Most liked posts in thread: Mini Innocenti 1300 Export

Actually, you're probably right, a good clean, re-grease and new boot and it's ok - but new ones are fairly inexpensive so I went that way.

Actually, I use Spitfire ends, they have a longer thread area which gives you more adjustability on lowered cars.

 

Today's work so far.....

Rear bearings installed - I used the press to push the races in rather than tap them in with a hammer and drift. It's easy to do this on the rear hubs as both sides are square to the bore, but you can't do this on the front ones as the hub is curved on the inside.

Next up install the drums and tighten the shoes to their starting point, after they bed in a bit I'll need to do them up a little more as I'm using the old drums and I didn't have them turned.....probably should have but we'll see how they do. as long as they stop smoothly and don't grab they should be fine.

Still need to do up the em. brake cables, but I think I'll feed them thru and attach them to the handle first, then I can set the tension correctly on the drum end with the cables taut and not loose as they are now. Where the cables pass thru the body there are two fairing plates on the bottom and top, and a rubber gasket of sorts in between. I have new rubbers and screws, but it's a two man job - one in the car and one under so I'll need to get some help to button that up. Still really cold in the garage, even tho it's about 20* outside now. I'd like to get the shocks installed first to set the droop and that way I can do a preliminary setting on the hi-los, then do the em brakes but the shocks are waiting for a coat of paint and it's just too cold right now to even attempt to paint them.

This afternoon I want to get the new steering rack installed, but first I have to do a little cleanup on the bulkhead with some solvent to cut the oil and grease. Once the rack is in I'll go ahead and build up the front subframe so it's ready to go in too.

 

One of the last things I needed to do on the interior was to fix the broken turn signal switch, the boss that the handle fit into was broken - I figure I can build it up with some JB Weld and file it down to match the other one, but I needed to remove it to make it easier to reach all the different sides of it. We also have a new stock steering wheel and hub to put on, so that meant removing the Abarth hub.

And THAT was the problem. It's held on with 6 allen head screws and only one of them would come out, the others either would not turn or the allen part stripped/rounded out. That left drilling them out. At first I used a 1/2" bit, to try and remove the head down to the shaft, that wasn't working so well so I switched to a 1/4" bit, to drill out the centers - that worked a treat, as soon as I was down to the shaft the heads just popped right off and I was able to pry off the adaptor plate to get to the nut on the steering shaft under the plate.

Once that was off it was easy to remove the switch assembly - the one we have is in good shape except for the broken handle, which is common on these, the plastic gets brittle and the mechanism gets stiff from the lubrication drying up, next thing you know you have the handle in your hand, and these - like many Inno pieces - are unobtanium plated. (I did finally find one for $200 plus shipping, but I'll try to fix this one first)

Once I finish this, I can start putting the interior back together....I did have to buy a brake master cylinder - the pic shows why......this one had leaked badly and rusted, I can't get it apart. Of course, they don't sell this master cylinder anymore, it's been superceeded by one with metric lines and fittings. Which means you have to buy a specially made brake pipe with a metric fitting on one end and an English one on the other end. I was going to have to make up new lines anyway as we're moving it from the right side to the left, which meant longer pipes.

 

In between other things, I have been working on the Inno, but the cold means I can't paint anything just yet.....we're not supposed to get warm weather for another week or two - it's really frustrating me! I did get the first layer of JB Weld on the turn signal switch handle and it looks like it's going to work fine...the switch moves easily now and all I have to do is build up a few layers so that I can match the style of the other handle. Then file it down to shape and give it a lick of black paint and it will be good as new.

I took the various pieces of the heater over to my friend's batcave and bead blasted everything clean, and while I was there I retrieved the Racing Green Mini and towed it home, - damn thing wouldn't start after sitting for 4 months, don't know why yet - I just got it home and into the shop for now.

I bought another shelving unit so I could get some more stuff up off the floor, when you have a small shop organization is everything! But having a Mini on the other side instead of the Jag sure frees up a lot of extra room! I sold the green Jaguar sign to a local enthusiast and president of the KC Jaguar club, he was thrilled to get it.....he's taking it down to a local sign shop and having a light box made for it, then it will go into his mancave.


