tilt steering column Archives

Over the past two or three weeks we’ve been reassembling all the bits we took out in order to do a nice paint job. The Mini spent about four months with our friends at Fairlane Rod and Custom in Grass Valley. When I say transformed, I mean it, Just have a look at the once again proud little beast going back together:

Custom paint & Body, Mini Cooper custom paint, Fairlane Rod and Custom Grass Valley

Steve from Fairlane Rod & Custom lines up the stripes

Fairlane Rod & Custom Grass Valley California custon paint

This was nearly the final layout

Fairlane Rod & Custom Mini Cooper paint job

On the Trailer with Steve after many, many coats of color and bronze tinted clear

Cooper Road Mini Getting to work after painting

I had to gently help it off the trailer into the garage

Work starts at the windshield. Softening the lock strip in the hot sun

Cooper Road Mini 66 Mini Cooper S rear window

The rear window using the same late seal as the front

Feeling more complete, visiting with a long lost cousin, safe from the rain. More soon on the excruciatingly original 67 Moke!

Well, it definitely looks like a different car now…. Some of what we’ve done:

Installed the front and rear glass using the latest MPI Mini Windshield rubber seal. I used this on the Mark I’s rear window also, was a bit challenging to install, but the extra sealing lip is well worth it, and I like the look of the wider border around the glass.
Installed / adjusted the boot lid and new seal. These are notoriously very tight… I elected to carefully double up the hinge to body gaskets to help the thing close!
Installed the rear wiring harness while the fuel tanks and headliner where out. Went in nicely inside the windshield left pillar.
Fit the tail lamp assemblies with new seals to the body. Connected the new wiring making sure there’s a solid ground. Do yourself a favor and do this before the fuel tank(s)!
I finally got to see how the Mark I LED tail light boards look…. Very cool, but a bit of a pain to fit inside the lenses, and no longer available it seems. This was the rear loom that I did not install because the tanks were in the way…. until painting!
Installed both fuel tanks, for the first time with the fill-neck grommets. Glad I’m using the “aftermarket” version. It was a tight fit and nerve-racking with the new paint!! Connected up my custom selector valve which lets me switch between pump premium and Sunoco 110 as “driving conditions” demand- a very practical bonus of having two tanks!
Fit the rear quarter windows with new seals. Despite how rough this car looked in the beginning, all the screw holes for the piano hinges and the rear latches were perfect, and every single tiny screw went in tight. This car showed only about 49,000 miles during it’s long hibernation in obscurity.
Installed the grille, turn signal and headlight assemblies, then the front and rear bumpers. The rear is the original with the cute “over-riders”- like tiny brush guards on some of the pretend 4 x 4s out there! Make sure you are happy with the boot and it’s hinges before the rear bumper goes on!
Finally going inside, installed my tilt steering column for only the second time since I designed and built it into the car last year. No problems at all. I really must develop this as a kit. Really enhances the driving experience and for me, makes the Mini feel serious and less of a clown car. Sorry, but I just can’t deal with having to perch over the VW Bus steering position!
On a whim on Saturday morning, my lovely assistant convinced me that RED carpet would look good with the green exterior, and match the red trimmed Momo steering wheel. Off to MM and tried first the Mark III set as I have a Rod change gearbox. Lo and behold… the tunnel must be smaller on the Mark I because there was a sizable gap below the carpet over the tunnel. Back I went for the Mark I set, which luckily, fit perfect and had no hole at all for the shifter. The red is growing on me! This experience has helped me realize why my big-bore header is right up against the floor causing quite severe vibration. It probably barely fits the Mark III tunnel, and so just doesn’t clear on the Mark I. Some tunnel mods might be in order for this car.
Borrowed back the red trimmed Paddy Hopkirk seats I scored years ago on our small town radio station’s “swap-shop” for $40. I had built them onto a Soap-box derby car over the summer while the Mini was gone! I will get some permanent seats soon. These are actually quite comfy and hold the driver well, and my dogs like them, so OK for now!

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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

More pics along the way

The Rise of the Machine

Fabrication in full color