Ha! Thanks Dave..... I mostly work on the later model rod change gearboxes, which really aren't all that different, just little things, mostly in the shift mechanism. It's all coming together slowly.....I need to go to the hardware store and see if I can get a couple of bolts and washers that I don't have.....I know they must have been in there when I took it apart but I sure can't find them now. They're nothing exotic at least..... I still can't find that damn bulkhead insulation that I oh so carefully cut to fit.
Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.... I spent all morning making some special thick washers to go under the bolts that hold the stub axles onto the output shafts of the differential. I found some just the right thickness at the hardware store, but I had to grind the outside edge slightly so they would fit into the recess in the stub axle, then I had to bore the inside diameter to fit the shoulder on the bolt. I had found two really large lockwashers in the nuts and bolts for the Inno that fit the shoulders of the bolts, but when I looked up the parts on Somerford, they only showed two plain washers., that's why I decided to get the thick ones and make some. Boring the inside diameter was a pain, the first couple of steps on the step drill worked perfectly, but that last step wouldn't go. So, I thought I'd run down to HF and buy a new set - they didn't work either so I wound up grinding them out by hand. They came out perfectly. The next step was to insert the collets that set the stubs in the right place...… I looked for them for three hours! Finally in desperation I brought out my secret weapon - my wife - and set her to looking for them. It took her about 5 minutes to find them neatly put away in a bag I had marked 'Hardy Spicers parts", along with the new axle seals, the new special nuts and of course the flat washers that go under the heads of the bolts! Ay carumba! The good news is I have everything, I just need to find them. The bolt on the left has the new washers I spent all morning making, the one on the right has the original lock washer/flat washer combo. One set of collets is installed in the stub axle on the right...
I dropped a special washer the other day, looked high and low for it, got down on my knees with a flashlight - could NOT find it. So I get Rose, she comes down the stairs and points right at it!
Thats classic! It must be a wife thing. Now when I drop something I spend about a minute looking for it, then I go get my wife. She finds it every time.
She's been "kept" since 94, but we started dating 20 years before that - took me that long to convince her to stay! Our first date was to an IMSA race near St. Louis, she tells people that had I asked her to dinner and a movie she would never have gone out with me, but the race invite kinda caught her off guard.
Started with this, the remote shifter - hard to see in this pic but the shifter handle is coated in rust, not paint. The housing itself is dirty enough, but the insides are packed with rock hard grease (how? there are no zerk fittings, whatever grease is in there should have come from when it was built) and the shift rod was so stiff it would hardly move. I got it all torn down and found the end that the shift ball locates to was completely loose. Also, there is an anti-rattle device - just a brass plunger that rides against the shift rod - but the fitting was absolutely tight in the housing and the corners completely rounded off. Nothing I had would get it loose, even a 6 point Snap On socket, so I cut a 1/2" nut in two and welded it to the part that was left, that way I could get it out (and back in again.) Paint is drying so I won't be able to re-assemble it till tomorrow but it will certainly look like new - hopefully it will work like new too.
So, I got the shifter all built up at last. I had one heck of a time getting the shift linkage socket that the ball fits into tight on the shaft, finally I put it in the vise and squeeze it down at the split, then it was too tight to get started on the shaft, so I took the shaft out and drove it into the socket, drove it out again then put it all together again. Now it's perfect, no play at all and the shaft moves smoothly..... Here's the final project.....compare to the pic in the previous post. In the last pic near the engine end there's a hole that looks like it should be for a zerk fitting to lube the shift shaft, but it's a blind hole - now I'm thinking I should drill it thru and tap the outer end for a zerk….but that would mean taking it all back apart, and I already greased everything.....so maybe not.
FINALLY! Found the bulkhead insulation I was missing - I looked for it off and on for two weeks - finally found it in a box marked "Inno brakes", I guess the association with brakes was because I need to install it before I fit the two master cylinders and the brake lines that were also in that box. Drove myself nuts trying to figure out where the hell I put it! I also found the shift knob I bought for it back last October, I liked this turned aluminum much better than the original black plastic. Might need a shift knob cozy for it in really hot or really cold weather tho..
Some progress......motor is married back to the transmission, clutch and flywheel are installed. Still need a few bolts to button it up before I can put it in the engine stand and finish installing all the other parts.
I think I'll start it in the engine stand using the single HIF44 I have, I know it will run on that carb cause it did before. Then once I have the timing set, the head retorqued and the valves adjusted, then maybe I'll swap in the twins and see if I can get a baseline tune, good enough to start driving and putting some miles on it. Once the motor is done, I still have to install the wiring harness, button up the dash again, then it's just a matter of putting all the pieces back in the jigsaw puzzle till it's a car again! After we get some miles on it Dan and I are planning to get it on Jesse's dyno and see where it's at. He also wants to see if all the changes he's made to his carbs on his Blue car have given him a couple more ponies too. Fun times ahead, I hope!
I have always been a fan of weber carbs, I guess because I like having to monkey with stuff. Does a duel weber setup work well on these?
Dual Webers is way to much carburetion for one of these engines, even the race cars run split webers (only one throat in each carb is used - the other is blocked off) Actually the twin HS4's like I'm using are a little much for most 1275's unless built up like this one. The best power and performance actually comes from a single 1 3/4" SU, according to Mini guru David Vizard but people like the twin carb look, and think it makes mor powa. The problem comes from the nature of the head design, with the intake ports shared - as one intake valve is open the other closes which causes a pulse wave that affects cylinder charging, it's worse with dual carbs - again, depending on cam, intake and head design..
In order to sort it out I decided to go with the single carb and manifold - who knows, before I start it up I may change my mind I did get the engine mounted into the engine stand and mostly hooked up, however I'm going to have to sort out the oil cooler situation before I can start it. Either I'll have a custom hose made to connect the block to the oil filter housing (probably) or have them make up two new hoses for the oil cooler and hope I get them the right length (ummm…….probably not) either way I need a fitting to match up the oil filter to the hose - that could be tricky....we'll see. I tried to hook up the oil cooler to my green car just to sort out the hose lengths, but I could not get it even close to the right position to get a good measurement. The hoses on the coolers now are rock hard and weather cracked, so even if I could make it all reach they're not really usable. The MGB cooler that was in the Inno will not fit the green car at all, I don't know that I tried to fit the Inno oil cooler that I have as I can't get one of the hoses off, and the fittings don't match up. It's gong to take some thought to work this all out.