Recent posts

#81
Parts for sale/wanted / Re: SportPack arch mounting st...
Last post by MiniDave - October 04, 2026, 03:20:34 PM
Who sells those? I need a whole set and the ones I bought from MiniSpares were not made like these at all, they looked like a plain double ended #10 stud. Of course they don't thread into the plastic arches

https://www.minispares.com/zua000250-sportspack-wheel-arch-fixing-stud

Oops, found them! spendy tho......

https://www.minispares.com/klmp4402-sports-pack-arch-fixing-stud-original-type
#82
Restorations / Re: Mini Gene's 1977 Mini Rebu...
Last post by MiniDave - October 04, 2026, 03:11:44 PM
I lived in Bay Ho, just east of I-5 and north of Balboa, up on the hillside. It was a really nice neighborhood, close to everything but not downtown. I sold the house in 94 when I moved to KC, could not afford to buy it now as according to Zillow it's $1.2 mill now!!!



#83
Shop Tools And Equipment / Brake line clamps
Last post by MiniDave - October 04, 2026, 03:06:34 PM
These are a must have (well to me anyway!) they allow you to remove a hard brake line and keep it from dribbling fluid! Inexpensive - set includes one for banjo type fittings too.....


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FC2JR54H/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2WYO53T7S9O2A&psc=1


#84
The Lounge / Re: How's the Weather Today?
Last post by MiniDave - October 04, 2026, 03:03:19 PM
I lived in Bay Ho, just east of I-5 and up the hillside, so I got that nice on-shore flow all day, I didn't even have A/C in my house. I did put in a whole house fan tho, turn that on in the evening and the whole house cooled down nicely even on the hottest days - tho being not that far from the ocean really helped.

Fall has finally hit our area, really nice cool nights in the mid 50's and warm days in the upper 70's with very low humidity. We can get up to a month of this before it starts to get cold.
#85
Maintenance and Modifications / Re: Wheel bearings?
Last post by MPlayle - October 04, 2026, 12:27:33 PM
I don't fully remember as it was about 4 years ago when I had the hubs of and redid the ball joints with the "maintenance free" ones.

I may play it safe and replace most of the assemblies - new hubs, bearings, drive flange, ball joints, etc.  I know the brake pads were new when I did the ball joints and they still have lots of pad.  I will likely reuse the calipers, pads, and rotors.  Unless the shafts of the CV joints show obvious wear, they will also likely be reused.

It will be the beginning of November before I can really start taking anything apart to check.
#86
Daves Garage / Re: Mini ST Hotrod
Last post by MiniDave - October 04, 2026, 11:18:25 AM
Well, the only way these leather seats will fit is if I remake the side bars, those bars are just too big and won't allow the seats to sit flat where they need to be. So, options are to use something else or remake those side bars. Now that I think about it, the only seats I haven't tried are the ones that came in the car from the factory - I've been running those in the green Mini, they're very comfy too! I do know that early Miata seats will fit with the big side bars, but any of those I find will need to be recovered. I think these nice leather seats will be more comfortable, but re-engineering those sidebars to allow them to fit will be a job. First I need to finish welding up all the bad metal on the left side and all the remaining bits on the right side that I skipped for now. That will probably take another month and we'll start having cold weather again.

I think I'll go ahead and build the front subframe too - it has to be done at some point, and that way I can have it on wheels so I can move it off the rack if I need to work on the red or green Mini/MINI. I can go ahead and install the rear calipers and start engineering the handbrake too. I was just going to use a linelock (might still) but the new Miata rear calipers came with the em. brake hardware, so I'll look at whether I can do that or not.

SO many things left to engineer and build!

#87
Maintenance and Modifications / Re: Wheel bearings?
Last post by ADRay - October 04, 2026, 09:11:15 AM
Quote from: MPlayle on October 03, 2026, 11:44:04 AMYes, the front is disk brake hubs.  I think I last did close to 150 ft-lbs, then to the next slot in the castle nut for the cotter pin.

To hold everything, I usually do it with the transmission in reverse and the engine locked by using my flywheel locking tool through the started hole.



Just to clarify, the front bearings are new? Did you do the "torque with flat washer first" procedure? I had to do it to mine after new front bearings.
#88
Daves Garage / Re: Mini ST Hotrod
Last post by MiniDave - October 03, 2026, 03:22:10 PM
Thank you Dan!!!!    :13:
#89
The Lounge / Re: What did you do in your sh...
Last post by 94touring - October 03, 2026, 02:17:09 PM
How could I forget...almost shit my self taking a shit at the shop.  Something aggressively hit my ass on an upward trajectory whilst sitting on the toilet.  There was a tree frog in there. I came up off the seat like a rocket ship.  Set him free outside.
#90
The Lounge / Re: What did you do in your sh...
Last post by 94touring - October 03, 2026, 02:13:52 PM
All day cleaning camp gear from burning man.  Fixed the bikes that were having issues from playa dust and gave the generator a deep clean.