2 and a half years to do mini up....

[just_st3v3n]

hey guys havent been on here in ages but due to a car crash (not the mini) n lack of funds for insurance for my mini i decided i cant sell my mini because its 2 cool. so seeing as im gonna be a student for next 2 and half years iv decided 2 clean mini up properly (rust etc.) buy some new parts and mayb even get a new engine for it, so expect plenty of questions from me as im not majorly mechanical whatsoever.....

First question: im off next week and not working so decided start cleaning engine parts n learning more about them.... where should i start??? i have a lot of tools so anything not majorly hard i will attempt, any suggestions are much appreciated.
thanks already
steven

[Merlin]

Hi Steven,
Well done on not selling your mini. On any engine overhaul i would always start with:
1: a quick compression test
2: a simple over haul of the dizze IE: condenser, rotor and cap.
3:if you can afford a bottom end kit now harm splitting the box from engine and cleaning out all the slug from box if not do a simple service i.e. air filter oil filter and clean out the sump breather.
if you are interested in going a little deeper buy a head kit and as long as your careful you could basically pull the hole engine apart but don’t even attempted this with out a digital camera( or some ting similar) and at least a Haynes manual.
other than that give every ting a good clean and paint will do wonders.
Regards,
Paul.

[The Marcos Graveyard]

I agree that digital pics before you start could prove invaluable later on, if you are stripping everything, make sure you label all the items and bag things as you remove them, keeping all associated nuts/bolts/washers etc. together.

[Ciaran]

I cannot stress how worthwhile lableing, photographing and bagging in groups realy is. I have boxes of stuff and boxes of bolts and its a nightmare to put anything back as I have through trawl through everything agan for the millionth time!!

[The Marcos Graveyard]

Large zip-lock bags are very handy and can be bought cheaply on Ebay.

[just_st3v3n]

cheers for the reply guys!
wasnt sure wat advice u gave on the engine but have asked my father there n am gonna do the compressions test l8r on. :-)
was trickin away taking out the dashboard and all the surrounding stuff, was quite annoying with all the lil bolts etc in akward places but have bagged n labeled all the stuff so far, thanks 4 that tip :-)

seen a template 4 a new dashboard last nite so am gonna attempt that myself soon. any advice on that? the radio is currently mounted underneath the dash at the passengers side (well..) feet. :-/ i wanna c can i get it fitted in the middle of the dash this time, wil i need to move any of the wiring or pipes?

[The Marcos Graveyard]

There should be no problem in mounting the dash in the middle, just a matter of running the wires to suit.

[just_st3v3n]

got drawings for the dash, centre console and boot liner. :-) will be attempting them soon....

cleaned engine block today with degreaser, looks alot better now and surprisingly my engine is '' yellow '' :-/ cleaned several other parts. should i repaint them?? what paint to use?

did compression test today also, only did it on one heads and got 7.5 -8 ...... good bad??

one more question, i kno i wont be driving the mini but when i accelerate in first gear and pull off, alot of black smoke comes out of the exhaust, im sort of aware its burning oil but wat could be the cause of this??

cheers 4 ur knowledge

[Merlin]

Ok so
First of all can you tell us what year your car and if possable the first few letters of the engine number located just in front of the termostat housing.

The black smoke is most like to be over fueling i.e. Carb.

[just_st3v3n]

its an 89 flame red . not sure which numbers u askin 4.... ?
''99he20'' those numbers were on plate on engine..?
''wfm were first numbers printed on engine
these were on a plate just above big air pipe on left side ''saxxl''

[Merlin]

Ok as always more Questions,
1. What does your compression gauge read in BAR / PSI
2. When you say heads do you mean each spark plug .
3. What conditions did you do the test under, (typically)
-Engine at working temp
-All spark plugs out
-Crab fully open piston inside crab fully lifted (I use a coat hanger bent into a hook to do this.
-Watch first kick of the Needle and note it then crank for about 5 sec.
If you follow these simple steps you will get a very accurate measurement of your compression rating.
I will root out the exact figures for the engine code you have given me and post them.

[just_st3v3n]

hey thanks 4 reply again.

i only got chance to reply now cuz silly mother tried changing broadband settings wit bt and ended up getn thick n cancellin the whole lot....

anyway, when i did the compression test i just took of one of the spark plugs n wen i started the engine my father placed a compression meter (?) where the spark plug was removed. i let it run for couple secs ( he said was enuf) and we got a reading of 7.5-(8.0) psi. is that normal? also found that wen took spark plug out which i only replaced 2000 miles ago was covered in hard black dirt (dried or burnt oil onto the top of the plug) does that mean theres def summn wrong wit the engine n maybe even bein the cause of the smokin in first gear????

am in college at the min so wont b a ble to much untill the weekend..

[The Marcos Graveyard]

Here is a link to a page about reading spark plugs by NGK, the second page of the article even has pictures of the common types of fouling.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/s ... country=US

[Merlin]

ok so,
I just ran your engine number(rover orignal service manual) and this is the specks i came out with:

Compression ratio = 8.3:1
Compression Presure = 170 PSI
Ignition Timing = 8 deg at 750 RPM
so from that data dood you need to re do your compression following the steps in my last post and hope you come out with a far higer pressure then 8psi.
as to the black crusty plugs msost likle to be over fueling or shot rings letting oil into the combustion chamber.
Regards,
Paul.