MAVIS DOES MOTOR OIL!

So what can i say...

2011-07-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Ok i'll start with nothing has happened to mavis in a while.

Due to several factors.

Mostly a lack of money,Time to do anything.

And still no power to the garage.

Not sure where but the cable is broken and its underground,so i'm going to have to sort that first.

To repair this is going to eat into the small amount of money that i have saved up to do the next few bits i had intended to buy for mavis.

I will try harder to update this blog in future.

stu and mavis.....:O(

So whats happened??????

2010-12-30T04:07:00.000-08:00

Well to be honest next to nothing has happened.
First off i've got no electrics in the garage,so no light or power if needed.
And secondly funds are non exsistant.

I have no spare time at the moment and i will have to get the power back on some how.

But i hope to get started again in the new year so watch this space but dont hold your breath.

See you in the new year!!

fresh air ducting..

2010-05-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

well i have managed to remove and clean all the fresh air ducting from the old shell.
Its all been cleaned with the help from my 3yr old son.
I just need to reinstall it now into the new shell.

And on a slightly different note I went to the riv run show in newquay this year.
First time for 3 years that i've been.
Gets you in the mood for doing lots of work to the car but i have no funds at the moment.
Some very nice cars there,didnt seem as busy as previous years could have been a weather thing as the weather wasnt great for camping.

well sign off time.
more soon.

washers!!!!!

2010-03-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Been a while so heres a small update of things.
I have just bought all thats needed to finish off the windscreen washers.
The water bottle i already had with pump.
I had to buy new pipe a "T" piece and some new washer jets.
In all this has cost me £25.But they are now finished and can be forgot about for now.
I now have to fit the pipe from the boot to the Engine bay,this is because the water bottle on the later mini's was mounted in the boot to save on space under the bonnet.
So i have about 3 meters of pipe to pull up the "c" pillar across the roof and down the "A" pillar,Through the bulkhead and into the enginebay.
Then it can be connected to the newly fitted washer jets.
I decided to go for the small single jet chrome type rather then the twin jet.
This is because they are smaller and use less water each time you use them.
(the bottle for water is not very big in a mini).

righ thats it for now.
may take a couple of pictures later.

wipers...

2010-02-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

Ok i have had an hour on the rebuild today.
First off i have fitted new wiper wheel boxes to the shell,With a freshly greased cable.
This has been fitted to the overhauled wiper motor.
I have also finally managed to remove the wiring loom from mavis's old shell.
I have come to the conclusion that the old loom has had it so i need to buy a new.
just need some funds now.
next time i hope to get some contact glue so i can fit the headlining.

thats all for now
more soon i hope.

Lack of money at this time........

2009-12-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

with a lack of money at this time of the year there will be little happening here for a while.
If anything does happen i will post here as soon as i can.
I might get to do some cleaning of old parts from the old shell over the christmas period.
I'm hoping to get the main wiring loom out within this time.
Hoping theres nothing wrong with it looking at the price of new looms.
I have looked at the price of new rear lights.These are £70 each.ouch.

Right thats it for now.

stu g

Brake master cylinder...

2009-11-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Well i just fitted the brake master cylinder,brake limiter valve and pipes.

Both of these items where cleaned and painted before hand.

I used the original pipes as they seem to be ok after a quick clean.

The mounting plate is new along with new gaskets above and below.

Has'nt been fitted yet but the wiper motor has been cleaned and painted

in the same silver.

Thats all for now.

got a quote......

2009-11-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

Just today i got a quote for some engineering work to be done to the engine.
if any of you know about mini engines,it is possible to fit a 1275 cylinder head
to a 998 engine.However you need to have the block pocketed to recieve the valves.
Well i've had a quote for this pocketing work at £60.and £32 for new cam bearings to be fitted.
This has got me wanting to strip the engine down as soon as i can.going to have to make some space in garage to do this.You never know i might get going this weekend, next update then.
I'm busy with a few bits in work,should be ready for saturday i hope.

more then.

stu g

sunday 15th nov

2009-11-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to do some work this weekend.

Firstly i removed the peddle box from the old shell.

I had a problem doing this as the steering column bracket is bolted on

with the peddle box,using security bolts.

I had to drill the heads off to remove them.

Then i could give it a clean and refit to the new shell.

And finally heres a picture of under the bonnet.

Not much to see sorry.

You can just see the ends of the wires that make

up the rear loom.

Thats all i have report this week.

Not much to report this weekend...

2009-11-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Not much to report this weekend,this was due to bad weather today(sunday 1st nov),And not having much spare time.

What i have managed to do is remove the brake master cylinder,clutch master cylinder.
This was carried out after draining the hydrolic fluid from both systems.
After a quick inspection the clutch master cylinder has had it so i will have to get a new one.
Brake master cylinder seems ok.
The pipes from both of these seems usable too.
Clutch slave cylinder seems ok aswell,but the rubber flexable hose will need replacing.

