Parts and Accessories Archives

Mini Moke’s Monster Engine Going Together

After Letterman, lets see what’s going on in the garage. Late night fun and games, putting the final piston in.

Well, I wasn’t watching Letterman. Here I’m getting last of the piston assemblies into the engine block. These are the Russel Pistons from Australia. I really like the design of these… A modern three ring piston that is available in a bigger oversize without having to bore the block to 1380. This leaves a lot more room for reliability, specially when using pre A+ blocks.

Ah, yes, my Grandad’s hammer. I’ve had this thing for 40 years and have used it to put countless pistons in engines. It’s perfect for the ratcheting style ring compressors like I’m using here, and the perfect weight to gently tap in the piston with the wood handle. Or maybe I’m just sentimental! Anyway, my lovely assistant ran out of memory just before the final tap, so here is a brief re-enactment…

And we flipped the engine on the stand and pulled the rod down the bore. It’s different being under time pressure because her iPhone has too much junk on it!

Then finally after she deleted more old stuff, I put the cap on the connecting rod and make sure all the animals are in. Turn off the music, it’s 1:46AM!

’67 Mini Moke Rebuild Continues

Follow along as we rebuild a Mini Moke.

After a few weeks of distractions around the holidays we have still managed to sneak in a little work on the Mini Moke rebuild. We got the engine back from our friends at Reibe’s Machine shop in Grass Valley. Jemal has worked with these guys going back to his years building MiniMania’s custom engines.

He’s assembled the shortblock up in the garage, but tonight we are down in the basement where the four snycro remote gearbox the we brought back from Wales a few years ago is strewn all over one work bench. This gearbox came out of a Cooper S that his sister owned in the 80’s. It’s being modified to accept the magic wand case and linkage to retain the Moke’s originality, yet still have a serious gearbox under the big 1345cc engine.

Fabrication in full color

March 30, 2012/0 Comments/in Classic Mini Cooper, tilt steering column /by Jemal

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

The biggest improvement for the Classic Mini Cooper

April 22, 2011/4 Comments/in 66' Min cooper on the Dyno, Classic Mini Cooper /by Jemal

OK, lets just start somewhere!

A downdraft Webber 48 IDA for the mini Cooper

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!

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