I also have some service books and parts books and he said he could help me sell them.

Dang, I should have given him that little Jaguar parking sign too....

 

Despite the cold weather I managed to get some more painting today as the sun came out - it only got to 40* but I heated the paint first and then shot them outside, then hung the parts in the sun and it helped keep the fumes down when I put them back in the garage to finish curing.

I painted all the heater parts, so once the matrix about gets here Wed or Thurs I can put it all together....I think it will have hardened off enough by then. The master cylinder is coming in the same shipment, so I should be able to pretty much reassemble the dash, bulkhead, steering column and brake/clutch pedal assembly.

I also put layers 4 and 5 of JB Weld on the turn signal switch handle, the stuff tends to run a bit so I have to keep orienting the part to keep it in the right place till it stiffens up enough to hold. I found you don't want to put the stuff on thick anyway, it won't cure out for weeks if you do - thin coats are best. I'm hopeful this is the last coat and I can start filing it to shape now.

Lastly I made a cover plate for the opening in the center of the dash, I have a bulkhead insulation panel to put over it, originally it had a piece of carboard with some insulation behind it, but it was thoroughly trashed. This should help with engine noise too.....

 

Got a little more done today, tho not as much as I had hoped - but then that's normal for any resto job. It always takes longer than you think it will and little problems always crop up.

I got the heater core in so I decided to put the heater together, put some foam in to seal the core, bolted in the fan motor and assembled the box, but once I had it together I realized there was a small problem. The flap that controls where the air flow goes is held by some small notches in the front panel, the one that holds the flap so that you get air on your feet has been worn practically off, so it won't hold the flap in place. So I'll remove the front panel again and try to fix it. If I have to weld on it I'll only have to repaint the one panel, not the whole heater box.

I bought a new fan switch as someone had JB Welded the wire onto the old one, but unfortunately, the Inno switch is different, so the new Mini one I bought won't fit. This one is still working so I'll go ahead and reuse it.

I'm happy with how the turn signal switch turned out, I put a coat of paint on the parts I fixed and it's ready to go back into the car.

 

Not only are modern cars far more complex, but the wiring diagrams are done in a whole different way.

What a confusing mess......if you look at the first pic you can see some small colored dots - I (and the guy who wired it before me) assumed those were tu tell you which wire went where, so that's how he (and I subsequently) wired the switch up - but of course it did not work. So, I spent all morning trying to sort out what went where and why, and relate that to the wiring diagram, which was confusing but in the end I think accurate. Turns out he had the wires grouped together correctly, but on the wrong side of the switch.

The first pic shows the dots, the second pic how it was wired when I took it apart.

I mostly have it sorted out now, but still have one issue to figure out - when you turn on the new dash switch we got (that's supposed to turn on the dash lights) all it illuminates are the two turn signal arrows! Still have to sort that one out.

I'll put up a pic of the final wiring once I get that last thing sorted.

 

SORTED!!!

I was right, a bad ground was causing the issue with the dash lights. Now everything works as it should.

Result! as Edd would say!

 

People have fun with Lucas, but in my experience they were no worse than any of the French, Italian, American or German electrical systems in their days.....they all were crap!

Plus too and also, we're talking a 46 year old car here!

One thing I noticed, the fuse holders are made of considerably stouter metal than those on my English Minis. I used a soft brass wire brush in a drill to clean the holders, then took the fuses to my bench grinder that has a very fine wire wheel on it and cleaned the ends - that should fix that.

 

I went ahead and stripped out the lights and other exterior bitsas to get it ready to go to the body shop, while it's gone I'll be working on the motor and transmission.....I'll let them pull the glass and such.

 

Ha!

took the Inno to Tulsa today, where we quickly stripped it down. He found one small patch to do, and a few places where the paint was flaky or peeling, so he's started work today.

 

Shell is done, of course will need to be sanded and buffed when hard, still has to do the doors, bonnet and boot lid.

 

While the block, head and crank are out to be machined, I decided to go ahead and tear down the transmission too. The gears look fine (which is a good thing as they're nearly impossible to find now) but the synchros are tired so it will get new ones. I found the diff is a 16-62 which works out to a very low 3.825:1 ratio, I'll change that for the 3:1 I have in stock to make it more highway friendly - I've not seen a big block motor with that low a diff - 65 mph is 4500rpm! With the 3:1 that will drop down to a more comfortable 3500.
The diff will also get new bushings for the output shafts, spyder gears and diff carrier and a new main pin for the spyder gears too. I also found a secret seal under the bolts that hold the hardy-spicer drive flanges on.
When I removed the aftermarket central oil pickup (the pipe running across the gearbox in the pic) I found a large hole worn in the screen, good thing I decided to check it all out as part of the clean up process. I'll replace that and the oil pump too as I found the oil pressure release valve plunger stuck in the bore.

There was a pretty good layer of goop in the bottom of the gearbox case too....I spent hours last night cleaning old gasket material off the various surfaces, I don't know what they used to glue them on with but it was the toughest stuff I've ever had to scrape off - it took me about 6 hours of cleaning, just on the gearbox!

 

This is why when doing an overhaul you always remove the oil pressure galley plugs.....this is the oil pressure relief plunger - it's scarred so badly it looks like they ran metal scrap thru it. The rearmost cam bearing was trashed too, along with the cam and lifters. The plunger was stuck in the hole, but a 1/2" coarse tap just fits it perfectly - I only had to thread it in a turn or two and the plug began to move and I was able to get it out.




So I'll pull the galley plugs and clean it all out, I already have new cam bearings and a new oil pump is on the way along with the new cam and lifters. I also have a new plunger and spring for it. Haven't decided whether to thread the holes with a pipe tap and use grub screws to seal them off or just tap in a new set of galley plugs the way they are now.

There is so much more to rebuilding an engine properly than just putting new bearings and gaskets in it.

 

Had to order valves from England, the ones in it are way oversized compared to what I can get locally - I did go ahead and take them the seals and guides. I ordered the new valves from Spares in England, I hope to have them by Monday.
Given the port work that was done and the oversized valves, the large bore, high compression pistons and the new cam I bought, I think this motor should make pretty good HP. Nothing like what new MINIs do, but on a percentage basis - it would be like getting close to 400hp out of your stock MINI......that's a pretty substantial upgrade in power.

 

More parts.....I've been waiting for the valves to come from MiniSpares - I thought I would have them Monday, but here we are Thursday - they're supposed to be here today but nothing yet.

I also finalized the Newton Commercial order for the new seat covers, they took the original order no problem, but they wanted me to pay for the shipping separately. They claimed they sent me a link to pay it but I never got it, so I sent them an email, they said send my CC info in an email, I said no so then they finally managed to send a link to the balance, I paid it today so now they should be one the way too. It was expensive shipping - £270. That took two weeks too!

Lastly, my Garmin that I use for a speedo in my Green Mini died, (it was 5 or 6 years old) so I tried to order a new one from Amazon. My account had not been used for over two years (because I couldn't get it to open) so I called customer service. The reason I could not use it even tho I had the sign on and password was that they wanted to send me an email to verify it was really me - perfectly fine idea except......since I had opened the account I had changed email addresses and the one set up with the account did not exist anymore - so they could not verify and I couldn't get into the account to change the email address. Round and round we went. Finally in frustration I opened a new account and ordered the Garmin......but now I have no access to my previous order history. PITA.

 

Cylinder head came back, looks nice.....I taped it off and gave it the first coat of POR 15. Once the crank comes back "sometime this week" then I can start building the engine...

 

Paintwork is almost done, just the final cut and polish, then it's ready to come back to me for re-assembly.....

 

They're really light. Dan weighed them and several other sets of wheels he had, they were the lightest by a couple of pounds except for a set of forged racing wheels he had.