Ryans '73 Clubman

[AGRORB]

Well, after a long, long absence from both the forum, and classic car ownership, I'm back

Last November, my much loved R32 was lost to the hands of thieving scum in Christchurch, and for a week, the world ended, until it's miniature, blurple and very tidy replacement popped up on trademe, and, a few days later, insurance money in hand I stopped grieving for this:

And picked up this:

Just like that, I had taken ownership of my second Mini. Marvin, as I later named him, was running a bit rough when I first got him. 5 minutes of fettling with the SU' s awesomely simple mixture adjustment and further fine tuning thereafter saw a huge improvement. No more spluttering, farting and backfiring it wasn't long before I went on the hunt for performance, and, just like I did with Porkpie (my old yellow roundnose, original eh), an electronic ignition kit was ordered first. The kit comprised a new distributor and Lucas gold sport coil...

Improvements were instantly noticeable over the old points system, both in drivability and performance, money well spent then. Did an oil and filter change, ordered some genuine Lucas 8mm leads, and a Ramflo filter, which turned out to have the wrong backing plate. It's still in a box somewhere, anyway, new leads arrived and I decided to change the plugs and fuel filter at the same time...

I noticed the temperature was creeping up a fair bit on hot days so I decided to drain all the shitty tap water from the system and replaced it with 50/50 coolant. Much win. Little changed, I enjoyed pottering around the shaky city in my 4 wheel Skittle and decided all was well. Marvin even went on a romantic date with SiRedge's Civic down the Waimak...

After a while the urge to empty my wallet bit again, so I put in an order to Minispares in the UK for some shinys and some general replacement parts:

New alloy rocker cover, rad cap (which was wrong, doh), 74 degree thermostat, new thermostat housing studs, urethane engine steady bushes, a Paddy Hopkirk extended accelerator pedal, brand new clutch and brake pedal pads and some alloy hardware for the rocker cover. Why a 74 degree thermostat? Temperatures were creeping up once again, more on that later. Anyway, I fitted my new bling and there was much rejoicing.

I had just bought a 90% complete 1275 motor at the time too, however this is where things took a turn for the worst for me and my Mini. I was forced to leave home in Christchurch, leave a well paying job, and head to Dunedin to stay with the olds until I got things sorted out. That's where I'm at now, however, on the way down the car started boiling its coolant. Remember the radiator cap? Wrong pressure, 7lbs, instead of 15, I didn't read the description properly. Couple this to a dirty, corrosion filled cooling system and things quickly turned to shit. Every 15 minutes we were stopping to top the radiator up as it boiled coolant straight out the overflow. Longest trip of my life, and the grind up The Kilmog was painful, but we got here. That poor little 998 soldiered on like the trooper it is, and is still running fine. I'll be getting a coolant flush, compression and leakdown test done to see if my suspicions are correct and it IS in fact the head gasket thats gone, or if all is well and it just needs a bloody good clean out. Unfortunately, I had to sell the 1275 before I shifted down here, so I'll either do some mild mods on the 998 and just enjoy it, or, source another big bore motor. All comes down to dollars... Either way, I'm not giving up on him like my last Mini, I'm determined to keep this one going til the bitter end and actually enjoy driving it again.

Big plans, but I'll say no more until I can bring them to fruition

[AGRORB]

More progress today, did a coolant flush with proper flushy stuff and took most of the skin off my arm trying to remove the bottom.radiator hose too... Ah well, ran it for half an hour, drained the flush/water mix from.the system, grabbed the garden hose... Then realised our house has no outside tap took the top hose off, dumped some clean water down the thermostat housing, put everything back together, topped up the system with coolant and fitted the right cap (15lb). Let it run for a further 20 mins, temperature barely got above 1/4 still going to get a proper chemical flush done on the block, a new radiator and water pump fitted and headgasket done if need be, with the head receiving a tickle up at the same time with 1.3 ratio roller rockers, double springs and some port work...

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Into it again, more parts ordered and arriving by the day

Minispares!

Silicone hoses, high capacity water pump, thermostat housing, fuel line, gaskets etc:

Also got some flares, need a bit of trimming and prep and paint and what not but pleased with them overall:

Trial fit:

Not bad at all, will need decent sized wheels to fill them out

Alloy radiator on the way as well as an underdriven billet pulley and engine steady rod from RetroSport in the UK, that should finish the cooling system off, tossing up between buying another motor or getting this one checked over and building a 1330 while I putt around with my 998.

Also, thinking widened steelies...

[AGRORB]

The biggest (figuratively and literally) piece of the puzzle arrived today in the shape of this spiffing alloy radiator. Have seen these fitted to a few NZ Mini's and at just $25 cheaper than a Minispares equivalent from the UK I have no doubts about quality despite being a no-name item off trademe. Fuckin light and two nice thick cores, certainly looks a damn sight nicer than my factory one anyway.

Also bought a heater tap from an English classic specialist (it seems originals are either out of stock for the mk1-4 head mounted type or horrendously expensive), a NOS and therefore period correct heater cable and some stainless studs to compliment the thermostat housing ones, the whole lot will be replaced with stainless soon enough

I.also discovered some pillock has replaced the heater unit with one from a.mk1, so I'll either find a tidy mk3 one and recore it or buy a Minispares universal one as well as all the ducting which has been removed. My RetroSport order of sexy red billet alloy should hopefully land next week and will be the first of many RetroSport parts to call my car home. As soon as they arrive it's off to the doctors for some fettling and offensive part removal, as well as a health check on the engine... That's the one thing I'm not looking forward to.

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My new Griproyal wheel arrived! Ordered Xmas day, finally here Exceptional quality and finish and about the same price as your average Momo wheel, plenty thick and it's heavy too, can't wait to fit this, probably the only one in this colour in the country

[AGRORB]

Sweet, sweet billet arrived from the UK today

Time to get tore into the old beast at last

[AGRORB]

Shamelessly copied and pasted from Bwarp :

Got ripped into my buggered cooling system today. Started by removing the old, seized heater tap and fitted a new shiny, PROPER one, god knows what the old one was.

Easy enough. Next up was a full flush. I've had 5 Finish dishwasher tablets sitting in the system under the advice of forum members from TMF for the last 5 days. Ran some Holts coolant flush through it today, drained the system, removed the radiator and thermostat, and flushed all the shit through:

Old crumbling thermostat housing, making way for a nice new one:

Beginning the removal process:

Handily, the heater hose has a steel fitting a garden hose fits onto!:

Backflushing:

Next the waterpump was removed. Easy enough, unbolt the alternator and remove 4 bolts.Here's the new one, with the larger, deeper impeller compared to the old one, which is clearly smaller:

Genuine English Superseal gasket:

New waterpump in place:

The new pulley, bit larger than the old one, alongside the high capacity pump this should completely negate any cavitation in the cooling system:

This is where the fun began, my brand new belt doesn't fit as I need a Cooper S belt, this is as far as I got:

Fitted the fan the CORRECT way:

[AGRORB]

Part deux:

Whoever done the work last time put the fan on back to front. Fuckwits, its clearly marked:

So, with that massive anticlimax, I chucked my new steady brace on, complete with bushes:

The old one, much ugliness:

Thats as far as I got, painted the top rad support a fresh coat of black and I'll do the upper shroud tomorrow. I'll give BNT a call on Tuesday (Otago anniversary, long weekend, w00t) and hopefully get the radiator in nek weekend. Glad the hardest parts are done, and having brand new hardware for the pump certainly helped, old ones were fair rusty. Was talking to an old English joker who was walking by and he said the best thing to do is simply bin the thermostat and fit a blanking sleeve, and unless you have a catastrophic failure the cooling system should never give problems again (y) With that in mind I'll fit one next spring, no point having an engine that doesn't warm up in freezing Dunedin winters Productive 4 hours tbh!

[AGRORB]

Hold onto your wigs, it's huge update copypasta time!

