Most liked posts in thread: MINI Max has a new little brother, Buzz

So, the last few days I've been building a tow bar for Buzz, so I can take him and my wife to some of the further away events, like Mini 56 in April in North Carolina. She's not up for the "adventure" of driving a classic all across the states in the summer with no A/C!

I did some careful measuring and came up with a design to make a mount for the car side, and bought the tow bar itself from Harbor Freight (with a 20% off coupon it came to $60 tax included).

I decided to go with 1/2" hardware rather than the 3/8" that's on the car, so I drilled out the front subframe mounts for the larger bolts. I also needed to get some thick wall tubing to use to support the bar, McMaster Carr is the answer here - order it one day by 4 pm and you have it the next. I bought some 1"OD X 1/2" ID tubing and used my buddy's chop saw to cut them to length. Drilled a piece of 2X2 angle iron and bolted everything together, it fit's perfectly!

Here's the detail on the ends that the tow bar mounts to....



And here is the mount bar mounted to the car - from the top like this you barely see it...



Next I'll need some safety chains from the tow bar to Buzz, and another set from the tow bar to the tow vehicle, but I've already figured out how and where to mount them.

After that I'll need to build a set of trailer lights, so it can also be used on other cars if someone has a breakdown on one of our events. I'm just going to buy an inexpensive set of LED trailer lights and mount them to something that will let me keep them inside the back of the car - shining thru the back window. That way they'll be out of the weather and less theft prone, and can be used in another car if needed.

While we are having unusually warm weather here in Kansas (70° tomorrow!) I'll blow it apart and paint everything. I will have to make some small modifications for it to work on a round nose car and I'll want to do that before I paint it.

 

A few more pics to show the whole thing.....



One of the cool things about this build is that it folds up compactly so it's no effort to haul it along, unlike a trailer or dolly.



Also, install and removal only takes two bolts.



I'll probably shorten these bracket mounting bolts they don't need to be that long.....



Another classic owner pointed out that they won't work on his car, as the overriders get in the way. I guess worst case, we could just pull his bumper.



A friend has this one that he made 20 years ago and says has done over 8K miles pulling a classic, but it doesn't fold up so it would take up a fair bit of room in a car. But......it might work fine on that red car.....

 

Here are the chain brackets made, and the chains shortened so they won't drag but long enough to allow articulation of the tow bar over angles like driveways and such.....



Does this make more sense, Metalman?

 

Yes. I've since seen several wheels like this now where they used roll pins instead of screws, I could still do that, but I wanted them somewhat adjustable - since the wheel wasn't tightend down properly I can only guess at how far it will go on the shaft once it's torqued down right.

On another note, several classic owners have posted that I may have the only Mini with self canceling signals, apparently this is an issue with most cars because people change the wheel and the wheel mfrs either don't supply the lugs or they don't install them. I'm told the most common radio communication on a classic drive is "your signal is on!" :biggrin5:

I know I've done miles with mine on and often only found it when I went to use it again for a turn.

One last thing I'm looking at - moving the signal lever to the other side of the column....since this is a right hand drive car it's not natural to me to have the signal lever on the right and I occasionally signal a turn by swiping the wipers. I think it's a non-issue to swap it over....then at least it will be like all my other cars.

 

Ok, I finally found my dash rattle.....after taking out the steering column, instruments, the wood dash itself and the covering behind the dash, I'm left with this rubbery sort of insulation that's next to the firewall - when I tap it with my hand I get that obnoxious noise I've been hearing. Now, how to fix it....

 

Today, I finished the instrument wiring harness and connector - now all I need to do is figure out how I'm going to secure that loose insulation and I can start putting Buzz back together again - assuming everything works of course!

 

Buzz is alive!

(again)

When we came home from the Donut Run the weather was really bad, storms, wind, rain bucketing down - so when it got close to town even tho I was well down into the red on the fuel gauge, rather than stop I pressed on and just made it home.

A few days later Don and I were going to do a quick check ride to Lawrence after getting his alignment straightened out and I started Buzz and let him idle in the drive - just in case I had added a gallon of gas I had in the garage so I knew could make it to the gas station just a few blocks down the street - he ran for a minute or two and then died and would not restart. I could hear the pump running but the carb was drier than a popcorn fart.

I went ahead and finished my brake job this week and today went back down to the shop to see if I had a bad pump or a clogged fuel line or what was going on. I blew the line back to the tank and it seemed clear. The pump filter was clear. I ran down to the gas station and got another 4 gallons of gas and added that to what was already in the tank but it still wouldn't work. So I got a short length of hose and a one gallon gas can and hooked it to the pump - it took a bit before it pulled the fuel, but once it got liquid into the pump it worked like mad! I hooked the car's fuel line up and bingo - gas to the carb. Once it was full I cranked him over and he started right up and ran normally.

Tomorrow is the annual Westwood Micro Car Show (one of the few times when my Mini looks like a big car!) and I had entered Buzz along with Don's P'up so I really wanted to get him running again so I could make the show. It's going to be hot and muggy, typical Kansas summer weather, so I'm going to get there early and get one of the few spots in the shade! Pics tomorrow afternoon when I get home......

 

OK, got insurance arranged for thru Grundy (same people who insure my Jag - very reasonable and good service) so today I can go down to the DMV, get the HiPo to verify the VIN, then pay my tithings to the state and get him plated, taxed and registered.

I also ordered some new motor mounts and steady brace rubbers, and some axle seals so maybe he won't mark his place (well, as much anyway), then I'll be looking for the sources of the remaining buzzes and rattles to see if I can calm the cacophony a bit before I head off on another 1000 mile fun run with my classic Mini buddies next week.....

 

Alrighty then, after only 3 hours of officialdom, Buzz is now a duly inspected, licensed, taxed, registered and plated member of Kansas society.

Today it's 75* and the temp gauge actually got up to the middle of "normal", without the fan kicking on.....the fan does come on a few minutes after I shut it off tho, as it should.

The alternator light has quit flashing at me completely, don't know WHAT that was all about, and I have parts on the way to fix the most egregious oil leaks. Things are moving forward for our first event this weekend - a donut run for the KC Miniacs.

Then next week we leave for the Missouri Ozarks and a weekend of hooning about the hills with half dozen other classics. Should be fun!

 

Nah....axle seals. I've got two new ones on the way.....

this summer I'm planning to drive Buzz to the East meets West classic gathering in Milwaukee too.

I definitely intend to put miles on it, that's what it's for, right?

 

I rebuilt the engine in my '62 Cooper S and it didn't leak, I also rebuilt the engine in my old Jag and it doesn't leak either.....I don't buy the "if it's English it leaks oil" premise....even tho they all seem too!

The engine won't come out for a while, unless I blow it up on next weekend's run!:crazy:

I'm not going to rebuild it exactly, just replace a lot of gaskets and seals and pretty it up a bit.

 

Right, if you install Zenon bulbs into halogen housings the results can be horrible for oncoming drivers - but what I'm looking at is a complete conversion, lenses bulbs ballasts etc. It won't have the self leveling motors like our new cars have, but if I set them up correctly they should be OK.

I got the link from Metalman - thanks!

Dapper Lighting 7 Inch Classic Projector Kit | Dapper Lighting

 

Yay! Found another rattle! The main bolt at the footwell that supports the heater was loose.

One down, one thousand to go....