What did you do in your shop today?

[94touring]

Yeah they said estimated, but jeeze a 1000% increase.

[MiniDave]

What language is that on the tag on the cow's ear. Klingon?  ;D

I don't know how normal sized people fit in a Pup! I sure don't fit.....

[tsumini]

What language is that on the tag on the cow's ear. Klingon?  ;D

I don't know how normal sized people fit in a Pup! I sure don't fit.....

Dave, that eartag "language" is a brand. It should be registered and shows ownership of the cow. My brother in Ft Collins had some strays show up and they had no brands so couldn't find owner for a while.

[MiniDave]

Thanks. I knew what it was (I grew up and live in Kansas after all, cow capital of the word at one time) I was just making a joke about the brand on the tag......  ;D  77.gif

[BruceK]

I worked on my R53 MINI this morning. There's been a bad kind of grinding noise coming from the engine compartment.   I was thinking it was a bad idler pulley bearing - and it was.  That sucker was shot.  Replacing it took care of part of the noise,  but it turned out that the supercharger bearings are going too.   So I'll be pulling that blower off and sending it out to be rebuilt.   Not inexpensive.   And like any other semi-modern car it is buried deep within the engine compartment so you've got to take much of the car apart to get it out.

On a More positive note, I jumped into my classic Mini for a run to the NAPA store and at a red light a guy pulled up to me in a pickup and rolled down his window and asked about my Mini.  Turns out he's a Mini owner too and lives in this area.  I only moved here two weeks ago and I've already found another fellow Mini owner nearby!   He said he has an '87 Mini that he bought when he was stationed in Germany. We exchanged phone numbers and I invited him to join us here at RM.  Hope he does. 

[gr8kornholio]

Didn't they do a supercharger and such maintenance on wheeler dealers?  Pretty much have to remove the whole front of the car.

That's cool you found another classic owner.  It's amazing how many of these cars are actually around and how many people you run into have owned them.

[MiniDave]

Bruce and I had the supercharger off at about 100K and changed the fluid, we also added a 16% pulley for a little extra oomph - which it did - nicely!

But yeah, to get to it you have to put the car in Service mode, which means removing pretty much everything in the front of the car - front bumper assy, radiator core panel and so on. It's a bit of work.

[94touring]

Had a Texas guy sign up today, maybe it's your new mini friend.

[gr8kornholio]

After 6 months of house projects and other odds and ends finally got the garage back in order.

[MiniDave]

Just in time to get the saucy Aussie back?

[gr8kornholio]

Have some more rearranging to do for that.  Got to swap the vw out to the shed so I'll have space to assemble the car.  When we bought the camaro instead of a truck as our second reliable car it kind of messed up the original plan of pulling the highlander out and having the vw and mini in the garage cause the highlander is already out and the camaro will not be out.  So vw to shed it is.

[Jims5543]

180K miles and my first big problem with the FJ. All the wheel bearing were shot. I was not sure the backs were bad, so I did the fronts then realized the backs were too. Since I do not own a hydraulic press I took it to the corner tire store and they did both back bearings, the front passenger CV shaft (also starting to go) a radiator flush and Power steering flush. 

Toyota Quoted me $4,000  to do the job.  The corner shop did it for $1,700 out the door.

She is nice and quiet again. 

[94touring]

Yesterday spent the bulk of the day cleaning and organizing the shop.  Every few months it seems it's time to give it a deep clean.  I had to run into town with my truck and get gas for the lawnmower.  Filled up my metal 6 gallon can, tossed it in the front floor board so it wouldn't slide around in the back, and set off for the shop.  Noticed a strong fuel smell so opened the windows.  Figured it was just some gas that didn't make it's way into the can.  Got to the shop, pulled the can out, and there was a pin hole leak pissing fuel.  20 minutes drive worth of gas pouring onto my front floorboard.  So ended up cleaning the truck and carpet for awhile and left it at the shop with the windows open to air out.  Seems ok today and is drivable again.

[Jims5543]

Yesterday spent the bulk of the day cleaning and organizing the shop.  Every few months it seems it's time to give it a deep clean.  I had to run into town with my truck and get gas for the lawnmower.  Filled up my metal 6 gallon can, tossed it in the front floor board so it wouldn't slide around in the back, and set off for the shop.  Noticed a strong fuel smell so opened the windows.  Figured it was just some gas that didn't make it's way into the can.  Got to the shop, pulled the can out, and there was a pin hole leak pissing fuel.  20 minutes drive worth of gas pouring onto my front floorboard.  So ended up cleaning the truck and carpet for awhile and left it at the shop with the windows open to air out.  Seems ok today and is drivable again.

