Hi Everybody.
I´ve been surfing this site for a while now and decided to post a thread myself - I´m often inspired, amused and motivated by people´s projects shown here so it´s about time I gave something back !
I bought this Mini just over 10 years ago and used it as a daily car for perhaps 2 years before a failed clutch and the dreaded tin-worm forced a winter hibernation from which it hasn´t yet awoken. I sold the 1098cc engine and fitted a 1275cc Metro engine from the local scrapyard, but never managed to successfully bleed the brakes or get it running properly. Emigration to Switzerland in 2008 left it languishing in a garage in Northern-England but the road to recovery began in February this year when the garage owner sold the property and I imported both my Minis to join the many other old cars (or rust-buckets) that I now own here.
Upon arrival I had the Mini on a lift for a while and was able to fix a number of issues with the 1275cc Metro engine that I had fitted when the clutch failed. A snapped roll-pin had prevented selection of any forward gear and the front mounted radiator (taken from a Fiesta XR2) wasn´t very well installed, neither cooling or holding fluid properly. I replaced the pin, found all the missing gears and proceeded to remove the whole cooling system before sadly running out of lift-time.
A short break behind the house whilst the girlfriend´s MGB GT occupied workshop space has allowed me to collect together a few parts. A new radiator will hopefully sort out the cooling woes and I now have some instructions on correcting the wiring to make the Metro´s electronic distributor work.
Here´s the 1275cc Metro engine, fitted with stage 1 kit. You´ll probably also notice quite a few, ah-hum ´modifications´ that my younger self thought would be a good idea. As the rules regarding such things here in Switzerland are fairly strict, the plan for the car´s rebuild will be a return to a more standard appearance, but still with a few little custom touches to endulge my creative urge !
First job to do is to put this on the other side of the car as obviously they drive on the wrong side of the road here in Switzerland. I also need a RHD Mini rack to convert my TR3 from the rather wobbly, worn-out steering box arrangement it is currently fitted with. Apparently the rack used in the conversions available is based on a RHD Mini rack, fitted upside-down !?
Thanks for checking out my first thread - I hope I can progress and keep posting as I do so (although the MGB isn´t quite on the road yet !).
I´ve been surfing this site for a while now and decided to post a thread myself - I´m often inspired, amused and motivated by people´s projects shown here so it´s about time I gave something back !
I bought this Mini just over 10 years ago and used it as a daily car for perhaps 2 years before a failed clutch and the dreaded tin-worm forced a winter hibernation from which it hasn´t yet awoken. I sold the 1098cc engine and fitted a 1275cc Metro engine from the local scrapyard, but never managed to successfully bleed the brakes or get it running properly. Emigration to Switzerland in 2008 left it languishing in a garage in Northern-England but the road to recovery began in February this year when the garage owner sold the property and I imported both my Minis to join the many other old cars (or rust-buckets) that I now own here.
Upon arrival I had the Mini on a lift for a while and was able to fix a number of issues with the 1275cc Metro engine that I had fitted when the clutch failed. A snapped roll-pin had prevented selection of any forward gear and the front mounted radiator (taken from a Fiesta XR2) wasn´t very well installed, neither cooling or holding fluid properly. I replaced the pin, found all the missing gears and proceeded to remove the whole cooling system before sadly running out of lift-time.
A short break behind the house whilst the girlfriend´s MGB GT occupied workshop space has allowed me to collect together a few parts. A new radiator will hopefully sort out the cooling woes and I now have some instructions on correcting the wiring to make the Metro´s electronic distributor work.
Here´s the 1275cc Metro engine, fitted with stage 1 kit. You´ll probably also notice quite a few, ah-hum ´modifications´ that my younger self thought would be a good idea. As the rules regarding such things here in Switzerland are fairly strict, the plan for the car´s rebuild will be a return to a more standard appearance, but still with a few little custom touches to endulge my creative urge !
First job to do is to put this on the other side of the car as obviously they drive on the wrong side of the road here in Switzerland. I also need a RHD Mini rack to convert my TR3 from the rather wobbly, worn-out steering box arrangement it is currently fitted with. Apparently the rack used in the conversions available is based on a RHD Mini rack, fitted upside-down !?
Thanks for checking out my first thread - I hope I can progress and keep posting as I do so (although the MGB isn´t quite on the road yet !).
