Off to the paint shop…see you in a few weeks Mini
We’re delivering the Mini today, Easter Sunday.
Mini on it’s way to get clothed
We’re going to paint the naked mini
Here’s the color we’ve decided on: flat Satin KhakiGreen/White, same as my Trek Fuel EX 8™. Give us your thoughts.
Tell us what you think of this color before it’s too late? Flat, matte with a yellow tint at some angles.
Satin KhakiGreen/White Top
Fabrication in full color
Fabrication in full color
Well, a good reason to try to update this story…..
Apologies to all who have stopped by while I have allowed this blog to stagnate. Fact is I’m much more back into Minis than I anticipated, having returned to Mini Mania after a few years away from real hands-on work. I admit that progress on my own car has been kind of minimal, specially from it’s appearance! Under the skin, however, some improvements have been tested to the extent I can get away with in driving a car with no side windows, bonnet (OK hood!), paint, seat belts, pretty much most things we take for granted in our real cars.
Also a chance to send a greeting to my friends Tamer and Yehia in Cairo (yes, Egypt!). These guys are building a VTEC Mini as they are building a new government. Tamer runs a motorcycle import business and has helped Yehia get parts flown in to Cairo. I’m talking sub-frames, wheels and tires, tilt front ends… serious parts. I’ll invite them to comment here a post photos of the project!
So these photos are me forming the bracket that supports my tilt steering column. Interesting view you can never see until it’s a picture. You can see my unusual pistol-grip oxy-acetylene welder. Very versatile!
Let me just add some fun photos of my projects over the years….
The occasional help
…After some quick overnight welding…
The dash tray patched and nice and flat
A little more touch-up and paint and I can begin to install the wiring harness.
Oh, here’s the Dyno readout from the Mini Mania Nevada City adventure a couple of years ago. For an engine this size to hold peak torque and HP numbers like this is remarkable. These are at the wheels real numbers on a 95 degree day when no other streetable non v-tech Mini bettered about 55 BHP. The engine had no miles on it! I’d run it on the test stand at MM, installed it and driven from home on the battery… no electrical system at all other than a few alligator clips to power the fuel pump and ignition. Don thought I was a little crazy to repeatedly run it up to 7000 revs, but I thought it would be spectacular either way!
The Dyno readout of the current engine configuration
I suspect that a little more tuning will actually pull that flat spot up resulting in higher peak numbers. Perhaps having the alternator actually charging so the ignition isn’t running off the battery under such load! Maybe I’ll flog it again this year at Mini Mania’s Nevada City Adventure… I have until June!
The biggest improvement for the Classic Mini Cooper
OK, lets just start somewhere!
My carb's bigger!
I have been dragged into the Blogosphere by my lovely and persistent very internet savvy girlfriend/assistant, who assures me others will find what I’ve been up to interesting. True, I built all of Mini Mania’s Engines for a seven year span, and my Mini history goes back to when I was three (yes, years old!). If some of you that got to know me from MM find your way here, welcome! Why not share some of my knowledge AND opinions(!) about our frivolous pursuits with these little cars. Really not bragging, but there can be rather few people left with as much knowledge and experience with the mechanical side of the Classic Mini.
Enough bla-bla for now? I’m told I need to stick to the subject and bang it out if I’m to keep anyone’s interest. Something about a 30 to 90 second window to hold someone’s attention… I’m going to have problems!!
How about some photos?
The Mark I with the stock column.
- Side and under-dash view of new column
- Tilted! About the same angle as the GTO next to it
Yes, the worst thing about the mini to me has always been the less than sporty driving position. I’ve always been annoyed by the VW Bus style of steering column and the way it does not complement adjusting for more leg room… Moving the seat back just makes the awkward angle worse! Apologies to more practical minds, but who are we kidding with the back “seat” in these things? Two and a little space behind like an extra cab compact pick-up is the best we can hope for IMO (In My Opinion…. I should use that a lot!).
So, I moved the seats back and fabricated a stout but unobtrusive bracket to mount an OTS tilt steering column. Off-the-shelf was important, my mini happens to be a Mark 1, but my “kit” needed to fit just about any of them, including right hand drive. As an added bonus the column is new and it uses the most common steering wheel mount opening up a world of choices. Plus, have you ever taken apart the stock broomstick held by little felt “bushings”, or try to buy said flimsy components? And those lovely plastic shrouds… ’nuff said.
More photos.
An iPad GPS! Early mock-up, see the vise grips
Early gauges and a 10,000 RPM Auto Meter tach
Speaker hole... Let's see how this turns out!
More work to do… new wiring harness as soon as I finish welding the holes in the dash- speaker holes I presume, hacked in by someone without foresight!
I’m going to try to stick to these updates and make regular progress. Looks like you can post comments here… I’m just learning my way around this interface… or try jkat@cooperroadmini.com
More updated photos coming… Oooh, welding shots!
Early “Magic Wand” shift mechanisms
I brought JKat one of the early “Magic Wand” shift mechanisms that he is able to adapt to the 4 syncro transmission. That magic wand is from the original transmission for my 1962 Mini Traveller, so that is as correct as can be, as well as being quite unusual.
I actually need the remote shift housing installed on the transmission as it is. However, I also want to fully restore and make fully functional the magic wand shifter as that will go into the car within a short time. While building the car I do not want to go back and cut a hole in the floor boards now, but I will do it later in other words.
Installed in my car when I got it was the remote shifter housing with a special optional shifter adaptor that allowed a firewall shifter to be put in. So, it had a later form of magic wand made by the factory for the 4 sycro transmission. By switching out the shifter rods and linkage with the 3 speed box that was made for the remote (true Copper S), the remote shift housing could fit the Traveller, which I thought at the time would be much more precise in shifting. As you have pointed out however that is not necessarily true, if the original Magic wand is all set up and working correctly. Since the magic Wand is specifically for the 1962 Traveller and is actually the real original shifter that came with the car, I will go back to that very soon. I WILL NEED A TEMPLATE OF WHERE TO CUT THE HOLE IN THE FLOORBOARDS / FIREWALL as my body man did such a great job of filling in the hole I cannot see where it would go.
I am working on finding out what final drive the spare 1275 engine has in it. Rumor had it that the spare engine came from a 1275 GT, but the final drive will reveal whether that is true or not. I would actually prefer a 3.1 or higher, if luck has it.
Sprite Race Engine, Mini Cooper Trans Update
JKat presents a brief description of his Sprite Engine rebuild
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bpXANtUv70M%26hl%3Den_US
Octane Boosters
Joe writing to JKat:
I have always had mixed opinions about octane boosters and actually never used them.
Portland has a Fed. mandate that we have to do better cleaning the air and as a result we have
“oxygenated fuel” which is gasohol. Makes all cars run terrible in the name of the environment??
Anyway, the BMW just was not running right recently and has not felt up to par for some time.
That car has 10.5 – 1 compression, which I know they did for mid-range cruising economy and not for accelerating.
Anyway, I was reading that the sensor that detects the octane in the fuel, will make full use of the 10.5 compression if octane is high enough.
Unlike a distributor that has a theoretical static advance, the BMW sensors detect the real octane and from that
find the ideal. Anyway, I tried 108 Octane Booster that a friend recommended and wow, what a difference.
The engine sounds much more fierce and performance is like adding 40 HP or so. Someone else said that
Lucas Octane booster is very good, but that one costs about $9.00 for a very small bottle, so i went with the 108.
At about $4.00 per tank, the 108 clearly is giving me better gas mileage and oven an entire tank of gas is paying for itself,
not to mention better acceleration. Even my low first gear is not very noticeable with the higher octane.