That sucks!!

Tie down straps in the bed from now on.


I like doing things twice, the Mini is a testimony to that I think I have done everything twice on that. I am having reception problems with the Sirius antenna on my FJ.  I ordered a cheap one on Amazon ($25) and had to hack it up to get it mounted where I wanted it, which was where my CB antenna used to be.

I tossed it in today, half assed the wiring knowing I am pulling it back out later this week. I ordered a better one ($45) that you can just mount on the CB mount without any hacking.

Excuse my filthy truck it has been raining on an off all weekend, it was filthy from last week as well. I did not bother to wash it as it is pointless at this point, it will get a bath next week.

[MiniDave]

Today I spent the day getting two of my cars ready for the trip to Virginia, I'm leaving early Tuesday so I can avoid traffic both here in KC and in St. Louis. To do that I needed to clear the lift - I carefully rolled the Inno off the lift and down the driveway, this left just enough room to get a car into the shop and on the lift in front of it.

I started with the green classic - I pulled all the wheels so I could rotate them, and while I had them off I pulled the rear drums to check the shoes - all good there so I buttoned them up, readjusted the rear brakes and then flushed the fluid. I changed the oil and filter, and noticed that I had lost the valve cover cap and who knows how long I've been driving without it? There wasn't as much oil under the hood as I expected......I topped off all the other fluids, set the tire pressures and gave the interior a good vacuum. While in there I also set the light bar in the back window, cleaned the windshield and replaced the wiper arms and blades. She should be good to go......

Next up was the '09 blue Clubman S, it also got all 4 tires off so I could check the brakes and rotate the tires. I also changed the brake fluid in it, topped off all the fluids and set the tire pressures. This car has been so reliable, it's been a really good car for me. We debated replacing it a couple times as it's closing in on a 100K, but we've decided to just keep it and the Audi both.

Then I had to get the Inno back into the shop and on the lift again.......my neighbor came and helped me push it up the drive to the edge of the garage but that was as far as we could push it. No matter, I have a 120V boat winch attacked to the crossbar of the my metal workbench, I just hook the cable up and it drags a car right up and onto the lift -  I had to stop a couple times to straighten the tires, but it's a pretty painless way to do it.

Tomorrow I'll do laundry, mow the grass and a hundred "honey do's", then late in the afternoon I'll hook up the green car to the blue one and load tools and spares and be ready to head out about 7 am.

[94touring]

Yesterday was more shop cleanup and organizing.  Plus block sanding on the Aussie.  And had to go snag next years project.

[gr8kornholio]

That looks like a bit more than a project.  Where'd the clubby go?

[94touring]

That looks like a bit more than a project.  Where'd the clubby go?

As bad as it looks its a very solid shell that needs a respray after a lot of cleaning of course.  Clubby was rolled outside to the mini graveyard.

[MPlayle]

So what all is in the "Mini Graveyard" now?

[94touring]

Dave's 80s shell for a EcoBoost, 67 S, and the clubby.  I have been strongly considering putting the 67 on bat.  Just to free up space.

[Willie_B]

Picked up another lathe today. This one also has a small/light duty milling function. Going to need more cleanup then the other one. It has lived in a non climate controlled shop.  Engine hoist for the unloading.
I will be able to clean up the outer rim of 10" wheels with this one now.

[Jimini II]

Nice find Brad.

[jeff10049]

Those little things are more ridged than you think you can do some pretty accurate stuff on one. My only complaint was lack of speeds the one I used had fast, faster, too fast, way to fast, and that was it no slower spindle speeds at all.
I know its made for smaller work but sometimes you still need slower speeds for out of balance parts and such. I cut a lot of keyway slots with the milling head milled flats on round bar, made my own castellated nuts very handy machine.

[MiniDave]

Not only does he have a knack for finding this cool stuff, he has room for it in his shop!  77.gif

What brand is that machine? Jet? Grizzly? It looks Chinese made, I only say that because the belt covers look just like the ones on my Chinese made drill press......which I've had for 30 years or more and still works perfectly.

[Jims5543]

I would love some metal working machines.  I miss that stuff, I am fighting with my 3d Printer right now, I want to make a part for my FJ and have to figure out why the nizzle is not working right.  The mount for the Sirius antenna is brand new and already rusting after being on the truck 2 weeks. I want to make a ABS one to replace it with, since the Sirius antenna is so short and light I think I can get away with a plastic mount.  I would never consider it for the CB antenna that used to be on it.

Speaking of FJ's I never thought to change the cabin filter on the FJ before.  I guess it has not been changed in 12 years.