What did you do in your shop today?

[jedduh01]

Back in  June:

  Lotus i had was about ready to return home to owner.. but oil leaks. Low hanging pan had a crack.. Brazed it up = Fixed + Returned car home.


Also had an MGB in = Tired car but owner loves it = Installed a new top = along with BUNCH of other misc fixes.. Bad switches= contacts= OLD plastic failing items.

NOT in the shop but ,
    Took a vacation 2 weeks in July == Did not stop working... Had to replaced Decking + Rails on Father in Laws house in St Thomas....
   

NOW have a midget in for Oil leak= Last year i installed the fancy rear seal kit=but still leaks.. pretty badly = re doing that job... ( i also may have overfilled transmission = also puhing oil out of front input shaft...  TO be determined.

Motor is atleast out now = underway for fix..

[gr8kornholio]

That would have been the slowest deck project on record.  St Thomas and that view, think more beers would get drunk than boards nailed.

[MiniDave]

Boy howdy.....nail one board.....go for a swim, have some beers. Nail another board...OOPs, time for something on the barby.....we'll get to it tomorrow...... 77.gif

[jedduh01]

Ha, let me tell ya.... Yes,, I'm the slave driver down there.!   We would work till it got HOT..  11 AM = and then head to the beach/or Boating.

Father in Law always tells me to SIT DOWN.. no reason to go go go.  I personally have to adjust to the 'pace there... Chill out man...
     
   Since the hurricanes almost 2 years ago we have built back to 'pre hurricane' status now... Luckily we only lost porch roof + railings  with no MAJOR damage.    Now we're dealing with a house built in 1991, and needing some maintenance that my Father in law Cant do, or doesn't care to do... We're treating it as a future vacation home    keep it operational now, more upgrades to come.

The Porch has had PLENTY of beverages + times enjoyed... More to come

[jedduh01]

Midgets Need Love too

72 - Motor pulled for oil leak (new fancy rear seal installed, but leaks) i have my doubt i did it right,. or overfilled the trans  / engine and it leaves a spot.

66 Sprite/mk1 midget =  HORRIBLE condition ribcase trans.. Customer got a Rebuilt unit from place in CT... Installation only.
   4 hours Out and Re installed... Only today to do Carb connections + Fluid + Clutch.. Should be driving tongiht . Fingers crossed its a 'good' rebuild.

[Jims5543]

That would have been the slowest deck project on record.  St Thomas and that view, think more beers would get drunk than boards nailed.

I has questions about St. Thomas, I will ask over the weekend as I finish up my St. Lucia trip.  We mentioned going to St. Thomas next summer.

It is amazing the house is still there after the last set of of storms to hit that area, I know the BVI's really took the brunt but a storm that bad probably beat the USVI's just as bad.

[94touring]

It's been 3 weeks since I've been to my shop, only been home 1.5 days.  This week I'll get 2.5 days of shop time and will have waiste high grass to cut and then a plethora of sanding to do on minis.  Had a mold issue before I left from sitting water that I had addressed which I'm hoping is resolved when I arrive.

[Jims5543]

It's been 3 weeks since I've been to my shop, only been home 1.5 days.  This week I'll get 2.5 days of shop time and will have waiste high grass to cut and then a plethora of sanding to do on minis.  Had a mold issue before I left from sitting water that I had addressed which I'm hoping is resolved when I arrive.

Every time go on vacation it is like a punishment before and after.  The 2 weeks leading up I worked non stop 12-18 hours days to get ahead enough to leave. Once back it is more of the same I am trying really hard to take this weekend off and fear I may not be able to.  Too busy to keep up.

I am now toying with hiring on a third crew which keeps me up at night as that = getting bigger and I promised myself not to do that again.

I am eyeing a 2 zone split AC unit on Amazon that I want to install. One in the garage one in my master bedroom.  Both along the same wall so it should be easy, the unit runs $1600 and has really good reviews on Amazon. 

I want to get back in the garage, I do not want to go in the heat after working in it all day.

[MiniDave]

A split for the garage would be great, you'll really appreciate the difference it makes.

We have a 5K BTU window unit in the master bedroom, both for white noise as well as we like it cool to sleep, and that way the whole house A/C doesn't have to run all night;

I have a 220V 18K BTU A/C in the garage - it also has heat strips for winter - it makes a huge difference when it gets into the high 90's with equally high humidity - like you have.

If you don't have insulation in the garage you'll need to do that too.

[jedduh01]

64 Spridget transmission fix went great =  Truely a fun little car to drive= with the 1098 i was surprised on how well it goes.   Rebuilt Ribcase transmission worked well!

That was picked up on Sunday =  + a very original 60' Bugeye came in.     997 Engine ,  Smoothcase trans
   Has been painted in life but hasnt run + been used for a while = Ready to get going again.. Runs, but poorly, Carbs leak  project to get operational again.


In that Bugeye pic is a Volvo V50 - 2002  = My neighbors were just gifted that car, for their daughters first car.. and yep= within the first day of ownership =  Check engine light = shuddering... He comes over... 
    (HEY WE HAVE A VOLVO!)   I cant bear to tell him its one of the WORST Volvos every produced (FORD DAYS) and be prepared... its gonna get ugly.
   Overall its an OK car= but pop the hood and eek!!!     Give him my code reader=  Missfires.     Recommend to replace spark plugs.  + Air filter is horrible, 
  While I looking over.. the belt side of the engine  is NASTY   - Warn them = something is going on here.. Metal shards around too = something is coming loose=  Proably the AC COmpressor.  The next day = He does the plugs + Air filter, Shuts the hood and Daughter heads 2 hrs away to college!       GOODLUCK!



Also Polished some Volvo headlamps for a friend.



Generator bearing on my Moke went out.... Got it home at least ..  Now= do I try to replace bearing? keeping the original generator? or just replace it.... Decisions!

[MiniDave]

Where do you keep your trailer when not in use?

I got a fix it ticket from the city for leaving mine in front of my house more than two days. I keep it out at my south property but if/when that sells I'm not sure where I'll keep it, or even if I will. It's only 5X8, perfect for my mower but not big enough to haul a Mini or anything. Besides, none of my cars are rated to pull a trailer that will haul a Mini.

If the generator isn't damaged I would just replace the bearing - also the bushing on the other end.

[jedduh01]

The Trailer:
      In the end its a 3 way ownership.  Myself ,  Guy in picture Jeff ..  and Cole my local Mini friend.
Because we all acknowledged that a car trailer SITS most of the time not being used, but the three of us would like a trailer around.

       I proposed. Lets get a 'GOOD trailer"  Share it respectively.    It will be cheaper on us all.  Jeff has a rental house, small place with some space, with actually  a NICE extra workshop garage on the property.    He rents the house to a family, and stores cars and spare parts in his garage.  It's rural enough we can park the trailer out back, Chained up , its out of sight out of mind  and accessible for use.  We amicably agreed if anyone moves away, or wants out.  buy out is easy at the original split price of ownership.

  So far, I have trailer-ed The Lotus back to Jeff,   Cole has used the trailer for a weekend mini adventure, and Jeff just brought up the Bugeye with it...   Next time I need to move a car = its available, pickup projects for others..     In the fall we go to CMU -  we will atleast have 1 bailout trailer among us friends... Drive the running stuff home.

[MiniDave]

That sounds like a great arrangement, I have a friend locally (who's been to some of our local Mini runs to the Ozarks, Eureka etc) who has a trailer I can borrow pretty much any time I need it, but I also have to borrow a tow vehicle. Fortunately I have friends I can borrow a truck from, but they're getting ready to trade it off for a new Ford Exploder, and I wouldn't feel right asking to borrow it compared to their 100K mile Honda Ridgeline.

My buddy with the trailer has plenty of room at his place that I could park my little trailer at if it came to that.

I also have a little diesel 4X4 tractor I'll need to get rid of if my property sells too.

I could probably work a deal like that on a nice aluminum trailer with a couple of local Mini buddies - but again, none of us has anything that will haul it!

I have flat towed my cars thousands of miles, but the guys on TMF are trying to convince me that's a bad idea, and will ruin my transmission, so I've been considering a tow dolly. I think either of my cars would easily haul that.

[Scargo]

Jedduh01: relative to the Bugeye, do mean 948 engine? The 997 is a Mini engine.

