73 Mini Innocenti 1300 Export

[MiniDave]

Finishing up some details on the Inno to get ready for our local All Brit show on Sat.

First I had to sort out the brakes, Dan said they were really noisy - I had blasted the rotors and even tho I put in new brake pads they didn't seem to bed in, so since I had a set of new rotors in stock I went ahead and changed them out - rechecked the adjustment in the rear and bled them - that seems to have done the trick - the pedal is right where it should be and they're smooth and quiet.

I'm going to bleed the clutch, it releases right off the floor tho it works just fine, I can get all the gears and nothing grinds, even going into reverse.

I also sorted out the steering wheel, the hub was rubbing on the shroud when I tightened the wheel down, so I had found another Hellbore wheel and swapped out the hub - bonus I got a horn button with the new one, unfortunately there were no "works" under the button, so I'll still have to figure that part out. Still, it steers nicely now.

Lastly, I got to drive it today!!!!! First real drive in it since we got it.....this motor is STRONG! I haven't pushed it yet but it sure pulls like a train even on light throttle. Still lots of fettling to do, need to get a proper alignment and of course put the dash back in place and finish up all the wiring .....but a successful test drive is always a great motivator.  77.gif

[Jimini II]

Looks great Dave.

[MiniDave]

Both cars made it to the KC All British show on sat. I towed the Inno behind the blue car and about2 miles from the show site I had to drive thru an intersection that was flooded with water, the cars around me sprayed the Inno, my car sprayed the Inno, and it was so hot that by the time I got to the show to unhook it was covered in dry mud, and I got to spend the next half hour cleaning it again! PITA!

I then drove home in my Blue Clubby and got in the Racing Green and drove it down to the show, this time I took a different route and avoided the mess!

[MiniDave]

Drove the Innocenti over to the alignment shop today, post alignment it really drove well!

The brakes are "interesting"......It has a vacuum brake booster that doesn't seem to do anything at first, then seems to overboost. It just takes a little getting used to..

But boy howdy is this thing a runner! Tons of low end torque and wants to rev like mad! The gearbox is a little noisier than expected, but then I never drove it prior to rebuilding the engine.....it's not bad, just a little whiny.....works perfectly tho.

All in all the nicest most powerful Mini I've ever driven.....almost hate to sell it!

I still have a little electrical work to do to it yet, and some minor tuning on the carbs - seems a little lean coming off idle.

Need to get some more miles on it now.....it's so hard not to put your foot in it, it's so eager to rev and pulls so strongly!

[MiniDave]

Finishing up some final details - I noticed the temp gauge, tach and fuel gauges weren't working, unfortunately this meant pulling the dash back out. Once there the problem for the temp gauge was easy to diagnose - no power to the gauge - but difficult to trace down. I did finally see where one of the power wires supplying the dash was not plugged in - that did the trick.....one down.

Next up, the tach. Once again tracing the wires I found that the standard wiring harness was set up for a car with points. We're running electronic ignition so it was a simple matter to disengage the black wire for the points and viola, she works.

Last one, the fuel gauge. Loyal readers will remember that the sending unit was a nasty mess, and I sent it off to be rebuilt. It came back 6 months later looking like new, so surely that can't be the issue!!!!

I shorted the gauge at the dash and it went full scale, next I went to the sender and did the same - full scale again so clearly there's no wiring issues. I then put the ohm meter on the sender and using a coat hanger wire pulled the float arm up. Ruhroh. Nada. The meter read full open. I pulled the sender out of the tank (fortunately the level was low enough that I didn't have to drain the tank) and put it on the bench....same results. I used some carb spray on the coil, then some Kroil and now it works, but only on the top end. You can pull it up almost halfway with no reading, then as you go to the top you get correct readings. Going back down the numbers increase as they should till you get to the bottom third, then it immediately goes to open again.

So..........I've sent an email off to the guy that fixed it, I'm sure he's going to say "send it in", but as it took so long last time if he's that backed up again I may try someone else.

More as it happens, but I hate to re-install the dash till I know everything works as it should.......

[94touring]

Never ending battles 

[MiniDave]

So close to being done, then a setback......frustrating. 

It will work from 1/2 tank on up.....

[MiniDave]

The folks that rebuilt the sending unit finally responded to my email of 12/20 and said send it and they would fix it no charge and try to get it back to me in 7-10 days, so off it went in the mail this am.

In the meantime I can button the dash back up as I have everything working there now....only a few little fettles left to sort. I need to figure out how to build some contacts for the horn button - I have a couple of ideas and may need to print something to make it work, but I need to get some accurate measurements first.

