Giving the mini some love!
I've now given the mini some loving, and it's running really sweet. The mini was in a sorry state, here's a list of problems it had:- Overheating
- Rough Idling, sometimes it even cuts out
- Noisy, if I don't get this sorted I may need a bigger stereo
Here's the list of jobs I decided needed doing
- Strip the cooling system
- Replace the water pump and hoses
- Flush out the radiator
- Replace the cylinder head gasket
- Basic service on engine, new points, spark plugs, leads, oil filter, air filter, set tappets, change oil etc
I ordered the parts from my favourite supplier DSN Classics This company are quick to deliver, reasonably prices and have good technical support when you need to ask a numpty question. They also have a policy of charging a sensible price for postage. If you just want a small item, you don't need to pay for an expensive courier to deliver it next day.
Stripping out the cooling system was fairly easy, simply unbolt everything. I took the radiator away and back flushed it to remove any crud that was stuck in it. The connector to the heater hose was rusted, which probably explains why there was not much heat coming out of the heater.
Next, I took the cylinder head off to replace the gasket. It was really difficult to tell where it had blown so I was hoping I hadn't got anything more serious like a cracked head.
Whilst I had the engine in two bits I decarbonised the pistons and all round the combustion chambers. I used the technique in the haynes manual of ensuring that I didn't get any loose bits of carbon in the wrong place in the block.
- Turn the crank until two of the pistons are at the top of their travel.
- Mask off the other two pistons and all the holes in the block
- Smear grease round the edge of the pistons you are trying to decarbonise.
- Scrape the carbon carefully away from the pistons.
- Clean up the exposed surface and turn the crank until the other two pistons are at the top of their travel.
- Repeat steps 2-4
- Clean everything with petrol
I put the head back and adjusted the tappets, haynes recommends around 15 thou gap. I'm sure 15 thou was the gap I'd set them to on the last service, my feeler guage was rattling around in the gaps,I think they were nearer 25. It was fairly easy to reset the gaps and within 20 minutes I was on to the next job.
The points were a bit fiddly to set up and the new top radiator hose was rubbish, I went back to the old one. The rest or the bits went back on the engine easy enough.
It was beginning to get dark now and the rain started pouring down. The last half hour of assembly had my head and shoulders under the bonnet with the rest of me exposed to the driving rain. Not a nice experience, I must make a point of clearing my garage out.
Time to try starting it. This took for ever, I wasn't getting a spark and I checked and rechecked everything. After another half hour of this all I had to show for my efforts was a flat battery. I was at the point of giving up and decided to try one last time jump starting the car. Success, I was up and running, the exhaust was making a lot of noise, needs bracket putting on again. My best guess was the driving rain had got something wet.
I waited till the next morning to change the oil, oil filter, check the coolant levels and bolt the exhaust on properly.
posted by Andy Tyrrell @ 12:58 PM
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