'72 Mini Clubman Estate

[Tupers]

I pulled the engine out this evening to get a grasp on how to tension the drive belt for everything. I originally intended on using the tensioner from an MPI mini but the bracketry was too bulky so I stole it's pulley and decided to make my own mount.


Plotting all the pickup points for this was a pain but using the plumb line as my starting point made measuring to the bolts marked in silver much easier.


After a few attempts I came up with this.


The adjuster will sit on the outside and been nice and easy to get to and the mounting bolts will run in sleeves that will be gusseted to the mount.

[Tupers]

So I stumbled across a Specialist Components EFI kit that someone was selling on after running for a year and decided to snap it up.


It needs pulling apart and cleaning but that's OK as I'm considering anodising it all in gold anyway.


I had to bolt it up just to get a look at the complete set-up. I guess I'll have to start designing a new plenum to suit the throttle body now.

[Tupers]

My brother came down over the week end and we got talking about the engine which led to me deciding to switch from a 1098 to a 1275. It seemed silly to be spending all this time and money on an engine that would have fairly limited potential for future upgrades and long term strength.

Irritatingly the 1098 and 1275 blocks are just different enough that and I had to spend most of this evening reworking every bracket I'd already done to make it all fit. On the plus side I will now be able to build a much stronger engine to make the most of all this work.
So this is what it looks like now, barely any different but it'll be worth it down the line.

[850 Tim]

i just read thru the whole thread.
Awesome work!!!
It'll be a very cool mini once its done.

[Tupers]

i just read thru the whole thread.
Awesome work!!!
It'll be a very cool mini once its done.

Thanks Tim, it should turn out to be a bit of a Mini muscle car once it's done.

I finished off the new SC mount above the clutch cover today. The basic design is the same but moved about a bit to suit the 1275 block.*

*
I also made a couple of ears to steady pulley end of the SC.*

*
This is my 4th attempt at a tensioner for the belt system. This is the closest I've got to doing the job so far.*

*
*

[Tupers]

I went to the Castle Combe Mini action day over the weekend and picked up a x-pin diff and a heavy duty steel clutch arm. I like shinny parts.


Taking the air filter backing off the throttle was a huge nightmare as I had to disassemble half of it to get at any bolts but it's off now ready to go into the car for mock up.


The engine is leant back a little more that standard to clear the radiator so I'm going to have a little bump in the bulkhead for the plenum, more on that latter.

[fresh.gen]

Looking great man. I'm keeping a keen eye on this build for sure. Love Mini's and would love to restore one soon.

[MGW]

Wow! Great work at a steady pace! Keep it up. Can't wait for the next update!

[Tupers]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Now that the engine's back in with the charger and throttle body mounted I've turned my attention to the engine steadies.

I started with a pair of old suspension tie rods, cut them down and gave them a clean of the bench grinder.




Both steadies use a 5/16 UNF turnbuckle and a rose joint on the engine side. The old tie bar will be threaded and bolt through the body with a rubber bush on each side.

The R/H steading will be bolted to the standard position on the block and the body side will bolt through the engine bay crossmember.


The L/H steady is mounted to a bracket on the water pump that I made a while ago and will go through the crossmember the same way as the R/H steady.

[A4crn]

Top work!!

[Tupers]

I dropped the ends of the steady bars over to my friendly neighbourhood engineering shop with a rough drawing of what I wanted and got the ends turned down and threaded during lunch.


It all went together properly.


They fit very nicely and should look cool with the turnbuckles chromed.

[Tupers]

I didn't realise it'd been quite so long since I last updated this thread. Unfortunately I haven't actually done anything to the poor thing since my last post but I have been collecting a few parts.

After making to move the a 1275 block I started playing with the idea of using a long stroke crank. I wasn't really taking it seriously until a few inquires lead to the very reasonably priced 84MM stroke crank from MED. As well as being stroked from 81.28MM to 84.3MM it has been wedged, x-drilled and ni-tempered. It should be a very solid heart for my engine.


Seen as my new crank uses Cooper S big ends in the offset I was now in need of a set of rods. A few weeks of surveying ebay turned up these very nice lightened balanced and shot peened Cooper S rods.


And the last piece in my collection of parts I wan't expecting to buy for a good few months are these rare (so I'm told) 1970's Paddy Hopkirk Marathon recliners. These were a bit of a random find but I'm really glad to have them. They are a little narrower than a standard Mini seat unlike many similar recliners so shouldn't impede my centre console plans.


Another plus of these seats is that they're very nicely bolstered so they should save me from sliding about during spirited driving.




So that's all for now, hopefully it wont the 4 months until the next update.

[Zark]

I just read the entire thread. Damn fine fab work. Can't wait to see more!

[Tupers]

I just read the entire thread. Damn fine fab work. Can't wait to see more!

Thanks Zark, I do try.


We scrapped an old Rover Metro at work before christmas so I nabbed the seat sliders from it and narrowed them to fit my new seats.


After doing a trial fit with the sliders on I decided the seat was to high on the crossmember so I did away with it and I'll be making separate sided ones from tube.




With the crossmember out I got the seats sat in. They suit the space very well and should allow plenty of room for a centre console.




Rear leg room is looking good as well.



Mirrors have been on my mind for a while and over the last few months I've been looking out for something interesting to use. I think I've narrowed it down to the two types bellow.

I quite like these wing mounted ones but they are quite large and I need to get the car on the ground to check visibility.




These ones are quite smart as well, not quite as '70s looking at the others but should be easier to see out of.




I also found an old grill that I might use the slats from for this.

[shredgnar_]

8 pages down, and i'm not sure how many more there will be. But, i'm in. Cant wait to see this done!