[Willie_B]

My mini has been hard to get in to first sometimes. Could not get any fluid from the slave so, replaced slave, hose and master a few weeks back. That helped but still not nice and smooth. Today I adjusted the gap between the wok and the large nuts. Should be 6.5 mm but mine was probably closer 5.5. That made a huge difference. Now I don't have to really jam it in and the others shifts are much better too.

[94touring]

Brad, it's been running fine since getting it back on the road?  I don't recall what the fix ended up being?

[Willie_B]

The two things I took it up for are an oil leak and a knock noise. The leak was a cracked timing chain cover. He never saw anything that would cause the noise. Still has the noise but now I don't worry about it.

[MiniDave]

Is this a Verto clutch? That clutch arm looks all wrong somehow......

Inno looks like this.....Pre-Verto tho....

Edit: Just looked at my '89, yours IS a Verto same as my 89 - Mine has at least 6mm clearance on the stop nuts. If it works, I'd be happy with it.

[94touring]

On the to do list for shop stuff when I'm back in town is buy another 10lb spool of welding wire.  Ran out finishing up the last of the welding on Marks Aussie.  I did manage to get the lawn mowed last week.  It was turning into a jungle out there.

[jeff10049]

Cleaned up the War zone left from getting ready for hot august nights run to reno. Tools everywhere work bench a foot deep with stuff it's good to get stuff back in it's place and have a break from projects for a bit.
Few pics of the drive in this thread.http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=1507.25

[tmsmini]

I mostly swore at myself alot trying to replace the coil springs with rubber on the sedan. Also doing much needed deferred maintenance as the wagons always seem to take priority, steering rack gaiters, upper arms, repack wheel bearings, exhaust bracket and what ever else I find next, need to do the back bearings also. Maybe swap the TB, if I have any energy left over. Things I used to do in a day are taking two

[MiniDave]

I feel your pain, did you get the spring in finally? Front ones can be a  bear....

[tmsmini]

I got the springs in fine. It was getting the plate for the pivot shaft back on. This is a recent car so no side radiator to deal with, but servo ecu etc on the other side.
And one seal on the arm would not sit down evenly, eventually got it to sit right.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, those can be frustrating.....glad you got it done.

[jedduh01]

Not alot of pictures to share...

72 Midget = Finished up returned home = small tidy of work for the owner, he 's particular about tiny details ( glove box  , rubber strip For the convertible top.   Bumper alignment.   ( oil leak re do)  !!! argh
      Also had to weld a 12x 12 Drivers floorboard patch in place, lovely Undercoating + sound proofing rotted the drivers floor to Swiss cheese, Passenger side  is Better but not far behind.

All in all = Happy little 1275 Midget...(if thats your thing)
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Have tidy'ed up the 60 Bugeye.     948 -  It was a poorly running "fresh" out of storage.
     Carbs leaked fuel near all the time = fluids all old = no speedo / no tach operations...
     Brakes hard as rocks and stick on!

Converted it to an electric fuel pump ( Much less engine cranking to get fuel )
Rebuilt H1 carbs (my first time) and wow = full of CORK gaskets + seals .  They're kinda the same as Hs'2's but different (centering jets is critical)
Rear end got some new bushings
3 new rubber brake lines installed.   (car now brakes WONDERFULLY! ) 
  Final checks underway = drove it today to work= happy little car!
____________________

62 Mini now entering the barn....
   Has been in owners life since 68 -  Has has plethora of changes.   Has been off the road for 6-8 Years=  wants to get motoring again.

Had a 1275 "metro" swap installed but never, finalized and run...
Had a paint job but never Tidied = that also included Installing "aussie' doors =  While cool... they are  much more complicated and you really cant find parts ( window seals) etc for them.  Not to mentoin the extra weight on the mk 1 hinges... Not faring well.

To do = Front end is LOW = Worn out cones =
   Brakes = has METRO 4 Pot calipers.. While probably great ,  kinda overkill ( each caliper has 2 brake hoses)  extra complicated. ( were going to try to convert it to standard 8.5 brakes =  already has new 12 inch wheels to cover the larger brakes.

Very much an early mk 1 car = but just doesn't feel like it because of how many ' LATER items are installed.    Has a 'retro 70's add a dash in it too ( will share)