N Dentressangle

The last Fiat I owned was a 903cc 127. With a boot, rather than a hatch.

Always fancied a Mk1 Strada, but that'll never happen. Good to see another shonky Italian motor still going!

On 13/11/2023 at 21:28, wesacosa said:

thanks mate. Will give it a watch &read

If you don't want to do all this, put a wrap of insulation tape around the lock pin. Have a google and you'll see what I mean. Doesn't solve it 100%, but makes it liveable with.

Ignore all the horror stories about these cars. MB forums are full of real worriers.

It'll be fine.

Definitely worth having the codes read properly. My dad has one the same as yours, except in diesel estate flavour, and it threw the same lights a few months ago.

Turned out to be a weird connector fault covered by an MB TSB a few years later. Panic over. But correct diagnosis is king on these cars - no parts darts.

That's the spirit!

That cam sounds OK, actually. Just like most 'hot' cams I've ever experienced. Don't get something for nothing 😉

Having read the reviews I think I'd give that cam a try. If you want a clockwork idle and smooth low-end power, you know that you'd be better off with something closer to stock, but if some performance is what you fancy then it sounds worth a go.

DCOE's in my experience are mighty thirsty, so you may as well try and get some more power for all that extra fuel! If you go back to a stock cam, you may as well re-fit an SU HS4 or similar and save money on E5.

Yep, hubs / wheels up until P38 / D2 are all the same pattern

Freelander is different as it's BL and not a real Land Rover 😉

Us Land Rover folk are simple creatures 🤠

No idea why you'd monster the wheelnuts on Disco alloys - the torque for D1's is only 120ish. Some people are weird.

Truck's looking good!

35 sounds decent for a Beetle - they were never great on fuel. I guess that's a relatively inefficient air-cooled engine for you.

I like the 'sedate' way they just cover ground though. Less buzzy and stressed feeling than most old small cars, I thought

A long time ago I had a 1200 which was incredibly slow, but nice to drive in a relaxed kind of way.

How's the acceleration?

10 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Did you know that in the pre Jaguar days, Daimler contemplated fitting the 2 1/2 litre V8 into Vauxhall Cresta PA bodies to give them a saloon to sell as well as the sports car?Got as far as the prototype stage and then Jaguar came along. In a project worthy of yourself, a fellow name of Roderick Ramage, a solicitor by trade, spent many years and a huge amount of money building his own. A fascinating story. Love the 250,think the thinner bumpers really suit it. 

Bloody hell, you're not wrong!

http://www.daimler-dn250.net/index.htm

Incongruous is the word, I think

Does that mean the axle / wheel is about to fall off?

If no, I'd wait until the next MoT. Because I'm fussy like that.

Like the XJ6 a lot.

Especially nice to have found one without a leaper, and just the naff badge to remove - I find a hairdryer gives enough heat to melt the glue on that kind of thing enough to allow it to be pulled off, then the glue residue removed with white spirit / thinners.

1 minute ago, HMC said:

i cant see any obvious leaks, ive got a little hand help pump i got off e bay years ago, maybe i should just get pumping to the correct height and see what happens? (iirc you can use antifreeze/distilled water for fluid)

#hydrolasticclueless

50/50 antifreeze water mix works fine, yes.

Might be worth picking up a spare Schrader valve innards before you begin, too - easily liberated from a spare wheel with a valve key.

Just pump it up and see where it squirts out!

Agreed - it was very pretty.

I'd have bought it too, especially had I not seen it in real life. Almost all old cars look better in photos than they really are.

11 hours ago, SiC said:

it will actually start feeling like the end is in sight for bodywork. 

That will be an immense relief.

In hindsight, would you have looked for a better shell to start with?

Not taxed since June '93.

Bad times for old Minis, I guess.

3 hours ago, Blake's Den said:

It is good to see another mini on these pages. I've got a thread for my 1989 Austin Mini Designer project.

It all looks saveable to me, every panel is available but the price soon ticks up. I've used heritage panels where they are on show (sills, wing, wheel arch) but for the floor and inner sills I used the magnum ones. I just couldn't justify hacking a heritage panel in half given the cost of them.

Not sure about the rear subframe, it looks like it came off the titanic! 

I agree with keeping it standard, thats what I'm doing with my '89 Designer and '97 Cooper.  I really enjoy seeing the original cars at the mini shows. Yes, you could put a 1380cc A series in it or a fireblade engine but that has been done many times before by nearly everyone. The number of unmodified mini's is actually quite small and I believe that they retain their original ethos of cheap but fun transport.

Good luck

Completely agree, and thanks for your videos - I've really enjoyed the ones on your rusty Designer!

Given I've got sills and floorpans to do, which do you do first? Work from the outside in, or floors first and work outwards?

11 hours ago, Matty said:

You fucker. I sad reacted and everything. Dead to me now 🤣

Sorry, couldn't resist 🤣

Inner driveshaft joints are now popped out and the lump is ready to pull later.

3 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

You're giving up on the project because it needs a pair of floorpans? 

I might get stuck with it. Fred reckoned his wife Wilma was really picky.

7 minutes ago, Matty said:

I had clocked the filter position and figured Marina, but a quick bit of mental reasoning under the bonnet I figured it would fit without impeding on anything else.

The fella selling the Sprite has since messaged me with a tempting offer though. Not giving much away yet, but I'll let you know how it works out later!

Ooooh, exciting! 🤯

We're now at the stage where I've made my rotisserie, or at least the business ends of it:

The castors were 700kg rated cheapies off Ebay for about £11 the set. All the rest of the wood I had lying around or left over from other jobs, which answers the question my wife always asks me.

Engine bay is now fully stripped, engine mounts undone and lump ready to pull - might do it tomorrow if I'm in the mood:

Interior is also now fully stripped out. There are a couple of holes in the corners of the rear floorpan which I knew about:

The front floorpans are a different story:

Bad enough to make me give up on the project tbh. I've put some feelers out and got a chap called Fred coming over this afternoon for a look. Wants to bring his mate Barney, who reckons he's a bit of a mechanic. Let's hope they're genuine - can't stand timewasters.

Yep, the 3.9 diff might be a good compromise, and a fair bit cheaper too.

If you really want an A+, the only rear drive fitment was to the Ital. The Marina 1275 might be cheaper than Midget ones, though:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314687835808?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TzcCUL1zSiy&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=3fVYaSNwS9a&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Got to be cheaper than that on FB

The easiest way to do what you want would be to fit a 1275 Midget engine, and find a very late Midget 1500 3.7:1 diff to go with it. I think that's the highest they came with. They're not cheap unless you can turn one up off Ebay. Here's what you're after: https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mg-midget-forum.3/3-7-rear-end-gears.3278853/ and you'd end up with something like this mechanically: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/856560685352976/

Keeps you with pure nuts n bolts mods, so straightforward and easily reversible, although I'd say it would make the car more valuable, not less.

Anything much better takes you into MX5 / K series engines etc with loads more work. 

4 hours ago, Talbot said:

With that rear subframe, I'd be tempted to have it acid dipped and then hot-dip-galvanised.  They dissolve like a sugar cube in hot water normally, so to have an original one that isn't cornflakes is amazing.  With it dip galvanised, it'll last forever, and it's a major selling point as and when you come to sell it.

Finding someone to do any of these things, and at a reasonable price is a nightmare.

I wanted the wheels of the 25 shotblasted - one firm wanted £110 per wheel to blast and powder coat, another one wanted £25 per wheel to blast and prime only but hasn't got back to me. It's a PITA.