Alloy rad was a nightmare to fit, professional help was required...

So I won't go into the boring details of my radiator not fitting, but here's an engine bay teaser shot:

Y U MAEK FAN HIT SHROUD U SHINY ALLOY CUNT.

And today's progress...

Baaaiiiii Mini off to a local specialist for rad support mods, compression and leakdown tests, a service and tune

Then I bought some sounds...

Well that's 4 day's it's been gone, gotta say it's been kinda dumb not having it at home

Eased the pain with some retail therapy today, bought a new headunit as mine is on its way out.

Does pretty much everything my old Sony did in the Skyline and was a whole $5 cheaper just need new speakers to replace the hideous Carrozeria ones I have at the moment, looking at 6x9's for the parcel shelf, whatever size components I can fit in a speaker board under the rear seats for mid and probably just tweeters up front, I'm not into big installs. Been looking at dash kits from the UK and so so keen to get one, woodgrain, charcoal burr and genuine carbon fibre available with door cappings to match cheap too...

Everythings hinging on the state of my engine though.

Days and weeks went past. Ally rad was just a prick to fit so I bought an Adrad one instead. Mechanic found a list of shit wrong, too, here's how that went down...

New 6x9 board came today from.Miniworks in.Wellington

Very nicely made in-house too.

Decided to rip out the alloy rad and replace it with a copper two core type from Silverdale Radiators, all the cooling performance of the alloy radiator with none of the arsehole fitting issues. Should have just got one in the first place.

Garage don't seem too pleased that I've made their job easier though, got a call from the owner today a couple hours after I told them I was pulling the alloy rad out. I lolled.

Let's try radiator number two, shall we? Nice Adrad Aussie jobby, should do the job

Seriously considering boron nitrate coating the core next service though, just for mega cooling efficiency, seeing as Mini's love to pop headgaskets as soon as the temp gauge even sniffs the hotter side of halfway...

At last, progress.

Just back from a visit to.the garage, they've found a nice little list of issues without even getting into the radiator fitting and compression/leakdown tests:

• Two broken engine mounts
• Lower radiator bracket is completely wrong
• Starter motor has been installed incorrectly
• Most rubber fuel lines have perished
• LH front brake line had been crushed and kinked
• It's had a frontal at some stage
• Fuel pump cap has been installed backwards

Hopefully that's the end of my woes There was literally nothing left of the mounts at all, just rusty worn steel and crumbly rubber, two new one's are in now. He's re routed and lengthened most of the fuel lines so they aren't running so close to the exhaust and is relocating the filter to the bulkhead. He's also redone the buggered brake line and sorted the fuel pump, it just needs the right Clubman rad brackets and he can install the radiator. New waterpump bypass hose was also installed as my one was swollen and cracking. Pointed out it's had a new nose and pair of guards at some stage, I asked if he thinks the car or front subframe is twisted at all as the LH front sits higher but he says there's no sign of anything untoward damage wise and it's more than likely worn bushes or subframe mounting pads causing the lean... As I said, I hope this is the last of it...

[AGRORB]

Last Thursday, it came home! More copypasta!

GAIZ GAIZ GAIZ LUK IT GOZE!! Like under its own power n shit! Hefty bill for the mountain of work done and parts replaced, and there's still a lot more to do but for now, all is well! Went up Signal Hill to load it up a bit, temperature didn't budge, went for a spirited drive to Portobello, temperature didn't budge, sits on quarter constantly engine temp has been checked at different points and the readings averaged 82 degrees which is bang on, with a healthy 65 degrees in the bottom tank. Engine bays looking good, will get some photos tomorrow in better light, but for now, has thees =DDDDDD

Bought a very svelte Rover solid wood gear knob, looks and feels great, despite what potato photo may lead you to believe, extra height makes it much more comfortable too.

Also got the obligatory chrome GB badges as fitted to Sportspack Coopers

And a cheeky sticker, because truck mad :giggle:

So yes there is a still a hill to climb, but, at least it's not the mountain it used to be. Going back in a few weeks for RH engine mount as they're waiting on the part, after that it'll be minor tidy ups with wiring, fixing the rattly bonnet, tappets, just a good birthday really. Faith in my humble Mini restored, stoked to be driving it again

[AGRORB]

Biffed old steering wheel, Cleaned it up, drove it places...

Steering wheel in looks fuggin' sweet, makes the indicator stalk a bit of a stretch but no biggy

Photobucket seems to have killed image quality

Engine bay shot with everything in place

Gonna pull the tappet cover off tomorrow and give it a proper polish. Considering spraying it with Metalcast anodized red or red wrinkle coat, leaving the fins, cap and T-bars polished, just to match my pulley and stabilizer bar, plus the raw polished alloy finish can be a prick to keep clean.

Just need an amp and I can start my 6x9 install

Went for a lunchtime cruise out to Tomahawk beach, followed by a good cane up the hill out the peninsula to Larnach Castle, and then decided to see where the end of our road is... Waitati it seems Car never skipped a beat, temperature got up to just under half so still nothing to worry about. Here's some pics of my newly shined up little money pit overlooking some pretty coastal scenery. Because cunts love pictures.

And a majestic hill/cliff thingy.

Forgotten just how much fun throwing one of these around really is, even though you're not hauling arse every twisty narrow road feels like a Special Stage and the go-kart steering and little bits of lift off overstee just completes the experience One of the only cars I can confidently left foot brake in with out ending up with my face lodged in the steering wheel too

Starting to wonder if I can give this car up tbh...

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And that's where everything stands currently!

[AGRORB]

HOOOOO SHIT ITS UPDATE TIME, not a hell of a lot going on, Mini has a new WOF n shit, which is good, I bought some new door and window seals, which I haven't fitted because slack, tackled some surface rust, added some shiny bits, my EBay heater tap disintegrated so I've replaced it with a take-off elbow... yeah. Here's some copypasta from another build thread, the more interesting stuff though:

 

Decided to get stuck into my rusty floor with my day off. It's mostly only surface rust and the passenger side was very minor, however the drivers side was a bit worse. The old house carpet they were using as underlay was saturated, mouldy and starting to rot, so it's now residing comfortably in a skip. Dried the floor off and got stuck in with a wire brush, as you can see it's had repairs in the past, passenger side:



Driver:



Paint time, no etch primer so I used filler primer instead, and some gloss black. Only a footwell, not like anyone's gonna see it:



First two coats of primer:



Took its time drying, so I dragged my carpet upstairs for a meeting with some Shake 'n' Vac, then, back down for paint, one basecoat, two layers of topcoat:



Finally came the smelly and most unpleasant stage, Lanocote. Shit smells rank, never spraying large amounts without a mask again  Gave that about 15 minutes to go waxy, then biffed the carpet back in, fits so much better now with all the crap underneath gone and I could actually button it down to its securing points, I'll be pulling it out for a black or dark grey one eventually but it's a Damn sight better than it was:



Actually got full travel in my clutch now and my steering column isn't binding up in strands of ruined carpet and insulation. Productive Thursday was productive. I'll likely have to replace the floor sections at some stage as the drivers side is pretty bad in places, but hopefully this combined with the underseal on the bottom should keep the tinworm at bay a bit longer  Especially with the new window and door seals.

[AGRORB]

Part deux:

 

Hokay, Mini has a WOF again  rear brakes just needed to be "improved"... From what I saw at the garage, they needed a lot more than just improving 

 

