Welcome to Baby's blog. I'm planning to chronicle the travels and travails of my first race car. You are all invited to check in on us once in a while. And please, feel free to offer advice. I have a lot to learn.
5/9/08
If you were at Spring Brake, you know that I didn't make the driver's school because of an engine issue. As I was changing the oil a few days before the school I discovered a small piece of aluminum sheet metal in the sump. It's likely a chunk of windage tray, which isn't the end of the world but it will require removal of the engine/trans for inspection. And I'm sure there will be other things to do while the engine is opened up. Due to the logistics of shipping the engine/trans unit out of the area, I'm thinking of taking it to Van's Garage in Leland. In addition to being VSCDA members, they work on a variety of exotics, and one of their guys is a Mini owner with some Mini engine experience. I'm thinking of a freshening, and not a major upgrade, as more power isn't what I'm looking for at this point in my racing career! I'm open to your thoughts on my choice of shops. Before I discovered the chunk of aluminum, the engine was running great--smooth, good power and no odd noises. Tom helped me do the initial start-up. It went so well we were done and drinking beer within 45 minutes. Not a drip or a leak of any fluid. Even my German car doesn't do that well.
So what else has happened since the January post? Let's see. I moved the seat forward 2" after taking it to the upholstery shop for some work. The steering wheel mount is nice and adjustable, so I took the opportunity to move it up a bit so I could see the gauges. I got a nice set of Revolutions from Steve and Sue Bonk. Steve said that they were the last Revs to be imported from England, so I guess that makes them authentic vintage parts. All others will be coming via China, using new molds. Seems like that's the way of the world these days. I also have a fresh set of Hoosier TDs mounted on the Revs. I set the front ride height at 3 1/4" under the sump fins for more ground clearance. Doing that was ridiculously easy, probably the easiest thing I've done so far!! 5 minutes at most. A few weeks ago Tom did a mock tech session. Things looked pretty good, though he discovered that the brake lights were run through one of the fuel pump switches, which didn't seem like the best of ideas, so I rewired it through the ignition toggle. I also made a set of alignment bars to set the toe, screwed down the shift boot, and ran a AN-10 hose from the Accusump to the oil filter mount. There's an interesting story. The old line was an AN-6, which is way too small. If it were an artery in my heart I wouldn't be doing anything strenuous. But the oddest thing was that the old line had been shorted to the electrical system at some point, and some of the braided stainless had melted away, exposing some partially-melted hose. The spot was on the underside of the hose, so I'm glad I decided to replace it or I would never have noticed that little accident-waiting-to-happen.
The auxiliary radiator (actually it's a heater core from a Ford Fairmont) was pretty iffy. The inlet and outlet taps are soldered into sheet brass, with no reinforcement. It was never designed for a racing environment. So I fabricated a piece of copper tubing as a brace, to fit in between the two taps (you can see where it would be in the photo below.) There is a nice saddle fit between the copper piece and each of the brass taps. I soldered it all up and it's about 1000% more rigid now.
I also unhooked the front bar. It's a 1 1/4" hollow bar that was built for NASCAR use. The previous owner told me that he liked a car that pushed a bit, but this seems like mega-overkill. The front bar is approximately 5 times as stiff as the rear. I'm going to try it with only the rear bar, which is a common set-up for Minis, and see how it goes. The adjustable shocks should be helpful for tuning.
So that's it for now. I enjoyed going to the Spring Brake, even though I couldn't be in the driver's school. Pouring beer at the Friday night dinner was a great way to meet people. There was quite a contingent from the Grand Traverse area--just look for the M22 t-shirts. It was good seeing the Rusty Nuts gang, and finally meeting Jim Osthoff. What a great group. Thanks to Rob for helping me with the GTI. Oh, and be sure to buy a print from Mike Pixley and help out with the water pump project!!!
1/30/08
Well, a lot’s happened since my last post. The broken rear brake line was the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There have been lots of other issues, most of them pretty minor, but ones that need to be taken care of before the car’s ready to race. Basically I’m going over the entire car, taking nothing for granted. I hope that by May it will be solid and ready to race.
