Wednesday 31 July 2013

Skipping ahead a few steps

I was forgetful when it came to photographing this project, here are some of the final stages of assembly.

Shiny paint colour-matched to what the car would have originally been before fading.
Lots of assembly done here





Cooling systems back in place







 Final product

Sunday 28 July 2013

Ultrasonic

Have purchased an ultrasonic cleaner and used it on a few parts, the results are outstanding, especially for a £40 investment, will definitely be using it again. I'm sure you can figure out which has been cleaned :)

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Engine work

Most of the engine stripped out already, picture to show quality of car, it looks in good shapes but there are problems to be fixed.
 That oh so pesky metering unit, found that the no. 5 banjo bolt was seized, new ones on order.
 All masked and sanded smooth for priming. Decided not to go to bare metal yet.
 First coat on, will layer and lacquer before polishing

Friday 19 July 2013

Triumph TR6

The engine job on the Minis was very fun, and this TR6 is next on the list of cars to do:

The car is running quite rough at the moment, with only 5 cylinders firing. Diagnosis leads to a lack of fuel to the 5th cylinder. (no pulse felt in 5th injector)

Will begin disassembly and further diagnosis soon...

Monday 15 July 2013

Angus' engine bay

We didn't take many photos of Angus' car during the process but both his and my car were done simultaneously, here is his final product.

Really like the red, it pops a lot more on this car than mine!

Spray painting and assembly

First experience using aerosol cans to spray large areas, we will see how it goes...


First Coat of VHT Primer, Looks very sharp!
Flame red to match body, looking very nice now.
Final spray job, almost identical to body colour
 Spraying a few other tidbits
  Parts going back in, all clean and shiny
 Red bull can ignition coil as it will give the car wings ;)

Much cleaner with some more tidy electrics.
  Spotlights still to go on but looking very good




Monday 8 July 2013

Picture dump of dismantling stage


This is a sort of picture dump done at significant points, contemplating making a time-lapse video...

Bonnet off, starting point with lots to do!


Shiny bonnet soon to be quick release


Air filter box off easy peasy 


 Grill off, easy access to front of car.



 Spots off, stainless steel bar is a pain and may have to be bent upwards


 Ignition coil off.





 Alternator hanging on by a thread, or wire.

 Looking Bare

 Cooling drained and disconnected

 Radiator out
More junk removed
 Decided to leave the carb and joint manifold untouched until a later date as cables look fiddly, job for another day.
 Carb and manifolds now live above the bonnet, resting on some wood
  Engine all degreased and cleaned using everyones favourite degreaser: Gunk.
Lots of things missing. Preparing for painting in situation masking paper all over
 Final spray setup


Thursday 4 July 2013

Starting Points

After careful removal of the bonnets and other tidbits, this is the starting point. It is not all that bad but for two guys with 2 cars and lots of spare time a tidy up is well worth it and quite fun.

From here on I will most likely arrange images in this way with mine on the left and Angus' on the right for comparison, although I suspect there will be many more photos of mine

The bays are looking pretty clean at the moment apart from copious amounts of grim near the base of the engine blocks, electrics looking shabby on mine and generally a few problems here and there to fix.



Tuesday 2 July 2013

2x Minis

Me and my friend Angus have decided our engine bays could use some tidying up, along with plenty of other things on them but where better to start.

These are our two minis, Mine the red 998 1990 mayfair and Angus' the Silver/Grey 998 1989 mayfair. Admittedly his photography skills are much better than mine but that can be fixed :D