White Japanese Spec Suspension Rebuild

Started by MiniDave, November 01, 2020, 10:28:04 AM

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MiniDave

Once I got the ECU out of the way, I could get at the remaining A/C parts, the condenser and fan finally came out.

I had to place another order at spares, he's decided while it's all out or accessible to replace the starter, alternator (went with the 70 amp option), radiator of course, water pump and radiator hoses. I also ordered some new plugs and plug leads as they were pretty hard and crusty.

Next I'll drop transmission shield - I hadn't seen one like this made for an automatic - and try and find where all the oil is leaking from. Since it had it's transmission rebuilt not that long ago I'm a little surprised just how much oil is all over under the car.

Anyone seen an engine number stamped into the block like this? It has the holes for the rivets....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

cstudep

Thanks for the info on the lower arms! I did manage to find the smooth-a-ride stuff at sport but somehow missed seeing those lower arms. They certainly look a little more robust than the other style and easier to adjust is always a plus! 77.gif

Never seen an engine number stamped in. Seen plenty with plates completely missing, and plates beat all to hell where you can hardly read them. It almost looks like they pounded that in with a center punch, can't imagine they did while maintaining that much precision though. If they did then I am impressed!

MPlayle

That looks like the engine number has been hand engraved with an engraving pen.  Probably required by Japanese regulations?

(Similar to the Japanese issued VIN stamped in the boot on 1980s models?)


BruceK

I think that type of engraving is what all mid-90s A-series had until the end of production.  Way back when I had a circa 1995 stock 1275 engine which I put in my old Traveller and it had similar markings. 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Jimini II

Quote from: MiniDave on December 10, 2020, 12:38:43 PM
Once I got the ECU out of the way, I could get at the remaining A/C parts, the condenser and fan finally came out.

I had to place another order at spares, he's decided while it's all out or accessible to replace the starter, alternator (went with the 70 amp option), radiator of course, water pump and radiator hoses. I also ordered some new plugs and plug leads as they were pretty hard and crusty.

Next I'll drop transmission shield - I hadn't seen one like this made for an automatic - and try and find where all the oil is leaking from. Since it had it's transmission rebuilt not that long ago I'm a little surprised just how much oil is all over under the car.

Anyone seen an engine number stamped into the block like this? It has the holes for the rivets....

You are lucky with the customer wanting to change out parts while it is apart. I literally was arguing with a guy whose water pump needed replacing about why he should replace the bottom radiator hose while it was out as he saw no need for it. I wouldn't mind if it was fresh but I have been working on his car for quite a few years and it looked old but I do remember he was the same way about changing both the rear wheel cylinders instead of just one.

While you have it that far apart you might want to ask the customer if he wants the auto bands adjusted as it probably has never been done since the rebuild, now is the best time to access/remove that front cover.

The oil leak may have been or is coming from the automatic sideways cartridge oil filter. I seem to remember the old owner having an issue with it leaking but IIRC he was installing the O ring seal without removing the old one which seems to happen a lot with Mini auto owners. The gear selector linkage seal always seem to leak too along with the normal other Mini leaks.

MiniDave

Is there any info on how much or what to set the bands at? I didn't find any - and I read thru all the info on the AP site.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#31
I've been working every day in the shop, trying to get as much done as possible before I head into the hospital Jan 5th.

I cleaned the block up and gave it a lick of red Rustyoleum paint - pay no attention to the green valve cover, that's my paint cover. I have a nice shiny new aluminum cover coming for it next week.

I also have a new aluminum radiator, water pump, alternator, starter and all new hoses that have come in. Just need to get it all installed.

These Japanese made ball joints came in too - they are pretty spendy but they never need lapping, shimming or greasing. This is the first set I've installed as they are so much money, but I sure like the idea of them,.

All the parts except the valve cover are here, so I'll be moving forward on this as quickly as I can....but there are always delays. In this case tomorrow it will be 50+ outside, I have to fix a gutter that's come loose, and clean all the leaves out of the gutters before it snows and I get ice dams. I'm glad we're not dealing with what the northeast is this week! They got a couple of feet of snow overnight in some spots!

The last pic is of the cones compared to the new smooth a rides.

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Willie_B

When I installed my balljoints I had to remove the dust cover for the socket to fit. A bit fiddley as they are held with a spring but not too bad.

MPlayle

I seem to recall seeing on the website for those ball joints that they still need to be greased, just not shimmed?

Are they a different model from what I saw?

These are the ones I read about from other threads on the forum:
http://classicminisjapan.com/new-parts/maintenance-free-ball-joint-kit/


MiniDave

Well....to me "maintenance free" means no greasing?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

Quote from: MiniDave on December 17, 2020, 08:12:20 PM
Well....to me "maintenance free" means no greasing?

