Daily Driver/ Slow Resto project

[Mudhen]

I would like to get Flur alone and take her panels off.  Looks like a lot of work, the kind of project I like.  The boot handle is a lot better than that rope!

I read that 5 times before my brain stopped converting 'panels' to 'panties'...couldn't figure out what the heck you were talking about.   22.gif

[Twichel04]

HAHAHAHA  :D  4.gif  22.gif

[94touring]

 :D

[joltfreak]

 :-[

hehehe!!!

[Twichel04]

Small update- did a bit of work on Flur today, but it felt like I was going backwards. This whole time, I have been putting her back together to get back on the road, but because of the coolant leak, today I was taking her apart  :(

The leak was just a spit hose, but I knew that the radiator would need to come out anyway, so I bought a new one, and I am really glad that I did. If you just touch the fins on the old radiator, they fall off, haha.

Old-


New-


That's about as far as I got on the cooling system today, because my new hoses hadn't arrived yet. So I went about getting some of the little things done that I need to do before she goes on the road... Cleaned up all the grounds, got the tail lights in, and blinkers working, finished fitting the interior (save for the carpet), took the grille off so that I can try to fix it, etc.

All that's left to do before I can start driving her everyday is to refit the cooling system, put in some seat belts, and new headlamps. Then she's good to go.

I feel like I took a step back though, cause she started the day like this-


and ended like this  50.gif-

[94touring]

Nice looking radiator.

[Twichel04]

Haha, thanks. I like the way it looks too, but the main reason I bought it was because @ $56 shipped, it was also the cheapest new radiator that I could find, haha.

Speaking of cheap... I am a serious penny pincher when it comes to the car.  The grille on Flur was on it's way out. At one point the bonnet release broke, so someone tore into the grille to get to it-


Flur will not be perfect by any means, she is just a daily driver, but I can't stand the bent up grille with half the slats falling off, but I also don't want to spend the money on a new grille that will look better than the rest of the car, so I decided to try to bend the slats back as best I could, reattach them, and polish it up.

Before-


Taped up to keep from scratching the slats and to paint the metal backing. I kind of like the green slats... but I don't think it would be a good look for Flur-


After-


Still not perfect, but A LOT better than before, and it was cheaper than even buying a used grille, which would have looked about the same. All in all, I am happy with it.

[Willie_B]

My mini is not a show but is a driver. I can drive and park it anywhere and not worry about it. That sure makes it more fun to drive it as much as possible. I have done some creative things also to keep it on the road. The grille on it now is black and white checkered painted as it too was in not real good condition. I go to maybe one car show a year, I got the car to have fun and drive, not go to car shows. Keep up the good work and have fun working and driving.  4.gif

[Twichel04]

I like the checkers! I was planning on painting my grille if I couldn't get it to polish up at all, but I think it came out decent.

Another DIY clean up..... the fan shroud was pretty rough looking-


After a bit of work with some steel wool, and some paint, it ended up like this-




Not perfect by any means, but a ton better to look at, and perfectly usable for a daily driver :)

Sorry I keep boring you guys with all this little stuff, I am just trying to keep a good record of all the work I am doing to Flur.

[Willie_B]

You are not boring us. May promt us to fiddle some with ours. Keep up the good work.

[Mudhen]

Yes, definitely keep sending us all your updates, it definitely helps those of us who are, uh, a little less than persistent with the work on our own projects.

Interested in the radiator - keep seeing different aluminum ones on ebay..wondering what the difference is between a $50 one and a $300 one from MiniMania or some other shop.

[94touring]

I need to look on ebay, but I would expect to pay 300 plus for those alloy super two core rads.

[Twichel04]

As far as I can tell by comparing the $56 ebay listing, and all the $100+ 2 core rads out there they all seem to be the same. I mean, I can't speak fully for the quality yet, as I still have not installed it, but just from looking at it, it appears to be well made. The welds are very good, and I really like that they didn't grind them down, they are very pretty welds and nice to look at, and it's even polished. So far, I am very pleased with it. shipping was fairly quick (4000 miles in 4 days) and the radiator was extremely well packed. Better even than if you went down to a major parts store to buy a new rad.

I also purchased a set of silicone hoses on ebay. These ones here, to be exact- http://www.ebay.com/itm/150962074284?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Quality is very nice. They seem to be really well made for Chinese hoses. These same EXACT hoses are $100+ shipping from GBcarparts. Even the shipping was fast. It only took 8 days to get here from eastern China. I know that Chinese parts are not always great quality, but I figured cheap silicone would still be better than good rubber.

[94touring]

I just looked at the ebay rads and now I'm trying to see what the difference really is.  Mainly on the 3 core and if they have a super 2 core that everyone likes using.

[Mudhen]

I thought I saw one time someone quoting a particular thickness of aluminum...

[Twichel04]

Comparing the 2 core rad that I bought on ebay VS the MiniMania  Alloy Super 2 core that they sell for $300, I will say that there are some visual differences between the two. However, based on MiniMania's description, they seem to be equal. Both are 2 core, 1'' each, both are V shaped fins. Only difference that I can find based on their description, is that theirs weighs in at 4.75 lbs, and according my scale (which may be off by a little, but not much) mine weighs in at 3.5 lbs.

I will know more once I install it, but so far, I am confident. I did save the old rad, just in case though. It's seen better days, but it wasn't leaking, so it has become an emergency back up.

[Twichel04]

I must amend my previous statement. After taking a tape measure to mine, it turns out that mine has 2 cores measuring .9'' each.... So it could be that mine is a bit narrower, or it could be that MiniMania is also rounding up. Here is the same radiator on GBcarparts for $124 except it looks like theirs is not polished and their welds don't look as good- http://www.gbcarparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CS-RadAlloy2

[94touring]

The widest 2 core on ebay I found was 50mm.  There was also a 42 and 46mm.  The three core was 55mm.  I think its the v shaped fins that give it the cooling advantage?

[Twichel04]

Mine is the 46mm the 50mm would (theoretically) have full 1'' cores, or close enough that makes no difference. From what I understand, yes the V shaped fins give a cooling advantage over the factory style horizontal fins.

[94touring]

I'm learning all sorts of stuff.  Yeah 50mm was just a hair shy of two inches.  Well, rather than spend 300+ for a shiney super two core I may get one of these.  Anyone know why the super two cools better than the standard 3 core?  If I use to know I've forgotten.

[Twichel04]

Don't quote me on this, but I think that, despite the fact that it has one less core, the cores are bigger and allow for more cooling... that's just my assumption though, I could be wrong.

[94touring]

I hadn't thought of it like that, I was wondering if the thickness reduced airflow. 

[MPlayle]

The newer two core radiators are designed to give more exposed surface area for each core to increase heat transfer.  The older 3 & 4 core radiators did not have good spacing between the cores so only the first 1 or 2 cores shed heat.  The third & forth cores were exposed to the already heated air from the first two cores.  That would actually reduce efficiency.

The fin style also creates more surface area for heat transfer.

[Willie_B]

Don't forget about the  "sale" side of MiniMania, "minimotors.com". I have this rad from them and had no issues at all for the last year or so. The only wonky thing is the overflow tube points a different direction.

http://www.minimotors.com/Mini_Cooper_Parts_and_Accessories.cfm?pn=C%2DARA5000%20%20%20%20%20%20&pID=895501

Good price on it also. I always price check there when hunting parts.

[joltfreak]

I had my local rad shop fab up the rads for my minis. I had him use a larger diameter core tube in them both to allow for better cooling. Been happy with them both.