The clutch and brake peddle box has yet to be removed from the old shell.
This will be cleaned and inspected in due course.

I hav'nt had the chance to clean the wiper motor,but i have found some cheap new wiper boxes.

The only other thing done this week was to take apart,clean,paint,reasemble and fit the ballast
resister for the dim,dip headlights.
This is fitted to the bulkhead crossbeam on the passenger side.

I will post a photo of engine bay soon.

Thats it for now.

Sunday 25th oct.....

2009-10-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

Things done today....

Firstly i manage to remove and clean the main battery cable from old shell.
Has'nt been fitted yet but be will soon.
I have also managed to fit the two mounts for the eyeball vents inside the car.
A few other little jobs done are the big pink relay that hides behind the dash has been fitted along with its mounting clip.
And the top padded dash rail.This has also been recovered in signal violet vinyl.
The throttle peddle has also been fitted.

I think thats all for today.
I'm hoping to clean the wipermotor and fittings over the next week, so as to get it in
place before the main wiring loom goes in.

see you later...

What have i done today....

2009-10-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well i'll start by saying i did'nt get as much done as i had hoped,this was due to bad weather.
It has stopped me from removing cables,wires,fuel pipe and break pipes from the old shell.
I was hoping to reuse some of these if they are in good enough condition.

So what did i get done,well first of the trip over to somerfords was ok.

Managed to get 7 rectangular grommets for the inner stills.these have been fitted.
2 new door switches for the internal light.These have also been fitted.
1 new grommet for the main battery cable.I hav'nt fitted this yet as i need the cable,so i can fit it all at the same time.(please see items in picture).

I have managed to fit 2 lights to the boot lid.
The first of these is a lucas reversing light,from the 60s.
The second is a raydout rear fog light which i think is 60s or 70s.
These have both been tested and both seem to work ok.

I'm hoping to get some more work done tomorrow.
I think the weather is going to be better then today.

Update tomorrow...

2009-10-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

I will post an update tomorrow as i shall be doing some work to mavis then.
I have to go and buy some bits and pieces from somerford mini's first thing.
Then i can fit some of them.
Hoping to remove fuel tank and main battery cable from old car.
Clean and refit the cable.

So i will let you know how things then....

rear wiring loom....

2009-10-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

The rear wiring loom has now been cleaned,checked and fitted.
Complete with grommet in the front bulkead panel.
The heated rear window earth as also been fitted.
The 2 wires for the front door switches have also been put in place awaiting switches.
A few small grommets and blanking plugs have been placed in the bulkhead.
A new steering rack has been installed.

Right i think thats all for now.

Started cleaning the shell..

2009-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have started to clean the new shell.
I have removed all the stuff that was being stored in the shell,most of which was not mini
related what so ever.
I have also just fitted the hot air pipes and vents that fit to the top dash rail at the bottom
of the windscreen.
Got to vacuum the inside next.

No more pictures yet as theres not much to show.
Once i start fitting stuff i will post more pictures.

Thats it for now.....
So watch this space........

And so whats next...

2009-10-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well next is the clean up of new shell.
so will post when something happens.
i will try to post here as often as i can but dont hold your breath.
any ideas let me know,your comments can be really helpful.
bye for now.

stu and mavis.

Mavis as she is now.......

2009-10-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

This is mavis after having her engine removed.

I had removed most of the other bits and pieces from under the bonnet

before the engine came out to make my life a bit easier.

She is now wrapped up,and under a carport.

The new shell is in the garage.

Dont worry the old shell will be put to good use.

I'm going to make a trailer out of it.

The seats will be reused in the new shell.

The new shell..

2009-10-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Heres a pic of the new shell.Dusty and full of non mini stuff.

this is going to be cleared out very soon i hope and given a big clean.

i think i might even wash and polish it before i really start to fit stuff to it.

What happened today.

2009-10-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well today i finally managed to pull the engine out of mavis.

Its a low milage 998cc engine(24,000 miles)from new.

But its not unleaded yet so a head swap is on the cards for it.

the story so far...

2009-10-18T02:15:00.000-07:00

right i bought mavis some time ago as a run around,which i was just going to use from time to time.but the next time it was mot time there was no way she was going to pass.her body work had seen better days.....

so £2,500.oop later a new herritge shell arrived in rover tahihti blue with white roof.

The strip and rebuild started a few years ago.
It has'nt really progressed much,but these last few months things have speeded up a bit.
front subframe has been blasted and primed ready for top coat of paint.
All the suspension arms and bits have been primed and painted.
These will be fitted in due course.

Head lights and front indicators have been fitted.
Handbrake handle is in place but i will remove it for painting.

thats all for now,more later.