79 Canadian Mini

[MiniDave]

Just noticed the thermostat housing faces the other way????

[MPlayle]

As he stated earlier: Canadian Smog head.

[skmini]

Just noticed the thermostat housing faces the other way????

This was to accommodate the air injection pump, which used to be above the alternator in the space where the upper rad hose would normally go.  The air injection pump and associated plumbing is long gone, but the thermostat housing, rad, top rad support bracket and water pump pulley with an extra pulley are still there.  I replaced all the accessory studs on the engine, which is when I found out that the thermostat housing not only points a different direction, but is taller and requires longer studs.

I briefly thought about getting a new rad, bracket and thermostat housing but decided not to since there's actually nothing wrong with them.

Photo from a Canadian Mini brochure.  Just noticed this engine bay is missing the Canadian heater blower that replaces the air intake elbow in the lower left of the picture.

[MiniDave]

Looks the same as a smog era Sprite!

[94touring]

Excellent!

[skmini]

I think I might be done cleaning and painting most of the parts.  Various other bits and pieces will be done as I get to them. I've done the front and rear suspension pieces, steering column, pedals and box, shift linkage and the subframes.  All the bolts and nuts have been cleaned up or replaced.  Now to start putting stuff together.

[skmini]

As I was taking the rear swing arms apart, I noticed they've got bearings on both ends instead of a bearing and a bushing.  I know I replaced these, and I replaced them with rebuilt ones from MiniSpares.  I'm not sure if I decided to put bearings on each side, or they came like that.  When I got those rebuilt swing arms, I also replaced the pot joints and wheel bearings.  The wheel bearings were still in good shape, but the pot joints have some wear.  I looked through my email to see when I ordered those.  2001.  In 2001, the car was 22 years old.  It's been 22 years since I did all that work.  I guess it's time to replace things again?

[94touring]

May as well while it's all apart. Wheel bearings and joints aren't anything expensive. Hate to put it all back together only to have them fail shortly after.

[skmini]

Started reassembly.  Steering rack in, steering column, pedals and master cylinders in.  Brake lines in on rear subframe, front to rear brake line, fuel line and battery cable in.  Rear subframe in.  Next up, putting together the front subframe.  Included a "before" picture of the engine bay.

[MiniDave]

I've found it easier and less stressful to put the engine in the subframe and raise it all up into place at once rather than dropping the engine in from the top after the subby is in - after all, that's how the factory did it!

It's amazing how far you've come with this, you should be feeling right chuffed about how well it's coming together! 

[94touring]

Definitely sharp looking!

[skmini]

I've found it easier and less stressful to put the engine in the subframe and raise it all up into place at once rather than dropping the engine in from the top after the subby is in - after all, that's how the factory did it!

That's how I got it out, I'm trying to figure out how I can easily lift the body over the engine/subframe and get everything lined up.  When I lifted the body off, I didn't have to worry about that and just grabbed the front panel and tilted the whole body.

[MiniDave]

It almost looks high enough as it sits, if you have a way to crib the front jackstands higher you can lift it up with your engine hoist, crib the stands then slide the subby/engine under the car and pull it up into place with the engine host attached to the motor.

Otherwise, put the rear tires on and set it down on them, roll the subby in front of the car and get a couple of buddies on each side to pick it up and roll it forward over the engine, set the front on stands and use the hoist to pull the engine/subby up into place.

It's much easier with some help but if you don't have any the first way will work

[skmini]

For some reason I was stuck on how I was going to lower the body in a controlled fashion onto the subframe/engine.  Hadn't even occurred to me to lift it into the body.  I can make that work.  Thanks Dave!

[gr8kornholio]

Looking really good. 

I want to say Dan and I dropped it in from the top with his hoist and it was a very tight fit.  Had just about everything off the engine to do it.  Think the only thing we didn't remove was the oil filter line.  Probably should've. 

Also one of the last things I put in was the steering column and wheel.  Just blocks so much access to the dash area and moving around in the cabin in general. 

[skmini]

The wheel I put on for the picture, it's back on the shelf.  The column I put in just to make sure the steering rack was rotated correctly before tightening it up.  I may take it out again if necessary.  I think I've taken everything apart and put it back together a few times now checking for fit, replacing fasteners, etc.

[gr8kornholio]

Yea there was a lot of that.  Especially for anything new. 

[skmini]

More bits and pieces.  I put in the bootlid seal, which I was kind of dreading after hearing of complaints with the clips, but it they all went in no problem.  I did buy new clips, half the old ones snapped or were missing.

I finished up the brake lines and couldn't see a reason I couldn't move the front brake lines to make more sense for a LHD car.

The clevis pin on the brake pedal was pretty worn. 

I found this article on refurbishing radius arms that had an interesting modification to the pins that I had to try.  Basically, instead of relying on the tube to push grease towards the two ends, why not add a grease nipple to the inboard end and drill the passages to deliver the grease to the middle of the bushing/bearing.  Seemed like a good idea to me.

The plastic ball on the end of the shifter was worn, so I got a replacement.  I need to replace the bushings in the housing; there's a lot of play.  The rear of the housing has a neutral safety switch on it that IIRC was used for the seatbelt buzzers.   I'm redoing the harness, so I might use it to disable the ignition when in gear.

[MiniDave]

What are the red brackets on the front subframe for?

[skmini]

What are the red brackets on the front subframe for?

The Canadian Mini tow hooks.  The rear subframe had these too, but I tossed them when I replaced the rear subframe 20 years ago.

[skmini]

Started assembling the front subframe.  Finished up the last of the brake lines, assembled the radius arms and put together the left rear.  Couldn't resist putting a wheel on for the first time in 7 years.

[94touring]

It's great seeing everything so perfectly pristine come together 

[skmini]

It is extremely satisfying.

[skmini]

And the other side.  One of my new studs wasn't threaded, so this side is missing one.

[skmini]

I got the front subframe finished, engine in and brakes put together.  I managed to roll the whole works under the car, lower the body and lift the subframe in.  On its wheels for the first time in a long time.

The only thing I took off was the distributor cap, although I might have been able to just leave that on.  It took a while to lower the body and raise the subframe, but on the other hand it went in smoothly.