretty good. http://www.simonbbc.com/

Yup, probably slave and/or master. I believe there is also a helper spring under the dash that pulls the pedal back too. These are well known for losing their springiness???? (is that a word....). http://www.paddockspares.com/ These guys look like they have everything you need, or do ebay.co.uk. Cheap as.

No pictures sorry Chris. Stupid Samsung phone is crappy... Was mean fun around the rocks. Read up a bit on the clutch, should strip and clean hydralic system and grease pivot point between clutch pedal and master cylinder push rod. The pivot actually has a little plug in it to allow you to oil it. Probably all dried up tho. Keen to get into it once this rain is gone....

Yup, see attached. I am hoping it is just crimped and I can cut it here and crimp a new cable in. Was only frayed at the carb end, frays in the pic are just from it lying around.

Been a long time but time for an update. Over the last couple of months I have got the mini running well, got a WOF, got a reg, had a valuation and organised agreed value insurance. Perfect. I've been hooning around Wellington in it now for the last month. Things to do: Buy/ have repaired choke cable as the ends frayed pretty bad. New one is expensive and I think this one is savable. Just have to start it from under the bonnet when its dead cold. Check timing, tighten head bolts and check valve clearances. Clean up minor rust surface rust on passengers footwell. Check brakes and adjust up. I have also bought a new clutch for it (cheers Ben at Repco for hooking us up). Will do the rear crank oil seal at the same time so must order one. May also buy a Mini specific flywheel puller as they have a rep of being very very had to pull off. So, pics. Clutch kit. I also bought some wide wheels. They are 'Reverse' rims, not Cooper S rims. 4.5 inches wide as opposed to 3.5 inches standard. These were an option from the dealer back in the day. Two are Dunlop brand from the 60's, two are BMC produced from the 70's. Ive had them sandblasted and 2-pack primered ($30 a rim) and am now deciding on the colour to paint them. Will either be Old English White or Silver (see example pics). Also added example of existing wheels for comparison at right. After blasting, Dunlop Markings, Options, Also from a few years living outside the paint is starting to wear in a few places. Kinda tempted to get the body touched up and then get a white vinyl roof and white circular numbers on the doors for a bit of a 60's weekend racer look.

Steelies, no question. Wish something like that would follow me home... Looks to have Cooper S/Reverse Rims, Morris Cooper S grill.... Hmmm. It couldn't be tho. Could it? More picture and plans please..

So... Bit of a boring update but I will get some more photos at some point. My mini is now running after a lot of head scratching... Turns out that when I swapped over the plug leads to another cap I switched two of them around so as labelled they were wrong. Stupid mistake but good to sort it.... Next on the list, I've ordered a can of paint to touch up the hinges once I have re-bushed and re-pinned them. I'm also half way through going over the brakes and cleaning/fitting new return springs. Lots of other bits and pieces are ready to fit so I'll get a few good sessions on it to sort the final bits hopefully and then WOF and valuation time. One question, I looking for the centre parts of the horn. They are the same as a Morris Minor so hoping someone out there has one spare. Its both the internal insulator and the spring to go with it. See below: Let me know if you have one going spare!

I'll try my luck. Does anyone have a spare Telstraclear Cable Modem (SB5101 would work best I imagine). I used to have a spare one but dropped it back to TC. Just trying to improve the wireless signal strength in my house and think a second modem/router combo on the top (3rd) floor might be best. Current router is on the lower floor. Cheer Nick

Oh. I just looked at those pictures I sent. Looks like mine currently has slightly different front springs but I will be fitting my new ones soon. The issue I think youre having is you are using the wrong holes for the springs. Also, one end of the spring has a funny hook to fix it in. The easist way to fit the shoes and springs is to fit the shoes and springs all together off the car and then hook the whole assembly over the hub. You place the rear of each shoe in the grooves on the rear of the cylinders and then pull each front end of the shoe into the cylinder piston groove. Hopefully that makes sence. Nick

OK. See below the images of my front right brake. Hopefully this should help you figure it out. There are different versions of brakes so Im not sure if yours are the same as mine. Nick

I'll get you a photo of the front brakes later this week when I'm in the shed. Nick

Sorry man, I don't really have any spare parts left as got rid of anything I didn't need. Surely there is a mini wreckers in Hamilton? If not, maybe call by at Horopito, buy them off the Minispares, Minibitz, or Swift Automotive. Nick

Bolt in rear cage would be cool. Cant have a rear seat tho for WOF and need authority card I believe. Anyway, rollcages where for loses back in the 60's..

Yeah, never really have any comments. Um, studs etc all came from Minispares. Good exchange rate right now makes their stuff pretty cheap. Also currently eyeing up some 'S' steels without hubcaps to go for a bit of the weekend racer look. Nick

Yup. I doubt the original timing mark on the cam gearwheel is in the wrong place so maybe it is the keyway on the cam. Yup, I think your best plan is to ignore the timing marks on the timing chain and use degree wheel, dial gauges etc to set it yourself. In terms of sorting dizzy position, you can just turn the dizzy drive (your picture) over tooth by tooth to get the dizzy in the 2'clock/firing to cylinder No1 position right?

Shouldn't you: 1. Take off the timing chain and gears. 2. Turn engine so timing marks are visable through clutch casing and No.1 piston is at TDC. 3. Turn cam untill you can slide cam gear, crank gear and timing chain on with marks aligning. 4. Insert Dizzy (should be aligned correctly as driven from cam). Or am I just confused by your situation. Nick

OK So head has been cleaned, crack tested, valve seats cut, new valve guides put in, new waterpump bypass tapped in and skimmed. After getting this back I have put in new SS studs etc. Pic before I painted it: Ive also had the carb alloy bits blasted to clean them up, then rebuilt the carb with new jets, gaskets etc: And had the rocker cover blasted before painting (shown with new breather cap too): Once I took the old water pump off to I realised that that was a bit hairy so I have replaced that too. Note to self, use antifreeze this time.... I have also removed the drivers door to replace the hinge bushes and pins. A very easy job with good results. I will need to buy some more paint to sort these out. Ive cleaned up the engine bay with degreaser and soapy water. Ive also painted patches on the block, painted the head and painted the rocker cover. Close to putting it all back together but I think most of the spending on this refresh is over! Can't wait to fit the new dizzy, change the oil and get this going again for the summer!