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.
Well, I can't move the signal levers after all, they have an upward cant so when on the other side they point down and the plastic covers won't fit. I could buy some left drive levers and make it work, but I think I'll leave it as it is.
More Buzziness...... I noticed after I replaced the clutch that sometimes I'd have to pump the pedal in order to get it into gear, other times it seemed to work just fine, so I decided to replace the clutch master cylinder - I had rebuilt the old one but I guess the new, much stronger clutch was too much for it. That done the next challenge was to see why I could not get my alignment to hold, and why the car had a small pull under braking - I think I found the answer to both..... Those bushings were brand new 9 months ago and about 3K miles......I bought OEM rubber bushes but I replaced them with poly..... The left side wasn't much better..... Can't wait till I can get it back on the alignment rack and see if I can get it straight now!
After our Fun Run in Arkansas I decided to pull the dash and upgrade a few things and make some changes, also to look for those last few rattles and buzzes still in the dash, much to my frustration. First thing I did was replace the two switches on the steering column - I did this for two reasons, first so I cold fix the self cancelling problem and second so I could change sides and have the signals on the left instead of the right. That was fairly straightforward, two new switches and some longer screws on the back to activate the self cancelling mechanism. Next I pulled the main dash panel - I have several things to do here - I'm going to move the tach to the right side of the dash so it will be easier to see when driving, consequently the temp gauge will get moved over to the main panel. All that moving required a new wiring harness for the tach, and while I was making that I decided to upgrade the connector so it's easy to disconnect and remove that side of the dash. I also had to make a bracket to attach the tach, before it was just a press fit in the wood dash. I was surprised that my local Ace hardware had the 4mm nuts and washers that were missing too. Here's the tach, bracket and wiring connector I made installed in the wood panel. I also had no dash lights and pulled the instrument cluster to find the reason, which was pretty obvious once I got it out - there was a burned spot in the circuit board - it probably happened when I last had it out, I probably touched something and grounded it out. I found a guy nearby that has a video repair shop and he soldered it up for me - he also put some JBWeld over the top to protect it - I wouldn't have done that but whatever.... Lastly, swapping the tach and temp gauges means a new harness for those gauges too, for the lights and also I swapped the amp gauge for a volt gauge -the amp gauge was woefully inaccurate. Now all three gauges match too... Now, all I have left is to make the car side of the harness for the tach and then re-install everything. I'm hoping to get it all done today so I can take Buzz to the KC version of Cars and Coffee tomorrow morning - it's moved from the previous location at the Roasterie to the KC Auto Museum, but it's a mere shadow of the events in Dallas and Charlotte, let alone California.....with more late model stuff than classic. But I'm hopeful that as the weather improves maybe more cool cars will start to show.....
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!
There's probably 50lbs of "Fat Mat" in Buzz now, I think this stuff is OEM.....I found that pushing it back where it belongs stopped the rattle, so I'm just going to duct tape it in place. In the "while you're in there" category, I noticed this nasty tired old cardboard that used to be the floor of the glovebox, someone had made a replacement out of a cardboard for sale sign, but it wasn't any better, so I made a new one of out shiny new metal. I cut and bent it into shape, and once in place I'll put a few screws in to make sure I haven't introduced a new rattle. Here's where it goes in the dash, the old one sagged down thru that large opening.... And here it is in situ...... There's an insulated mat that goes on top of this that forms the inside of the glovebox too. Then it's time to start putting things back together - our club is having a run next weekend to southern Mo and I'm committed to driving Buzz along with several other club members with classics so I need him ready. The guy who owns the 13" wheels said I could use them on this run so I'll get a chance to see what they're like on both highway and city conditions.
I got Buzz all re-assembled this afternoon and took him for a quick spin around the block - he started right up and ran perfectly and all the electrical stuff worked just as it should have done. It's a little disheartening to work so hard for so many weeks and when it's all back together it doesn't look, run or drive any differently - but at least everything worked! So took him around the block and when I got back I got a nasty surprise, a big ol puddle of brake fluid under the left rear wheel. I haven't done anything to the rear of the car since I got it, although I did pull the drums right before our Arkansas run last month and everything looked fine then. I made a quick sprint up to Victoria's British Secret (well sorta, the road destruction around here this year is terrible, I wasn't sure if I could get there from here - or back!) and bought two wheel cylinders and incase those didn't fit, two wheel cylinder repair kits - I'll tackle this later tonight. Tomorrow I'm meeting John at school to align both cars to get ready for our Rt 66 trip this Saturday and Sunday.......it's always sumthin with these old cars. :roll: Oh, and now it looks like it's gonna rain all weekend around Joplin.....
Turned out the Victoria British parts were correct - exactly the same as on a Spridget - and I got everything cleaned up and put back together tonight - last thing I have to do is install the clip that holds the wheel cylinder in, and it is being a be-otch! Of course there's a special tool to do this job that I can buy from any of the usual suspects, but that's not gonna help me tonight at 9 pm....I'm sure I'll figure it out....
Having gotten thru our Donut Run weekend, I need to get ready for our next fun run, the KC Mini Club and the Iowa Mini club do a joint event every May on some great roads in northern Missouri/southern Iowa. The fellow who organizes and runs the event is the guy who bought my '03 JCW from me - he traded it in a year later for a new JCW but I think he sold that when it ran out of warranty and is Mini-less right now, but he wanted to do the event anyway. So, after I had a wheel cylinder start leaking on me I decided to replace all the brakes, the rears shoes are not worn out - in fact they look almost new - but after doing the repairs the left rear was still grabbing, as I cleaned up the shoes but didn't have time to replace them, and they were contaminated with brake fluid. My front pads are also like new, but when you see the old rotors you'll laugh - they look like they've been lying in a puddle of water for a couple of years and have some deep pits - I just looked at it like they were "drilled" or "slotted".......but I decided to replace them too as Moss had them on sale for only $40 ea. I took the rear drums up to school today and turned them on the brake lather - they had worn typically out of round, so it took a bit to get them rounded out again, and as you can imagine such tiny drums are difficult to machine. I took me a while to get the lathe set up to where everything fit and worked, then a lot of passes to get them cleaned up and smooth, but in the end I only took off about 25 thou and they turned out great. While I was there I put them in the bead blaster and cleaned off all the old rust and paint. The right side drum had either been doing all the work or grabbing as the paint was burned brown on that side compared to the yellow paint on the left side. Tomorrow if it ever stops raining I'll get some paint on them, then Sat I'll get everything cleaned up, installed and adjusted correctly.....I'll also get to try out the fancy schmancy e-clip installer, as one of the club members has one to loan. I also have new rear brake hoses to install, mine are fine, but they're pretty hard and stiff. Sat also I'm going to put the almond green car in the Donut Run post back on the alignment rack, the camber adjusters somehow worked loose (not my fault, my back was hurting the day we aligned it so he was under the car making all the adjustments) so this time I'll do the alignment and set it up the way I like it. Don is really happy with his P'up now that I aligned it - I don't know why it took so long for him to let me get it on the machine - but he's been fighting the poor alignment done by another shop for more than 5 years now. Bottom line, it drives great now! I'm going to see if John will let me set his up the same way - he currently runs a lot of camber front and rear (1.5 degrees), I'd like to see him reduce that to .5 degrees - I'm confident he'll like it better.
Well, Sat we got John's almond green S on the alignment rack and straightened out - it didn't take a lot either.....turns out the left rear camber adjuster had slipped - again, he tightened them the last time - I tightened them this time, I don't think they'll move again. Between that and front tires down to the wearbars, he felt pretty unsettled driving home on our donut run - and no wonder, the storm we drove thru was huge, super high winds that constantly changed directions, rain bucketing down....Buzz was moving around quite a bit too. However with the rain and family requirements I didn't get much done on Buzz. In between thunderstorms I did get outside and get some paint on my drums, so they're at least ready to install. Also, I picked up the new shoes and hardware from the local Brit Car Parts supplier - it sure is handy to have these guys in town - while they don't carry any Mini parts, many Sprite/Midget parts are identical, like these brake shoes and the wheel cylinders I bought a week ago, and their prices are pretty good - plus no shipping! Our joint run with the Iowa club will happen rain or shine, and right now the forecast for Sat is 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms, if it stays this way (it's the midwest, the forecast can reverse in the same day) then I'll leave Buzz home and drive the Blue Max instead.
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......
A few pics from the Westwood Mini & Micro Car show..... Next to these guys, Buzz feels tiny.... This is a "big" Isetta.... More big cars....including an interloper.... Now some cars that make Buzz feel like the big brother... Trihawks are rare in this country....this is the nicest one I've seen A running Crosely pickup - another rarity. Remember when Mteropolitans were considered tiny cars? The shortened, chopped Honda fits into the luggage compartment of a bus converted to a motor home! Most people don't know what this is, this is a later 3 cyl version too. Saving a spot for Don and his P'up... The show was pretty well attended, but not as many cars were shown as in past years. Here's a link to the "official" photos..... 2015 Micro Mini Car Annual Show - Tim McCullough
Thanks for sharing the pictures Dave. I've always liked the Studebaker Interloper. I'd rather it be another color, never been fond of Gold Fender.... :wink: