'66 Cooper S Restoration

I came up with a way to mount the dome light wires with crimp on ends so I wouldn't have to use bullet ends, Dan can mount the light once he's happy with the headliner. I also got the speedo cable on the speedo and mounted the ground wires, so I think the dash is pretty much done too. I also mounted the inner seatbelt latches......I think all that's left are the heater and rear boot lock assy, once they get here next week sometime. I also got a new battery for it, although I still need to run up to Vicky Brits and get the hold down j-bolts. Getting the speedo cable on involved removing the air cleaner and its baseplate so I could get my hand in there, and I had to remove the choke linkage on the carb so I could slightly drill out the arm to accept the choke cable trunnion.






I have to sit down and read the instructions on the camera, every time I disconnect and reconnect the battery the thing switches on - I don't know if it's been recording me the last few days or what!

Dan should be home over the weekend, so next week he'll bring the Inno back and we'll swap cars again. I'll be happy to see this one leave and then I can finish up the Inno, which is really close to being done too.

I rebuilt a Sprite motor over the last few weeks and delivered it to the customer a couple days ago.

I have three Sprite gearboxes waiting to be rebuilt, but those go pretty quickly, and Clancy may need some help buttoning up the Moke one of these days. Once all that work is done I'm probably going to retire for a bit and have my knee replaced sometime in late Feb or early March - at last! It's been bothering me for about 10 years now and it's really gotten bad the last 6 months or so.

Once I'm up and around again I have some brake work to do on my Racing green car.

I'm also going to upgrade my electrical panel on the house so I can add a bigger air compressor and a media blast cabinet, and get my basement re-organized and cleaned out once and for all

 

More work on the 66, I decided to hook up the dome light after re-engineering how the wires attach, and it didn't work. So I got out my trusty 12V test light - no power to the light......hmmmm.

So, I checked the wire group under the scuttle and found one wire disconnected, and several that were almost so - the first good bump and some of them would have quit working. However, in order to get to the bunch of wires in that harness I had to remove the wiper assembly as the wires were partly wound around the cross pipe.



That led to another discovery - the fitting that the wiper tube attaches to was cross threaded and partly stripped - I noticed that when the wipers worked they were noisy and slow - I think I found out why. So, yet another trip up to Victoria British - fortunately they carry a fitting - it's a little different but it can be modified to work, which I did. I also disassembled the entire wiper assembly and cleaned and re-greased it all. Now it's much smoother and quieter.....




Back to the wiring.....I also found the wire to the fuel gauge was broken right at the bullet fitting, so I had to make up a short length and splice it into the harness. I also decided enough was enough and made my self a tool to push the Lucas bullets into the tubes. I just took an old pair of farmer pliers and sliced a notch in the jaws - worked a TREAT! I was considering buying the tool that does this but once I looked at it I figured I could make one.



So, first the wiper assembly went in, then I used my new tool to insert all the wires in the tubes and viola! it all works now.



Only took about 4 hours......

 

This project is finally coming to and end - at least at my shop, and I know Dan will be as happy to see the tail lights going over the curb as the owner to finally get behind the wheel and drive.

Today's work....first another step backwards. I leave the doors ajar as there's no reason to latch them, and today I tried to close one and found that it was hitting the door pocket on my freshly installed seat belt reel! I was racking my brains trying to figure out an alternate mounting when the solution hit me in the head - no that was the seat.





Anyway, I found that if I just moved them down further, the door bin went right over the top of the reel and didn't impede their use at all. So, two new holes later they're done and work perfectly.





My next project was to install the heater assembly and plumb it up. First I had to make an extension of one of the rear mounting studs - they are offset to allow more room for the accelerator pedal. I didn't take any pics of it but simply welded a nut to the head of a 1" bolt....worked a treat.

Before I could mount the heater I had to make some small modifications to the carpet - cutting a hole to mount the accelerator, cutting around the foot operated dimmer switch and a few other bits. I musta had the piece of carpet in and out of there 20 times before it was all right. Once that was done, it was back to the heater.

Mounting it up is pretty easy, just locate the studs on the mounting brackets on the bulkhead, tighten the right side to pull it as far to the right as it will go, then tighten the left side too. Then you swing it up and run two screws up into their speed nuts and that part is done. After that, just tidy up the wires and make and hook up the two heater hoses. Job done. I still have a knob for the flap control coming, it was broken.


I installed one of those little breather filters on the breather and I think the engine compartment is done now too.

Two things left to do - install the new boot latch assembly after I re-key it to match the door......and one other thing has come to light. After I installed the new battery and hold down I went to tighten the negative cable to the body and the bolt just spun. So I'm going to try and drill the captive nut out and re-thread it for a 3/8 bolt....hope that works!

 

The last parts came in late today, so I got them installed and decided to see if it would run. Took a bit of persuasion but it finally fired and ran,..,..but it has a noise that I couldn't decipher from the driver's seat. I'll see if I can get Don over tomorrow to help me pinpoint it - it sounds kinda like a really bad exhaust leak but I'm just not sure. Besides, I was pretty careful when I put the exhaust back together to make sure it wouldn't have leaks - it almost sounds like a broken header....tomorrow should be a lot warmer too so I can open the garage door and give it a good run....

More as it happens!

 

Mystery solved.....and it wasn't the exhaust!

Turns out it was the fan blades (metal fan) hitting either the shroud or the radiator.....haven't fixed it yet, but I took the two top bolts out of the shroud allowing it to move away slightly and the noise stopped.....so at least I know what it is now.

I was really dreading the idea of pulling that exhaust system off to weld up a cracked header or something....

It will be getting warmer out the next two days, so the snow will be melting off the street and I can take it for a run around the block once I solve this small issue

 

It's. A. Live!

I drove the 66 Cooper S around the block a couple of times....I had to do some fettling with the accelerator linkage and managed to get it better, but it's still over- responsive to me. Also the clutch needs some further adjusting or bleeding, I'm afraid I ground 1st a couple of times...odd that it went into reverse OK tho.

Engine is very strong, Weber carb is really loud! The carb will need some tuning on the rolling road, it goes lean under load then clears out and pulls like a train.

I fixed the fan by swapping out the metal 6 blade one for a plastic 11 blade.

I took a video and up loaded it to the Tube of You, but it's unwatchable.....it works fine on my computer but it's all messed up on the Tube.

I'll have to try again.

 

OK, here we go - just to prove it runs and drives. The noise you hear is not the exhaust, it's the weber carb sitting just behind the speedo! Skip the first 50 seconds or so of the vid, it's just me fiddling with the camera....shifting was pretty awful and I grind going into first at one point, the clutch was seriously out of adjustment and should be much better now.

 

Ready to go back to Tulsa for the finish work and delivery to the customer, while I will pick up the Inno and bring it back to my shop so I can finish it too. It's really close now that Dan has got the interior done. This car is seriously quick, got a bit of torque steer right after I went around the second corner (behind the white car) and I had just breathed on the gas at that point. The carb needs someone with a rolling road and a box of Weber jets to tune this carb, it goes lean if you push it even a little and comes back into a good mix when you let off again....the wideband gauge I put in gives a good picture of what it's doing at any given moment.

But MAN is that Weber carb loud! The video doesn't really do it justice....makes it sound like Harley or something.......I may try and make another vid with the camera mounted further back in the car, on the rear window or something so the sound comes thru better and more accurate.

 

I finally finished my part of this job, I found out how to mount the dome light and now it's done. It took a bright flashlight and a mirror, then I had to carefully pull down the back edge of the front half (it's in two pieces) of the headliner bow and found where the screws went, then it was fairly easy peasy to button it up.

Next Wed one of my friends will be by with his trailer, and we'll load it up and haul ass to Tulsa, and bring back the Inno.

I'll take one more test drive now that I have the carb linkage and clutch adjustment sorted before it goes away.

 

Second test drive....steering wheel straightened, clutch and accelerator sorted.... speedo seems pretty accurate too. It will still need to go to someone who knows webers to sort out the carb jetting. I had to bleed the clutch AND, I found out why I was grinding going into 1st - this is a 3 synchro box! Once I stopped completely before I tried to put it into 1st, it never ground once.
Temps and oil pressure were spot on and I REALLY like the smooth a ride cones, this car rides SO much better than my 89, I'm tempted to buy a set for it.

When he gets the car back Dan is going to double check the alignment and finish up a few small details and it's ready at last to go back to the owner. I hope he enjoys it.....it's fun to drive but man is that carb loud. In this video, the bark when I downshifted was the carb, not the exhaust.....

 

Thanks Don! Next project is to builld a Sprite race box with straight cut close ratio gears, then another Sprite box, this one for the street.

In the meantime I'll be finishing up the Inno so it can be sold on.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

 

Fired the 66 up today and drove it around the block again - to get ready to load it on the trailer - and left it on the curb idling while I moved the other cars out of the driveway.



Came out to find it dead......tried to start it and no joy. I decided it wasn't getting fuel and as I had just put 5 gallons in this morning I knew it wasn't out of gas, so I changed the solid metal fuel filter in the engine compartment out for a clear one so I could see what was going on. Turned the key and it immediately filled with gas and started right up. Drove it around the block again and all was fine.

When John got here with the trailer I tried to go around the block again to get lined up so I could drive on but it died on me halfway. I've decided it must be the small metal filter in front of the fuel pump that was clogged up as no fuel was getting to the filter even tho the electric pump was running.

I walked back and John and I drove the trailer around to the car - luckily it's pretty easy to push a Mini up onto the trailer, so it's loaded up and ready to go, when we get to Dan's we'll pop that filter out and clean it and drain some gas and see what we get.

 

Back to Dan's shop north of Tulsa, car started right up and drove off the trailer! grrr......

 

I guess I didn't do the follow up on this car, the fuel filter was clogged as expected, so Dan drained some fuel out and replaced the filter - car started right up and ran sweetly, although again, the jets aren't right so that will need to be sorted. Owner came to get it and drove it the 30 miles home, big grin on his face!

A few weeks ago the owner contacted Dan about changing the carb out for an SU - who knew that was going to happen?!?!

Owner loves the car and drives it daily now......great to hear a successful rebuild like this, glad I could play a small part in it.