1979 Mini City 1293cc

[tofufi]

Love it

Can't stand the wheelarches personally (I don't think I've liked any plastic wheelarches I've ever seen on a mini), but everything else is spot on

[sky]

VERY FREAKIN COOL

[lund]

Nov 13, 2008 22:38:16 GMT tofufi said:

Love it

Can't stand the wheelarches personally (I don't think I've liked any plastic wheelarches I've ever seen on a mini), but everything else is spot on

Fibreglass Thanks for the feedback guys, its much appreciated. Thing is I don't enjoy driving her at the moment as shes a pig to drive Just don't get anywhere, timing advance is far out, well far out :/ She definately needs setting up, but I refuse to spend any more money on the engine as I plan to swap for a fast road engine

Tom

[tofufi]

Nov 14, 2008 16:13:35 GMT lund said:

Fibreglass

Sorry - just my taste.

Rest of the car looks ace though - and even better with a hot engine

[lund]

Hi guys thanks for all the feedback. I havent thought to check this thread recently, sorry!

She seems to be running fine, I have finally managed to get her to a reasonable state of tune, however we wont speak too soon!

I purchased some Autosol and started buffing up all of the chrome and alloy, she looks really well for it, its great stuff.

I'm hoping to start an engine build in the new year, think I may have located myself a nice 1275 - if so, I'll build it all up to my own specifications and believe it or not, insurance is being kind!

Heres a photo of me and the mini:



Tom

[fogey]

Good work

Have a Mini and the promise of another one myself, both needing similar work to yours and feel more inclined to get on and do it now having read your thread

[lund]

Well after scouring the detailing forum in a desperate attempt to kill time, I decided to do some detailing of my own, albiet a very poor attempt - more of a soapy wash, paint restore and polish to be exact ;D

My 4hour OCD (obsessive Car Detailing) attempt was accompanied by the neighbours cat, several cups of tea and a towel down ready for a good polish I managed to dry the car, but polishing in this weather is a b*tch of a job, hence no machinery here, all man power and elbow grease ;D

I was eager to dodge the bad weather the UK has to throw at us, so I forgot to take a few snaps before the cleaning was attempted.

[JminiSPRITE]

just sold my mini sprite 1.3i . was glad to get rid of it at the time as it took up all my spare time keeping it in a rust free condition.

reading through this thread i have to say i fully regret selling it now and hope to get another in the next few years!

absolutely love the detailing underneath too.

[lund]

Dec 23, 2008 19:57:40 GMT JminiSPRITE said:

just sold my mini sprite 1.3i . was glad to get rid of it at the time as it took up all my spare time keeping it in a rust free condition.

reading through this thread I have to say I fully regret selling it now and hope to get another in the next few years!

absolutely love the detailing underneath too.

Sorry to hear this. They can be a pain in the at times, but more often than not they hold their own as long as you show them TLC and keep on top of things! Here's a recent fleet of pics for you guys. Sending the MG engine to the machine shop this week ;D

















Tom

[k18ary]

I have never been the biggest fan of this colour, however this car looks spot on. Really impressed with the cleaness and the detailing. If this is your first car, cant wait to see your next car.

You have got the same interior as mine, you can just see the edge of the seat in this pic.


I am not sure if it's an early cooper or a checkmate but I got mine for 4 beers so not too fussed either way!

Great to see another mini being kept alive.

Barry

[lund]

Feb 26, 2009 20:34:31 GMT k18ary said:

I have never been the biggest fan of this colour, however this car looks spot on. Really impressed with the cleaness and the detailing. If this is your first car, cant wait to see your next car.

You have got the same interior as mine, you can just see the edge of the seat in this pic.

I am not sure if it's an early cooper or a checkmate but I got mine for 4 beers so not too fussed either way!

Great to see another mini being kept alive.

Barry

Ahh, your interior is different to mine You have the Cooper seats, same pattern as mine but my seats are the Checkmate seats. The pattern on my seats are the full width of the seat, whereas your's are patterned centres.

Look here;



;D

[Speedle]

that really is a beautiful mini mate cleans up a treat!

