One Last Engine to Build

Started by MiniDave, August 20, 2022, 01:10:39 PM

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MiniDave

Yes please, I guess it makes more sense to have it there now.... :great:
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Finished up the basic motor, now on to the transmichigan rebuild. Once that's done, I'll marry them up and drop it in the engine stand for the test run and cam break in procedure.



Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#27
Working on the gearbox now, most everything looks really good so it should be a straightforward rebuild. The only issue I have with this one is that the drain plug is stripped, so I'm looking into helicoil kits or other ideas to fix that. Worst case I'll use the other gearbox I have.....at least the case.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

I think it was Mini Spares, one time when I was looking for a drain plug, that had some sort of tapered drain plug to supposedly fix the stripped case issue. I remember at the time that it seemed like a really strange way to address the problem because you had to be sure not to tighten it down all the way to the head or you could crack the housing.

Seemed like a great way to create a much bigger problem at some point, like the first time the knuckle head at the oil change place cranked it in all the way not knowing you were not supposed to.

Maybe they have an oversized plug you could tap it out to?

MiniDave

#29
http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx|Back%20to%20search

One of these?

I wouldn't do that, I'll either helicoil it or use the other case.....I'll need to pop the drain plug out of the other case so I can see what size it is - I think it's 5/8-16 or 5/8-18......

Edit: it's 5/8-11 actually
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Helicoil should do the trick fairly easily.

MiniDave

Ordered the helicoil kit today, in the meantime I'll go ahead and get everything cleaned up, the cross pin diff installed, synchros changed and so on.

I also need to paint the case if it warms up enough one of these days.

Motor is ready to be married up to the gearbox, clutch is all put together etc. Unless I find another surprise it should go together fairly quickly.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

Quote from: MiniDave on December 08, 2022, 10:39:01 AMhttp://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx|Back%20to%20search

One of these?

I wouldn't do that, I'll either helicoil it or use the other case.....I'll need to pop the drain plug out of the other case so I can see what size it is - I think it's 5/8-16 or 5/8-18......

Edit: it's 5/8-11 actually

Yeah that is the one, and I agree real stupid idea. I was just wondering about a standard oversized plug, like you can get for just about any sort of late model car. Does not look like they offer one, so helicoil it is I guess.

MiniDave

#33
So today I got everything cleaned up, all those thousands of threaded holes cleaned out with a tap and hard nasty gaskets scraped off.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50's and sunny, so tomorrow and Sunday will be the final paint days. I'll probably wait for the helicoil kit to come in before I do the assembly, it's a lot easier to clean out metal chips from an empty case than one full of gears.

Speaking of drain plugs, this one had an odd solution (better than what MiniSpares suggests) to fix the stripped hole, there was a sort of rubber plug that threads into a clip that fit inside gearbox. Strange, but effective.....


 
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Here is the drain plug they used......



Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#35
Yesterday's weather was cold and damp so no painting.....it was this same this morning but about 3 pm the sun burned thru the fog and I hustled everything out into the back yard and gave it all a coat of paint...it was still only about 40* so as soon as the paint flashed of I took it back in the shop to cure - it's about 60's in the shop and this paint dries really quickly, but it will take a couple of days for it to cure out and harden off so I can handle it.

With the case turned over I noticed there were still some threads left in the drain plug hole, but I'm sure it's not enough to hold the plug and not leak so I'm still going to helicoil it.

Lots of parts in one of these gearboxes! And I don't even have the cluster disassembled.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#36
Got the helicoil done and the drain plug draws up nicely....I even poured some oil in and let it sit for a couple of hours to see if it was going to leak - it didn't, so Yay!

If anyone has a stripped out drain plug and would like to use the tool, let me know. I did have to go buy the correct sized drill bit as one didn't come with the kit.

It's not difficult, although it might be a bit tricky doing one on the car, only because of recovering the aluminum chips.

For those who have never used one before, there are plenty of tutorials on the web, but in essence you drill the hole oversize, tap the threads with the tap in the kit, then wind in a stainless coil that makes the threads back to the original size. Works a treat.

Tricky parts are making sure you drill the hole perfectly straight and in this case, you have to shorten the insert a little (2 1/2 coils) as the hole isn't that deep.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

That alternative drain plug looks like a drywall anchor and a toilet stopper mated. Ugh!
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

cstudep

That is what I thought......interesting use of a drywall anchor  :13:

I guess it must have worked though, sometimes you just got to get by I guess.

MPlayle

Actually, that is a legitimate "emergency" drain plug replacement.  There are several styles available including that one.

Check out some of the ones on this google search:

Expansion drain plugs

MiniDave

#40
The "emergency" being that someone stripped the drain plug threads out of the case?  :grin:

These threads are so big it must take a huge amount of torque to strip them!

this emergency plug looked like it had been in there a very long time....at any rate it's all better now.

I also got the new header stripped and painted with high temp paint. It may not last a huge long time but it looks great for now!   :13:

Also, the chinesium radiator came in this morning too.

Now all I have to do is put it all together and get it running..... all
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

tmsmini


MiniDave

Oh, that's actually a great idea - to adapt my EFI setup I drilled and tapped the heater tap hole in the head to 3/8 pipe.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

I got a good start on putting the gearbox together. Put all new synchros in the cluster, installed it and the bearings, then the laygear and the center oil pickup. It sounds simple enough but these things can fight you a bit....and doing this much took about 4 hours today.

Next I'll shim three places - the pinion bearing retainer, the side bearings on the diff, and the intermediate gear. Then it's just a matter of putting the rest of it together. I have the shift sleeve and seal kit, and new side cover seals and pot joints to install too.

I took a careful look at my spare gearbox and it's not good. There are broken pieces, bearings broken and I don't know what all. It's a rebuildable and usable core, but that's about it.



Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Got the transmichigan pretty much done, still a few things to button up but it's moving right along.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Hit a snag.......none of the primary gears I have are correct for this engine/trans combination. I need a 29 tooth primary gear with the stepped bushing inside for an A+ 1275 crank.

I have the earlier 24 tooth for a pre-A 1275 and a 29 tooth but for a 998 but 998 cranks don't use the stepped bushing.

Trying to decide if it would be quicker to just get one from MiniSpares, given the Xmas rush it might slow shipping down a bunch.....he was hoping to pick it up just after Xmas.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

tmsmini

If you are in a pinch to get it done, I believe I have a used one in my engine spares.
I would have to check it to make sure it is the correct one. Probably take at least three days via USPS.
I would just need it replaced at some point.

tmsmini

I was going to say Guessworks has these too, but it looks like he is out of stock:
http://www.guess-works.com/Shop/Parts/display.htm?id=199

MiniDave


thanks, but it looks like I got lucky....a local guy had one and needed the early 1275 ones I had, so we did a swap - fits perfectly so I'm good to go!

It needs a bit of clean up but it's the correct one.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#49
I had to change out the bearing race in the clutch cover (drop gears housing) for the end bearing on the first motion gear. It's a bear as it's in a blind hole held in place with a snap ring.....even getting the snap ring out is a challenge!

I think most guys just heat the housing and smack it on a piece of wood, but I had no luck getting the race out so I resorted to using a dremel tool to cut thru the race so I could pry it out of the hole. I bought a $10 corded dremel-esque tool from HF to cut the race and .....well it took about 2 hours as this thing is so under powered. Getting the race out once it was cut also was a bear because you can't get a tool under the lower edge to pry it up.



I finally got it out and got the new race installed, so it's good to go now.

Tomorrow I plan on getting it all buttoned up and maybe even into the engine stand for its first start up.....we'll see how far I get as it's really cold in the shop these days.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad