I marked out the area I needed to remove on the bearing retainer and carefully cut away with my die grinder - it didn't take too long before I had it shaped up and tried it in the trans - it fit perfectly! However, somewhere in all the manhandling of the gearbox I've managed to wedge the internal shift linkage, so I'm going to take a break and let it soak for a few minutes while I puzzle out what's moved and how I'm going to get it back in place again. I hope I don't have to pull the mainshaft to get it sorted. I did pull the layshaft back out so I could try the new center mount oil pick up, it looks like it's going to be a veritable rubic's cube putting all this stuff back in again. I've been thru lots of these gearboxes over the years, but this is the first rod-change I've been in and the internal linkage is done differently. I'll bet I've managed to dislodge a detent and I'm going to have to take the whole dang thing apart.
My guess is an errant detent ball. Fought a Spridget transmission which included 3 installs until I found the missing detent ball. It would shift fine on the bench when run with a drill motor. The act of angling the engine & transmission back in the car would let 2 gears try to engage at once. Tough lesson I learned there.
Well, as it turned out, it was just a matter of pushing this while pulling that and holding my mouth just right and it came free, so on to the rest..... I had modified the bearing retainer to fit the bigger pinion gear, and I had to do a little fine tuning this am, but once that's done it's time to tighten the pinion retaining nut - to 100 ft lbs! The only way to get the shaft to hold still for that is to put it in two gears at once which locks both shafts together - it's the common way to do this and I've done it many times over the years in many different transmissions. However, this AM I got in a little bit of a hurry and pushed the operating sleeve just a smidge too far, the result was this hole and a detent spring and ball that went whizzing past my ear to who knows where. I figured I could spend three hours looking for it (probably unsuccessfully) or I could drive 20 min to Victoria British and buy one for less than $2. I decided the car needed gas anyway....
Some progress, the transmichigan is back together, new ratio final drive is in, ready to be reunited with the engine - some day!
Victoria British comes thru again! That little oil seal goes in the speedo drive, and the old one was leaking - it wasn't available thru the usual Mini Parts sources but after some sleuthing I found one in the VB catalog that looked right and Viola! I'm in business! They've been a real asset for some of these bits and bobs I've needed.
Love the updates. Still amazes me how MINI designed the location of the gear box. Until this thread I had no idea how they did it.
And no one has done it that way since either...... Today after I got the seal installed in the speedo drive, I started on engine assembly. The block is all clean and ready to go, so I started by installing the rings on the pistons. It always helps to have the right tools, and in this case the ring expander is $10 worth of valuable help - I used to install rings just by catching the ends with my fingertips but after a while that starts to hurt! I've also seen guys break rings by opening them too far, and scratch the sides of pistons dragging them over to the right ring slot. The tool eliminates all those problems.... Next I had to go get a different ring compressor, as mine is just a wee bit big for these tiny little pistons.... Once again, having the right tool makes everything so much easier. Next, I unwrapped and cleaned the lifters, in this engine since it doesn't have the side covers, you put them in from the bottom. These had a thick coating of cosmoline on them like they'd been in the warehouse for 50 years or so, but once clean they look perfect. I also set the main bearings into the block and installed the cam...(although it's not in this pic) Next were the rod bearings, and that's where things came to a screeching halt. The rod bearings I bought up at Victoria British are .20 under 1275 bearings alright, but they're for a 1275 Sprite. Mine has the uprated crank, which has 1.75" rod journals instead of the 1.675" ones on the earlier cars and Spridgets. I found a set at 7 Enterprises and they're on the way now, but that stopped me today - at least as far as the block is concerned. I'm planning to match the ports in the head to the manifolds and I still have some cleaning and painting of parts to do so I'll carry on, but I was soooo wanting to get the block put together today. Oh well......
LBC? :confused5: I'm never sure how many to post, but I know I always like lots of pics when I'm reading a thread on something being rebuilt or worked on....
I dig this thread and like all the pictures. The more the better. Your classic is going to be a showpiece under the hood when you finish. P.s. You know the next project will be the rear end after you are done right?
Of course......I take it you noticed the red trailing arms and such? :blush2: Yeah....just not right now, too many things need to get done in the next two weeks to add yet another project! But yes, I probably will drop the rear subframe and paint and clean up and such back there too at some point. PS A buddy was over today with his classic and spotted the errant transmission detent ball right away! I didn't see it even when he pointed at it! I never would have found it, but I guess now I have a spare.
Today was master/slave cylinder rebuild day. There's a 4th one not in the picture - the booster. I did it last week.
Why is this mini rebuild looking better than original? Like the woven wire sheaths / heat shrink (I never go with the crimp end fittings)..... Nicely done Dave (should be your new handle)....
Of course you like them, I stole the idea from you! :biggrin5: And thanks, cause I like them too..... I've been offline for a couple of days due to a dead internet modem and the offices of the cable company being closed till this AM. Fortunately the modem was the issue, but the new one is different and included a wireless router, so I had to spend time configuring my entire system. It's always sumthin with these dang computers...... Today my correct rod bearings arrived in the mail from California, so I can get back to work on the engine now....I figure my suspension control arm bearing kits should also arrive today, then I have no excuses for not powering forward. I also solved a brake line problem with the help of Victoria British, more on that later after I get it installed and get some pics up.