I’ve converted the car to a dual master-cylinder brake system. When the rear line broke it took out the entire brake system, not a real confidence-builder. It convinced me that I needed a safer system. So I replaced the broken rear line and shortened the sway bar ends by 3/8” (actually Tom did, using his trusty cutoff tool.) Presto, no more interference. I ordered a dual master cylinder from MiniMania and installed it. While I was bleeding the system I discovered that there was no pressure to the left front brake. It turns out that one of the nuts that secures the oil cooler to the front crossmember was clamped down on the braided SS line that runs from the right corner to the left. That totally blocked the line. That was quickly fixed with a new line, and the brakes now seem fine. But the fact is that there were two major faults with the brakes as delivered by the previous owner, which tells me that there is no way that the car could be considered to be ready for racing without a complete going over. So here I go . . .
The bolts holding the trans to the engine block looked a bit loose. The Mini trans lives in the sump of the engine, so these are very important bolts. Most of the bolts were torqued to about 1-2 lb/ft or less, and many of them had washers that weren’t perfectly seated because they were too large in diameter and they were caught on the side of the sump!! So a trip to the hardware store for the proper washers, and back to the shop to torque every bolt up tight. I did discover one non-standard bolt (not the correct 12 point, but an oversize hex head) but it holds fast and should be ok until the next time the engine/trans assembly is torn down. I will need to keep an eye on these bolts to make sure they stay snug.
Since bolts, nuts, and torque values seem to be a recurring theme, I’m systematically going over the whole car to make sure everything’s properly snugged down. In checking the head nut torque I discovered a couple of nuts that didn’t feel quite right. I pulled the head so I could check all the studs, the block threads, etc. I also spoke with Jamal, one of Mini Mania’s engine builders, and he gave me some good advice on what values and techniques to use. I also got some good advice from Tim Covert, while at the Detroit Car Show. Fortunately I have lots of experience with the ARP studs on my VW GTI’s head and everything looks very familar on the Mini. But there are things like the “11th” stud, which gets a much lower torque value that the Haynes Manual doesn’t mention. Also the threads into the Mini engine's deck are much shorter than the VW's!! Hopefully my learning curve will keep me a step ahead of more troubles! A new head gasket is on the way from Mini Mania and then I can button things back up.
I’ve also inspected the Accusump, cleaned the oil cooler, and will be checking and cleaning all of the oil lines. One line looks a bit funky—the ends of the braiding are sticking outside the cuff—so I made a new one. After all of this is done I will be able to reassemble it all and pressure up the Accusump.
I’ve also replaced the right rear wheel bearing set, checked out the rear brake shoes, and have done several other various little chores. Also, the front ride height seems ridiculously low, with only 2” clearance (maybe a bit less) under the sump. Tom’s offered to give me some chunks of aluminum to use as rub blocks, and I’m going to raise the nose up by maybe an inch and see how that works. I’ve also been accumulating safety gear, such as the suit, balaclava, gloves, shoes, etc. I’m hoping to be able to find a day for testing at Grattan before the driver’s school in May. Lots to do . . .
John
10/26/07 Tom Pixley went with me to Brevard NC to check the car out, and it looks like a keeper. I'm super thankful that Tom could go so soon after his trips to Chicago and NYC. Tom and the guy I bought the car from, Bob Marcum, swapped lots of vintage racing war stories. We had a very nice drive down on October 13 and likewise on the October 15 return trip--just be sure to avoid I-75 north of Toldeo!
My first British car in 37 years!! The previous owner bought the car in 1978 and has vintage raced it since 1987. It seems very well prepared, but not wanting to leave anything to chance, I'm going to go over it from stem to stern this winter and make sure that everything is ready to race. I'm planning to go to the Gingerman driver's school in May to get my novice's license, and by then she should be ready to roll.
The first mechanical issue is the brakes. Rolling it off the trailer I discovered there weren't any. Funny, they seemed ok driving it around the lot in NC. A rear line was cracked-the end of the rear sway bar was hitting it! How could the car have been raced that way? It couldn't. Probably the first of many unanswerable questions I'll have. Anyway, this weekend's plans are to shorten the bar end so it doesn't hit the line, install the new line, bleed the brakes, etc. I'm thinking that I may want to install a dual master cylinder, just so I have SOME brakes in case a line fails again!!