Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project

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I bought a few aluminum tube straights and bends. Also so some elbows, reducers and straight silicon connecters. Then of to supercheap to grab a couple of long radiator houses the correct dia to fill in the missing links.

I spent most of this afternoon working out how to make it work around everything else and piecing it together. I think I am good with this layout.

I also found a few diagrams of a Honda K20a cooling  system layout to make sure I was plumbing to the correct outlets on the radiator.

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I also made my own tool to put a bead into the alloy tube with a pair of vice grips. It's a bit slow, but works  which is the main thing. Also cost very little.

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A small update. The throttle body and fuel rail to match the intake from K power arrived yesterday. A quick trial fit to see what fits from the OEM manifold.

Injectors are supposed to fit, once I figure out how to get them out. I have the nuts holding the rail off and the clips pushed off which hold each one. I can move it a bit but the fuel rail still doesn't want to let go. May just need a bit more force but I will find out before I try again.

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After a quick Google and watching a u tube video, all I needed to do was use a bit of penetrating oil and use a fit of force and the injectors came out. I will give them a clean before they go into the new intake.

Today I decided to get one of the seat frames finished. I had to make up some sandwich plates to go either side of the floor. I had two nice flat areas in the right places for the seat to mount too so I made them nearly twice the minimum size of 3000 sq mm. I sent a pic to the certifier of the seat frame mounted to the seat. He just said to make sure I used mounting plates in accordance with the regulations so I will make the passenger seat frame the same.

I gave it a quick coat of paint and mounted the seat back on and bolted it in. 

Also the gear lever was way to long, so I cut about 75mm out of it. Feels about right now at that height. I need to find a gear knob for it now.

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                               MAN NEEDS HEAT

Since I was never going to be able to keep the AC Compressor in the engine bay unless I cut out the chassis rails and had new chassis rails and a new front suspension made up, which would be horribly expensive. I still wanted a heater and windscreen defrost. The original heater sat on a shelf on the firewall which is now gone and been replaced with the engine.

I had a few Smiths heaters and fans that I thought I might be able to make something up to work. The fans are mounted up front by the radiator and by the time the air gets to and through the heater there's not that much puff coming through to the cabin or worse the windscreen. It would be nice if I could keep the windscreen clear in the cold and wet when needed.

So I gave up on the old crap and bought a Vintage air heater with defrost. Seemed to have good reviews so here's hoping.

It would fit ok below the dash, but it would be better if I could get it up a higher and have the fan and motor up in behind the dash. So, I pulled the dash apart to see if it will fit. I think with a bit of trimming of that vertical bracket and the old vents and brackets removed It will sit up there nicely.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next exciting episode of     MAN NEEDS HEAT.

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I cut back the old metal ducts and welded in a 3mm plate with another small piece of 3mm welded in behind and drilled and tapped it for the bottom mounting holes.

Bolted it into the bottom mounts. Next the top mounts which will need to go through the firewall. They will be in full view above the engine so I need to find a fixture a little more aesthetic than just a normal old bolt head.

I also need to remove the dash pad and reglue the vinyl down. The dash pad was badly cracked so I removed the old disintegrating foam and shaped up a piece of Paulownia timber. Put a layer of glass over it and used the spray on contact adhesive to glue the vinyl down. I just needed to use more glue and it would have been a good result. Easily remedied now it's all apart again.

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The heater has fitted in behind the dash nicely. I have the dash panel back on with the switches back in and there is still plenty of clearance to the heater. Placed the bulk head fittings in and plumbed the heater to the firewall. I have worked out the plumbing in the engine bay but there is no rush for that.

Other news I have found a Hillman Avenger diff. It looks a bit rusty so hopefully it is ok. The reason I decided to go with a Avenger diff is it is the same family, a good width, about 20mm wider than the Minx. Probably not much stronger but Quaife make LSD carriers and axles for them. 

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I have been busy working out a consul to place the heater controls, radio etc. I want to hide the ECU in behind it and also, I want to have a storage space between the seats with a lid.  I have used some MDF for the side panels and I am using Paulownia timber for the framework. I will cover the sides in vinyl once the frame is complete. 

I am waiting for the Avenger diff to arrive and the trailing arms. I will see if I can set up the rear with the trailing arms from the Avenger rather than using the leaf springs from the Minx. The Avenger uses coil springs in front of the axle and shocks at the rear of the axle. I think I can use coil overs which would use the Minx shock mounting points on the body and utilize the coil spring mounts in the lower trailing arms for the coil overs. The Minx body shock mounts will need reinforcing to take the load of both the spring and shock. 

If you think I am nuts, tell me.

Anyway a few Pic's, only a mother could love. 

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The Minx diff is out, YAY. I will offer up the Avenger diff tomorrow and see how it looks. The lower arms are about 140mm short of the Minx leaf spring front mounts, and because the upper arms mount to the top of the diff head, means they would need to pass through the rear seat. The Avenger diff I bought is a rusty mess really. It has been sitting on the ground for some time, though it does turn smoothly by hand. Much better than the minx diff.

 

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I have the Avenger diff sitting at the same position as the Minx diff was. It's wider than the width I found on the net but not hugely. A pic with the wheels on.

Perhaps a little flare will help here as I do like it.

I take this as a positive.

I contacted Palmside about a Quaife LSD for it and he told me he had asked them a couple of weeks ago as he had had another enquiry for an Avenger diff. They have stopped making them for the Avenger. Well, that's a negative result.

Then I found this one on the internet. They say they have it in stock.  A positive result.

https://id-workz.co.uk/products/quaife-atb-lsd-differential-for-hillman-avenger

So, I emailed them but got no reply. Maybe because I am in NZ. Negative result. I do need to do some more research to see they are a complete unit and if I will need to use Quaife axles as well.

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The lower arms line up perfectly to the front leaf spring mount, though they are 130mm short. I suppose the easiest way is to weld on some new brackets for the front bush rather than extend the lower arms.

The upper arms will need to be remade as they are too high because their mounts are on top of the diff head. I will need to make or have some made a lot less bulky.

I was thinking of using coilovers mounted to modified shock mounts. I would need to make new lower arms to do this and do a lot of work on the upper shock mounts.

It really is all lining up as it does in the Avenger. I have included a pic of a Avenger set up. It is a rally car and the upper arm has been changed but the rest looks factory.

The spring I have sitting there is a QA1 spring from a Mustang 11 front coilover. I don't have any Avenger rear springs to check there length.

I think it will be fairly easy to make a reinforcement bracket of the chassis rail to mount Avenger shocks as they are in an Avenger.

I haven't done this before so any input is welcome.

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I have made up a bracket out of 3mm plate for the front mount. The leaf spring mount is only out of approx 1.5mm. I will make up the shock mount for this side and have a chat with the certifier. The hobby car technical manual doesn't say that much about fitting a 4 Link from a donar car.

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I have spent the last couple of days making up the shock mount for one side. I will send pic's through to the certifier and see what he has to say. So far, it's only time spent and a small hole through the boot floor.

I have made it with the boot floor being sandwiched between two 3mm plates. Bolted together for now but will be welded in. I can weld the bracket to the chassis rail on all four sides before the top section goes in. I really need to get the car higher when I weld it in. I have two engine stands so I might make them into a rotisserie of a sort.

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Small update. 3mm fish plates are fine for the thickness of the chassis so that is what I shall use. 

I needed to address the gear box mounting through the chassis and needed to add crush tubes. I have been trying to find something I could use without having to make it.  I need something with a bore size of 9.5 - 10mm. I found some thin wall tube with a wall thickness of 1.6mm which I was tempted to use but ended up using some 16mm round and drilling it out to 10mm. I don't have a lathe, so I had to use my drill press. Never quite comes out central at the other end.

I made up the driver side (fish plates both sides of the chassis) and tac welded it in place. Tried the bracket for the gearbox cross member and it all fits together nicely. I am not going to try and weld it in with the car at this height. It's like trying to weld and do Yoga at the same time. I need to get it up higher so I can at least sit and weld at a comfortable level.

 

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I made up the plates and crush tubes for the passenger side chassis rail and tac welded them in place. I had to cut both ends off my gearbox cross member and set it all up again and reweld them back on. I gave it a quick coat of Hammarite paint and fitted it. I need to slightly enlarge two of the gearbox mount holes.

 

I also got the front cross member back today from the engineers who have set up the Brembo calipers and vented disc's. They also had to shorten the inner tie rods and make up adapters to fit the Hillman tie rods. It's looking good and I am very happy with the work done. Tomorrow I will fit it and connect up the steering column and check it over.

I also picked up another Avenger diff which is in far better condition externally. I will strip down the other one and keep it for spare parts.

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All bolted in and working smoothly. The next time I drop it out will be for a final cleanup and a coat of paint. 

I can now start back on the diff install again.

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I picked up my upper 4 link arms and bushes from Airride today. He gets them made up to any length you need and they meet the cert requirements.

I have also made up the fish plate front lower arm mount and pop riveted them on. The front mount will also have 4mm plate welded in over the 3mm fish plate to provide a good solid mount.  The brackets for the upper bars are out of 4mm as well.

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A small update. I have been working away getting the trailing arm mounts and fish plates welded in. Awkward work but getting there. 

Anyway, I needed to get the spring perches for the rear springs from a Donar Avenger. There is not a lot of difference between the chassis angle and room for the spring between the Minx and Avenger, only about 20mm. 

So I headed off up to Putaruru to cut them out of the Donar car. On the way there I stopped for lunch out at Arapuni and bravely managed to walk the first 15m of the swing bridge and suddenly realized the time and I had to get to where I needed to go and didn't have time to complete the crossing . Never mind another day.

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