Restoration R1028

[prop]

I decided to let my upholsterer have my door cards to work on. In the past someone had cut a hole in them to fit door speakers. Completely ruined.
My options were to put speaker covers over the holes and live with it, or, think of another way. As I had changed the shade of the carpets the original didn't match anyway.
My upholsterer came up with the suggestion to cover the damage and then drop to almost the original height of the original carpet.
I had a pair of very good Mayfair door cards (sorry Mayfair restorers)
My upholsterer took them and used what he could from my originals and ended up with what I think is probably the best result. The binding matches the dash top and bottom and all the carpet matches.
I did a water test on the doors to check for water getting into the car before I put the door cards on. Not a drop came through. I know from previous Minis that keeping water out is a very difficult thing. Building a car from a shell and knowing the Minis leak areas you can reduce the problems a little. Anyway it won't live outside and I don’t plan getting it wet to often.
The dash is in and there a few little jobs to do to finish the interior the last being the windscreen. I don’t think I will fit the front seats until the end of the restoration.
I have almost all the components for the engine and I will be concentrating on that from now on.
I have cleaned the block and given it a few coats of paint.
It is really enjoyable using clean/new components on an engine build.

[G96LUE]

looking really good.

i think the door cards look fine, there are several that are different out of the factory anyway.

I'm hoping the weather will be dry in a couple of days time too as i'm going to have to use mine for a couple of days while my other car in in the garage for some warranty work.
It's only done a few miles since its MOT at the beginning of the year, rubbish weather .

[an old original]

How well are you getting the dash to fit between the upper & lower rails? From the pics it seems to sit a bit proud like mine. I was wondering that if a 4 or 5mm spacer was placed over the studs on the top rail before fitting, it would in effect raise it by that amount and perhaps this would enable the dash to sit slightly further back and therefore be flush with the rails.

I did have a look when the dash was out recently but the top rail won't come out without removing the windscreen, which I don't really want to do unless I think this will work!!

What do you reckon?

[prop]

I have had the dash in and out about a dozen times and it isn't the best fitting panel and I know I need to revisit it.
I think there are number of reasons for this. The top dash shape will not fit the centre dash properly as the rear strengthening rib doesn't allow the dash to sit under it far enough at the ends (photo). If you lifted the top dash a little with spacers then the centre dash would still not go further back If you lifted it about 8 - 10 mm it would sit under it causing a bigger gap at the ends and i think the middle gap would be wrong. I suppose you could cut the end of the rib off to allow it to move further back.
Another reason is the way centre the dash is attached by only 3 screws. It is pulled up in the middle, pulled down on the right because it is attached to the solid metal brackets of the original dash and on the left it is screwed through the plastic glove box, that's not as strong as the metal on the other side and this allows it to be pulled up by the middle fitting. The demister tube to the screen is also right up against the glove box at the back stoping the dash moving back much more.
It fitted better before I put the short air ducts in behind the fresh air vents. I think I need to shorten them as they push it forward a little now.

[prop]

Engine build complete

Bottom End
Omega 15cc dished pistons, duplex chain set Avonbar Phase 2 camshaft. I checked the cam timing and it is set at 108deg which is correct for the camshaft. I checked the main and big end bearing clearances with plasigauge and they were in the correct tolerance range apart from the front main, that was right on the top limit. With the crankshaft reground and new bearings there is nothing I can do about it so I will have to live with it. I decided to use the timing chain tensioner and I have used a new timing chain cover built for the twin point injection cars. It has the flattened breather canister that gives just a little more room (Always an advantage). The indentation close to the camshaft sprocket needed to be tapped out and the oil shield needed reducing just to be on the safe side. ( The usual mods needed when fitting a duplex set). Everything went together well apart from the countersunk screws in the front main bearing that secures the plate. It had been countersunk with a drill bit and not a countersink bit so the screws sat proud in the holes so I re cut them to the correct angle.
I set the endfloat on the transfer gear to 3thou. I struggled at first to get the gap and then I realised I had a dubious gasket; it was a black coloured one. When I measured it against a proper gasket from Minispares (a pink one) the black one was 6thou thinner so be careful when doing this job. I put the end casing in the oven at gas mk6 for 20mins (my wife was out shopping) and the bearing outer ring and the needle roller in the freezer. When ready the outer bearing just dropped in and the roller pushed in easily.

The Gearbox is refurbished, Xpin diff, bearings, seals, baulk rings, centre oil pick up, all end floats to spec.

Top End

MED FIS cylinder head with 22cc chambers to give me 8.5 to 1 compression. I am not running an intercooler. I am told by the TurboMini boys this will be ok if I don’t go over 12 psi boost.
1.3 to 1 roller rockers. Now these rockers are from MED and I noticed that the original flanged head nuts were too wide, they interfered with the adjuster end of the rocker so I had to fit the old type nuts without the flange. The smaller pedestal stud nuts are fitted without washers for the same reason. Rocker clearances are I believe 12 and 14 for the phase 2 cam. The rocker cover needs a polish
That’s it, ready to fit.
I have rebuilt the carb and I have a rebuilt turbo to fit. I am planning on using an Aldon distributor.
I just hope it runs nicely when on the road; If not there will be a lot of parts for sale on EBay.

[prop]

Three more pics

[arrian]

That should be a great motor. Will the Aldon distributor have the boost retard feature like the original turbo distributor? If not you could probably retrofit the turbo vacuum advance unit, or maybe use a megajolt (less original I know, but they work great!).

[prop]

I thought about a Megajolt and would probably use one on another car but I wanted it to look relatively original. That's the reason I am not using an inter-cooler at the moment. I did think about a 123ignition distributor. I spoke to someone about it and they didn't think it would be right as it is limited in its range. I spoke to MED and asked them about the turbo Aldon that they sell and they said, when I was ready, give them the final spec and they would speak to Aldon and probably get a special from them if MEDs spec wouldn't do.
I have to say they have been very helpful.

[r1076]

Hi,
i will go for an 123 Dizzy.

Google 123 Ignition Tune. It is made for a/series, but with minnor modification it will fit the A+.
It also has boost retard.

I ordered mine for 500€ incl. Coil and Ignition Wires.

[deanojr7]

Hi there.
I have just started to do an inspection on the body of my ERA,where abouts did you find the build date on the body of your ERA.

Thanks Dean