Racing Green 89 Mini

[MiniDave]

No, I decided to leave it alone for now....

Working on the front now.....what takes the most time is cleaning all the sealer and gaskets off before you can put it together again.

Clearly it's been picking up oil from somewhere - the fan had oily residue all over it and the radiator is coated again. Lots of cleanup to do!

I haven't found anything obvious on the front of the engine that could have been leaking - no smoking guns.....so I guess I'll pull the front of the trans off again and see if I can figure anything out there. Also both inner CV joints have been letting out grease, so I'll replace the nylon tie straps with metal clamps.

No way I'll get this all done and back in the car in time for our trip tomorrow, so it will have to be the Blue MINI instead, but that's actually OK by me.

Edit: Don just reminded me today is Wed, we're not going till Friday - I might make it after all!

[MiniDave]

Well, I think I may have found my oil leak.....there was a pinhole in the bottom of the breather cannister. I didn't think there was that much oil accumulating there, but it makes sense in that I could park the car for days and it didn't leak a drop. But when I drove it and parked, the next day there were be a puddle - and it may explain why there is so much oil on the radiator - being thrown there by the fan. Also the fan was coated in oily dirt.

I checked my spare timing chain cover and it leaked just as badly and in the exact same spot, so it seems they must rust out from moisture in the fumes!

I cleaned it up and put a little JB Weld on it till I can get a new one. It's not easy to change one of these in the car, but it is possible.

With that and the shift shaft seal that had a nick in it, I hope I've finally cured at least the worst of the oil leaks.

With that done I'm hoping to get it all back in the car and driving today, we leave tomorrow for the race track, it would be nice to drive it some this afternoon to shake it all down, but night comes early these days.....we'll see. Worst case I drive my MINI Clubman instead.

[MiniDave]

With everything buttoned up again I decided to fill it with oil and see if it was going to drip......forgetting that I don't have pot joints in. I soon discovered that and spent half an hour cleaning up the mess. Put a fresh cardboard down and cleaned up the rest of the oil and dirt that's been blown all over the block. Now I'm going to leave it for a while and see if it drips. The few spots you see on the cardboard are from the solvent I was using to clean the block......

If it's dry tomorrow I'll start the process of getting it back in the car......but not till Monday after I get back from the track.

[MiniDave]

No joy in Mudville tonight.......one small drip from the right side stub axle cover, and I used a new oring. Maybe I'll rob a cover off one of the other transmissions I have sitting under the workbench.

Glad I'm not trying to drive it to the track tomorrow!

[BruceK]

As much as we all work on cars, we have all, at least once, put fresh oil in an engine only to find it running out on the garage floor!   It's just a little way of being humbled.  Last time I did it was just several years ago when I was replacing all the fluids on my truck. Somehow I forgot the drain plug and poured 3 qts of new Castrol through the engine onto the garage floor before I caught myself. 

[MiniDave]

Well, here we are, weeks later.....the motor is back in the car and it runs (yay!) and so far no drips, but then it's only run 20 minutes or so.

I put a clean sheet of cardboard down, we'll know in the morning whether I've finally tamed the beast.

Still have to bleed the brakes, put the grill and bonnet back on and a couple of small tidy up things but she's ready to go to the KC Mini Club event tomorrow. 70 cars are signed up so it will be a nice turnout. This is our annual benefit for the local Harvesters and Pet Project groups. We meet up at 9, then head out for a poker run and meet back up at the dealership for prize handout. Weather should be perfect, low 60's and sunny. We had one hell of a rainstorm yesterday and it was cold as hell this morning but it's going to warm up nicely over the next couple of days.

I went back to the straight pipe and Play Mini SS muffler (rear box) and I have to say it def has more bark now, we'll see whether with the 2.76 gears it's OK or annoying.

[94touring]

I was thinking you were going back to the 3.1.

[MiniDave]

I kicked it around, and I still have one if I decide to do that but I want to run it some more on the 2.76, and take some longer highway runs in it too to see how it behaves up hills and such. This engine only has a couple hundred miles on it since the rebuild, so I want to get some more mileage on it too. I don't remember Buzz having any issues slowing down on hills with a 2.76 so I want to see what this will do too.

While I was at it I pulled the plugs and adjusted the valves and it all looks really good.

I'm also considering switching to 10W40 since I have an adjustable pressure regulator on it, I may do that at the 500 mile oil change.

So far so good, not a drop on the floor under the car, tho it only ran for about 20 min.

When I get home tomorrow from the run and park it, if there's nothing under it on Monday morning I'll consider it fixed.

[MiniDave]

Well, no drips on the floor this morning, but then I didn't expect any given that it only ran about 20 minutes. I backed it out of the shop this morning and it started and ran fine, so I'm off the the KC Mini event - but - the clutch feels weird.....I hope I make it.

Always some damn thing with these cars, isn't it?

Clancy's Moke is on the lift now so I can do a few things to it.....when he ran it at the Lake Garnet GP last month the radiator was pissing water out. Turns out the fender had rubbed a hole in the end of the aluminum rad, so I pulled it and he took it to be welded. He brought it back a couple days ago so I'll swap it back in and do a few other things. He wants to drive it in the veteran's day parade on Sat in Lawrence, so I have to at least have it drivable for him.

Edit: Clutch is fine, I just forgot what it's supposed to feel like I guess.