Irish Mini Owners Club

Hopefully get back in the mini soon, lean-to/pergola is almost finished so that means I can get the patio furniture out of the shed and get some working space back!

Main roof...total size 7.5M X 4.2m



Side covering....total size 1.8M X 10M..

Finally back on it, got the exhaust all fitted and tightened up. Couldn't get the longer brass manifold nuts tightened on the inner studs with the alloy inlet, so had to cut one in half to make 2 normal size ones, thankfully there only brass...

Then made a start on fitting the new water pump... forgotten how much has to be removed to change it...



Plenty of gusty winds to test the lean-to... thankfully it all looks good.

And reassembled...

And reassembled...

Another step closer, got oil drained and front of engine cleaned off, new gasket on heater tap, new silicone rocker cover gasket, new oil filter filled and on, not too many things to do before I can get it out of the shed...



Just letting the remainder of the oil drip out overnight, then get sump plug back on and oil filled....

Oil filled and adjusted the door striker plates, passenger side was always worse than drivers, both nice and flush now when shut.

Made a start on rerouting the heater hoses to go through the inlet manifold, then decided to swap the hose entry to the passenger side. Side of heater removed and drilled, existing holes blanked with grommets. Just need to drill a hole in the bulkhead blanking plate to accept a 2nd hose.



Also got the drivers door card back on, took that off in November to sort the stiff window!

And it's out...



Got the last few bits done, bit of a tidy up of tools inside then pushed it round and out of the shed onto the lawn. Filled the float with fresh petrol and it started first turn of the key.

Need to get some wire for the tacho but have the pod bolted to the dash shelf/pedal box.

Got the bonnet, grille and mirrors all back on then gave it a quick wash to get rid of the dust, then took it for a quick spin, everything seems to be working as it should! Have a small bit of water coming in along passenger footwell from the garden hose, so will need to figure out where it's getting in...

Drove the car to work today, it was a bit sluggish at starting, so think it may need a new battery. The battery that's in it came out of my daily driver Nissan Leaf, so may be on its last legs at 10 years old.

An uneventful drive to work, temp gauge went up a shade, but was going up a long steep hill on the back roads, coming home motorway is a long 5km uphill section and again temp rose slightly.

Got the rev counter wired up today,



Suspect fuelling is slightly off now with new exhaust and inlet manifold, so will check sparkplugs at the weekend see if it's running rich or lean.

Picked up a clock with USB output to take the place of the missing ashtray.

Works quiet nicely, has interior/exterior temp sensors, voltage reading and date. It also keeps its memory, so no need to set it again if the battery is isolated.

Hard to get a picture of the clock illuminated...



Also hooked up an additional engine to body earth strap, from main earth on bulkhead to the bolt on the clutch inspection cover on the wok.

Cleaned and polished, ready for it's first cars and coffee outing of the year!



Also got the fuel gauge working, had knocked out the power from the voltage stabiliser.

Added a high-level brake light, 3d printed a segmented holder that slips up underneath the window seal, wrapped in loom fabric tape to allow it to retain some flexibility.

And a picture of it lit up...



Hadn't noticed the 2 missing bits earlier, I hadn't been overly cautious with trial fitting it previously, so may have over-flexed it at those points...

Some dash liners made up today, had found a template online, printed and offered up on masking tape reinforced paper, wasn't too bad of a fit shape wise, but it definitely wouldn't fit if made from fibreboard so tried with mounting card. Wrapped with self adhesive vinyl leatherette...

Template, card, wrapped...





And fitted. Not too bad, can't see how actual bought ones would fit any better without destroying them during fitting....

I never got the hang of fitting thoes dash liners, look well.
I like the slim brake light.

Took it to cars and coffee yesterday morning, good turnout as usual and plenty of people appreciating the car, so makes it worth all the effort!

Some photos from John Boland and Ben J Myers...







Then we went for a nice Sunday drive, about 150km in total, only hiccups were it got a bit hot as we pulled in to stop for food after a long climb up a steep hill, and got a noise coming from right rear wheel, sounds like a noisy tyre or possibly a wheel bearing...no sign of anything getting hot though...