Reggie: The '96 Rover Mini

Started by LilDrunkenSmurf, September 21, 2015, 12:22:43 PM

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LilDrunkenSmurf

Well they were "genuine" according to minispares. Likely, since I drenched them in anti-seize, I just over torqued at least the stripped out side. The other side wasn't stripped out. I forgot you're supposed to use ~30% less torque for wet torque.

MiniDave

Right.....no reason to use antisieze on that part, but a nylock is a good idea.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

LilDrunkenSmurf

I live in Canada, where the roads are caked in salt 6 months of the year. After 8 years with my Subaru, it's generally accepted to slather everything in anti-seize.

MiniDave

I hear ya! Here in KC you'd think the city owns a salt mine the way they lay that stuff down on the roads!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

When I moved to Texas from the Midwest back in the early 90s, I was amazed to see perfectly pristine old cars driving around. I'm not talking classics or anything - I'm talking about Ford Tempos and Toyota Corollas and Chevrolet Cavaliers.  Basic transportation devices.   The kind of cars that got eaten up and spit out up north.  They just keep on chugging until mechanically they become too expensive to maintain.  But the junkyards are filled with perfectly fine looking cars here.  So it's really misleading when you go to a Pick-n-Pull and see what you think is a good car. All the mechanical stuff, wiper motors, alternators, radiators, etc. are totally shot but the body still looks great.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

LilDrunkenSmurf

I had a similar experience when I spend a few weeks in Vancouver in the spring.
They rarely see snow, so they don't salt the roads. I saw a ton of old late 80's honda's, toyota's, etc, that had mint bodies on them, whereas anything older than 10 years here looks unsafe to be on the road at times.

MiniDave

Hey Smurf, did that fix your shimmy at 80Kph?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

LilDrunkenSmurf

I didn't go fast enough before it fell apart. Did you fix yours?

MiniDave

Nope, still doing it.....I was hoping that might fix yours, although my bushings are new and my pins are tight so I know that's not it on mine.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

LilDrunkenSmurf

Came here to say that it apparently did fix my shimmy. But now my steering wheel is at a jaunty angle when driving straight, so either my alignment is out of wack, or I just need to re-center it, because getting this thing aligned it a huge pain.

Also, I love this car. Sometimes I hate it, but I love this car. I just want to throw money at it, but I don't even know where to start (other than buying a B-series subframe).

LilDrunkenSmurf

Been a while. Decided to not completely ignore the car for a bit. Last spring I tried to troubleshoot the cold start flooding issue. It boiled down to likely being an IAT sensor. So I ignored it, and barely drove the car.
Took it out on Wednesday, and decently enjoyed it, so I decided to give it some love. Ordered the replacement IAT sensor, gave it an oil change, checked that no front suspension bolts were loose, and adjusted the valves, using this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFvwyCroV2w

Originally I mis-read my tools and adjust it using a 0.0015" feeler, but I went back and properly adjusted it using a 0.012" feeler. Since I removed the spark plugs anyways, I opted to do a quick compression test. I labelled the Cyl 1->4 from Left to Right.

Cyl 1: 175psi
Cyl 2: 175psi
Cyl 3: 180psi
Cyl 4: 170psi



And the spark plugs, 1-4 from left to right.



Seems to idle much better, which I'm stoked on. I also found it near impossible to turn the engine over, so I had to put the car in gear and shunt it back and forth.

Now I notice a pretty solid clunk when I shift 1-2, and over some bumps, so I think it's engine mounts, but I have no idea which ones I would need to tackle, as all the ones I can see underneath the car seem fine.

BruceK

#261
Nice healthy compression!   4.gif

Just FYI, normally cylinder numbering goes 1 to 4 with 1 starting at the timing chain end of the engine.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

LilDrunkenSmurf

Turns out the clunks were the passenger side wheel bearing (left hand side). Grabbed a new lucas one from a local mini shop for ~$60, watched a vid, asked a buddy if he was bored, and went to town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv5Xv_tgCE

Surprisingly only took 2.5 hours for the entire process. Did a short test drive, and it appears resolved. The cold start flooding is still present, but I have a new IAT sensor in a box, that took a month to get here from the UK. They're apparently notorious for going bad.



94touring


LilDrunkenSmurf

I fully expected it to take much longer, seeing as it was my first attempt.

94touring

Did you have a press for the bearing job or punch and hammer?  I spend most of the time hand lapping and shimming the balljoints till I feel they're good to go.

LilDrunkenSmurf

I used a punch and hammer. We tried a bearing pull kit, but it wasn't quite right. I believe my neighbour has a press, but I didn't want to go harass him.

MiniDave

Shimming ball joints is a pain in the ass......I think the extra cost for those sealed ones from Japan might be worth it just to not have to do that!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad