Back in CR again! Phew it's hot here! Anyway after lots of drinking water I fitted the "S" oil heat exchanger and coolant pipes, header, oil catch tank, battery cut off and fire system pull handle. Plumbed in the front brake pipes and re-fitted the heat shields. The "S" heat exchanger took some thinking as the inlet/outlet are no way near any coolant hoses so I'd pre-ordered some "S" coolant T's from Eminiparts to tap into the heater hoses close to the bulkhead. Then I made a metal twin tube unit to bolt on top of the streering rack heat cover. hoses then run from the tubes to the exchanger and T's Now I have some breathing space as they moved the first rally to the day I return to the US. So it looks like May for the first rally.
Well I have to admit it..I made a mistake! I removed all the ABS sensors before removed the gearbox only to find the sensors drive the speedo. Not critical for rally but needed for road use. Lesson learnt. To make matters worse I cut off the chassis plugs and wires back to the loom. Now I need to find someone breaking a R50/R53 who is willing to donate the wires/plugs. Ah the days of cable throttle and speedo.
When I had my Austin Mini, the speedo failed and since it never had a tachometer, I would just shift and drive around by the sound of the engine. Not too bad for the smaller engine haha But the speedo was just connected with a cable to the transmission so all I had to do was replace that and the speedo worked good as new Hopefully you can find the parts you need soon!
My 850 mini had a speedo like a wand as the speedo cable was bent. hahaha ah the days of cables. I already have the rear sensors donated for free.
Chris can your co-drivers odo be set up to show speed? Not important on a stage, but on a transit it could be handy.
I did think of that but in Costa Rica we don't need a rally computer because the stages are so short as are the transits. My rally computer has miles/KM on it but I cannot use it on the Mini because it's cable driven. What would be interesting to know is what sensors control the speedo. Anyone fancy unplugging the fronts and driving, then the rears to see if all or just 2 operate the speedo. I could ask the monkey but he has no idea!
Wow! That was a very hot weekend and working outside does not make things any easier. The other problem is being Costa Rica it's not easy to get parts. Imagine I need some long 10mm bolts to mount the shifter. I couldn't find any so I had to weld 3 bolts together! Also I needed 90 angle hoses for the S oil heater exchanger which I'll have to get from the US. Anyway after many hours slaving over a hot Mini the office is taking shape. I have both hydraulic and cable hand brakes for 2 reasons. 1/ I need cable for the tech test(this is a daily driver) 2/ if I lose the brakes on a rally I still have a mechanical back up! Notice the rust? just a few days in the humid weather. I'm going to paint it soon. The engine is done. I did the battery cut off and fire system pull recessed as in rallying we tend to go off into bushes etc so the last thing I need is a branch setting off the fire system. Also the scuttle grills now act as heat out vents for the engine. I used the Helix short shifter , which makes the shift very nice. This badge should give the other teams something to worry about..hahaha
Thanks Chuck, I'm hoping the STI suspension will give me all the steering I need...hahah but if needed the hand brake will come in handy. Nathan, I'm going to install the sensors again as I need the speedo for the tech test. Lucky for me a MA member is going to help me with the parts for shipping costs only...nice forum you have here. I'd have to chop some body parts off to get that type of deal from the Suzuki guys.....haha I live in La Garita. Center of the rally Mini central America!
I take size 10 and Paddy is just a wee bit older than me! This means I'm going to do my best to honour the number.
Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh working outside is a pain in the bum, insects, skin blistering sun, monsoon rain! Now we are in the rainy season so it’s really hot and humid until around 2pm when the heavens open for around 3 hours of monsoon rain! Not good for MIG welding! Lucky for me there was an national holiday so I got an extra day to play! I got the exhaust welded up which is a Suzuki/Mini/Mustang frankenmuffler! I have twin pipes similar the Countryman. I got the dash finished, coolant pipes hooked up. All brake lines finished except for the female adapter 3/8-24 for the hydraulic hand brake. No one in CR has one so the machine shop at work is going to modify one I have. I also got the battery in the boot hooked up ready for the engine start. This was last Saturday, I cranked over the engine without spark plugs to get the oil pressure which was around 75PSI . I added the spark plugs only to fine the socket got stuck on the plug down in the hole! Lucky I had some super glue to attach the extension to the socket. The engine took forever to fire up but once it did it seemed to run fine for a few minutes with the exhaust note sounding very nice but alas the customs bastards drained the fuel tank so the engine stopped. 30PSI at idle and around 75PSI when I rev a little which seems pretty good. Problems I noticed is the temp gauge goes straight to hot, the rev counter does not work. I was thinking to go recheck all the grounds again. Any other suggestions? Photos coming soon as the camera battery was dead this morning.
A very handy tool is a pair of looong needle nose pliers. They come in very handy for pulling the stuck sockets off plugs. When you are in the states hit up a Harbor Freight for some. Glad to hear the oil pressure is at good levels. Not to find those wayward electrons so your tach & temp gauge will work.