Finally got the rest of the transmission to come apart, specifically the two nuts that hold the differential pinion and the first motion shaft in place. Everything looks really good in the box, synchros, op sleeves and gears are not torn up at all, roller bearings are all in good shape and no wear on the inner surfaces of the gears or shafts. The 1st motion shaft bearing was a little rough so I have a new one on the way but the rest look good. I'll clean it up a little more and when those bits get here I can put it together, then marry it up to the engine and put them in the engine stand and make some noise! I put some special air tool oil in my impact wrench, maybe that's what did it? Still a lot of work to do, but......progress!
Yesterday I had another session at the back doctor so I couldn't do any work, today was transmission day. I managed to drift out the main shaft bearing so I could remove the mainshaft cluster, I'm surprised how good all the components look, synchros are not worn, nor is the facing on the gears that the synchros ride on. The teeth on the operating sleeves are not chewed up and all the bearings are actually in pretty good shape. I thought the input shaft bearing was bad but after I cleaned it up in the solvent tank it runs smooth as can be. No matter I have a new one on the way. Now the real work, I'm taking all the case parts over to my friends shop to bead blast them. That takes long enough on it's own, but then the real time consuming part is getting all the glass bead detritus out of every nook and cranny, then taking a tap to every threaded hole to clean the crap out of them too. The result will be a case that looks brandy new, and clean parts always makes assembly go easier. I take my inspiration from the MiniMania YouTube videos, they always have the case clean as new. I'm hopeful the last few bits I need will get here quicker than the last order did - that one took 12 days. And while I'm not pressed for time on this build, I would like to continue making progress.....I like to finish a job before I jump onto something else if I can.
Never fails..... I can't get into my friend's shop to do the bead blasting till Friday - which is the normal day as production at the business is actually closed on Friday so there are very few employees there - so I decided to rebuild the diff in the meantime, and change out the final drive ratio from the 3:44-1 it has to a 3:00-1, since this engine will have plenty of torque it can easily pull the taller gears and it will cruise at lower revs on the highway. So, I tore it all down, and opened the diff package and new cross pin kit I bought and after cleaning everything thoroughly I realized it doesn't have one bushing, and the small thrust washers are for an A+. It also didn't have the fiber washers that go under the stub axles. So...….yet another order to MiniSpares and another delay.
Me too. Today I got an email from Minispares saying they didn't have one of the items from my Sunday order asking what I wanted to do - as the item was something I can get at the local Britparts store I told them just to go ahead and ship what they had, but the good news is that the delay means they can combine yesterdays order with Sunday's and as they're all small parts I won't have double shipping, saves me about $30. So, more delays but less money out of pocket. Now I won't expect to see parts till the middle of next week at the earliest.....
Picked up the rear seat from the upholsterer's today, had a devil of a time getting it installed as unlike regular Mini backrests (or maybe the same, I'm not sure) there are a couple of long studs that go thru the rear parcel shelf cover and I had a heck of a time getting them down thru the holes. Once in I cinched them down (5mm studs, not 10-32! I find little things like this all over the car.) then it went into place and tied down the parcel shelf cover. Then I tried to get the seat cushion into place but gave up after a while....foam is too thick or something. Anyway, then I broke out the carpet kit to see what's involved in putting it in and just laid the pieces out for a quick trial fit. I think it will look really nice once in - need to find some floor mats tho, I think this light color will show dirt pretty quickly.
Wiring harness showed up today, on first exam it looks like it has all the right stuff, correct headlight ends (which I just redid) and all the right colored wires. I'm only planning to replace the front part as to do the rear I would have to pull down the headliner, at least on the left side since it's glued on at the edges. Still waiting for my transmission parts on DHL, they say it will be here "by the end of the day" but I've seen them list me as out for delivery and still not show up. Bastiches….. Edit: so they delivered while I was out and the bride forgot to tell me.. :-(
I picked up the seats from the upholsterer's today, it took him a long time to figure out how to install the covers correctly and I'm pretty sure he didn't make any money on this job, but it was still spendy. I couldn't have done them and I don't think my partner Dan wanted to try again either after his first attempt didn't turn out too well, so sometimes you just have to go to "the guy" to get it done right. They turned out well and I'm happy with his work......I think I'm going to have him install the carpets too as I don't have the spray gun for the glue, and it will be a relatively simple and quick job for him.