[k18ary]

Ahh that explains it then!!
Are you heading to any of the mini shows this year? I reckon this could win a couple of awards if you show it. I haven't been to any for a couple of years but I reckon I will go to London to Brighton and Mini 50. Ideally I would like to drive mine to the shows but not sure how realistic this is!

Barry

[lund]

Hi all,
As of late I have been rather busy, undertaking an engine build to make this City a sleeper. How does City Sleeper sound? I’ll be sticking with the A – Series engine however, this engine is from a Metro boasting 73bhp as standard. That sort of power goes a long way in a mini.
The engine itself is an A+ 1275, which has been freshly re-bored +0.020" making it a 1293cc. I’m aiming for a compression ratio of circa 9.75:1.
AE High Compression pistons with 3mm oil rings have been used. I’ll be using a duplex timing chain and MG cam. I’m in the process of cleaning everything up and giving it a lick of paint. However, it isn’t all plain sailing; minis can be a real ball ache at times, having to combat issues such as fan and timing case breather clearances. I’ll have to cut the curvature of the breather and weld a flat plate to the breather, using a 4mm spacer to ensure fan clearance; this makes the radiator real awkward to fit! Here is the process so far, I shall try keep this thread updated.
Started out with a standard MG Metro engine:

Had it machined, fitted new pistons and polished the crank:



Cleaned up the aluminium housings and front plate:



Process of cleaning the engine:

I purchased a full gasket and oil seal set:

Clutch/Fly Housing:




Modified the timing cover to all for the duplex chain:

Which I then sprayed, and later realised that I would have to flatten the breather!


Sprayed the pre-engaged Starter Motor;

Housing cover breather;

I’ll update this once I make some more progress!

[kieranm]

Good work - looks really nice! And very very clean underneath - its worth all the hard work when you get good results and looking like that!
Keep up the good work!

[miniallsort]

wow great work tom looks very clean indeed cant wait to see the engine done top work fella !!!!

[manbearpig]

Very, very nice. You've done a top job there. The 1275 will do well in that little number. I was going to say that I don't like plastic arches on mini's, but they look hot curse word on yours mate. It's got a really nice stance on the 10" rims. Get that motor in!

[ChasR]

Looks great. This has to be the second car in Vermillion that I actually like! (First was a Midget 1500 with a very pricey resto).

As above I ain't too keen on the arches but they work very well on your car, and really go with the whole package. It is obvious that there is a fair bit of attention to detail on this car considering it's your first resto.

Regarding the fan, if things don't turn out to fit, is an electric fan conversion out of the question?

[joloke08]

Hi Tom
thought i reconised the car just looking at your piccy of the engine,this one


I'm trying to clean up the engine on Boris to repaint it and i want to strip all the bits off the front that are in the way

I'm ok about the coil but worried about the Alternator in case i cant get the fanbelt tenshioned properly again

i notice youve unbolted not the bolt that slides through the adjusting bit but the other one

I'm guessing id i do that and leave the adjuster one it should bolt back in exactly the same place?

As usual your cars looking Fabb I'm up on the wirral in two weeks to see mum but not in Boris ill keep a look out for your mini

Huggz
Jodie

[lund]

Hello all, bit of an update for you guys. I have had the gearbox refurbished now, built up with a 3.44 diff. It should motor well with 10" wheels and a beasty 1293!

I have also bought myself some Hi-Lo suspension which went on right away! However, my cones have sagged as they are the orginals, therefore she scrapes and there is too much give.

I lowered her regardless:



I have raised her up abit more since then as I have a lovely groove in all of my Yoko's!

I'm sorry to say that I have not progressed with my engine much at all. I fitted the duplex chain and used the counter-sunk bolts to ensure clearance. Next I need to find some motivation and fit the oil pump. I might start cleaning up and spraying a few more bits and bobs ready to be built back up.



I then had a sudden realisation that the fan would hit the breather of the timing cover, so I took the grinder to it and flattened the breather, washed the gauze in petrol, welded a flat plate on and painted it up. If I have to modify that breather again I'll pull my hair out!



Someone motivate me, I'm in need of some encouragement!