Most liked posts in thread: 90's Sportpack, Japanese spec automatic

Thanks guys.....good news is - I have a full set of boot kits in stock so I won't be held up waiting for those.

BTW, my surgery date got pushed back from the 5th to the 19th. Starting pre-surgery tests next week tho.

 

After swapping all these cars around, I got the white Jap spec car on the lift and have ordered parts for it.....I don't expect them for about 2 weeks, so in the meantime I'll continue work on the 1275 motor for my friend in Atlanta.

 

In between other projects I got a start on this car - I took the bonnet off so I could work without hitting my head, got it up on the lift and the wheels off.

The brief on this one is to replace all the suspension bits so it will ride better, and remove all the A/C bits under the hood - he said he'll take care of the dash end of it. Getting the A/C out will make it a whole lot easier to do the suspension bits too as some are really hard to reach with the A/C stuff in the way.

I got a decent start on it - like many new cars you just have to keep removing stuff till you can get to the stuff you're after. In this case - first off was the alternator, but to get to that the hood, grill, the oil filter cannister and one fog light had to come off. Then it was the A/C compressor's turn - that was a bear as the bolts were damn near impossible to reach, but in the end I won that battle too. When I remount the alternator it will go back in the standard position and use a regular belt, much easier to service in the future.

I took off a couple of the refrigerant lines, and the receiver drier, now I'm working on figuring out how to get the condenser and it's fan off....but the ECU is in the way, amongst other bits and bobs.....once those are out I'll remove the radiator as we have a nice shiny aluminum one to go back in. The pile of bits on the floor is getting bigger!



Lots of work to do yet, as I'll have to remove the fuel tank to get the left rear shock off as it's hidden behind the tank. Some guys say they just move the tank aside - I've never been lucky enough to do that, I always have to remove it completely.

Then it will be a total stripdown of the front end - I have most of the suspension parts but I'm waiting on some slick one piece ball joints from Japan - where this car was sold originally. The Japanese Mini enthusiasts have done some really nice engineering to use modern parts on these old cars - the ball joints on these normally require shims and they are tedious to get set right, plus they have to be greased regularly and reshimmed about every 10K miles. The new joints are expensive, but never need attention again.



In the pic the ECU is to the left of my black and yellow light, then the condenser is to the left of that, against the inner fender. I haven't figured out how to remove either one just yet, but like I said, if you take off enough stuff, sooner or later you get to the things you're trying to remove!

If you compare it to the pic at the top, you can see how much is already gone!

 

I've been chipping away at the White car, today I got radiator out so I could get the first smooth a ride cone installed, got the second coat of paint on the engine and got a bunch of parts cleaned up. Also got all the radiator hoses off and water pump out. I think that's the last bit of stuff I have to remove in the engine compartment. While it was so accessible I adjusted the valves too.




Tomorrow I'll get the other front cone installed, then start on ball joints and lower control arms. Once the front end is done I can start reinstalling all the crap I had to take off to get stuff out of the way - the radiator hoses alone were crazy hard to get off - no idea how I'm going to get it all in again!




BTW, in case anyone needs to know - the tall cones go in front, short ones in back. Jeremy at Jet Motors says it's a good idea to shorten the trumpets about 2mm or the front end sits too high. I decided not to do that, I know they'll settle down after a few hundred miles......

 

Yay! It runs! I had to do a small modification to the alternator adjustment bracket as it was hitting the alternator fan very slightly. I ground a little clearance on the bench grinder and that took care of it.

Fired it up and ran it for a bit, I'm going to have to flush the cooling system as it's full of nasty rusty crap so I'll drain it down and refill a few times till I start getting clear water back. It's still too cold out or I would put it in the driveway and just run it with the garden hose in the top of the radiator - that would sure be a lot quicker and less of a mess. Fortunately these new aluminum radiators have a drain cock, the OEM radiators did not, the only way to get water out of them was to pull the lower hose off - which makes such huge a mess! - and is a PITA to get to, especially when every thing is hot.

Had to pull the grill back off to get to the alt adj bracket, and that's also the only way to reach the drain cock.....

 

Part 2.....

After a few hours time I went back down to the shop and saw this....




I can't find anything wrong so I tightened the cannister up a quarter turn and took it for about a 5 mile drive, so far not a drop has fallen - so I hope that's it at last.

 

This car will be coming into the shop this weekend, but other than ordering parts I doubt much will happen till early springtime.

It hadn't been started or moved since it was delivered, but today it fired right up and ran nicely. EFI for the win!

 

I finally got enough stuff removed that I could get out the rest of the A/C stuff, the receiver dryer, a few more lines, the condenser and it's fan out of the fender opening and a few other bits.




Next up I'll drain the oil and coolant and pull the radiator and the shield under the engine so I can try and spot where the oil leaks are. There aren't a lot of places these automatics leak, and this one was overhauled about 3K miles ago so I'm really not anxious to drop this motor out - it's al LOT of work on these late model A/C cars but since I already have all the A/C stuff out it will be a little easier. The parts I'd be dreading are the exhaust - no telling how long or how rusted together it is - and the drive axles and brakes. Some of these cars can be tough to get the brakes bled out again.

I also have a new starter and alternator coming, along with a water pump, all new hoses, thermostat and the new aluminum radiator I showed before.

And I haven't even started on the suspension - the real reason he sent it to me!

 

As it turns out, I did have to use the press to get the axle out of the hub, but it really didn't take any pressure and it came right out - I just hate beating on them and messing up the end of the axle and threads. I do have a die to fix the axle threads tho, just in case.

Once apart I could not see how to remove the inner CV, it seems like it had some sort of metal cap over the end of the axle and it did not want to pry off. So I popped the outer CV off, took off the outer boot and slid the inner all the way down the axle again. Sounds easier than it was!





Once it was all cleaned and lubed it went back together exactly as it should.

The left side is now all done, although I haven't decided whether to do the brake hoses. They don't look bad, but they may be original....and while I have it accessible......the problem is the what ifs - what if the bleed nipple breaks off in the caliper, what if the brake line is rusted together and the end rounds off and so on......

I'll probably go ahead and change out the hose, now is the time with the radiator out of the way....I also got plenty of new clamps - it takes 5 for the heater hoses, and 4 more for the main radiator hoses.

Edit: Left side is now all done, including brake hose. I was concerned about the brake line not coming apart but it did with no drama, so I changed out the hose too.



Now to move over to the right side and do the same process, then I'll head to the rears. The back ones are very easy to install except for one thing - the top shock mount on the left side is behind the gas tank. In the past I've always just removed the tank but on this fuel injected car there are lots of other components attached to the tank having to do with emissions and venting and such, so I'm going to try and see if I can just move it out far enough to get the nuts loose - could be a trick as there's a lock nut on top of the regular nut and I'll be doing it blind.

 

Radiator is in and all buttoned up, I need to split the 998 transmission off the engine and get it crated so it can ship next week.....

Then back on the suspension job - starting on the right side front, then right rear, and leaving the gas tank conundrum in the left rear for last. Anyone successfully just move the tank enough to reach behind and get the top shock nuts off without having to drain and remove the tank?

Before and after so far. ECU will go against the inner fender where the condenser was.

 

Today I got the other side upper arm, ball joint and and new cone installed - it's a bitch kitty on an automatic due to the size and placement of the motor mount on that side, and the size of the cover for the torque converter. The bearings on that side were done too, so it was time to replace them before the front end started squeaking and getting all wonky. The hard part was aligning the shaft to go into the upper arm, especially working alone. Took a while but I got 'er done!




Later I'll replace the tie bar, lower control arm and bushings and the brake hose on that side. With that done I can reinstall the ECU and it's bracket and it will be that much closer to running. I'm still waiting for the new correct oil filter, gasket, o-ring and the new valve cover.

 

Gas tank is back in - I had to remove the deck lid to get where I could maneuver it back into place, I got it close but just could not get it that last little bit.


Once the deck lid was off I could get in place and shift it around, then it slid right in. Of course all the studs came out of the deck lid hinges so I had to clean them all up on the wire wheel before I could put them back. PITA.



But it's in, the brakes are bled, wheels are back on and it's ready to drive over to the alignment shop next week sometime. It's still sitting high because it hasn't rolled at all...it should drop a bit more when it does but these always sit really high at first. within a few miles they settle in some then it takes a few hundred before they drop much more and you have to adjust them.



I know it looks funny to us sitting up that high, but if you look at pics of the cars as they came off the assembly line, that's how they all looked. The sump guard is still off till I get it running and see if it's leaking oil from anywhere. I think the culprit last time was the oil filter cannister o-ring. People think it's too hard to change them or they don't know how or they double it up,....anyway you cut it if you don't do it right they leak.

 

it's amazing how much better one of these cars drives with new front end parts, and in this case getting up off the bumpstops too!

Most of the frontend was in pretty good shape, I only replaced the upper control arm bearings because the one side was starting to wear into the shaft slightly.....and I had them off the car anyway.

The bushings were tired, the ball joints were loose and the tie bars were bent, so all new stuff there, plus being adjustable for good alignment will help. I just eyeballed the settings but it looks pretty good now that it's down on its wheels, and it drives pretty straight.

I think the 7" wheels are too big but he likes the look.

It does have the fiberglass arches, and they look pretty stout too.

I have to get him on the 1500 mile oil change program, so much of the old oil stays in the torque converter that it looks dark almost immediately. I got him a couple extra filters too.

Some small good news, it doesn't seem to be leaking oil from anyplace, and the transmission shifts smoothly and well. I'm thinking it was the oil filter o-ring after all that was leaking.

Today I flushed the cooling system thoroughly, I even ran some radiator cleaner thru it and flushed that out too, then filled it with the right coolant mix. It runs right at the temp it should.

I also made a few trips around the block to make sure it ran and shifted OK, and it does. Drove pretty well too considering I just guesstimated the suspension settings!

I have an appointment Wed to get the alignment done, then Friday it goes home to Boston.

Last things I need to do are put the sump guard back on, install the grill and bolt the bonnet back on, then she's done.

Before and after pics.

 

Just barely, Fed Ex might tho

A friend of mine locally just bought a new enclosed car hauler, he uses it mostly to haul his race car to the track and home again but when there's no racing he helps pay for it by hauling cars.

If you have something to move I can give you his contact info - I think he's very reasonable.....

 

So I pulled the filter housing off again, I could not find anything wrong with it but it clearly was leaking.

There was a fairly massive puddle under the car (well, 7" around or so) and I could follow the trail down the front of the transmission.

So I cleaned up the housing off the 998 engine I'm building and swapped out the filter for a new one, I found a small burr on the edge of the transmission housing face and cleaned that off, then used some good gasket sealer on a new gasket and bolted everything back together and fired it up. I ran it for 10 minutes with no leaks, but then I ran it for over an hour plus drove it around the other day and it didn't leak then either, so.....

It's bucketing down right now so I won't be able to drive it till tomorrow.

 

So today I drove up to the alignment shop to have the front end aligned....

This car is well received at the shop, all the techs wanted to get a good look. The car looks tiny on a rack built for modern pickup trucks!



The tech is the same one that aligned Don's Pup, so he was somewhat familiar with Minis, but of course this one is different than a Mini Tec front end. He did a great job, starting with height adjustment, and when done getting the steering wheel exactly straight.




I took the car for a short drive on the highway, about 10 miles, and the car drove straight and smooth.....perfect job.

When I got home I parked it in the shop and did other things for a while, when I came out......well, that's part 2

 

Chuck, normally toe and go is all there is, but I added some new pieces that are adjustable, so now you can set caster, camber and toe, as well as balance ride height and corner weights. We didn't do the latter but we did everything else. Car drives really well now, I'm sure he'll be pleased.

Here's a pic of the adjustable arms I added...

 

I did a little refresh on the engine, cleaned the heck out of it and painted it up with some red Rusty Oleum - pay no attention to the green valve cover - that's my paint valve cover. I have a shiny new polished aluminum cover coming for it.



The rest of the parts I had ordered have come in too, including these very expensive but really cool ball joints.



The originals have to be lapped in and shimmed, then shimmed again every 10K or so and are a PITA. These are modern sealed joints that never need adjusting or lubing.

I have a new starter, a new alternator, aluminum radiator and all new hoses for it too' Lastly, here is one of the old rubber cone springs compared to the new ones that will be going in!

 

Well, I was hoping not to have to take the front end completely apart, but events conspired against me....first the inner CV came out of it's socket and would not go back in, which meant I was going to have to at least remove the boot - but then I found the boot was torn too, which means I'll be not only removing the hub but also stripping the axle down so I can replace the inner boot. I also noticed the brake hoses to the front calipers look very tired, so I'll be replacing them too, which means flushing the brake system.




It seems like you can never just do a single job......