'66 Cooper S Restoration

My partner Dan has been working on this car for a while now and we agreed to let me do some of the finish work, while he does some interior work on the Inno in the meantime.



First up I popped the twin tanks out - someone had painted them with a brush and they looked pretty awful, so I ran them up to the powder coaters to be blasted and coated shiny black.



Next up I installed the rally lights to the front of the car.....in order to wire them up and all of the front lights I pulled the flip front end off. I'll build a harness and put a 6 pin disconnect in so it he wants to remove the front end it's just a quick thing to unplug the harness.



I also will be installing the heater and wiring up a few accessories in the car - a GPS, a hard mounted GoPro and a power socket so he can charge his phone.

I ordered a few parts - a turn signal switch and a new fuel tank sending unit - and some other bits and bobs and I'll be installing a Rokee wood dash and finishing the wiring and gauges in the dash.

More as it happens.....

 

I doubt it would have been 1500cc as the 1275 had only been introduced a year or so before that and carried on till the end of production.....but I know what you mean......and it would have been a Cooper S, not SS unless they had something different in France

In '66 they did have the 4 synchro remote shift transmission, but earlier cars and smaller displacement engine cars did not have synchro on first. Soon after that they introduced the first rod change gearboxes, which all had 4 synchros.

Today I popped the front end over and set it up on a table so I could plan the wiring setup I'm going to use, and I sorted out all the remaining loose wires in the harness at the bottom front of the car. I sure makes it easier to work on these things when there's no front end sheetmetal in the way.

 

Yep, beemerchef - glory days!

I got most of the front end harness done and sorted, just gotta lay in three more wires and then terminate them into the one end of the disconnect. Once that's done I'll do the same on the car end, then re-install the front end and see if anything works. Actually, before I can do that I have to straighten out all the dash wiring, install the new turn signal switch and sort out the gauges. Looks like the tanks will be ready early next week, so then I can install the tanks and senders and button up the boot. Still a ways to go....

 

Got the front end mounted back on the car, all the wiring turned out well and has been tested and it all works as it should....I won't get to test anything with it on the car just yet as there are too many loose wires hanging under the dash that need to be located first. The two white wires in the second pic - white/purple is for an oil pressure switch that this car doesn't have - it has a gauge - and the second white wire is the supply to the rally lights, both have been tidied up now. I also made some ground connections - both to locate ground wires in the harness but also to ground the subframe to the engine - Dan already had nice braided ground between the engine and body, this ties it all together.




I also put in an order to bolt depot - in addition to just replenishing my stocks I needed some allen head screws to attach the steering wheel to the hub and they came thru - there were exactly the right length and size - 6mmX1.0, not 1/4 -28.....must be a European made wheel. Racemark? I still need to figure out how to make the horn button work, there are a few bits missing that I'll have to fabricate.



Next up, I need to mount his air horns, the compressor seems to be locked up so I'll be sourcing a new one.
Edit: the air compressor is shot, he asked me to just mount regular horns instead.

I mounted the wiper motor and wired it up, I also bench tested it to make sure it ran - I should have done this on the Inno but neglected to,

Next up, I'll straighten out the under dash wiring, ignition switch and wiper and headlight switches, then I need to wire the license plate light and I should be ready to test it all out.

I also expect the tanks back this week so I can mount them - but I'm waiting on a sending unit as the one in the car was no good. All in all, coming together nicely - as soon as some parts get here I can button up a few things, till then there's still plenty to do.

 

Tanks are back from the powder coaters and look great, but it's 17*, way to cold to work in the shop today....maybe later in the week.

 

I found the mounting holes for the high/low beam foot switch..... I thought there would be captive nuts but it turns out they're just sheet metal screw holes. They don't look like they were ever used either. They were buried under the carpet and sound insulation.





Next I sent a friend a note about some leads I'll need, the other ends are there in the harness, but I will need the connecting wires - I can make them but if he has the right ones that will make things easier.....and more accurate.

I also sorted out the ignition switch leads, two of them were reversed..... and I've pretty much got a handle on the rest of the wiring.

I need to install the accelerator pedal assembly and cable and hook them up to the carb.

Then install all the gauges and wood dash once things are wired up.



I'm still working out the horn button as there are a few bits missing there too but I have a lead on them from one of the LABCC members left over from when I fixed her horn on her 63 Mini.

The front end is on and wired up but I have to sort out how to tie down the wires so they don't rub since this is a flip front car, and I'm working out how and where to mount some stop cables like the boot lid uses to take the weight of the bonnet when tipped open.....

I also need to sort out the heater, and I sure hope it doesn't leak when I put the hoses on and fill it with coolant.

The tanks are back from the powder coaters, but I won't install them till I get the new sending unit and the cross pipe - all that is supposed to be here on Thursday, just in time for our weather to warm up too.

 

Last thing I did tonight was put these three rubbers in - they're to mount the windshield motor to the bulkhead and boy howdy are they one bitch kitty to get in place! They're just as thick on the other side of the bulkhead and stiff as can be, and the wiper motor has three long studs that pass thru these.

I put them in a glass of water in the microwave for a minute to try and soften them up - it didn't really help but I got them in the end.



Oh, and the tanks came back from the powder coaters

 

I made up a list of things that need to be done....

