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#81

Daves Garage / Re: Racing Green 89 Mini

Last post by 94touring - November 19, 2025, 11:04:26 AM

I'd run the 40k. The extra voltage is ideal with your higher compression and sport cam. You can gap your plugs more too. I could feel seat of the pants difference between some old shitty coil and a 40k volt on the bus when I swapped them out after getting into town on the old coil. In fact also coil output related, but on my rx7 the ignition amp that bumps up voltage makes 10 more HP to the wheels and feels smoother and more crisp with it installed. 

Edit: I'll add too that with resistor plugs and maybe a resistance rotor arm, and some resistance wires the extra voltage comes in handy to overcome all that.  I gap 0.035 on a 40k volt coil and 0.040 on a 60k volt. 

#82

Daves Garage / Re: Racing Green 89 Mini

Last post by MiniDave - November 19, 2025, 10:13:33 AM

Do I need 40K or 60K like you run if I'm not running a really high performance cam and such? Mine is basically a stock engine, overbored 40 thou with 10.3 compression and using the Evo cam and a stock head with bigger valves. The stock coil seems to have done well since I've owned it.

Edit: completely forgot to check Amazon.....

#83

Maintenance and Modifications / Re: My Mini stinks!

Last post by scalpel_ninja - November 19, 2025, 09:17:38 AM

So, how did it turn out? How did you block off the sender unit hole to clean the inside of the tank? How long do you leave the cleaner and metal etch in it before you rinse it out? Does it all just rinse with water? How dry does the tank have to be before you can put the sealer in it? Did you find the actual place where it was leaking?

I'm planning to pull the tank on the green car next week.....

I didn't use POR15 to seal a tank per se, but when I used it for the underside of my car, both the degreaser and etch were water-soluble. The degreaser seemed similar to Simple Green, and the etch I think was phosphoric acid. The enamel cures based on humidity; the more moisture, the quicker it cures.

#84

Daves Garage / Re: Racing Green 89 Mini

Last post by 94touring - November 19, 2025, 09:14:24 AM

Even flamethrower 40k volt coils are only 52 bucks shipped off Amazon!

#85

The Lounge / Re: Non-Traditional Mini Parts...

Last post by 94touring - November 19, 2025, 09:10:11 AM

Ebay has some other parts and list shipping and duty charges.

#86

Daves Garage / Re: Racing Green 89 Mini

Last post by MiniDave - November 19, 2025, 09:05:59 AM

So the green Mini has been running terribly lately, it started on our trip home from Ozarks International Racetrack,  just every so often it would cut out, briefly but harsh - like the key had been switched off and right back on.

I made it home OK and had driven it several more times with no issues, then the other morning on the way to breakfast it refused to start - like the ignition was off. Cranked fine but just wouldn't hit. I fiddled with the wires on the coil and tried it again...bingo! Popped right off.

But.......it would cut out intermittently, so I took it back home and drove my Audi to brekky.

A few days later it was warm out so I bought some HEET (just in case I got some shit gas in Laurie, Mo) and treated the fuel, it fired up normally but every so often it would cut out, especially under hard load. If I took it easy it mostly ran OK but clearly it's getting worse. At one point it died and acted like it would not restart, but then it caught and I was able to make it home again.

So, I don't think it's bad gas as I don't see anything floating in the tank and any time it doesn't start there is fuel in the filter, so I'm leaning towards a bad coil. This one's been on there more than 8-9 years, so I'm guessing it could be failing.

At any rate, it'll be an easy diagnosis - either it fixes it or it doesn't.

Cheapest Lucas Sport coil for 3 ohm non-ballasted ignition I could find was at British Parts Northwest, $36 plus shipping or about $50 at my door. Moss wanted over $150 for the same part, and Nate Kulpa at Wild Child was out of stock, tho he wanted over $90 for his.

So remember BPNW, I've used them before and so has Don for Spridget and GT6 parts with good success.

Engel didn't have a listing for it, and I didn't call them since I found it at BPNW and their shipping was reasonable.

#87

Maintenance and Modifications / Re: My Mini stinks!

Last post by MiniDave - November 19, 2025, 08:47:06 AM

So, how did it turn out? How did you block off the sender unit hole to clean the inside of the tank? How long do you leave the cleaner and metal etch in it before you rinse it out? Does it all just rinse with water? How dry does the tank have to be before you can put the sealer in it? Did you find the actual place where it was leaking?

I'm planning to pull the tank on the green car next week.....

#88

The Lounge / Re: A new game... Post pics fr...

Last post by BruceK - November 18, 2025, 07:21:37 PM

Looks like you were in my neck of the woods today.

Yup. I spotted the BYD several cars behind me on the road and then I stalked it for a couple of miles until it parked so I could get a picture of it.

I'm always spotting oddities out there.  Like this rare Suzuki Equator truck I saw last week. It's a rebadged Nissan Frontier and they didn't sell well at all. It was only sold for a couple of years before Suzuki ran away from the US market.

#89

The Lounge / Re: A new game... Post pics fr...

Last post by MPlayle - November 18, 2025, 06:21:02 PM

Looks like you were in my neck of the woods today.

#90

The Lounge / Re: A new game... Post pics fr...

Last post by BruceK - November 18, 2025, 03:55:57 PM

Saw a rarity today, a BYD (Build Your Dreams) Shark pickup from China. It's a hybrid pickup with a 1.5 liter gasoline generator engine that charges a big battery pack. It seems to be about the same size as a new Tacoma or new Ford Ranger.  Front end styling obviously emulates the current Ford F150.  Like all Chinese branded vehicles, it's not sold in the US (this one was Mexican-registered).

I've seen a couple video reviews of the Shark and they think if it was sold here it would be a big hit. In Mexico it goes for about US$44,000. I wonder how long the US can hold off China entering the American automobile market?