Both rear wheel cylinders had seized solid, so these were promptly binned and replaced with some generic BNT items, wasn't really much point paying big shipping prices for genuine AP or Unipart ones when the Italian jobbies are just as good. Secondly, one of the brake shoes on the right hand drum had completely disintegrated, which explained the grinding sound. The shoes still had plenty of meat left (they weren't exactly doing much with seized cylinders) but the bonding was obviously shit, and the resulting heat melted the glue causing the lining to crack from vibration. As soon as the drum was off the lining just fell off in one big chunk  The handbrake, which was about as much use as a vegan in a butcher shop, has been modified and massively improved. The quadrants, which are the pivots both cables swing on, have been pulled off, beefed up, lubricated and refitted, the cables have been given a good coating of PTFE spray, and the mechanism in the rear drums overhauled and lubricated. Of course, everything had to be bled up, but not before the good buggers at the garage decided to reroute the hardlines from the master cylinder back into their factory locations again, SOOO much tidier now  No more unsightly hole in the fire wall where the distribution block should sit and no shitty looking tape holding it in place any more, the clutch line can now be put back into its factory bracket but we want to find a return spring clip and the correct hardline first, as some drongo has replaced it with a rubber hose  Car was on and off the brake tester in a matter of a minute and a new WOF sticker slapped on  The front brakes, however, are in need of attention. The new shoes need to be fitted, and one backing plate isn't far off a meeting with the scrap dealer, one of the front shoes adjusters is knackered and things are getting stiff, i've asked about discs, but he reckons there's really no point unless you've got the horsepower to back them up and the factory solid discs and 2 pot calipers offer very little extra braking power, so it'd need to be either a 7.5" race kit with Metro/ERA turbo 4-pots or 8.4" Cooper S discs using the same calipers, which is a spendy conversion... Next up, the engine mount i've been putting off for far too long, front brake rebuild, then fit the wheels and some standard flares... 

 

As you all know, the car is for sale, the rush, however, isn't there, and the price will only go up as more issues are fixed and parts are added. With the new job comes some new opportunities, so, if I can find a flat with a garage, the Mini will be tucked away for weekends, and I'll buy a daily, and just chip away at this slowly. It'll always be for sale, but only for the right price...

 

 

And thats where I'm up to now. Warranted for another 6 months, Rego'd for another 6 months. As mentioned, the car is for sale, but i'm in absolutely no rush. Just need to find me that house now... Or a secure lock up at least.

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Wheels are on their way from Auckland now, can't wait for the trial fit Speaking of wheels, I got sick of the shitty silver on mine, so today, this happened, hektik west auckz spec bae:

 

 

 

Back to the garage on Tuesday for its other engine mount (FINALLY) and clutch adjustment, as i'm having to bust out the Roadranger skills just to drive the bloody thing at the moment. Wobbly steering has been fixed by simply replacing a tyre AND, a new (old) motor could well be on the cards soon Not before I invest in Hi-Lo's, new cones, and either Bilstein or AVO low type shocks though

[AGRORB]

Wheels are here

 

 

 

 

So stoked Test fit this weekend to determine what flares I need, procure tires, sell existing flares, procure correct size, fit, win.

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Took a wheel down to be trial fitted today, with pretty tasty results 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad fit at all, I may not even need to run flares if I buy a camber kit for the front as the rears tuck by another 1/2", give or take. Pretty happy with that!

 

Biggest problem is sourcing tires, 145/70's are mostly cheap chinese shit off trademe and there are only 4 165/60's left in the country, and I cant afford them at the moment, and I sure as hell won't be paying nearly $400 for shipping from the UK for 4 tires! More than what they're worth. Falken NZ have no plans to get anymore in as theyre such an uncommon tyre and no one else makes anything in that size, Yokohama NZ are saying the same thing. Bit of a conundrum.

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Tires sorted! Coming next week Had another early day today so I came home and pissed around with the car for a bit. Copied from another forum, here's what I did today:

 

LOLSPAMSPAMSPAM 

 

Anyhoo, today was a good day. I fitted two new door seals, so I don't get wet when it's raining and so that if I accidentally a lake, I'll die later. Win-win really.

 

Also decided I'd had enough of the tappet cover going dull and needing polished to remove fingerprints and general grubbiness all the time, so I painted it.

 

Paint:

 

 

Been a long time fan of this stuff, used it several times on my first Minis tappet cover, it was never the same colour for more than a couple of months but this red was by far my favourite  Matches my water pump pulley and engine stay bar too.

 

I wanted to leave the fins raw, so masking was required. Rather than piss around with tape, the quickest solution is to simply use this:

 

 

Normal everyday grease, or anything similar that wipes off easily and doesn't allow paint to adhere to the surface. This is best applied by either fingertip, or preferably, a small modelling paintbrush for more intricate jobs, one of those days I wish I still had one... Anyway, I cracked on, and carefully applied a thin film of grease to each fin. After that, paint time:

 

 

That was the first coat. I did my best beforehand to remove any contaminants, dirt and old oil, but unfortunately the prepsol didn't quite get it all, so there is some reaction in the finish, luckily, its on the reverse side, which you never see as the carb and filter is in the way, plus the PCV line and choke cable rub on it anyway, so no biggy.

 

Three coats later, I had a nice blood red:

 

 

I didn't have any clear on hand, which sucks, but that can always be done later, if I feel the need. The motor was still warm, so I sat the cover back on the head and shut the bonnet for half an hour to help cure the paint, after that, came down with a rag, and wiped the grease and paint off the fins, doesn't look bad at all, will clean out the the crusty paint once the finish has finally cured so I dont wipe off my hard work. Lush colour I reckon:

 

 

 

Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest difference  Mightn't be to everyones taste, but i'm more than happy with it.

[AGRORB]

Bit more progress now

 

Got some tires down from Auckland and fitted up, decided to paint my lettering, such a fiddly, time consuming exercise zzzzz

 

 

 

It snowed down here recently too, so I went out to play up Mount Cargill Road

 

 

 

 

 

Been having some issues with the car losing coolant, and hissing through the overflow when turned off, I've put it down to head gasket, so I brought in a genuine MG/Rover gasket set with copper gasket from the UK, as well as some ARP head studs, a new throttle cable and speedo cable:

 

 

Just need to find time to do it now. Sold my GripRoyal steering wheel to another OldSchool member, as it's just not gonna tie in with the future plans I have for my interior. In the meantime, I bought this sweet Autotechnica woodgrain wheel off a mate in Gizzy for an absolute steal, matches my hand brake and gearknob quite nicely

 

 

Mounted the standard Clubman wheel plaque inside the bosskit too

 

 

Bought some Cooper S rear drums to allow me to fit my wheels, as well as brand new retaining screws, just need studs now

 

 

 

Currently bidding on a set of extractors on tm, hoping they'll give some life back to the tired little 998 until I can find something with a bit more grunt  

[AGRORB]

Long time coming, but, more updates! Wheels are now fitted, I have extractors and a 12G940 cylinder head on the way, some new problems have been identified and some more little issues have been fixed. In the last month I have bought:

 

Lumenition HT leads

Battery

Cooper S studs

K&N filter

New Lucas alternator

Extractors

12G head (negotiating) 

Chrome trim strips

 

Been plodding away slowly, current alternator is on its last legs so that'll be replaced tomorrow morning (y) Here's what I've been up to the last few weekends:

 

Battery was stuffed due to a failing alternator, so out it came, and in went the new:

 

 

 

Minispares order

 

 

First up, filter, new vs. old

 

 

Leads were next, discovered my dizzy cap had been loose and my no.2 plug had also loosened about 3 turns too :/

 

 

Old earth cable was removed, and replaced:

 

 

 

Removed all my old electric fan loom:

 

 

Also got the carb apart, gave it a clean and look over, replaced the oil in the dashpot with lighter genuine SU oil and drove it around for a week, until today, where the drums and wheels were finally fitted Big thanks to Glenn Lawrence for his time and the use of his workshop space. Few issues have been found, pretty much all the wheel bearings need to be done at some stage and the left rear arm has play, so will need to be kitted. CV's are also completely knackered. Anyway, pressing on with far more fun stuff

 

New drums:

 

 

One on

 

 

All on!

 

 

It was then off home for a good clean before a thrash over Three Mile Hill, what a difference they've made to the handling never mind the looks!

 

 

 

 

Needing flares unfortunately

 

 

 

 

So stoked with it