66 Cooper S notes - Faulkner

Remove gas tanks and take to powder coaters in Tongi ...Done

Pick up tanks, rinse debris and reinstall and plumb all hoses, vents and fuel pump pipes... Done

Remove front end, build detachable wiring harness and wire front end...….Done

Install and wire Rally lights, switch and relay......Done

R&R wiper motor and bench test, install mounting bushings, wire and install......Done

Install dimmer switch and wire to harness..... Done

Install accelerator pedal and cable and engineer hookup to carb.....Done

Install gauges into wood dash and install dash....Done

Install and wire dash switches in center dash, ignition, wiper and lights – and choke cable....Done

Install new turn signal switch and wire......Done

Install steering wheel on hub, engineer horn button to work....Done

Install two regular horns, return air horns to owner...………...Done

Install and wire GoPro....Done

Install and wire TomTom GPS....Done

Install and wire power socket to charge phone....Done

Install and wire dome light....Dan - wiring is done, just needs lamp installed

Wire lic plate light......Done

Re-key door and boot locks to one key......Done

Install washer bottle, pump and button and wire and plumb to work, install washer nozzles......Done

Install and wire wideband, weld bung for sensor into exhaust pipe.....Done

Make and install bonnet support cables...…..Done

Install seat belts.....Done

Install new kick plate......Done

Install heater and new hoses, install heater control cable

Install handbrake handle and cables....Done

Test all electrical functions......Done

Take it for a drive

 

Yep, but a lot of the remaining items will take longer to finish....something is always going to go wrong somehow, or I'll find some really important little gizmo is missing....

 

Turns out there are some special brackets missing that I need to install the dash and gauges, Dan is looking for them when he gets home again, but I still have plenty of other things I can do. Got a few more things checked off the list in the meantime.....first I made some support cables for the bonnet when it's open, I didn't like that it was just hanging off the hinges. Now as long as it doesn't get slammed open or someone leans on it too hard, these should work fine - they're the same cables used to hold the boot lid.



I also engineered and built a bracket to hold the washer pump bottle and wired/plumbed it all in, tho I still have to wire the button, you can see it in this pic - the red button.




I also got the wiper motor bolted down in those three bushings I had so much trouble with, so it's done


I also got the new turn signal switch in and sure enough as I expected there was a bit missing - the small copper pad that rides on the steering shaft and grounds the horn was completely gone off the old switch - it never would have worked.

 

Todays work....

The tanks came back from the powder coaters and I noticed some gritty dust in the neck of the tank (I assume from being sandblasted) so I decided to rinse them out with some clean parts washing solvent. The pic shows what I got out of the tanks....I rinsed them twice and the second time they seemed pretty clean so I went ahead and installed them in the car. Bucket pic is what came out on the first rinse, second one was pretty much clean.



I got a new sender as the one from the car had no reading on the ohm meter at all when I moved the arm, I put in a new seal and clip too as I didn't get any of those parts with the car. Once both tanks were in I plumbed them up and wired up the fuel pump too. Still need to make up some vent lines but I'll need to go buy some hose from the auto parts store.

Last jobs n the back end were to install the second cable stay for the bootlid and wire the license plate light.

Back end is pretty much done. Monday I'll run down and see about a battery for it, then I can start testing some of the wiring. Dan found all the missing brackets and parts I need for the dash and he'll send them up so I can carry on with that part too.

 

More electrical work.....

The owner has both a TomTom and a GoPro he wanted wired in, and he also wanted a power socket so he can charge his phone. I also needed a power source to run the little washer pump motor. To run all these I decided to set up another sub fuse panel, it's located on the flat part of the dash pane, and because he has a wood dash, it will be hidden but still accessible thru the glove box door. Power comes off the ignition switch and is currently set up to come on with the switch. If he decides he wants them hot all the time it's easy enough to simply move the feed onto another terminal on the ignition switch.




The paint color on the switch panel looks very blue next to the green, even tho the can said "light machinery grey"



So TomTom......done and tested
GoPro.....done
Power socket....done
Washer pump....done
Power socket.....done
Rally lights....done

I've started testing the other equipment too....wipers work, so do the park lights although the right rear doesn't light, need to see if it's a ground problem or a bulb. Fuel pump runs, motor cranks although I haven't put any fuel in the tanks yet. Till I get everything electrical done I don't want to put gas in them in case I have to remove one or both again.

I haven't located the feed wires for the heater yet, I may have to just make up my own. The two red wires hanging down also need to get located to the light switch - they're for the dash lights.

 

More progress....

More electrical work done - all the dash lights work now, I also got the tail lights and brake lights working - the taillight was just a bulb. GoPro and TomTom are wired hot per the owners instructions, but I still have to do the wideband - I had to order a bracket first to mount the dial but I can go ahead and plan where to mount the o2 sensor and weld in the bung, then run the wiring up to the dash. Last thing electrical I need to do is finish wiring the t/s switch and horn. I also got the speedo cable installed. I ordered a new choke cable but got the wrong one so I need to re-order that.

I put in the heater control cable and once the T/S switch is done I can bolt in the heater - then I can run the new heater hoses and top off the coolant.

Tonight I got all the gauges installed and hooked up, and the brackets to attach the wood dash in, then mounted the wood dash - however I think I need some different screws to mount the metal surround to the speedo housing as the heads of the screws hold the wood up off the bracket instead of letting it fit flush. I used pan head screws and I think I need flat heads

With that all done I'll be ready to fire it up.... and maybe take it for a spin!




Still need to install the seat belts and handbrake cables, and mount the rearview mirror and GoPro to the windshield too.