1979 automatic

[94touring]

It's the whole motor?

[Merlin]

It can be. I robbed some parts from it and combined that with a MG motor to make a two speed unit that had the Mini plate on it with construction dates. The remaining parts is enough to put a motor back together.

[94touring]

Alright, hang on to it and I'll take it.   

[94touring]

Got a lot of little things done today.  Chrome on the front all on.  Had to trim the end pieces around the grill to fit in.  Fitted the oil pressure line, the engine in fact has pressure.  Wired up the water temp gauge.  Seems to be reading on the high side, may be the sensor that was in the block.  I'm going to put a thermometer to it and see.  The Tstat housing was leaking fluid for some reason, so took it back off and put a different gasket on and a little dab of gasket sealer.  I'm glad I did because dumb me forgot to put the Tstat in!  The gauges didn't come with bulbs so found a pair of bulbs and wired them up.  There were several other random cut wires on the center pod, which I soldered up and got everything working properly.  Adjusted the carb again and the choke cable.  Put on an old pair of wipers...apparently I forgot to order blades for the arms I have.  I need to flip the motor to the left side of the bay to have the wipers park and wipe differently.  I don't know why I didn't think of that when I was slaving to get it in the first time. 

[94touring]

Wipers are actually parked on the correct side after a little refreshing my memory, so no need to reverse them.  Washer bottle motor is toast, so need to order a new one of those.  Wired up the heater box fan.  Attached the switch for the rally lights.  Resecured the center pod after yesterdays wiring job.  Put in rubber seal around door frames.  Cleaned up/painted seat brackets and put in seats.  Started to wire up the dome light but I'm out of the door sensor switches.  Fitted the hand brake and adjusted the cable.  Redid some of the harness that connects to the rear harness.  Started to fit the steering column shroud but it came with the wrong one, OR there is a mix match of yokes and ignition switches going on.  Time to order a few items for next time.     

[94touring]

Parts came in and so I put on the new wipers and wired up the new washer bottle kit.  Took some digging to figure out where the wire to the bottle motor was.  Got that in there, adjusted the nozzles, and then wired up the door sensor switches for the dome light.  Also put on a new face on the heater box panel. 

[94touring]

Door disassembly and prep week. 

[MiniDave]

Having done my share of body work on my old Jag's rustoration, I don't envy those who do it tho I sure envy the results!

[94touring]

Both doors I'm using are in pretty good condition.  Both were previously skinned at some point, one was a little ratty on the bottom but I have cleaned it up.  Couple dents needed worked out but nothing major.  Some body filler is still drying on the one, the other is blocked and ready for primer.  I will have to re stud one of the hinges.  Bonnet is prepped up and ready as well, with the exception of a spot on the underneath I need to hit with the welder. 

[MiniDave]

More pics please!

[94touring]

The worst part of building a car is finding tons of unexpected problems you'd never think of.   Here I am trying to tighten down a set of wheels on the rear so I can drive it out of the paint booth to drag doors in.  Last time I messed with the rear brakes I had put in longer studs for the new drums.   The whole assembly is new.  What I wasn't anticipating is the groove of the drum that fits along the lip of the backplate, once tightened down binds together.   At first I thought I needed to loosen the shoes, then when that didn't work I took them out, and when that didn't work I got out a hammer, and when that didn't work I ground the lip down enough to get the clearance required.   What a pain.   

[94touring]

Took it for a drive doorless lol.  Had to richen up the carbs.  Still a little low end hesitation but picks up nicely.   

[Merlin]

You are a brave man for working in that shop in this weather and even ballsier for driving with no doors in this weather.

It looks good!

[94touring]

And today I am a sick man with sinus congestion.    :(  Not as young and immune as I use to be.  Or could be from not wearing a respirator while sanding the other day, kinda regret that move.

[94touring]

Well I was still thinking about venturing out to throw a coat of primer on the final pieces but then I looked at the temperature.   I don't think my shop lights in the paint booth can overcome this ridiculous cold.

[Mudhen]

-10 here this morning...even now at 10am it's still -4.  Last night I fired up the propane heater in the garage for a few minutes to bring the temp up to 35 and worked on some patches on the 944 for about 20 minutes until my hands started hurting.

Personally, I blame the democrats.

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Someone said Mucinex is really good...hope you're feeling better soon man.

[94touring]

I ran the inline sander on those doors and was too lazy to put on my mask.  Felt icky that night but didn't think much of it till last night when I finally concluded I'm sick.   Hopefully passes by quickly.

[MiniDave]

We've got a pretty good southern breeze blowing right now, that and the sunshine took the temps up from -2* to almost 25* now, so you should be warming up too!

That car looks nice, but will it sell as an automatic?

[94touring]

It was sold before I started building it.  It's custom spec.   

[Jims5543]

I did not know they even made an auto version of the mini.

I turned on the news at 6 this morning and they we all crazy here about how cold and windy it was. Wind chill factor etc..

Since I work outside I was not in a hurry to get out of bed and start moving.

I put 3 layers on, t shirt, long sleeve fishing shirt, and hoodie, with a plan to go to a jacket if needed...

It was over 55° when I walked out this morning up to 63° right meow.

I need to snap pic, people here are dressed like it is 20° out. I immediately peeled off the sweatshirt and I am a wimp when it comes to cold.

Seeing temps like you guys post, I am very happy I moved down here. Eff that!!!

[94touring]

We have a 998 auto at the shop I imported years ago.  I'm thinking about buying it back from John the shop owner.  It's currently apart also, and I just don't have the time to get to it.  Solid car too, just needs paint and some new interior.  Jim have you adjusted the number settings on your 123 yet?  I got the fuel setup on these carbs, but I am pretty sure I am too retarded on the timing still.  I looked up the correct setting that was recommended but I still have a laggy spot low end and some popping through the carb at low rpms, indicative of timing.  Once the rpms pick up it takes off like nothing is wrong.  Curious how yours reacts when you adjust the settings.  I'm new to this dizzy also.     

[Jims5543]

Mine is a little laggy down low like 3K and under then it pulls very hard to redline.

I never adjusted the initial setting I dialed into it when I installed it.  For the life of me I cannot remember what I set it at.

IIRC the initial setting it comes with is a "good" setting to start with.

Mine does not backfire at all, I need to pull a spark plug and take another look see, she has been driving great, over 400 miles on her this week alone and she is purring.

I almost do not want to touch anything. I can deal with the slight lag.

[94touring]

Prepping doors

[94touring]

Also threw on a coast of filler primer to sand down tomorrow.  So the turn signals had stopped working.  That was a pita.  The issue was simply at the terminal of the fuse box.  Although I have an intermittent issue with the emergency flashers that has me totally stumped.  Both sides flash at the same time about half of the time.  When they flash at the same time the green light on the dash doesn't blink.  The other half of the time only the right side will flash and the green light will flash too.  Any ideas?  Also richened up the carb and the low end hesitation went away.  Took it for another spin. 

[MPlayle]

Checking the appropriate set of wiring diagrams that cover the car, the likely culprit is the hazard rocker switch.  You'll want to look at diagrams 10 through 15 for the closest match to the car.  The circuit of interest is the same on all those diagrams (pages 12.28 to 12.33 in the blue Haynes manual).  The hazard circuit is in the lower right corner of the diagrams.  The rocker switch is #153.  My guess would be poor contacts across the center contacts (the light inside the rocker and the left hand side signals).