1989 Austin Mini 'Designer' special edition project + bonus Mini Cooper content

[Remspoor]

You use a storm cover inside a garage? Pure luxury.

[Blake's Den]

10 hours ago, Remspoor said:

You use a storm cover inside a garage? Pure luxury.

Yes, guilty as charged!

I originally got the cover to stop the mini getting too dusty during the winter lay up. It also reduced the chances of scratches when I've needed to squeeze past it.

In my defence I have used the cover when both mini's were living outside for a bit.

 

 

[Blake's Den]

After a surprising first time pass of its MoT for my Mini Cooper I found myself with some spare time on my hands so I decided to do a bit more on Project Designer.

I knew that there was a small patch that needed replacing on the floor directly under the passenger side companion box. After a bit of investigation I realised that it had been welded in the past, it is the first bit of previous welding that I have found. Instead of having a patch over a patch I decided to cut it all out and replace it with a new piece of 0.8mm zinc coated mild steel.

Also I needed to replicate a small lip on the wheel arch which had rotted away. I was quite pleased at how it worked out in the end. It is all going to get covered with Upol Gravitex but its nice to know that it is a half decent repair.

I'm not 100% sure when the next installment of this project will come along, I seem to be juggling quite a few projects at the moment 😀

[Blake's Den]

A bit of an update. I've been struggling to get into the garage due to work commitments, illness and life getting in the way. However I managed to find some spare time at the weekend so I decided to strip down the radius arms. Despite their appearances they aren't actually in too bad of condition with no noticable wear on the hinge pin thing. The wheel bearings are goosed, all of the grease has dried out. It was always the plan to replace these.

I'm going to buy new pre-assembled backing plates for ease, the ones left over will go into my strategic spares pile. They will fit both my Mini Cooper and my Turner Ranger.

 

[Remspoor]

@Blake's Den Have you seen this channel. Some nice tips. However, parts that they sell are expensive/ hipsterish prices.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Stevestonmotorco/videos

[Blake's Den]

Another quick update.

I've been struggling to find the time and motivation to finish the bodywork. There isn't much left to do other than cleaning and painting the boot floor and welding on the valance. Anyway, I decided to start working of refurbishing some of the mechanical parts so that I can get the subframe ready to bolt back on once the floor is done.

The rear hubs needed a going over as the wheel bearings were very grumbly. I was expecting to find taper roller bearings but instead found plan (ball) bearings. I don't think that you can even buy these any more for a Mini so they must have some age to them. Also, all of the grease had solidifed and was looking quite grim.

I cleaned and painted the hubs and put in new taper roller bearings. I was quite satisfied with the results, it is nice to start dealing with some of the mechanical issues.

 

[Blake's Den]

I decided to try and film something different the other day. I realised that I spend a lot of time filming me working on my minis but I don't actually show me enjoying them! So I decided to film some action shots on my Mini Cooper, here is the result:

Just a short video but I do love the sound of an A-series and an RC40.  This car never fails to put a smile on my face 🙂

[Remspoor]

Having watch the Landie repairs. Luck that ball joint broke then and not on the road. That was a bit weak and did not seem to be able to stand up to much punishment.

What is the cover you are using? I would assume it is strong enough to withstand strong winds etc.

I also like the fire bell on the wall. Was that on the buildings when you purchased the property?

[Blake's Den]

2 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Having watch the Landie repairs. Luck that ball joint broke then and not on the road. That was a bit weak and did not seem to be able to stand up to much punishment.

What is the cover you are using? I would assume it is strong enough to withstand strong winds etc.

I also like the fire bell on the wall. Was that on the buildings when you purchased the property?

Yeah, buy cheap buy twice! It was odd, i was torquing it up and it went tightish but just wouldn't get tighter. The new one felt much better.

The car port thing was a Facebook market place bargain. I'm unsure of the origin but it's a bit like one of these :

Outsunny 3 x 6m Heavy Duty Carport Garage Car Shelter Galvanized Steel Outdoor Open Canopy Tent Water UV Resistant Waterproof, White https://amzn.eu/d/bxOBTDU

I've got it bolted to the concrete floor and anchored using wire rope and a turnbuckle to the wall. It's rock solid in any wind. 

The fire bell came with the house! It's quite loud, I guess that's the intention of it. It has now been superseded by an interlinked smoke alarm system.

[Remspoor]

Thanks for the info.

We have all been there when purchasing cheaper goods.

The design of the ball joint looks positively ancient.  Wonder if it gores back as far as a series one? Or maybe they are like that to make them serviceable in the field?

[Blake's Den]

22 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Thanks for the info.

We have all been there when purchasing cheaper goods.

The design of the ball joint looks positively ancient.  Wonder if it gores back as far as a series one? Or maybe they are like that to make them serviceable in the field?

I've got no idea but it wouldn't surprise me if LR had always done it that way. To be fair, I'm use to the ball joints on a mini which need to be shimmed and are a right pain to set up right.

