Pac Man

[Huntyfm]

Some little kid just told me my Mini is stunning, such a little thing but it has made my day

[rhid_93]

makes my day when i see someone smilling at it mine lol

really does look stunning now look really nice fair play cant wait to see it in the flesh

[Huntyfm]

All the interior is pretty much sorted, need to change the rad & manifold gasket. Now.. Im about 80% certain that I want to turbo it, I'll do some more research first, but I definitely want over 100bhp. After seeing the way a Fez RS turbo murdered my mates TT I want a go

[Huntyfm]

Front end to come back off today, need to swap rads, and fit speedo cable (a job I assigned to Lawson but hes no fool) I'll try and move the power to the starter as the bend in it is messing my grille up, also need to get some blue paint for my head & rad mmmm

[Custard]

Have fun with that speedo cable ;D and get a wiggle on want to see this finished-

[Huntyfm]

Speedo cable was easy with the rad out Only thing now is I need a 1275 rad top bracket.. fitting the heater as we speak

[Huntyfm]

Pac Man is slowly getting on my tits, the manifold and studs aggrovate me so much and half the time they turn then they dont, now it think the nuts are stripping the thread fmal

[Custard]

Right, double nut them, bind the nuts together, screw into the head unbind, unscrew job done

[Huntyfm]

yeah thats the way I've been doing it, but nuts have locked themselves on and things, so gonna get a new set, and some instant gasket stiff, and sort it once and for all

[jackdaw]

I found that cutting/filing a slot in the very end of the studs to take a stumpy, flat bladed screwdriver, then using some thread lock on the studs thread works.
Let the thread lock do its job overnight and then use a new set of nuts.
Its important to not overtighten the manifold nuts as well. Just tighten them up enough to get a good even seal on the gasket.

This method of slotting the end of the studs and using the screwdriver also works well for the thermostat housing studs !!!

[Huntyfm]

right, ordered new manifold studs and nuts, and 2 large bore gaskets should sort that issue. Im not going to bother turbo'ing it, because at some point I want to vtec it instead, fancy the power & reliability ha! But I think my next project is to change the bloody doors so they open the right way.. this will be fun

[Custard]

AAhh I like those doors

[Huntyfm]

not very secure though

[Huntyfm]

I've either got to sort the drivers side handle out, or change the way it opens then get the holes filled and sprayed.. so looks like they'll stay until I can afford to do it

[Custard]

theres got to be a way to secure the door properly

[jackdaw]

Wouldn't be my choice personally having the doors like that but all Minis are done to the owners individual tastes.

You could always secure them the "Mr Bean" way with a hasp and padlock !!! Might rattle a bit at speed tho

[Huntyfm]

haha! I'll pass on that one.. colours a bit too close to beans as it is, people dont accept beans is green! With a new door handle it should be ok, and ofcourse when people see it you get 'ooh your doors open the wrong way' I'll stick to it for now, but if I get too bored of it, then swap it is

[jackdaw]

I know that you used to be able to buy "Deadlocks" which were mechanical sliding bar type locks that only show as a Keyhole on the body surface of the car.

It should be reasonably easy to mount them in the front edge of the door or even on the original door front hinge panel and use them as an extra form of security I fitted them to a 1275GT once and they were quite effective as I recall

You would still need to sort out the existing door handles tho

[Huntyfm]

ahh yeah Tim said about deadlocks, well I can get the drivers handle working, just not locking? So deadlocks on that side would sort it?

[jackdaw]

As long as you can get a good fit for the deadlock and where the lock slides into the door / hinge panel it should work fine.

Worse case would be that you have to re-inforce the area around the lock to give you some strength and security. Nothing that a welder or an additional piece of metal couldnt sort out.