OK, the bushings will be reamed tomorrow at a friend's shop by one of his techs on his CNC machine, I can pick them up tomorrow afternoon, so that's good news. In the meantime I'm working on the wiring harness - I got the entire front harness out of the car and it's even worse in the daylight than it looked in the car. Where the rear harness joins the front over by the wiper motor the wire ends are corroded and some of the insulation is broken in places, but Dan and I don't want to try and remove the headliner to fit the entire rear harness, so I will try and splice and repair what's there. The main part that was bad is the engine compartment and dash anyway.... If I can get the diff parts tomorrow I can start putting that back together this weekend, I hope there aren't any special shims I need to finish setting it up but you never know with new components till you start putting it together so you can measure things. I'm at east a month behind at this point, I really want to take it to the CMU 60 in early October, but I also want to get some miles on it first and make sure everything is right, plus Dan and I want to get it on the dyno along with his blue car and see how it does, and get it tuned out right. More as it happens....
I found this cool bulkhead cover from a guy in Japan - the classic Mini scene is going really strong over there still, as Japan was a major importer of Minis in the 90's - and there is all kinds of cool Mini stuff available there if you know where to find it and who to ask. It's usually pretty spendy but very high quality So while I have the main harness out I went ahead and fit the bulkhead cover - it's pretty simple. First I installed the foam seal in the machined groove on the back. Then I screwed the two halves together and put it up on the bulkhead so I could mark the holes. Once I drilled the holes I trial fit it and it fits perfectly. I think it looks great and it's bound to make things quieter compared to just having the hole open to the engine and carbs.
I picked up the parts at my friend's shop this morning (man I am tired of the road construction around here - it's a wonder you can get anywhere so many roads are closed or detoured - but I digress) which is on the opposite side of town from me, about 30 miles away. The bushings look perfect - the tech said they weren't round by quite a bit but that he was able to get them there and still hold tolerance. So, now I'm ready to put the trans back together - I should have everything I need at last. Good thing too as the next thing up on the body before I place the wire harness was to fit the insulation that I very carefully cut and fit to the bulkhead - and now I can't find the damn thing anywhere! Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!
Isn't that the way it always is ?? You have a part and you put it in a safe place so it won't get lost and then you can't seem to find it.
I know, right? Differential went together smoothly, everything fit and feels correct..... I spent the rest of the day cleaning all the cases and misc shafts and other bits, any time you use the bead blaster the tiny remains of the glass beads get into every crack and crevice, also in the threads of all the blind holes and studs and they all have to be cleaned out.....merely blowing them out doesn't do it. It also embeds itself into the aluminum so I have to take a wire brush to it as the solvent runs to make sure there's nothing left. I run a tap into every hole, then spray with some spray lube and then blow it out again to make sure all the threads are clean. It takes hours but if I don't whatever hole I didn't clean out either won't accept the bolt or torque properly. Ready to put it all together tomorrow.....
I'm working on the transmission today, and working thru all the inner bits to make sure they're assembled correctly - and work as they should. On the early transmission cars they used a reverse light switch mounted on the front of the transmission, under the oil filter. I have that switch and everything I need to make it work except one thing, there is a small plunger that fits inside the detent spring that is pushed up by the detent plunger and activates the switch. I need that little rod that connects the plunger to the switch - or if someone can tell me the length and diameter I figure I can make one out of an old drill bit - but it needs to be the right length. The plunger is at the bottom right of this picture.... after thinking it thru a bit I got out my old drill bits and found a 7/32" fit smoothly in the spring so after doing a bit of measuring and thinking about it I took a guess and cut one just over 1/2" long and ground the tip, then installed it and the switch and set up my ohm meter - it immediately squawked at me so I knew it was a bit too long. I took the bit back to the grinder and took it down to exactly 1/2" and tried it again......when I turned the ohm meter on it was quiet - so far so good. Now the real test, I pushed the link into reverse and it immediately squealed at me. Result! Now I know the reverse lights will work too, once hooked up. It's interesting that the wire ends in the new harness appear to be set up for a switch on the remote housing, but I've never seen one there - only on rod change gearboxes. So I may have to do a small mod on the harness to reach the switch on the front of the gearbox. Pic of my switch, spring, plunger and detent
Gearbox progress..... Shift rods and forks in, detents in, main cluster in, both main shaft bearings in and locked in place. Diff side bearing shimmed correctly. Next it's get the reverse gear in, then the central oil pickup, then the lay gear. Once those are done It's time to add the diff and shim those bearings, then it's just a matter of putting all the remining covers and bits on till I can join it with the engine.
More progress on the transmichigan….. The biggest time suck is sorting out which bolts and washers go where, and then cleaning them all...…and then learning and/or remembering all the little idiosyncrasies of this particular trans, when I haven't had a remote gearbox apart since about 1968.