[Remspoor]

I have no idea how (when needed) I can get track rod ends for my Westminster. The ball joints sit on the end of an arm which is forms part of the suspension. All in one unit.

[Blake's Den]

Another update. I've been putting off cleaning and painting the underside of the boot floor but I have been busy doing work on some of the mechanical bits. First on the hit list was to recondition the radius arms. I was really pleased with how they turned out.

Luckily I didn't need to replace the bearings or the bushes. Before I took the subframe off the Mini I checked for play on both radius arms and there wasn't the hint of any movement at all.

I now need to attach these to the subframe and think about getting it back on to its wheels. That is still a long way off.

[Noel Tidybeard]

it's like listening to Nigel Ogden talking aout cars instead of organ music 😁

[Blake's Den]

I found myself with a spare couple of hours so I decided to rebuild the rear brakes in advance of fitting them to the subframe.

Quite happy with how they turned out. It is amazing what a difference a clean up, a coat of paint and some new shiny bits make. The old brake cylinders showed no signs of leaking so I've kept these as strategic spares since they will fit my Cooper and also my Turner Ranger.

In other news my YouTube subscriber count ticked over to 900 the other day. I'm getting close to that magic 1000 which is both amazing and scary at the same time.

[Remspoor]

I have not had any time to watch that yet. Thanks for the reminder.

[Blake's Den]

1 hour ago, Remspoor said:

I have not had any time to watch that yet. Thanks for the reminder.

No problems, no rush 😃

[Blake's Den]

Another small video update on the Rover Mini Cooper MPI. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to have some air horns on a Mini. When I got my MPI nearly 14 years ago I didn't think that it would be possible to fit any as the engine bay is so cramped. 

I recently acquried a set of small air horns that my dad had fitted to his Suzuki Swift Sport. After looking at them I realised that they might just squeeze into the Cooper's engine bay. I butchered another Rover horn to get the wiring plug so that I didn't have to hack into the MPI loom and I managed to get the horn to fit nicely. It is a snug fit but it is a fit! Also it is about 6 decibels louder than the old horn and quite a sharper sound so overall I'm happy with the result.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

why does the "new" horn only sound like a single tone- it looks like a twin

[Ghosty]

2 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

why does the "new" horn only sound like a single tone- it looks like a twin

There's definitely two tones there! The high tone's pretty quiet in the video. 

[Blake's Den]

2 hours ago, Ghosty said:

There's definitely two tones there! The high tone's pretty quiet in the video. 

I'm just happy that it's louder and a better sound 🙂

[Remspoor]

Do you have to oil the compressor, like you had to do with those larger air horns?

I did not know about the calculations behind the louder volume.

[Blake's Den]

2 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Do you have to oil the compressor, like you had to do with those larger air horns?

I did not know about the calculations behind the louder volume.

Erm, it came with no instructions! I couldn't see anywhere obvious to add oil too so I will assume no.

Yes, the decibel scale is logarithmic (so not linear).  Using an aribitary value of 70db (equialvent to the noise inside a car on a motoray), then a whisper (other chocolate bars are available!) at about 30db is 1/16th the loudness of 70db. Foing the other way, a thunder clap at 120db is 32 times as loud as 70db.

[Remspoor]

Well done.

[Blake's Den]

18 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Well done.

Thanks! I can't believe it 🙂

[Blake's Den]

So for those who don't understand the above.........I have finally hit 1000 subscribers on my YouTube channel! It really blows my mind knowing that 1000 people want to watch my videos. When I set off on this journey I never wanted to be the next big think or a copy of someone else. I'm just me doing what I do and if a video helps out one other person then that makes me happy.

I'm still quite a long way of our resident HubNut @dollywobbler who at the time of writing is about to hit the 100,000 subscribers mark. Again, mind boggling numbers.

So if you haven't subscribed then head over to www.youtube.com/@blakesden and see what you are missing out on

[Blake's Den]

A mini Mini update (see what I did there?!)

I had my Rover Mini Cooper MPI in for its MoT today. It passed with no problems. I was shocked to find that I had only done 200 or so miles in it in the last 12 months 😒. I must try harder this year.

Also, I made an quick video update on Project Designer (my 1989 Designer special edition). The update is pretty much there is no update! But I decided to do the video as there has been quite an influx of new subscribers to my channel and many of them don't know about this project. Also, people keep asking me when it will be finished 😀

 

[Blake's Den]

After the sad news today about the passing of Mary Quant it seems only appropriate that I post this:

 

[Blake's Den]

I finally found the time to do some more on Project Designer. To be honest, I had been putting this job off for some time as I expected it to be hard work, whilst it wasn't easy it wasn't as hard as expected.

Using the CJ autos tilting lift really helped. I could sit under the back end of the mini and work quite comfortable on the floor. I reckon that I could have got it cleaner if used a rotisserie but that would have meant stripping the car to a bare shell.

Onwards on upwards, I can get the rear valance on now and a load of gravitex.

[Remspoor]

Getting there slowing. Having those other projects and a life will make this one a slow burner.😄