And the fun begins....

[johnyc]

Ooo yes that does look nasty. I think i better start prepping to be replacing the sills.

Started the underarch work last nite. A panels wings arches etc. already rubbed down kurusted and hammerited. Gonna be spraying waxoyl under there soon.

Out of interest my next main job is prepping the body for the respray.

What price should I be expecting for a full respray in non metallic british racing green?

Or as I have access to a compressor is it worth me buying a gun and doing it myself. A gravity gun is like a tenner Paint about 30 quid for 2.5L mixing down to 5L

Im thinking a few hundred tops if I got it done professionally. There is a guy up pontardullais did my old fiesta for me. Was good work.

I would want to remove all the bits myself then mask over headlights and windows rather than remove them as I can't trailer it there and back.

Oh and re the K&N. I was looking at how to remove the current filter and think Ill just takeit off and clean it when I do the service on the engine.

[johnyc]

Returning to work on the mini for a few weeks on thursday.

Quick question re temp guage.

When I picked the mini up and when I have driven it since. the temperature never really goes up at all. Not even when having been driven for 2 hours and sitting in traffic. I used to have an old fiesta of similar age and engine which was the same but I never worried with that (cos it was a fiesta)

The temp guage registers above cold and the rad in the heater units getting pretty hot, but the guage never goes upto the white line (im guessing that line indicates "norm")

How do I check that my engines not getting too hot other than that? and also how do I check that the temp guage and sender are working correctly? Im thinking that the sender is a cheap simple piece to replace as-well.

[jackdaw]

Easiest place to start is to check the tightness and cleanliness of the spade connector on the engine temp sender, then see if the gauge reads any higher.
No harm in checking the tightness of the connections on the back of the temp gauge either, if you can easily get to them.

Next step would be to unscrew the temp sender from the engine and check that the waterway behind is clear and that the sensing surface of the sender is clean, then refit and have another look at your gauge.

If you have a spare (or new) temp sender try swapping them over to see if that makes a difference as well. Same thing goes if you have a spare (or new) Temp Gauge as well.

I have an MGB which had an overheating problem which I eventually solved, only to find that my temp indication now sits half way between 'C' and 'N' at "normal" running
Nothing wrong with the system whatsoever.
Thats just the way the system displays the engine temp.

Failing everything else tho, if you can run the car for 2 hours or more without any obvious signs of overheating or water loss then there cant be anything wrong with your cooling system and I would just except that reading on your gauge (whatever it may be) as being "normal"

[johnyc]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for the help