Should be ready to go back to Dan by the end of the month, as I'll be gone for about 10 days starting next Wed.

[MiniDave]

So I finally got the sending unit back and put it in the car - after bench testing it to make sure it worked correctly now, which it does - however.........when I plugged it all in I got no reading on the gauge - thinking it was just too low on fuel, I took a coat hanger wire and raised the arm up about half way - the gauge went full scale. Well, that's not right...

After checking everything I could think of I called the sending unit guy who insisted that the coil was the original one, he didn't replace it. We both know the sending unit is working, he suggested it could be the gauge itself so he gave me the name of a guy in Chicago he uses to fix gauges, as he only does the senders.

I called that guy and we both decided it's probably not a bad gauge, but that he might be able to recalibrate it to work correctly, so off it went to Chicago today.

I can't put the dash back in till I have the gauge installed, so I'm at a stop on that - although there are other bits and bobs that still need to be done. I do have all the instruments working now, even the tach! Also all the lights are working correctly......still need to check the heater fan - I bench tested it before it went in of course. I know there are a couple of grounds that need located then the dash is done.

I still need to engineer a way for the horn button to work.....scratching my head on that one so far. Does anyone make a coil spring out of plastic?

More as it happens.....

[cstudep]

https://www.leespring.com/compression-springs-leep

[MiniDave]

Thanks Paul, but did you look at the specs in the table? these are tiny little things. I was thinking of something that would fit over the nut that holds the wheel on and push against the horn button.....so about 1.5" ID and 2" length.....

[cstudep]

I saw the ones at the top were pretty small but the list looked fairly long so I thought maybe they might have one big enough. I have never had the steering wheel off my car so had no idea what it looked like inside.

Your description makes sense. Wonder if something could be 3d printed that would work.

[cstudep]

Is there a reason it can't be a metal spring, I know they make springs for old car horns. Seems like you mentioned somewhere that it couldn't be metal, I read back up through but didn't see it. If it can't be metal due to conductivity, perhaps a metal spring with a 3d printed cap or something that would sit between the spring and whatever surface it needs insulation from?

That place did say you could request a custom spring, but who knows what that would end up costing.

[MiniDave]

I'm going to study up on it a bit, my first idea was to print a cup that the spring would rest in to keep it insulated, I may be back on that idea.

[cstudep]

Just let me know if you want to try something.

[MiniDave]

Super, thanks Paul.....will do.

[MiniDave]

So, it's been about 10 days since I sent the Inno fuel gauge off and I hadn't heard anything so I called them up - he said they had it but they were 10 weeks out to even look at it!   

If he would have told me that when I spoke to him before I took it to the post office I never would have sent it......I told him to just send it back. I want to get this car finished and back to Dan - with twin tanks and 14 gallons capacity, it's unlikely he'll ever run out of fuel on a run and who knows, maybe I can figure it out?

[MiniDave]

Update - I sent the fuel sender and gauge off to a guy in LA that was recommended by Kent Prather, it sat for a while and after about 10 days I finally called and asked what was up. I got to talk to "the guy" himself and he said he had it working perfectly and it would go out to me in a day. It took another week for it to come back from California and when it got here - well, I was puzzled. It arrived on a Thursday and I didn't unpack it till Friday, when I did it was too late to call them till Monday'

What caused the consternation was the needle was stuck on "F" instead of resting below "E" where it should have been. When I finally reached him on Tuesday he said it was fine, and sent me a video of it working to prove his point. He said all I needed to do was apply voltage and it would reset. I was skeptical but wired it up to a battery on the bench and I'll be damned if it didn't do exactly as he said.

So, I finally have a fuel gauge and sender that work, so now I can put them all back in recheck that everything electrical is working correctly, reinstall the dash - which is a significant project all on its own - and finish up the little bits and bobs to get the car ready to go to the new owner's place.

Before and after pics - with it wired up correctly the needle went right back to E, and when I moved the sender arm it moved exactly as it should. Oh and it turned out that the wiring schematic I was using had it wired wrong. The gauge guy gave me the correct way to wire it.

[MiniDave]

Finally got back to work on the Inno, installed the fuel gauge and sender and it still works!

I've also been methodically going back thru all the gauges, lights, switches etc to make sure they were all working, and so far so good. Time to put the dash back in and button it up once and for all.