At first, I thought the same thing until I read all the way down the product page and it talked about the installation process.  There it said they still needed greasing - just no more adjusting the shims as they wear.


cstudep

it says "Grease up as normal using the nipple on the lock tab. Other than for exceptional circumstances, does not require additional grease-up once fitted."

So technically "maintenance free" I suppose, so long as you don't have any exceptional circumstances......once properly greased up the first time of course.

Willie_B

Yes they do get greased up after install and as needed. Just no shimming required as they wear in.

MiniDave

#38
I've been chipping away at the White car, today I got the radiator out so I could get the first smooth a ride cone installed, got the second coat of paint on the engine and got a bunch of parts cleaned up. Also got all the radiator hoses off and water pump out. I think that's the last bit of stuff I have to remove in the engine compartment. While it was so accessible I adjusted the valves too.

Tomorrow I'll get the other front cone installed, then start on ball joints and lower control arms. Once the front end is done I can start reinstalling all the crap I had to take off to get stuff out of the way - the radiator hoses alone were crazy hard to get off - no idea how I'm going to get it all in again! I also changed out the upper control arm bearings and shaft. I noticed the kits from Spares have all the nuts, bolts , washers and plates included - the ones from Sport don't have the big plate or small hardware. I had to straighten the plate as it was bent when I got it out.

BTW, in case anyone needs to know - the tall cones go in front, short ones in back. Jeremy at Jet Motors says it's a good idea to shorten the trumpets about 2mm or the front end sits too high. I decided not to do that, I know they'll settle down after a few hundred miles......

BTW, I was very pleased with how easily the control arm came off the old ball joint, sometimes they can really fight you, but this one popped right off with the scissor press.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

On the late models with the one piece fan shroud, plastic 11 blade fan and no metal inner fender extension you can install the radiator with the shroud and lower hose attached.
Its a bit fiddly and you will need to flex the fan blades some but it works for me and my big ass hands.

MiniDave

This one has a thick rubber shroud between the radiator and the inner fender that was attached with the same 4 bolts that hold the shroud, it was so stiff I could not get enough clearance to get the radiator out. I'm debating whether to put it back in again since I'll be using an aluminum radiator and it won't have A/C. There also is an electric fan in this fender and I'm debating removing it too.....my car with it's alloy rad takes a pretty hot day and a long run on the highway to get to the middle of the temp gauge, I can't see the need for the electric fan.

I did buy a switch though, so I could just wire up it for safety's sake.

Once I got all those hoses off I had room to get my hand and a ratchet wrench in and take out the bolts on the back side to release the shroud and the rubber, but putting it all back will be a chore!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

I run an aux fan on my car where the spi fan sits.  I still run hot on a hot summer day sitting at an idle or moving slowly. Probably has something to do with the radiator core is all I can figure since it did it before the engine rebuild also.  I'd leave that fan just in case. Once I'm moving there's no issues. Just hates slow speeds.

MiniDave

I'm surprised, mine doesn't do that at all. On long highway runs on really hot days of 90* +, it only gets slightly above the middle of the gauge....in town or at stops it doesn't get any hotter BUT, I'm not making 100 hp either....I figure this one had the extra fan because of the A/C, even tho the A/C condenser had its own electric fan too.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

It's a mystery.  Tropical fan or regular fan I have the same issue.  And it's verified hot by a rad cap temp gauge too. So not some faulty sending unit.  Part of the pitfalls of a Chinese rad perhaps.

MPlayle

It may also be a matter of which water pump/fan pulley size you are running.

There are 3 main sizes: 3.875" (original standard size), 4.2" (small bore oversize), and 4.75" (Cooper-S and late model 1275s - not MPI).

Going to a smaller pulley increases the speed of flow through the radiator meaning more volume per time.  Too fast and you risk cavitation at the pump and the coolant not spending enough time in the rad to cool much.

Going to a larger pulley slows the speed of flow.  This means more time in the radiator but can also mean the coolant spending too much time in the engine.

That was one of the things I had to balance out when I redid the Moke.

The part descriptions on Mini Spares site also talks about using the better water pumps in conjunction with the appropriate sized pulley.

94touring

I need to measure what's in there.  That could be it.

MPlayle

I forget where the correct place to measure actually was, but I seem to recall it needed to be about where the belts sits versus the outer rim.


MiniDave

Yep, I had this issue with Buzz, in my case I had gone to the 2.76 final drive and the engine just wasn't making near as many rpm's on the highway - that's where I was having my problem getting hot. Going to the smaller pulley completely cured it.

I'm not sure which way you would need to go as you're running a 3.44 plus the smaller tires, so your RPMs are way up there compared to what mine were on Buzz.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring


Willie_B

I have a couple of the small 3.875 and a couple of the larger 4.75 pulleys. I would like to try the middle size 4.2 one. On my mini I am running the smallest pulley and it does good around town and in the mountains but the temp goes up when on the freeway at 70+ for any period of time.