[94touring]

I made time today to finally tune the Inno. After setting timing, syncing the twin carbs, adding a vacuum port for the vacuum advance, adding a functional water temp gauge, and finally the wideband, I hit the road.  It took very little adjustments on the mixture adjustments on the carbs since I managed to get the needles right from the start.  End results are an idle in the high 13s AFR, cruise in the 16s to as lean as 17 AFR, and wide open throttle in the upper 12s to 13 AFR.  Boy does it go.  Did 100mph pulls during the tuning and several hard passes to bed the rings with some hill climbs and geared vacuum decel down the hills.  She's good and broken in.  Then a long spirited country road drive and a cruise down the highway at 75mph.  It's a fantastic driver. Have some random odds and ends to button up and will change the oil, then it's all set.  Could use an upgraded radiator probably too. 

AM needles came out and the GC needles were the winner. Have BGs on hand but they'd be too rich.

[94touring]

Something interesting I was pondering this morning. These are older twin hs4s with fixed needles. I was looking at suggested needles from Keith Calvert, which are swing type, and the profile I'm using seem to be very lean in comparison.  Maybe the reduced needle length plays a part in that.  I know this head was worked over a bit from what we observed.  It hauls ass either way and I'm pretty sure spins the wheels in first gear at full throttle. A fair amount of torque steer in 2nd gear similar to my fast road 1310.

[MiniDave]

For those going to MMEMW this summer, it will be there!

So cool to see it on the road again after all this time and hard work!   

[94touring]

My schedule bids for July come out today.  Provided I get the days off, it will be there! 

[94touring]

Since I've been at work with a lot of time to kill, I've put together a list of small items to do prior to the mini meet. I should be home next week, which gives me nearly 2 weeks to wrap up a bunch of things on my laundry list. I did end up ordering an aluminum radiator since the water temps were on the high side.  Oil needs to be changed now that the initial road break in is done, plus who knows how long it's been since we changed it last.  I want to verify ride heights and adjust as needed, though eye balling it looks pretty even. The shocks are set at full soft, which probably need to be a little stiffer. I was getting fender rub on the lightest of road dips they're so soft and the hi lows don't have it riding all that low.  Fronts should be a tad stiffer anyway since that's where the bulk of the weight is. So will play with that.  I want to double check front toe with my toe plates. I know Dave took it to a shop and had it all setup, but it corners a tad squirrelly imo.  At least compared to my other mini, granted it's all adjustable suspension and I have it setup as you would for a track car.  On the pre A+ distributor we went with, an electric unit that minispares sells which is curved to the cam we went with, spares says use a low ohm coil.  This was confusing to me as low ohm coils are usually used on a ballast system on A+ year minis.  I finally reached out to spares and they verified a low ohm coil needs to be used for the module in the unit. I had my doubts still honestly. I did an enormous amount of research this week on electric distributors, modules, and coils.  As you may be aware a points distributor will burn up with a coil lower than 3 ohms, and the coil itself can overheat and fail.  Electric unit modules I learned not all are built the same. Some require 3ohm, others the 1.5 and below ohm. Some you need the 1.5 ohm but resistor or ballast wire.  Why is this important?  Well it will run in it's current setup with a 3 ohm coil, but depending on the modules dwell timing, you may be really weak on spark.  Dwell, or the lack thereof, is what can burn up coils and points.  Dwell also determines the amount of time the coil recharges itself before the next ignition spark.  Ohms, lower creates more amps, which creates a stronger spark.  As rpms increases the amount of time for the coil to recharge diminishes.  All this to say I may have even more power on the table since I have been tuning with a module that requires low ohms and I've been running a 3 ohm coil.  I did notice coincidentally that a 4th gear pull to 6k rpms began to fade power wise around 5500 rpms, which I took mental note that my fast road 1310 pulled better up top.  I chalked it up the gearing difference and the stroker crank in this 1410cc having a different power band.  I have a 1.2 ohm coil that should be home when I get there to do a back to back road comparison in a 4th gear pull to see if there's a difference.  I also found that powerspark in the UK sells modules for 3ohm coils and less than 1.5 ohm coils that is to be used without ballast or resistance.  I ordered a spare high energy module as a backup just in case.  NOW, once I feel the tune is where it needs to be and I have even more odds and ends finished, a few more miles on the engine, I'd like to go to the dyno before the car show.  I have another special ignition system I'm testing for a guy out of Sweden that I need to do a comparison with.  Should be an interesting couple weeks if I manage to get it on the dyno!

[MiniDave]

I hope it lives up to our expectations on HP! Sure feels like it will when you drive it tho....